Happier with Gretchen Rubin · Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project

Bonus: How to Make Progress on What Matters to You (Even If You Feel Stuck) with Mimi Bouchard

February 27, 2026·35 min·2 clips

Mimi Bouchard explains why manifestation, prayer, the placebo effect, and the RAS are all the same thing said differently.

The frame is Determination Day. Gretchen says late February is when plenty of people have already let New Year's resolutions slide, then turns that low point into a chance to reassess, tweak the resolution, and keep going. Elizabeth connects the idea to Gretchen's conversation with Mimi Bouchard, creator of the Activations app. Mimi describes audio meant to put the listener in a main character state while moving toward a dream life. The music is doing real work here. Her team pays attention to compositions, drops, and emotional cues, so the sound is part of the nudge, not wallpaper behind it. Gretchen talks as someone who uses it. She likes walking activations, clear lengths, and categories that let her pick a cinematic or calming mood. The format is quite specific, sometimes almost scene by scene. Mimi separates activations from meditation apps and motivational podcasts by focusing on situations, like getting ready while feeling more confident and connected to goals. Choice matters too. With more than 800 activations, the app is framed as something that can meet the listener's current mood instead of pushing one fixed mode. The ad material is hard to miss. There is book promotion, podcast promotion, and a closing note on self-knowledge, so the conversation sits in a very sponsor-adjacent wrapper. Still, the thread holds. Progress is not about one perfect resolution. It is about finding the cue, question, or audio ritual that fits the state you are actually in. The mood is measured and encouraging. Even when the episode starts with feeling stuck, it lands on a reset rather than more pressure.

As heard by us

The episode reframes late-February discouragement as a prompt to adjust course rather than quit.

The show flips the usual late-February script: instead of treating it as the month resolutions go quiet, Gretchen and her co-host call it Determination Day, a cue to check in and adjust rather than quit.

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Why you'd press play

Your January intentions are still technically alive, and this episode gives you a reason to mean it again.

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