Albert Einstein once said, “I must be willing to give up what I am to become what I will be.” This is the hard part of following our dreams that is seldom talked about. Moving forward through life requires that we let go of the comfortable and familiar that we may have worked extremely hard…
It’s a fact of life; if you follow the crowd, you’ll never be highly successful. On the other hand, the minute you step away from the crowd, you invite criticism—people judge you and make disparaging remarks about your ideas and dreams which can be hurtful. So, how do you deal with such criticism? The answer…
A friend of mine once told me, “If you don’t like the play, step off the stage and rewrite the script.” This wisdom is particularly useful for dealing with bad days. Instead of whining or playing the victim, step back, take a deep breath, and say to yourself, “I’m going to rewrite the rest of…
In an article which appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Melinda Beck referred to a growing body of research which shows that feeling grateful for the good things that happen to us can greatly improve our psychological, emotional and physical health. According to Ms. Beck, “Adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism,…
Many people have a hard time accepting compliments. When you tell one of these people that they look great, they brush off your compliment with something like, “Yeah, right!” Or, “I think you need a new pair of glasses.” Similarly, if you compliment them on something they’ve done, they come back with, “Any idiot could…
Jo Craven McGinty wrote a very fascinating article titled, The Math Behind Successful Marriages, which in The Wall Street Journal. In this article, she discusses the research of psychologist John Gottman, who counselled troubled couples, and Mathematician James Murray, who specialized in modeling biological processes. Both were professors at the University of Washington at the time.…
For a long time, I’ve been talking with someone who is not particularly happy with how he’s doing financially. It turns out that he’s one of those people who is extremely knowledgeable about sports—especially football. On several occasions I have suggested that he start a newsletter or a blog to share his vast knowledge with…
A friend of mine shared a story where he brightened another person’s day without saying a word. “I was driving along a busy street when I stopped for red light. Next to me was a guy on a beautiful shiny new Harley. I gave a quick beep on the horn. When the guy looked at…
Minimalist Joshua Becker asserts in a blog post that for far too many people, the desire to impress others is their major motivator in life. This desire determines the cars they buy, the clothes they wear, the technology the embrace and so forth. He goes on to say that this often proves to be elusive…
Validation reinforces a positive sense of worth in people and makes them feel good about who they are. Furthermore, people who feel good about themselves do good things. One of the ways that we can all help make the world a better place is to serve as an instrument of validation. For example, we can…