HomeEvery room should include something purpleKeep pens, a notepad, and a pair of scissors in every roomWrite down anything I need to rememberIf something’s important to me, I should reserve time for...
From my observation, habits in four areas do most to boost feelings of self-control, and in this way strengthen the Foundation of all our habits. We do well to begin by tackling the habits that help u...
Exercise for sanity not vanity.
But it doesn’t matter what we think a person (or ourselves) should be able to do—what matters is only what works for each individual. To help people change their habits or behavior, we should help get...
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...
The Strategy of Pairing, I couple two activities, one that I need or want to do, and one that I don’t particularly want to do, to get myself to accomplish them both. It’s not a reward, it’s not a trea...
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...
Happiness is not having less; happiness is not having more; happiness is wanting what I have.
Eliminating clutter would cut down the amount of housework in the average home by 40 percent.
Discouraging as he’d been, hadn’t actually hit on my real worry about my project: Was it supremely self-centered to spend so much effort on my own happiness?
A stumble may be helpful, because it shows me where I need to concentrate my efforts in order to do better next time.
You can choose what you do; you can’t choose what you like to do.
William Butler Yeats. Happiness, wrote Yeats, is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that, but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing.
When we distract ourselves, we purposefully redirect our thoughts, and by doing so, we change our experience. Distraction can help us resist temptation, minimize stress, feel refreshed, and tolerate p...
When the Schiphol Airport put the image of a housefly above the drains of urinals, men began to aim at it—a change that reduced spillage rates by 80 percent. Gamification is used in the design of devi...
When scheduling a new habit, it helps to tie it to an existing habit, such as after breakfast, or to an external cue, such as when my alarm rings, because without such a trigger, it’s easy to forget t...
When scheduling a new habit, it helps to tie it to an existing habit, such as after breakfast, or to an external cue, such as when my alarm rings,
When life was taking its ordinary course, it was hard to remember what really mattered.