I saw this sign posted on Facebook last week and thought, “What an ingenious way of convincing people to engage in kind behavior.” The sign tells customers that the deli is willing to tolerate unkind behavior, but it would be at a cost to the person engaging in that behavior. In other words, “If you…
If we want the world to be a better place, it’s up to us to set the example. We need to live our lives in such a manner that when others think of kindness, caring, fairness and integrity, they think of us. This begins with things that are simple and easy to do like: returning…
I stopped by the meat counter in the grocery store I frequent to get some sliced turkey. As the woman behind the counter sliced the turkey, we had a nice chat about different things. When she handed my order to me, I said, “Make sure you stay nice.” She responded, “No, you stay nice!” She…
Love your life. Take pictures of everything. Tell people you love them. Initiate conversations with people you don’t know. Smile at everyone. Do some things that you’re afraid to do. So many of us die and nobody remembers a thing we did. Take your life and make it amazingly beautiful. Don’t waste it. And don’t…
A study at Brigham Young University, which was reported in the journal PLOS Medicine, found that our personal relationships are among the “short list” of factors that predict our odds of living or dying. The study authored by BYU professors Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Timothy Smith and J. Bradley Layton found that people with adequate social relationships—friends, family,…
Many people fear failure worse than they fear dying. This makes the fear of failure a very powerful obstacle to success because it discourages people from taking the necessary risks to follow their dreams. In reality, death and failure aren’t even remotely related; death is permanent, but failure isn’t, so there is really nothing to fear!…
A study published in the Harvard Business Review found that being likable—making those around you feel good about themselves—is more important to your success than how competent you are. Citing this study and other research, an article in USA Today stated that likable people are favored by their coworkers, have a profound positive influence on customers and are…
Some people look at performing acts of kindness as the expenditure of time and effort to benefit someone else. This is simply not true. The big winner for being kind is you—for several reasons. First, performing acts of kindness makes you happier and the more acts of kindness you perform, the happier you become. Second,…
The interesting thing about happiness is that the harder we pursue it, the more it eludes us. Some people think that if they could just have a certain job, car, house or live in a certain neighborhood, they will be happy. Then, when they get these things, they find they’re still unhappy. As former Supreme…
While nearly everyone has an opinion on what it takes to achieve success, there are very few proven formulas. Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM offers us this one: “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You’re thinking failure is the…