We live in a world where companies encourage us to spend, even when we don't need to, for example, to keep up with the latest trends. The practice of spending more upon getting an income boost, is known as "lifestyle inflation." Instead of keeping up with the latest trends, a…
I recently heard a great quote: “Leading is action, not a position.” The quote is attributed to Donald McGannon. According to Wikipedia, McGannon was a broadcasting industry executive during the formative years of the television industry in the United States. As chairman of the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, McGannon was a…
I’ve written many times about best practices for your health, and I regularly read health-related articles. Whether the articles are about reducing the chances of being impacted by cancer, diabetes, heart disease, or Alzheimer’s, the suggestions all tend to revolve around eating well, exercising, managing stress, not smoking, and getting…
In speeches, I say eating well, which is one of the most critical parts of being healthy, is hard for a bunch of reasons, one of which is the rules keep changing. Eggs are bad, eggs are good. All fat is bad, some fat is good. Recently, that happened regarding…
I’ve long been a big believer of the power of our thoughts. I wrote this post on the subject almost 10 years ago. Earlier this year, I listened to an excellent episode of the Hidden Brain podcast. Some of my favorite parts from the episode: When the world hands us…
A slightly early happy and healthy New Year! As I have done for quite a few years, here are some of the experiences I enjoyed this past year: what I listened to, what I read, what I watched, and more. Reading The best books I read this year: Fiction: The…
My brother-in-law is one of the all-time great people. For almost as long as people have been doing it, he has sent around emails with jokes, stories, wisdom, and more to a long list of people. I don’t read all of them, and it’s easy enough to delete ones I…
I’ve written before about Peter Singer (no relation) and his important book about giving, The Life You Can Save. I’m on Peter’s newsletter list. Since the start of the pandemic, he has written a series called “mythbusters,” each of which addresses difficult questions and common misconceptions around giving. Here are…
Earlier this year, I wrote a post about venting rarely being good for us. A key line from that post, which I learned from Arthur Brooks, is anger has a honeyed tip and a poisoned root – meaning, sometimes it feels good to vent (the honeyed tip), but it almost…
Thanks to my company, I was fortunate to have been able to watch a webinar on resilience from the WellnessConcepts company earlier this year. Here are some of my takeaways: Resilient people tend to have a positive attitude, are optimistic, flexible, and exhibit grit. But you don’t have to be…
I’m a big fan of books in a category that might be best called Social Psychology. I am a fan of all three of Adam Grant’s books. His most recent book, last year’s Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know, is full of valuable takeaways. I learned…
Last year, I listened to a podcast interview with Eric Adams, who has now become New York City’s mayor. As has been the case across the U.S. during the pandemic, crime in New York City has gone up. Adams is focusing on that issue. He explained in the interview his…
