I’ve written often about making time for the important things in your life and shifting from an “I don’t have the time” mindset to an “I didn’t make the time” one – not only because it’s a good way to look at the situation, but also because it’s true. We…
A business organization I am involved with allows members to post questions to the group. It’s a way to crowd-source great ideas. This was a question someone posted: I am perennially looking for ways to organize and prioritize emails. How do you organize your Outlook inbox? Here was my reply:…
This year, my wife and I celebrated our 30th anniversary. Around the same time, I read a blog post called “8 Traits of a Happy Marriage, According to a Couples Therapist.” I agree with all eight of the defining characteristics of long-lasting, happy marriages. I am particularly drawn to these…
With dementia (and specifically Alzheimer’s disease) a part of my family history, an article in The Atlantic, “The Startling Link Between Sugar and Alzheimer's,” caught my attention. Its sub-title, “A high-carb diet, and the attendant high blood sugar, are associated with cognitive decline,” reinforced my commitment to the way I…
My friend Ed sent me the following note after we had gotten together and talked about the way we each have a drive to make a difference; to make the world a better place. I recently spoke at an event and closed with this… In the end: What will matter…
I’ve written before about things I learned from Daniel Kahneman’s wonderfully interesting book, "Thinking, Fast and Slow". In a section on availability bias, Kahneman shared useful information for couples. Availability bias is the way we judge situations by relying on immediate examples that come mind. For example, as Kahneman points…
Early this summer, the New York Times published “How Long Can We Live? The Limit Hasn’t Been Reached”. The piece explains, “The mortality rate flattens among the oldest of the old, a study of elderly Italians concludes, suggesting that the oldest humans have not yet reached the limits of life…
I’ve written a lot about the way willpower impacts our ability to make changes that stick. The bottom line: we have a limited stock of willpower. It’s been studied. It’s a fact. Because of this, the key to making changes that stick is to go slow; to break down your…
“Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood” is the fifth of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, one of the all-time, best-selling, personal development books. We often jump to conclusions and make assumptions with incomplete information. When we do that—when we fail to seek to understand someone…
I have learned the best way to visualize the about the amount of sugar in anything is to look at the nutrition label and divide the number of grams of sugar by four. That will tell you how many teaspoons of sugar are in one serving of that item. Every…
I heard someone recently say great leaders are not leaders—they are followers. They are following a cause greater than themselves. People came to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak not because of him but because of themselves; because of something inside which told them what type of country they wanted…
I was at a conference where I had the good fortune to hear Catherine Sanderson speak on The Science of Happiness. Sanderson is a professor at Amherst College where she studies and teaches the subject of happiness. Her speech was fantastic. Here are some of my takeaways: Why do we…