My brother-in-law is one of the all-time great people. For almost as long as people have been doing it, he has sent around emails with jokes, stories, wisdom, and more to a long list of people. I don’t read all of them, and it’s easy enough to delete ones I…
I’ve written before about Peter Singer (no relation) and his important book about giving, The Life You Can Save. I’m on Peter’s newsletter list. Since the start of the pandemic, he has written a series called “mythbusters,” each of which addresses difficult questions and common misconceptions around giving. Here are…
Thanks to my company, I was fortunate to have been able to watch a webinar on resilience from the WellnessConcepts company earlier this year. Here are some of my takeaways: Resilient people tend to have a positive attitude, are optimistic, flexible, and exhibit grit. But you don’t have to be…
I’ve written and spoken about New Year’s resolutions countless times. My main messages relating to New Year’s resolutions are: They tend to fail because we make too many, or ones that are too big New habits can be formed any time of year, not just in January Rather than making…
When I attend funerals, in addition to being sad, I almost always walk away inspired, as I have written about a bunch of times, including here. One of my biggest takeaways from a recent funeral was an extremely simply message. My friend David said everyone who knew his dad well,…
I’ve written a few posts about the power of smiling and how it helps our happiness. When I present to groups, I always have them do this simple exercise: I ask them to smile. I then explain: When we smile, chemicals are released in our brains that make us think…
The war in Ukraine is upsetting to everyone who is paying attention to it. As with other humanitarian disasters, there are calls for donations. I made a donation to an organization I know that helps Ukrainians, having donated to them in the past when a dear friend began volunteering for them.…
In his book, “How to Change Your Mind,” which I wrote about last year, author Michael Pollan writes of Peter Hendricks, a psychologist conducting a trial using psilocybin (aka magic mushrooms) to treat cocaine addicts. According to Hendricks, “People who are addicted know they’re harming themselves – their health, their…
Last year, I gave a (virtual) speech. It was the speech I’ve give more often than any other. I always title it the same name as my book, “Six Simple Rules for a Better Life,” but the organizers (one of whom had seen the speech the prior year) titled it…
A slightly early happy and healthy New Year! This has again been a very challenging year for all the reasons I don't need to list here. Nonetheless, as I have done for quite a few years, here are some of the experiences I enjoyed this past year: what I listened…
The last couple of years have been challenging, to say the least. I write a lot about health and wellness, most often focusing on the importance of exercise and eating well. I also espouse what I call “Proactive Positivity.” In posts and speeches, I explain the way negativity tends to…
A recent post, “Lessons from Mimi,” about inspiration from my mother-in-law, who passed away this year at 95, resulted in more feedback than most of my posts. The notes I received were inspirational themselves and I am sharing excerpts from some of them here. I am 69, and have been…