How to Help Your Kids Thrive
Parenting isn’t easy, is it? How can you help your children live their best lives? One thing you can do is to positively influence their self-narratives. According to Timothy
What Story Are You Making Up?
Brené Brown has written another great book. Rising Strong provides a 3-step process to help us rise from our falls: * The Reckoning is about recognizing your emotions and getting curious
A Simple Trick to Control Your Emotions
Have you ever said or done something you regretted because you were emotionally triggered? Haven’t we all? When something upsets us, making us angry or scared, our brain detects
Self-Compassion Helps You Achieve Your Goals
This week I taught a class on goal getting for greater well-being to the students who live in George Mason’s Mindful Living Residence. I told them about a number
Create Your Own Upward Spiral of Well-Being
How well are you sticking to your New Year’s resolution? If you’ve been trying to do something you don’t enjoy, you probably haven’t kept it up.
When Did You Last Play?
A few days ago Winter Storm Jonas buried the Mid Atlantic and Northeast under two feet of snow. It was quite a doozy and has kept schools and businesses closed
Saban & Swinney Know What Matters Most
Tonight is the big game! Alabama and Clemson play in the college football national championship. Their coaches, Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney, were interviewed together on ESPN. In just five
Piece by Piece
Have you set any big goals for 2016? Over the holidays our family has been working on a 1500 piece puzzle. Looking at the pieces as we dumped them out
Are You an Impostor?
In a recent interview Adele was asked what she thought about her album “21” being ranked by Billboard Magazine the top album of all time. She said she was beyond
The Mental Skills That Mindfulness Builds
I recently attended a conference on mindfulness and well-being at work at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. I learned so much from some of the world’s top
What Do You Believe?
Last week I had the privilege of moderating a Veritas Forum discussion on well-being between Dr. Todd Kashdan, professor of psychology and senior scientist at Mason’s Center for the
Thank You for Celebrating with Me!
A few years ago I wrote a blog post about the benefits of celebrating the success of others. In it I explained how responding positively to someone else’s good
Stop Trying to Be Happy
We are obsessed with being happy. I just googled “how to be happy” and got 613,000,000 results. I admit that I share plenty of articles about happiness on
How You Think About Stress Matters
There is a lot of research showing how bad stress can be for our health. And it can be! But it doesn’t have to be. In her book, The
Where is the Progress?
Most women quit their careers for one of two reasons: 1) the workplace doesn’t offer the flexibility or support they need to fulfill their many responsibilities and/or 2)
Forget Work-Life Balance, Pursue Well-Being Instead
Trying to fulfill professional, family, and personal responsibilities is a constant struggle for everyone. A Google search of work-life balance shows almost 200 million results. Juggling competing demands is especially
Accepting Change
Our son leaves tomorrow, off to Georgia Tech to start his freshman year of college. I’m having a much harder time with this than I imagined I would. There
Buying Happiness
My parents-in-law celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year by taking their sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren on a cruise in the Baltic Sea. They used their money to buy happiness.
Careful Not to Overplay Your Strengths
Knowing and using your strengths is a great strategy for increasing your happiness and success. But it’s important to find the “golden mean” of your strengths by using the
Are You Fully Charged?
I recently read Are You Fully Charged?, the latest book by well-being expert Tom Rath. I highly recommend adding it to your summer reading list! Tom has written six best-selling
Writing a Book is Scary!
I remember listening to an author speak several years ago, telling the audience that you shouldn’t write a book because you want to write a book. You should write
One Easy Step to Stress Less
I don’t know about you, but May is an especially hectic month around our house. I feel completely overwhelmed by all the end-of-year activities. So many things are swirling
The Secret to Achieving Your Goals
Sustained commitment is required for achieving most any goal. You can set a goal, devise a plan for getting there, and anticipate obstacles, but the most important factor for success
Beyond Happy
My book is finished! I’m beyond happy! It hits the shelves in August 2015 (ATD Press). If you want to be notified as soon as the book is available
A Sense of Wonder May Do Wonders for Your Health
On a recent trip to Philadelphia, I visited the Barnes Foundation, which has an impressive collection of Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings. I was awed by the wonderful paintings I