Daniel Kahneman gives a great TED talk helping people understand there is a difference between “in the moment” happiness and the happiness of your memory of the moment and you cannot optimize them both.  He goes on to say that people more often try to optimize their memory happiness (would you go on a vacation where [...]

Dan Pink gives an excellent TED talk about what does and doesn’t work with respect to motivating people to higher performance.  It turns out that while traditional incentives (e.g., money) improve people’s performance on mundane well understood tasks, traditional incentives actually reduce performance for tasks that require creativity. So what incentives improve people’s performance in creative [...]

I was reading some Adam Smith and came across the following and was struck by the timelessness and relevance of his insights.  It is worth your while to work your way through the dense prose (typos and formatting is mine, words are Adam Smith’s).  With all the negativity that swirls around us in these chaotic [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

New psychological study shows that abstract thinking feeds procrastination while concrete thinking helps get things done.  You know that exercise routine you’ve been talking about starting up in January? Well, forget about how virtuous it is, or how healthy, or how it might boost your confidence. Instead, think about putting on your sneakers and tying [...]

A foresight report provides the following (somewhat commensense) tips on how to stay alert, prevent senility and have a fulfilling life. Connect Be Active Be Curious Learn Give Avoid significant debt Additional Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/23/healthandwellbeing

People are increasingly making use of life coaches to help them align their lives with their values.  Here are two sites that focus on helping people transition to their next stage in life. What’s Next in Your Life My Next Phase