Sometimes people deserve gold stars.

Like in Kindergarten, for example. Or when a perfectly legitimate almost 30-year-old gives them away on her blog.

For that reason, I’ve decided to make the world a little happier and award gold stars of my own to creatives I admire. From books I have read to podcasts I follow, I’ll give you, dear reader, suggestions for works that will bring you great joy.

This very original idea of mine was influenced by three outstanding women, whom I adamantly admire. No disrespect to elementary school teachers everywhere.

First, V.E. Schwab, who I saw at the Bookmarks Festival in Winston-Salem, NC, talked about her method of using stars to incentivize her writing. More on her method here. I have used it ever since. Every time I write 500 words, I give myself a gold star. Literally.

My other two Gold Star muses are the ladies of Happier, Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft. Each podcast they award themselves, a listener, or a friend a gold star for making one daily-living change that improves happiness.

In honor of these three ladies, my first three gold stars go to them. If you haven’t read their books or listened to their podcasts, you are really missing out.