The Lesson: When you’re working in the service industry, it’s easy to assume that the gratuity you receive is a direct result of your performance – but what observation shows is that people will tip what they tip, and they will behave how they normally behave. Ultimately, this means that we can’t always expect to be able to evoke change in others – whether it’s in a restaurant or the rest of the world. We must accept that sometimes we have little control over the people who we encounter.

Notable Excerpt: “…although I feel like the center of the action, often I’m not. People aren’t adjusting everything they do based on me. I need to remember that in many cases, I’m not responsible for the reactions that I think I’m provoking.”

The Host: Dubbed a “Happiness Guru”, best-selling author Gretchen Rubin started her career in law and was clerking at the Supreme Court when she realized she wanted to be a writer. To date, the Manhattan-based speaker has written several biographies, self-help guides, and indexes on the happiest places and practices in the world.

Podcast: Her top-ranking, award-winning podcast, “Happier with Gretchen Rubin,” which discusses happiness and good habits.

Books: Rubin is the author of “The Happiness Project”, which spent two years on the New York Times bestsellers list. Her books, including “The Four Tendencies”, “Happier at Home”, and “Better Than Before”, have sold almost three million copies worldwide in more than thirty languages. Additionally, Rob Lowe has published an autobiography called “Stories I Only Tell My Friends” and a collection of romantic memoirs called “Love Life”.

(LISTEN to the quick psychology lesson below)

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