I recently read about a study published by a San Francisco State associate professor of psychology showing the value of experiences over things. I’ve written a few times about investing in experiences vs. “stuff” and it was interesting to see a study endorsing that route to a happier life. People…
Someone I know recently said to me, after a particularly frustrating turn of events in her life, “Why do these things always happen to me?” I know the right thing to do would have been to nod my head and say something about how sorry I feel for her. But…
My wife and I were fortunate to take a wonderful trip to Europe to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We met in college and after we graduated we took a backpacking trip in Europe. We hadn’t been back since and the anniversary trip was a wonderful time, filled with many…
When I was in high school, I took a psychology class. It was one of the few high school classes I enjoyed. The teacher, Mr. Mascari, taught us a relaxation technique I went on to use for many years. I would close my eyes and imagine the sun shining on…
Judging by the comment cards, one of the most popular takeaways from my speeches is the concept of eating the big frog first as a way to conquer procrastination. I thought about it again when a couple of my family members returned to New York from Australia. I’ll explain that…
This is a guest post by Fay Wein. Fay is a communication specialist. Naturally a hoarder since childhood, getting my home and my life organized were not a cinch for me. Although still far from perfect, I’ve managed to bring some semblance of order to my life with some useful…
After receiving quite a bit of positive feedback on a recent newsletter piece, I am publishing it here... At an end-of-year yoga class, the instructor asked us to form an intention for the coming year. I decided to focus on respond vs. react. Responding instead of reacting is something I…
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about some catchphrases I like. As I said, I don’t use many, but the ones I use I use a lot. That day I wrote about how “This Too Shall Pass” helps me. Shortly after, a friend sent me this insightful, helpful note: I…
I like catchphrases. I don’t use many, but the ones I use I use a lot. In Six Simple Rules for a Better Life, I wrote about a few. Two examples: Mind Over Mattress, which helped me to get out of bed when I was getting into the routine of…
I saw full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal just before Christmas from AT&T that said: Put the "happy" in holidays. That was incredibly distasteful to me. The iPhone 6 is not what makes holidays happy. Neither you nor your family members are going to remember 20 years from now…
As I have done for each of the past two years, here are the many ways I enjoyed music, movies, places I visited, books I read, and what I watched on TV this past year. Books I love reading and I love learning. I read quite a bit every day,…
This post was a popular article in my monthly newsletter, so I wanted to share it here, especially with New Year's coming. At my speaking engagements I ask for examples of common New Year’s resolutions. Nearly every time, “Lose weight,” “Exercise more,” and “Stop smoking,” are shouted out from the…