Success

Puppy dreaming in garden

Science confirms what smart kids knew already: daydreaming makes you intelligent and efficient. Daydreaming can also lead to better life satisfaction, relationships and creativity . Want to help your child release stress and be happy, confident and communicating? Join us on January 31 for my new More than Grades Masterclass.

10 Reasons to Stop Blaming Parents Blaming parents is a favorite mind game — and not just with teens. The media and other professionals often find it fun to blame parents for everything that they think is “wrong” with the younger generation. As the fall semester comes to a close, here are my Top 10 […]

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we pay attention — and how we often miss what’s best in our kids because we have our attention trained on what we think they should be doing. Now don’t start blaming yourself… our whole approach to education teaches us to believe our kids should be other than […]

What do you think is the most common mistake even smart women (and men) make that leaves them struggling with stress and worry about their futures… or their child’s? What did you come up with? I’d love to hear your thoughts: share them on Facebook and see below for the single biggest mistake I see […]

Book Cover Photo

What would you guess are the four strengths found in people with the highest life satisfaction?  One is enthusiasm, according to research by Chris Peterson and Marty Seligman, and colleagues. This was inspiring news to me because “Enthusiasm Makes the Difference” is the book I read at 17 that sparked my lifelong passion for positive psychology.  With all the hype and stress about […]

Photo of teddy bear and quote "You don't have to do anything to be adored. You only have to be."

Yesterday, we talked about the fact that most people strive to get others to love them. Happier people know it feels even better to give love than to receive — for them, every day can be a Valentine’s Day. Love Week is all about finding reasons to flow love to others — even if you […]

Photo of a basketball and quote about being who you are.

Today is Day 2 of my Love Week — a week of finding reasons to flow even more love… When I asked entrepreneur Mark Sellew what he believes led to his success in growing his company over the past 32 years, he said, “You’ve got to love your customers. You’ve got to love your products. […]

Image for "You control what you think"

There are times when it doesn’t feel as if I have control of my thoughts– it’s more like my thoughts are the inmates running the asylum. That’s when I remind myself that the only thing that imprisons us is our own thinking. And when I remember that I control what matters most — my own […]

Photo of wrought iron fence with heart shape between posts

“I am optimistic about some things in my life, but you also have to be realistic,” writes an astute reader in response to Saturday’s Love Notes.  This belief in a trade-off between being optimistic and being realistic is something I hear often. In the “real” world of investments, most are aware of the psychological factors […]

Now, it seems that “how to be happier” is everywhere. And here’s the irony: it dawned on me today that now when I read about happiness, I sometimes think, “Am I happy enough? Are my kids happy enough? Are my clients happy enough? Am I doing enough of the right things to make us as happy as we should be?”

Suddenly, I get it. I see why people can feel worse when they see and hear all this happy talk. [Click title to read full post].