I’ve been haunted for years by a public service poster I saw just one time, in the subway. It was a photo of a Chinese food take-out container sitting on top of two videos. The caption read, If this i...
It’s easy to assume that we should undertake a particular clutter-clearing task. When we’re very clear about why we’re doing it, it’s easier to use our time and energy productively—and also to recogni...
It’s a Secret of Adulthood: I give myself limits to give myself freedom.
It’s a Secret of Adulthood: I can’t make people change, but when I change, others may change; and when others change, I may change.
It is only when you meet someone of a different culture from yourself that you begin to realise what your own beliefs really are. —GEORGE ORWELL, The Road to Wigan Pier
In many ways, the happiness of having children falls into the kind of happiness that could be called fog happiness. Fog is elusive. Fog surrounds you and transforms the atmosphere, but when you try to...
However, if you want to know how people would like to be treated, it's more helpful to look at how they themselves act than what they say.
Epicurus agreed, albeit in slightly more poetic phraseology: Of all the things that wisdom provides for living one's entire life in happiness, the greatest by far is the possession of friendship.
Elias Canetti observed, One lives in the naïve notion that later there will be more room than in the entire past.
At the heart of this home is my family; where my family is, is home. If I lived by myself, home would be the place peopled with reminders of everyone I loved. My home is a place of unconditional belon...
Arranging to Fail Loophole: It’s odd. Instead of fleeing temptation, we often plan to succumb.
Although people sometimes assume that the happy are self-absorbed and complacent, just the opposite is true. In general, happiness doesn't make people want to drink daiquiris on the beach; it makes th...
A habit requires no decision from me, because I’ve already decided.
Perhaps the most acute source of happiness from writing was the happiness of expressing a very complicated idea–the kind of idea that takes hundreds of pages to capture.
Severity that does not tend to increase good, or prevent evil, is idle.
Intentions, also known as action triggers or if-then planning. If ________ happens, then I will do _______. With if-then planning, we try to plan for every habit challenge that might arise, so we don’...
Happiness, genetics accounts for about 50 percent; life circumstances, such as age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, income, health, occupation, and religious affiliation, account for about 10 to 20...
Working is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination.
When we try to form a new habit, we set an expectation for ourselves. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand how we respond to expectations.
What am I waiting for? What would I do if I weren’t scared? What steps would make things easier? What would I do if I had all the time and money in the world? If I were looking back at...