Correction, 6/3/2010 at 9 am: We misidentified James Rubin as a hedge fund manager in the original post; he is a private equity investor. We regret the error.

Remember that eighties shampoo commercial in which a luscious brunette purrs, "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful"?

Well, try not to hate Gretchen Rubin because she seems blessed with a perfect life: She has a to-die-for resume (she edited the Yale Law Journal and clerked for Sandra Day O’Connor). She found the love of her life as a 1-L in the Yale Law Library (that would be fellow law student Jamie Rubin, now a private equity investor and Gretchen's husband). Her father-in-law is rich and famous (remember Robert Rubin, the former Treasury secretary?).

Topping all this, Rubin's now written a best-selling, hyper-buzzed-about book, The Happiness Project (Or, Why I spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun).

Just getting through the title is a chore. What’s covered in between the covers is even more daunting: Rubin packed her yearlong quest for greater happiness (she says she wasn’t unhappy) with countless resolutions and projects. Among her pursuits, she immersed herself in the study of St. Therese, started a children’s literature group, and renounced nagging and gossiping. (Real Housewives of Bravo, take note!)

So here's the big question: Can the average law firm drone relate to, and even benefit from, Rubin’s lofty quest? How can an associate break away to pursue a yearlong happiness project when she barely has time to refill her coffee cup?

"My favorite resolutions [for happiness] take no time, no energy," says Rubin matter-of-factly. Lawyers can start by paying more attention to those at home. "It can be touching more and hugging more," she says. Another no-time method to increase joy, she says, is to begin the day with singing. “It's just a step to create a calm, cheerful approach to the day," she explains.

What about lawyers with no one at home to hug, or those with no pitch? "If you take 20 minutes to clean your desk, it'll make a difference," she says, adding that the elimination of mess creates a sense of order and, hence, happiness. The point, she explains, is that small actions can have an impact.

You can't argue with her advice, though it's not terribly earth-shattering. Basically, it consists of the Golden Rules that your second-grade teacher beat into you: Be nice, sit up straight, eat your vegetables, and to thyself be true. (Rubin lists her own 12 "commandments," which include "Be Gretchen," "Be polite and be fair," and "Lighten up," and suggests that readers develop their own list.)

Some of the advice Rubin offers about achieving greater family harmony sounds like it came from an episode of The Berenstain Bears: "Jamie came up with a great one: Polite Night. He suggested that every Sunday night, we set the table properly, enforce good manners, and have a nice meal together."

The book is not scholarly like the law review articles that Rubin once penned--and that’s a compliment. It’s a breezy read. It's helpful and practical, like a magazine article on creative ways to use empty Cheerios boxes or sheets of Bounce. It's accessible and encouraging, which is probably why it’s become a best seller and spawned dozens of happiness groups throughout this country and beyond.

But will this type of how-to book pass muster with sharp, analytical legal minds? "I've been surprised by people who are stressed out who reacted positively to my book,” says Rubin. "I worry that what I talked about would seem trivial to them, but these little things [about achieving happiness] are reassuring."

Rubin definitely has lawyer fans. Even before her book came out, Wall Street Journal law blogger Ashby Jones, a lawyer himself, was smitten; he calls Rubin's happiness blog, "one of our flat-out favorites." A Yale Law School classmate of Rubin's calls her book "transformative."  "Nearly every page offers another tip, large or (usually) small that might capture a reader's imagination," he says. "For me and my family, it was the seven-second hug. For someone else it might be clearing closet hangers." The book, he sums up, is "superficial but full of wisdom. . .It's the book that Gretchen was put on earth to write."

Even though there's something soothing about her advice, I am skeptical. Like Rubin, I have sought out a greater sense of order by trolling the aisles at the Container Store or delighting in the idea of an afternoon spent doing decoupage (though neither of us have finished). Who is to say that busy lawyers couldn't benefit from these ideas too?

Readers, have any of you heard about a lawyer happiness project? Tell us about it.

If you have topics you'd like to discuss, or information to share for The Careerist, e-mail chief blogger Vivia Chen at [email protected].

Photo: Ruby Washington, The New York Times, courtesy of Gretchen Rubin