3 Resolutions For a Happier Year
I do understand why people don't like New Year's resolutions: They can be a source of failure, year after year. Folks often pick resolutions that are inherently unrewarding, that necessitate relentless hard work, or that remind them of their mortality in a way that makes them feel small instead of grateful ... Over the years I've learned a lot of tricks for successfully keeping my resolutions. And... posted on Jan 01 2014, 75,066 reads

How Sleep Makes You Smart
About one-third of our lives are spent in reverie, and yet little is known about how sleep is linked to intellectual and emotional intelligence. Researchers are unravelling this mystery and are finding that sleep - especially deep sleep - confers emotional balance, opens us to learning, cements memory, and strengthens our ability to make meaning of facts and experiences. Sleep, as it turns out, is... posted on Dec 24 2013, 68,917 reads

How To Make Stress Your Friend
Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case. Health psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive. If you believe that your body is energized and preparing you to take action, your physical... posted on Dec 22 2013, 10,590 reads

The Thinking Habit That Changed My Life
Writing out a gratitude list can be a simple, yet profound act. "It's interesting, because so much of our lives are spent in unconscious mental habits. Without knowing it, we complain, we nitpick, we stress about little faults; we see the bad in people and situations. Changing that doesn't happen immediately. However, you can change a little at a time. Start with a small gratitude session, and ... posted on Dec 14 2013, 82,362 reads

Grateful: A Love Song to the World
Inspired by the 21-Day Gratitude Challenge, talented musicians Nimo Patel and Daniel Nahmod brought together dozens of people from around the world to create this beautiful, heart-opening melody -- a celebration of our spirit and all that is a blessing in life. For 21 Days, over 11,000 participants from 118 countries practiced exactly that, learning that 'gratefulness' is a habit cultivated consci... posted on Nov 27 2013, 11,238 reads

How To Think Like A Wise Person
"If I asked you to judge how smart someone is, you'd know where to start. But if you were going to assess how wise that person is, what qualities would you consider?" In this compelling article, Dr. Adam Grant discusses the latest research on determinants of wisdom and some of the outcomes of living a wise life.... posted on Nov 20 2013, 56,446 reads

How to Make Giving Feel Good
"On a fine summer morning in Vancouver, British Columbia, a graduate student approached passersby with a box of envelopes and an unusual request: "Are you willing to be in an experiment?" If people said yes, she asked them how happy they were, got their phone number, and handed them one of her mysterious envelopes. When people opened the envelope, they found a five dollar bill, accompanied by a s... posted on Nov 11 2013, 32,187 reads

The Meanings of Life
Professor Roy Baumeister wonders why parents often say: 'I just want my children to be happy,' rather than: 'I just want my children's lives to be meaningful." Yet we fear meaninglessness, and when we lose a sense of meaning, we get depressed. What is this thing we call meaning, and why might we need it so badly? This thoughtful article shares more.... posted on Nov 08 2013, 49,970 reads

40 Days: The Productivity of Retreat
"When I was a child, I wanted to be a hermit. I can remember in particular a strange background desire I had for some years to live alone in a pine forest. Why a pine forest? I have no real idea. I have never spent much time at all in a real pine forest. But that was where I wanted to be. I could imagine myself dwelling in the dark, dank heart of a pinewood. Life there, I knew, would be more inten... posted on Nov 07 2013, 24,645 reads

The Neuroscience Of Why Gratitude Makes Us Healthier
"Consider this: Negative attitudes are bad for you. And gratitude, it turns out, makes you happier and healthier. If you invest in a way of seeing the world that is mean and frustrated, you're going to get a world that is, well, more mean and frustrating. But if you can find any authentic reason to give thanks, anything that is going right with the world or your life, and put your attention there,... posted on Oct 30 2013, 348,807 reads