I fell in love with my wife while I was studying Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. It may be that these two events occurring simultaneously were a coincidence, but I actually think they are related in a deep way. I was studying things like the importance of positive relationships to health and […]
I often tell my Mom how amazed I am that she was able to successfully raise two boys without the aid of Google. For me, becoming a parent has been rewarding, but by far the most challenging thing I have ever done. There are great moments of love, joy, laughter, pride, and fun. But there […]
Time management is out. Energy management is in. Time is a precious resource (some say the most precious resource we have) and we do feel like we never have enough. But if we look at how people use their time we see that people do have more time than they think (how else do we […]
In a previous article (see “Innovation Lessons from the Idea Factory,”) I wrote about Jon Gertner’s book about the quest for innovation by Bell Labs. Up until the 1980s, Bell Labs was the research and development wing of AT&T and was a huge driver of modern innovation including the transistor, the laser, digital communications and the […]
My new book on The Psychology of Spas & Wellbeing is now available! It is currently available as an e-book in Kindle or PDF versions but I am also looking into a print version in the future. This book evolved out of my capstone thesis project in the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at […]
Have you ever read a book (and religious texts don’t count—that’s too easy) that you can honestly say has changed your life? For me, the one book that has changed my life more than any other is “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (say that three times fast–hint: it’s pronounced “cheek sent […]
If you saw the movie Fight Club, you may remember Brad Pitt as the colorful Tyler Durden, sharing the rules of Fight Club: “The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club.” (The second rule, by the way, is “you DO NOT talk about Fight Club.”) Similarly, the first rule […]
Today’s article contains simple but powerful wisdom from Dr. Lynn Johnson, PhD, author of ENJOY LIFE! Healing with Happiness. For a great introduction to Lynn (and his dog Ruby,) visit his website http://enjoylifebook.com/ and watch the one minute video for a brief lesson on happiness. Homer Simpson once said, “If we aren’t supposed to eat animals, why […]
Today’s article is by Professor Timothy Sharp, the Chief Happiness Officer of The Happiness Institute, in Sydney, Australia, devoted to enhancing happiness in individuals, families and organizations. His work was recently featured on an Australian reality television series entitled, “House of Food Obsessives.” Having spent many years working with people trying to find happiness (and […]
A story that was posted earlier this year on the Wall Street Journal blog, “The Wealth Report,” described a wealthy man who gave away his entire fortune as a means of achieving greater happiness. His feeling was that money and a luxury lifestyle were obstacles to being happy, so he decided he wanted to give everything away. […]
