My mom passed away last year after an eight-year battle with Alzheimer’s. While the first six years were extremely challenging, my mom was in great spirits the final two years – and when the end came, she passed painlessly and peacefully, with my dad (her devoted husband of 64 years)…
I’ve written quite a few times about brain health, including twice this year, including this piece. When I have written about the "eating well" aspect of brain health, my focus has been on what to eat. Early this year, Dr. Gabe Mirkin, who has an excellent newsletter on health issues,…
I loved reading this brief article last year, which told about research showing staying optimistic and maintaining a positive outlook can directly extend the length of your life. The 30-year study followed 1,200 elderly people who were born in 1920 or 1921. The researchers analyzed their health, ability to function,…
A Wall Street Journal article last year talked about why hobbies are so important in retirement. I have many interests and believe I will not have a problem staying busy when I retire one day, but I was interested in seeing what they had to say, because hobbies are important…
I’ve written more than once about brain health, including earlier this year. Here is another list of critical rules for brain health from an excellent article I read: Keep blood pressure and cholesterol levels in check Manage sugar levels Get quality sleep Eat a nutritious diet Don’t smoke (and avoid…
Joshua Becker is one of my favorite bloggers. He’s been writing for years about minimalism here. His writing style is extremely appealing (and he once gave me excellent writing advice I’ve been following ever since he edited a piece I wrote for his blog). My favorite 2022 blog post of…
Thanks to my company, I was fortunate to have been able to watch a webinar called “Mindfulness in Everyday Life” from WellnessConcepts. Here are some of my takeaways: People have more negative thoughts than positive thoughts. They tend not to obsess about positive things. People fixate on past events. We…
As I’ve written about, and spoken about, countless times, smiling is the simplest happiness tool. This article in Axios talks about smiling as “one of your most powerful tools — to improve health, bolster relationships and just feel better…” According to the article, research shows “Americans tend to smile more…
I recently spoke with a group of my company’s up-and-coming professionals. Most of my talk centered around the kinds of things I always talk about in my speeches from my book, Six Simple Rules for a Better Life. Because it was a business event, I decided to add some thoughts…
Even if you know how you should be eating, you may still have a hard time sticking to good eating habits—most people do. A Wall Street Journal article last year had some great advice from a scientific study about how to eat better. Set one or two specific rules, and…
I have written a ton about habit change: including numerous blog posts, and my book filled with ways to be happier, nicer, more organized, and healthier. I have also given speeches to thousands of people on the same subject. This is going to be one of the shortest posts I…
I’ve written before about Arthur Brooks – articles of his I’ve read, the time I saw him as an event speaker, and episodes of his “How to Build a Happy Life” podcast. I very much enjoyed this podcast episode of his, featuring Robert Waldinger, a psychiatrist and a Professor of…