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…
In 2019, I wrote a post about an article I read in the New York Times that caught my eye with its summary: “For lifelong heart health, start exercising early in life and keep exercising often. But even if you have neglected to exercise and are now middle-aged, it is…
The last couple of years have been challenging, to say the least. I write a lot about health and wellness, most often focusing on the importance of exercise and eating well. I also espouse what I call “Proactive Positivity.” In posts and speeches, I explain the way negativity tends to…
A recent post, “Lessons from Mimi,” about inspiration from my mother-in-law, who passed away this year at 95, resulted in more feedback than most of my posts. The notes I received were inspirational themselves and I am sharing excerpts from some of them here. I am 69, and have been…
As I have written countless times, New Year’s Resolutions fail because we make too many, or ones that are too big. Instead, breaking down our goals into small pieces, and tackling one at a time for the 21 days it takes to create a habit, is the way to go…
My mother-in-law (who my kids and I called Mimi) passed away this year. It was not from COVID. She was 95 (and would have turned 96 this month). Her body simply gave out. Incredibly, her mind was at 100% for about 94 of those years, and she wasn’t too far…
A bunch of years ago, I read Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think, by Peter Diamandis. Since that time, I have often read Diamandis’ newsletters. I wanted to share excerpts from one of his newsletters from late last year that came with the subject line, “Increase your healthspan,…
Earlier this year, I heard Dr. Sanjay Gupta interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air about his most recent book Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age. In the interview, he spoke about these four important activities for better brain health: Exercising Eating well for heart health Getting…
In the past, I've written about James Clear. I’ve been reading articles by him for a bunch of years. He shares all kinds of useful life hacks. Over the last few years, he has written quite a bit about making and keeping good habits, a subject near and dear to…
My earliest, clear memory of the then-imminent pandemic was almost exactly a year ago, during an early-morning visit to a hotel gym. I was attending a business conference in Austin, Texas. As I peddled away on a stationary bike on February 27, I read the news on my phone. In…
I write frequently about exercise, an obvious, key component of “Be Healthy,” the sixth of my Six Simple Rules. I very much like the concept of healthspan – focusing on the longest possible healthy life, not just the longest possible lifespan. That said, a couple of articles about longevity caught…