Pronoia: “The delusional belief that other people are plotting your well-being or saying nice things about you behind your back” One of the books I enjoyed reading this summer was Give and Take by Adam Grant. I first learned about Grant, and his book, in this New York Times piece, Is…
Last summer I went whitewater rafting with my wife and a couple of wonderful friends who had very graciously invited us to stay with them at their upstate New York time share. We departed the lodge at 7:30am and arrived at the rafting place around 9:00am. It was a long…
I am pleased that a piece I wrote was published this week on one of my favorite sites, Becoming Minimalist. Here's the first part of the piece, with a link to the rest... Last year, I read The Story of Enough: Giving Up (new) Clothes for One Year, a Becoming Minimalist…
During the week after the George Zimmerman verdict, Marcie (my wife) and I were driving in the car and heard a priest say in a radio interview that a primary cause for this tragedy is that Zimmerman didn't see the humanity of Trayvon Martin. We both thought that was very…
This is a guest post by Stephen Joseph. When I first saw the name of his article, I was thinking that the topic was a bit more specialized than we normally publish. On reading and enjoying it, I saw that its advice can be helpful in a variety of applications,…
Late last year, I was fortunate to learn about 10 Steps to Finding Your Happy Place (and Staying There), a wonderful book by Galen Pearl. After reading the book, I had the pleasure of interviewing Galen—about the book, her life, and the 10 Steps. I'm grateful to Galen for taking…
I was pleased to recently have a piece I wrote published on the Pick the Brain web site. Pick the Brain publishes a lot of terrific articles and I highly recommend that you check it out. Here's an introduction to the piece I wrote, and a link to the full…
I was pleased to have a blog I wrote published on the wonderful Tiny Buddha web site last week. Here's the first part of the piece, with a link to the rest... Thirty-plus years ago, when I was applying to college, one of my friends used to say regularly, “We’ve…
In my book, I mention numerous books that have been important to my personal development. I've also provided (affiliate) links to many of those books on this page on my site. Within the parenting genre, these are a few of my favorites: 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 Protecting…
As we come upon the end of the college selection process for the current group of high school seniors (two of whom live in my house), I was reflecting on the part of the process where teens build up their “resumes.” I recall, thirty years ago, when I was applying…
I recently read Saying Yes to Change, a new book by Alex Blackwell of The BridgeMaker blog. I was quickly pulled into Alex's story when I learned that he was raised by a mom who was an alcoholic and that he endured a great deal of bullying due in large…
Former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter said, “There are only four kinds of people in the world – those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers.” Everyone, therefore, can benefit from this important guest post by Elissa…