For most people, whenever possible, important habits should be scheduled for the morning. Mornings tend to unfold in a predictable way, and as the day goes on, more complications arise—
And of course, arriving at one goal usually reveals another, yet more challenging goal. Publishing the first book means it’s time to start the second. There’s another hill to climb. The challenge, the...
Although I’d initially underrated its value, the true significance of the fourth element—the atmosphere of growth—had become clearer to me over time. As William Butler Yeats wrote, Happiness is neithe...
Also, accomplishing small tasks boosts our sense of self-efficacy. The more we trust ourselves to follow through on our own commitments, the more likely we are to believe that we can keep an important...
After someone's death, how strange to see the value drain away from his or her possessions; useful objects such as clothes, or dish towels, or personal papers become little more than trash.
A willingness to be pleased requires modesty and even innocence--easy to deride as mawkish and sentimental.
70 percent of long-term gym memberships are mostly unused, but a dog needs walking every day.
The real key to habits is decision making—or, more accurately, the lack of decision making
There are many compelling reasons to exercise, but study after study shows that weight loss isn’t one of them. The way to lose weight is to change eating habits.
The first and most important habits question is: How does a person respond to an expectation? When we try to form a new habit, we set an expectation for ourselves. Therefore, it’s crucial to understan...
She eagerly meets society’s rules and laws until they conflict with her own inner sense of justice—at which point she rejects them.
Of the Four Tendencies, Obligers struggle most often against the temptations of loopholes. Rebels don’t make excuses to justify doing what they want; Upholders and Questioners feel a greater pressure...
Lack of sleep negatively affects mood, memory, immune function, and pain sensitivity; it makes people more likely to fight with their partners; it contributes to weight gain.
Lack of Control Loophole: Weirdly, we often have an illusion of control over things we can’t control—If I spend a lot of time worrying, the plane is less likely to crash, If I play my lucky numbers, I...
I’ve learned to put great store in my own observations of everyday life, because while laboratory experiments are one way to study human nature, they aren’t the only way.
Instead of contradicting pessimistic or negative statements, acknowledge them. Happiness leeches are often less emphatic when they feel that others recognize their views. • Act the way I want to feel;...
I later changed my passwords to a goal I’ve been working on, or an achievement I want.
Hors d’oeuvres have always a pathetic interest for me.… They remind me of one’s childhood that one goes through, wondering what the next course is going to be like—and during the rest of the menu one...
He that stumbles, and does not quite fall, gains a step.
Habit makes it dangerously easy to become numb to our own existence. For