I was listening to a TED Radio Hour podcast called “Crisis and Response,” about how various people dealt with crises in their lives. One was a doctor on Mt. Everest during a deadly storm memorialized in Jon Krakauer’s amazing book, Into Thin Air. Another was a story about 741741, the…
Seeking first to understand is a habit I try to follow. It's one I first learned while reading Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I often talk about seeking first to understand when I speak about "Be Nice", the second of my Six Simple Rules for a Better…
I read a nice piece in the New York Times on what you can do about climate change. I tend to not be very political in general, and my mostly non-controversial position on this issue is as follows: Whether or not you believe in man-made climate change, it can't hurt…
I've been saying for a while: helping others is one of the greatest happiness strategies. So, I was pleased with an episode I heard on the TED Radio Hour. Michael Norton, one of the authors of Happy Money, the Science of Happier Spending described an experiment proving the point: helping…
One of my friends participates in a program as a mentor to moms. She gave me one of the handouts from the training sessions she attended prior to beginning her volunteering. Its author is unknown and it's easy to find on the Internet. It's about listening, something most of us…
I was at a wellness lecture recently on the subject of diabetes. There are 24 million people in the U.S. with the type of diabetes linked to lifestyle. Overweight and inactivity are known as lifestyle factors because they can be impacted by the choices you make—your lifestyle choices, such as…
I recently watched All the Way, an HBO movie about the story of Lyndon Johnson and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you have access to HBO, you should be able to watch it on demand. In addition to learning about the history and events surrounding that critical legislation (which…
The ongoing refugee crisis in Europe rarely generates the level of empathy it would have if it was closer to home. This American Life, the wonderful radio show / podcast, recently sent staffers to Greece to learn the stories of refugees. The stories were then shared over the course of…
This is a guest post by Austin Farewell. Many companies value productivity over employee satisfaction. This type of thinking is understandable—the companies are doing what they think will help them maximize profits. But what if there was a way to achieve both? Because the satisfaction and general happiness of employees has…
According to a report I read in the New York Times, the share of Americans who say they would like to lose weight has fallen recently. “The focus has now been on the health aspect, not the cosmetic aspect,” according to a professor of nutrition interviewed for the article. This…
As has happened to me many times before, this week I found myself inspired by a eulogy. Every funeral I attend leaves me a better person because of something I learn about the deceased, and their life well lived. Jay was a friend of mine. We didn't have a deep relationship,…
A quick google search on “choosing happiness books” yields hits such as Choosing Happiness, Just Choose Happiness, I Choose Happiness, and many more. I haven’t read those particular books, but I’ve read countless books on, or related to, happiness, and I work hard to choose happiness for myself. When I…