Have you ever made one of the following decisions? Smoked a cigarette. Drank too much. Ate too much. Ate things that were bad for you. Neglected working out. Had unsafe sex. Drove a car without a seatbelt. Drove a car after drinking. Drove a car faster than the speed limit. Used an illegal drug. If [...]
One aspect of the emergence of positive psychology and the trendiness of happiness has been to see businesses incorporating happiness into their business models. Zappos’ business is based on “Delivering Happiness,” Huggies has it’s “be happy” campaign and Coca-Cola’s “Open Happiness” video commercials have been hugely successful. At least in the case of Coca-Cola, their [...]
Photo Credit: Tambako the Jaguar via Compfightcc Long-time loyal readers of this blog will be aware that I take a month off of eating meat every year. I do this for three reasons: 1) I think it’s healthier not to eat meat. 2) I think it’s better for the planet. And 3) I think it’s [...]
Photo Credit: Chad McDonald via Compfight The headquarters of my company (Starwood Hotels and Resorts) recently relocated to a beautiful part of Stamford, Connecticut. Our new offices happen to be located adjacent to a cemetery, where I sometimes go running on my lunch break. I’m not sure what the etiquette is of running through a [...]
This article was featured on Positive Psychology News Daily. Consider these scenarios from Barry Schwartz’s book, Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing: 1. A judge is forced to sentence a first-time offender to five years in prison, even though her judgment tells her that the punishment is not justified by the crime. [...]
Photo Credit: a n i. Y. via Compfight April is “Stress Awareness Month” as sponsored by the “Health Resource Network” and April 16th specifically (the day after Tax Day) is “National Stress Awareness Day” in the United States. When I first heard about these “holidays,” I thought it was pretty ridiculous. I think it’s safe [...]
Photo Credit: Carolyn Sewell via Compfight This is the way we have learned to talk about ourselves: “I want to quit smoking, but I can’t.” “I want to stop fighting with my kids every day, but they won’t let me.” “If only she would go out with me, then I will be happy.” “If only [...]
Photo Credit: Hartwig HKD via Compfight Some of those who work in positive psychology were surprised by a recent research study by Roy Baumeister showing that stress and anxiety was linked to less happiness but more meaningfulness in life. Why would a meaningful life be more stressful and less happy? Aren’t we always reading about [...]
Photo Credit: Justin Balog via Compfight It is sad when a hero falls from grace. And the higher up on the pedestal we place them, the harder it is when they fall. For me, Lance Armstrong was about as high up as you could get. He had an incredible work ethic, superhuman accomplishments, amazing charitable [...]
Photo Credit: Scott Ableman via Compfight Last week, I talked about the “positive flip”: the idea of taking an area where a negativity bias may be narrowing our perspective and considering it from a more positive vantage point. Today’s article is about how to apply this in the real world. First of all, there is [...]
