As many people have done, I have written about the importance of gratitude as a happiness habit, or as I also like to say, as an act of proactive positivity. I was listening to an episode of one of my favorite, weekly podcasts, The TED Radio Hour. During the episode,…
Since 2011, when I published my book and began blogging, I have also been a regular reader of other blogs. My favorite, Becoming Minimalist, has countless useful posts to help you have a simpler, better life. Reading Becoming Minimalist, and other minimalism blogs, led to several changes in my life.…
Making time for exercise is a big challenge for many people. Whether it's about exercise or anything else, time management is about making time for your priorities. As I've written before, if someone says they don't have time to exercise, I like to challenge them by explaining it's not that…
I’ve written a lot about gratitude as a happiness strategy. When you spend time thinking about ways you are grateful, and things and relationships in your life about which you are grateful, it’s hard to be unhappy at the same time. Gratitude is a proven activity of proactive positivity. But in a…
I heard a funny conversation on the street between a 20-something man and a 20-something woman. He asked, "When is your birthday?" She replied, "Well, there's my legal birthday and there's the day I celebrate." She explained she was born on April 1, but "that's the worst birthday because you're…
I made sure I taught my kids, if someone sends you an e-mail, a text message, or any other type of communication, you need to respond. If you don’t have time to give a complete reply, acknowledge receipt and tell them you will get back to them later. And then…
Not long after I published Six Simple Rules for a Better Life, I read a book called Willpower, by Roy Baumeister & John Tierney, which had come out the same month. In my book’s introduction, I talk about how to make changes that stick. I knew my method worked, but…
I’ve been working on a new habit. I’ve been trying to resist getting a second scoop of ice cream when I go into ice cream shops. I don’t go into ice cream shops often, but when I do I nearly always get two scoops, or some other “large” option. It…
In the spring of 2015, my daughter Julie had the good fortune of spending a college semester in Prague, in the Czech Republic. A year later, reflecting on the experience, she shared the following lessons from her experience. I'm sharing them here because her learning is applicable to many other…
A couple months ago, as a favor to a friend of mine, I was the speaker at a temple in Brooklyn. In addition to the members of her congregation, my friend invited Joe, a friend of hers, who I knew and who wanted to hear me speak. A couple of…
Last week, I wrote about a powerful empathy exercise. This week, I want to write more about some additional powerful things I've learned recently about empathy. I like to watch parts of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. It’s on too late for me, so I watch it on DVR…
As I have done for each of the past three years, here are the many ways I enjoyed the experiences of my year, including places I visited, books I read, and even what I watched on TV. Books I love reading and I love learning. I read quite a bit…