Last Sunday night, seven women gathered around my television set as a shapely, but taut, body of a drop-dead gorgeous woman filled the screen. “How can she wear that thing and look so good?” one exclaimed. “Black makes you look thinner, but this is ridiculous. She looks half her age, and even acts half her …
Caroline Adams Miller
Caroline Adams Miller
Caroline Adams Miller is a professional coach, author, educator and speaker who specializes in goal-setting, change, happiness and grit. She is the author of six best-selling books, including Creating Your Best Life (Sterling 2009), the first book to connect the science of goal-setting with the science of well-being. Her next book, Authentic Grit, will be published in 2016. Caroline is often featured in national and international media, was the first Positive Psychology expert on satellite radio with her "Positive Tips of the Day" from 2007 to 2009, and was named a Good News Ambassador by the Good News Network in 2012. In 2013 she won the Mentoring Award from the George Washington University Business School, and she often keynotes at conferences and organizations around the world about her personal experiences, and the cutting-edge science of happiness.
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Last week, I had the extraordinary privilege of hearing J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter mega-series, deliver an electrifying commencement speech at Harvard University to a sold-out, standing room only audience of young and adult alike. Although I knew she’d be entertaining, I had no idea how profound Rowling’s talk would be, nor …
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Wrestling For Your Life
Don’t ever let anyone tell you a dream is unreachable. Persistence, stubbornness, passion and heart will fill in the gaps where you need a boost, and you’ll never know how many people you will touch with your spirit, changing their lives as well. Dustin Carter is changing the world, one wrestling match at a time.
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AllAweCoachingCommunicationGoalsGratitudeHabitsHealthLoveMoneyOptimismPathway 1 "Pleasure"Pathway 2 "Engagement / Flow"Pathway 3 "Meaning"Positive FeelingsResilienceSavoring / In-the-MomentSportsStrengthsThree BranchesThree Pathways_1 Positive Experiences_2 Positive Traits_3 Positive Organizations
My Favorite Things: A Variation on Oprah’s List for Positive Psychologists
“Raindrops on roses and Whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and Warm woolen mittens” Julie Andrews sang about them. Oprah has them. And so I now want to do a fun column about “My Favorite Things,” too, to pay homage to some of the things that bring happiness and contentment to my life in the …
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Grandma Had It Right! Positive Psychology And Common Folk Wisdom
My unscientific finding, as I continue to delve into the world of well-being and quality of life research, is that there are countless phrases that I heard from my grandmother and other wise people throughout my life that are now backed up with relevant research. Consequently, I feel much more confident about using them with …
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Why Seeing “The Bucket List” Might Change Your Life & Make You Happy
Imagine this: A corporate billionaire and a working class mechanic have nothing in common until they share a hospital room and realize that they both share a burning desire to spend the time that they do have left to accomplish unfulfilled dreams until they “kick the bucket.”
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Why My Bat Globe Will Give Me a Longer Life (and make me smile, too)
In mid-September, I pulled my trusty bat globe out of the garage and set it up on my front lawn. And like clockwork, the negative comments soon came my way, but it didn’t matter. I knew better. Let me tell you why. Last week at the Gallup Summit on Global Well-Being in Washington, D.C., I …
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How To Be Happy At College — And Beyond! Notes from One Mom to a College Freshman
Not too long ago I deposited my oldest child at college, which was probably more traumatic for me than it was for him. Although there are very normal and healthy separations parents go through, such as the first day of kindergarten, sending a child to college, watching them fall in love and get married, and …
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Last fall, HBO aired a documentary that had good intentions and a terrible outcome. “Thin” was created by filmmaker Lauren Greenfield, whose goal was to show the devastation of eating disorders and the price its sufferers pay in health, well-being and overall quality of life. She succeeded. And that’s the problem.
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Last weekend, I was feeling wonderful, and I was marveling that so many areas of my life were in the place I wanted them to be. My career has had some major recent breakthroughs in long-desired areas, my hobbies have begun to rear their heads more often in my busy life, my friendships are rewarding …
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Happiness and Your License Plate
I’ve become “the license plate lady” to all of my children’s friends, who are now accustomed to riding in a carpool with me and hearing me suddenly yelp as I spot a terrific vanity plate, “Get a picture of that license plate!” Anyone with a good view of my target now knows to zoom in, …
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AllGoalsPathway 2 "Engagement / Flow"_1 Positive Experiences_2 Positive Traits
Is Success a Secret Or Is “The Secret” Just Positive Snake Oil?
It’s hard not to notice the non-stop enthusiasm on television shows and in mainstream media for the phenomenon called, “The Secret,” which purports to tell us what we need to do to get more of what we really want in life, whether it be happiness, money, cars, better health, or any variety of desired outcome. …
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The Gratitude Cruise
I have just arrived back from sharing my work around the connection between Positive Psychology and gratitude with 180 people on the “Ocean of Gratitude Cruise,” which was a fabulous 8-day opportunity to learn, relax, and soak up the kindness and thoughts of others. So many Positive Psychology friends have asked for an update on this event that …
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I began to write this piece right after talking to one of my clients, who has taken countless risks since we started working together last fall, from launching her own photography business in her forties to getting involved in the martial arts and earning her yellow belt. When we first started, she was about to turn forty and was filled with …
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The Energy of Gratitude
Last weekend, I was at a gathering of college friends when one of them mentioned that her daughter had attended an Orthodox Jewish day camp one summer where she’d learned a prayer that had changed her life. Although I don’t know the exact wording, the mom told me that the gist of the daily prayer …
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Caroline Adams Miller, MAPP, PCC is a professional coach, author, educator and speaker who specializes in goal-setting, change, happiness and grit. She is the author of six best-selling books, including Creating Your Best Life (Sterling 2009), the first book to connect the science of goal-setting with the science of well-being. Caroline’s next book, Authentic Grit, …