Spend two minutes each week (more if you prefer) thinking of three things you are grateful for that benefit you and without which your life would be poorer.  Then think about the causes for these good things.
Be creative with your gratitude to avoid habituation.
Positive emotions are associated with greater creativity, increased problem-solving ability, and greater [...]

In these days of spinmeisters and talking heads, figuring out who to pay attention to is a difficult task.
In two recent studies Cameron Anderson and Galvin Kilduff discovered that people who offer suggestions first and most often in a group are generally perceived by that group to be the most competant (regardless of the merit [...]

Donald Heller, the director for the Center for the Study of Higher Education, has been studying college affordability and presented the following slide.

It is obvious this divergence is unsustainable.  On its current path most graduates will effectively become indentured servants.  This leads to two questions.  When will the system change?  And how will it change?
As a [...]

Positive experiences (e.g., going out to dinner) provides greater happiness than material purchases (e.g., clothing).  If we compare a negative experience with a negative material purchase, the results are more mixed on which will have the more deliterious effect on your happiness.
Researchers believe this is because memories

Improve with time as we forget the less pleasant [...]

The latest Case-Shiller monthly Home Price Indices for December came out today.  Home prices have continued to fall.  If we look at housing costs through a variety of metrics we see that we are just starting to get down to the level of previous highs.  To get back to historical average valuations would require another 10% drop and [...]

Here are two additional insights from John Medina’s excellent book “Brain Rules“.
Our attention is given out in 10 minute increments.  When giving a presentation you must hook your audience in the first minute. That means conveying why they should care and a broad outline (or gist) of what you plan to talk about.   A relevant [...]

President Obama has released the Homeowner affordability and stability plan.  Here is a quick guide on who it helps and how.
Refinancing
If you have a loan that is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and your mortgage is for more than 80% and less than 105% of the current home value, you will be allowed [...]

The Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 has waived required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement plans for 2009.  So what does this mean if you are turning 70 1/2 in 2009?
Normally, turning 70 1/2 in 2009 would mean you must take your first RMD by April 1, 2010.  However, since that RMD is [...]

I’m currently reading John Medina’s excellent book “Brain Rules” and I thought I would share some of the golden nuggets I’ve found over a series of posts.
Aerobic exercise is tremendously beneficial to brain function.  Specifically it improves the ability to control oneself (e.g., be politically correct, delay gratification, avoid negative emotional spirals, etc) and improves [...]

People were supplementing their disposible income to the tune of 5% to 9% during the housing bubble.  This means $400 billion to $800 billion of annual spending that occurred from 2002 – 2007 has now been withdrawn from the economy.

Job losses haven’t gotten as bad as the early eighties yet, but it looks like we [...]