Jan Stanley

We can leverage the power of routines by personalizing them to meet our needs and to match our goals. Using a design thinking mindset, three elements to consider when crafting a routine are habits, practices, and rituals.

A new year is here! With the turn of the calendar page comes a fresh start and a new hope for achieving our dreams. Yet each year only about eight percent of us successfully follow through with our New Year’s resolutions. With the odds apparently stacked against us, why not change it up? This year, instead of a resolution, try a New Year’s routine.

How can we follow Neil’s lead in living our lives? One way is by going after our dreams, as he certainly did. As we accomplish good things, we can savor and highlight them in a well written résumé. But we should also remember that we are more than our résumés. How we move through our lives is the larger story about us. Carry on with today’s priorities and, like Neil and the story of one ripe fig, find ways to let your most virtuous self shine through as you do.

Now I turn my attention to the practice side of the International Symposium on Contemplative Studies. Here’s a practice that I experienced at the conference and how it affected my well-being. I include step-by-step instructions for trying it out at home.

Of the 470 presenters at ISCS, none had a message more compelling than that of Tania Singer, a social neuroscientist from The Max Planck Institute. Singer seems vitally alive as she presents her work, a scientist who has clearly found her calling and is excited to share her findings. She is also studying a neglected type of motivation, Affiliation Motivation. Like many others there, she is embarked on the quest described by the Dalai Lama in the closing speech, “How can we take knowledge from science and apply it in the service of humanity?”

The Mind & Life International Symposium on Contemplative Studies was a beautiful mix of opportunities to learn about the scientific study of contemplative practices and to experience the practices themselves. In this first article on the conference, I explore why this area of study is booming and why it matters that aging brains are more plastic than once thought.

Living authentically comes naturally to those with the signature strength of Integrity, Honesty, and Authenticity. For others, more thought and action may be required to ramp up authenticity levels. Here are three evidence-driven approaches to consider, along with three ways authenticity benefit us in addition to increasing well-being.

When temperatures drop with the coming of autumn, I love wrapping up in my most comfortably warm wool sweaters. A favorite is my fine gauge taupe cardigan with the gold buttons. It looks, smells and feels like genuine wool down to its smallest visible fibers. What can we say about ourselves that is true in every fiber of our being?

The American Psychological Association’s 2013 Work and Well-Being Conference in Chicago made me wonder. What if there was a way to tip the scales from workplaces being primary sources of stress to workplaces providing knowledge and skills to overcome life stressors, whether the stressors originate in the workplace or elsewhere?

Jan brings all her experience to her current private practice and passion, leading others in the art of living well through the creation of habits, practices, and rituals of well-being.