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…

​An article in USA Today written by Nanci Hellmich discussed ways that people could enrich their lives during their retirement years. She said the key is to: “…get out and try new things.” I think her advice is right on, but we don’t have to wait until we retire to take advantage of it. Trying new things…

For the longest time it was thought that people donated to charity or did things to aid the less fortunate because of their unselfish concern for the welfare of others. On the other hand, an article which appeared in The Wall Street Journal concluded that doing things to benefit others falls into the category of being a…

​ A professional golfer told me that the biggest reason most golfers’ scores don’t improve much is that they tend to play with other golfers whose skill levels are roughly the same as theirs. As a result, there’s no one to learn from, so there’s no growth or improvement. The same holds true for other…

​​I grew up in an environment where daydreaming was considered loafing or wasting time. The prevailing logic was simple: If you were daydreaming, you weren’t working. While reading Brian Clark’s blog on the web site Lateral Action, I learned there is sound scientific evidence connecting daydreaming with creativity—people who daydream more are more creative, innovative…