On a TED Radio Hour podcast episode, I listened to an interview with Dan Goldstein, who studies economic behavior and decision making. He talked about something he calls Commitment Devices. The ideas he shared resonated with me because they related to making changes that stick. As we all know, resisting…
I’ve written a number of times about making the time to do the important things in life. Rather than saying, “I didn’t do it because I didn’t have the time,” it’s more accurate to say, “I didn’t do it because I didn’t make the time.” (One example: Making time for…
In the “Be Healthy” chapter of my book, I provided 52 suggestions for healthier eating. It’s been nearly six years since the book was published and I was wondering how many of my eating suggestions would be different if I wrote the book today. As much as I would have…
I’ve written a fair amount about why experiences are better than things. Two of my posts are here and here. I read a really good article about the same subject on Motherly. In the piece, Elizabeth Tenety gives a helpful list of experiences one can give as gifts, in this…
“Be Organized” is the fourth of my Six Simple Rules. I am organized in countless ways and have long felt I'm a naturally organized person. But it wasn't always that way for me. My organized life is made up of a collection of small habits I've adopted over time. What I…
I was reading The Undoing Project, the latest book by one of my favorite authors, Michael Lewis. It’s about two psychologists / behavioral economists, Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman. I’ve written here before about their work after I read Kahneman’s amazing book, Thinking Fast and Slow. This excerpt from the…
I recently read The Power of Having Fun, the brand-new book by Dave Crenshaw. I am a big believer in taking time off to make time for yourself and for your family. I've had the good fortune of having taken that time over most of the past 20 years. I…
Earlier this year, I attended a meeting with nearly 100 people to discuss the future direction of a religious institution where I am a member. It was expected that attendees would have varying, and possibly contentious, opinions. The meeting’s facilitator began by spelling out some valuable ground rules for everyone…
If you haven’t seen the HBO documentary, Becoming Warren Buffett, I highly recommend it. The “Oracle of Omaha,” legendary for his investing prowess, is an amazing person from whom, and from whose example, much learning is available. A couple of my favorite takeaways from the film: If you were given…
One my mentors, the business coach Arnie Rintzler, wrote to me after reading one of my newsletters. Arnie often writes nice notes to me about my posts, and this time he had nice things to say, adding, “…there is a missing element. You focus on behavior when there is much…
On a TED Radio Hour podcast episode, I listened to an interview with Richard Thaler, a behavioral economist who co-wrote Nudge, a book about changing behaviors. His message: If you want to encourage people to do something, make it easy. For example, to get people to save money in their…
I heard an interview with star poker player Annie Duke. She said something quite profound about happiness. When something happens to you, ask yourself, “If this happened to me a year ago, how would I feel about it today?” Then, come “back to the future” and act accordingly. I love…