How to Stop Labels from Becoming Judgments
"A yoga teacher of mine was describing a class he held for girls struggling with anorexia. He asked them to stand hip-width and was shocked when all of them were standing with their feet as wide as the yoga mat. Their physical bodies were much thinner than what their mental perceptions told them. It isn't something that just afflicts these girls -- all of us fall prey to believing labels that defi... posted on May 09 2012, 23,870 reads

How 17 Equations Changed the World
When legendary theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking was setting out to release A Brief History of Time, one of the most influential science books in modern history, his publishers admonished him that every equation included would halve the book's sales. Undeterred, he dared include E = mc^2, even though cutting it out would have allegedly sold another 10 million copies. The anecdote captures the ... posted on May 08 2012, 15,418 reads

Why Leaders Must Feel Pain
On a plane flying cross-country, a CEO and management consultant tunes into a fellow passenger's sharp-edged interaction with her five-year old daughter, and finds himself unexpectedly in tears. The incident unleashes a series of insights on the importance of acknowledging the pain we encounter in ourselves and the world. "This act of diving deeply into the feelings we avoid, the feelings we don't... posted on May 07 2012, 20,760 reads

The Gift of the Swamp Shake Spill
"The lid came off, and the rotary movement of my body as I was rising from the bent over position created a mini-tsunami of green-brown liquid from the tops of my shoes, on to my papers -- covered desk, across the room to the credenza, the plants on top of it, the books in its lower shelves, up the wall and onto the ceiling -- where the fluid finally dissipated before completing the full circle an... posted on May 06 2012, 9,393 reads

Intelligence Is Overrated: What It Really Takes to Succeed
Albert Einstein's was estimated at 160, Madonna's is 140, and John F. Kennedy's was only 119, but as it turns out, IQ score aren't everything when it comes to predicting your success and professional achievement. IQ tests are used as an indicator of logical reasoning ability and technical intelligence. But by itself, a high IQ does not guarantee standing out. This article, originally appearing in ... posted on May 05 2012, 78,857 reads

Finding Nimo: A Rap Star's Journey With 16 Slum Kids
At the pinnacle of a dizzying career, Indo-American rapper Nimo was haunted by an unshakeable sense of emptiness. In his mid-twenties, he abandoned the limelight and found himself meditating in the foothills of the Himalayas. There an inner voice nudged him to radically simplify his life and find his purpose in service of others. He moved to the Gandhi Ashram in India and dedicated himself to the ... posted on May 04 2012, 59,728 reads

177 Messages of Kindness
"Out of all the afterschool programs offered in their school, three energetic 11-13 year old girls chose to join this one. The 'Random Acts of Kindness Class,' the first of its kind, was an innovative experiment, offering children the opportunity to use their creativity and artwork to inspire their school and community by doing random acts of kindness. A few weeks ago, I spent an unforgettable aft... posted on May 03 2012, 5,437 reads

A 39-year-long Lesson in Forgiveness
A 12 year-old boy named Larry did something that he realized probably hurt his seventh-grade teacher. Over the decades he searched the internet in an attempt to locate that teacher -- and apologize. His efforts were in vain ... until a few months ago, 39 years after the original event, his search turned up an online article featuring the long lost teacher. Larry shot an immediate email to the new... posted on May 02 2012, 42,615 reads

10 Evolving Expressions of Simplicity
Voluntary simplicity gives voice to ways of living that are vital for building a workable and meaningful future. In the "garden of simplicity", as described in this classic article by Duane Elgin, there are many flowering expressions of the simple life, and he goes on to describe ten of them. According to Elgin, the great diversity of these expressions and their intertwined unity, are creating a r... posted on May 01 2012, 34,478 reads

9 Steps to Achieving Flow (and Happiness) at Work
Have you ever lost yourself in your work, so much so that you lost track of time? Being consumed by a task like that, while it can be rare for most people, is a state of being called Flow. In my experience, it's one of the keys to happiness at work, and a nice side benefit is that it not only reduces stress but increases your productivity. So how do you achieve this mystical state of being? Do you... posted on Apr 30 2012, 34,383 reads