The film, Inception, explores the phenomenon of ideas. Where do they start? How are they influenced? Can we extract ideas from each other, and when we do, to whom do they belong? Can we cause others to incept (take in) ideas by influencing them to think what we want them to think? The film shows how these powers can be used for good as well as evil.

Research shows we are more likely to sustain positive change by changing actions and patterns than by improving external circumstances. But that assumes we do them. Stephen Schueller is the first researcher to develop a structure for recommending positive interventions based on a person’s preferences for prior interventions.

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Last month I talked about How Physical Activity Enhances Productivity. To give the flip side of the coin, this month I’ll address the top 5 ways that inactivity increases …

Aristotle claimed that a virtue or strength is developed through action: “Brave people became brave by doing brave things.” He said there were six states of character development: brutishness, self-indulgence, weakness of will or caving into temptation, strength of will or mastering temptation, character excellence, and heroic excellence.

What would you think if your top character strength were Humility and Modesty? A friend found it rather deflating. However, we found that she had a great knack for taking herself out of the middle of the picture and focusing on the needs of others. Suddenly humility snapped into place as a valuable quality that fit. That made me curious. What is humility? Where does it come from? Who has it? When and why is it valuable? How can we build it in ourselves?

540 words.  Reading time: less than 90 seconds.
Do you feel powerless when it comes to implementing healthier food habits? A lot of people spend energy trying to resist the appeal of their favorite treats, …

As a wellness consultant, one of the questions I get most often is “Wow! I love what you do! This is so important, and so needed in today’s world!  What kind of …

This academic year, I met a student who I will call James.  He is one of several high school and college student clients that were referred to me with new diagnoses of attention deficit disorder …

When my daughter, Lauren, chose her college, she picked-up on an aspect that didn’t jump out at me. I guess I was the only one surprised at how that played-out four years later and it made me curious: how does a college foster a service culture that stands out to a high school student?

On an apparently meaningless bus drive home, Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany: “I am not as happy as I could be.” She also realized that the problem might not be the conditions of her life, per se, but with how she lived and perceived it. She wondered if she could change her life without actually changing her life, and made a year-long commitment to work on improving her happiness.