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’ve written and spoken about New Year’s resolutions countless times. My main messages relating to New Year’s resolutions are: They tend to fail because we make too many, or ones that are too big New habits can be formed any time of year, not just in January Rather than making…
In order to keep up with current events, I look at three newspaper apps every morning, listen to one news app, and read one newsletter. Each afternoon, I read two newsletters, one of which is Dave Pell's Next Draft. Pell published a book last year, Please Scream Inside Your Heart:…
I’m a big fan of Arthur Brooks. I have seen him speak, I have read his columns, I have listened to his podcast episodes, and I have written about him here. Brooks had a podcast called How to Build a Happy Life and on the first episode, “Manage Your Feelings,…
In my speaking engagements and in my book, I have placed extra emphasis on the first and last of my Six Simple Rules. (I also put them first and last because they are the most critical.) The first is “Be Happy” and the sixth is “Be Healthy”. I never considered…
When I attend funerals, in addition to being sad, I almost always walk away inspired, as I have written about a bunch of times, including here. One of my biggest takeaways from a recent funeral was an extremely simply message. My friend David said everyone who knew his dad well,…
Eating well and exercise are the major pillars of “Be Healthy,” the sixth of my Six Simple Rules. Whenever I give suggestions for ways to be a healthier eater, I quickly mention giving up soda, as I did in this post Soda is Poison. Diet soda is also poison, as…
I’ve written a few posts about the power of smiling and how it helps our happiness. When I present to groups, I always have them do this simple exercise: I ask them to smile. I then explain: When we smile, chemicals are released in our brains that make us think…
The war in Ukraine is upsetting to everyone who is paying attention to it. As with other humanitarian disasters, there are calls for donations. I made a donation to an organization I know that helps Ukrainians, having donated to them in the past when a dear friend began volunteering for them.…
In his book, “How to Change Your Mind,” which I wrote about last year, author Michael Pollan writes of Peter Hendricks, a psychologist conducting a trial using psilocybin (aka magic mushrooms) to treat cocaine addicts. According to Hendricks, “People who are addicted know they’re harming themselves – their health, their…
Last year, at the end of a virtual presentation to participants in the Year Up program (a wonderful program I have been speaking at, and donating to, for many years), the event moderator read questions posted in the chat. They were good ones, so I'm sharing them here, with my…
