I was listening to a TED Radio Hour podcast called “Crisis and Response,” about how various people dealt with crises in their lives. One was a doctor on Mt. Everest during a deadly storm memorialized in Jon Krakauer’s amazing book, Into Thin Air. Another was a story about 741741, the…
I've been saying for a while: helping others is one of the greatest happiness strategies. So, I was pleased with an episode I heard on the TED Radio Hour. Michael Norton, one of the authors of Happy Money, the Science of Happier Spending described an experiment proving the point: helping…
I was at a wellness lecture recently on the subject of diabetes. There are 24 million people in the U.S. with the type of diabetes linked to lifestyle. Overweight and inactivity are known as lifestyle factors because they can be impacted by the choices you make—your lifestyle choices, such as…
According to a report I read in the New York Times, the share of Americans who say they would like to lose weight has fallen recently. “The focus has now been on the health aspect, not the cosmetic aspect,” according to a professor of nutrition interviewed for the article. This…
A quick google search on “choosing happiness books” yields hits such as Choosing Happiness, Just Choose Happiness, I Choose Happiness, and many more. I haven’t read those particular books, but I’ve read countless books on, or related to, happiness, and I work hard to choose happiness for myself. When I…
I recently watched a TED talk about a remarkable study. It’s the longest known study on happiness, tracking more than 700 men over 75 years. The conclusion: happier, healthier, and longer lives was highly correlated with having quality relationships. Some of my takeaways: The number of friends is less important…
I was listening to a happiness episode on one of my favorite podcasts, the TED Radio Hour. One of the speakers, Matt Killingsworth, talked about a study done to track happiness in real time. An app was given to 35,000 people who received survey questions on their smartphones, on a…
Last year, as part of our corporate wellness program, we bought Fitbits for everyone (for anyone who wanted one, the cost was a $5 donation to charity.) I wrote about it in September in my monthly newsletter and received some great feedback, so I want to share it here as…
This is a guest post by Jennifer Shriver Most of us feel we could be healthier eaters, whether it’s prompted by summer coming, holidays ending, or just wanting to better ourselves. The biggest problem a lot of us face is we do it all at once instead of easing into…
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,…
For several years, I’ve been wanting to read “Thinking, Fast and Slow," by Daniel Kahneman. When the book came out, the reviews made me feel I would love it. I finally read and found it an incredibly interesting read. It wasn’t a fast read, which is part of why it…
More than ever, restaurants are accommodating regarding the dietary needs of their patrons. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and other options appear on many menus. To paraphrase an old Burger King commercial, the theme at most restaurants these days has become, "Special orders don't upset us." Long before these options began to…