Happiness Tips

A new year always brings renewed hope and resolve for making life better, and I read some wonderful articles during January to help make that happen, both personally and professionally. Here are six I especially recommend:

1. 3 Steps to Be Your Best Self in 2016 (Entrepreneur)

It can be overwhelming to make and keep resolutions. But yes, indeed, this article shares three small but powerful strategies that will go far to improving your life. I’m a big believer in taking one day at a time, one step at a time, and these practical strategies reinforce that idea. And, of course, there’s a big mention of one of my other favorite happiness strategies: cultivating gratitude.

2. The Positive Psychology of Job Interviewing (Forbes)

One of…

Category: Happiness Tips

Happy new year! One of my favorite parts of being a Happiness Coach is reading the many interesting and useful articles about happiness that cross my desk every day. I love learning about the latest research, as well as practical strategies and solutions for incorporating happiness and gratitude into our lives. Each month, I choose a handful of the most helpful pieces I’ve recently read to share with you, and I found these great highlights to kick off 2016:

1. How to Turn a Bad Day Around  (Harvard Business Review)

How do you re-start the day when you’ve gotten up on the wrong side of the bed? Or when your day seems to be a series of annoyances? Believe it or not, it is possible! Happiness…

Category: Happiness Tips

Resolved to start 2016 on a happier path? Here’s a fun and easy way: make yourself a Happy Jar!

A Happy Jar is a place you and your family can collect reminders of happy moments throughout the year. Include whatever strikes your fancy—cool things you’ve done or seen, interesting places you’ve gone, fascinating people you’ve met, memorable meals you’ve enjoyed, feats or goals you’ve accomplished, milestones you’ve achieved—you get it. You simply write down your happy moment on a little slip of paper, put it in the jar and that’s all there is to it. Then at the end of the year— or whenever you need a little dose of cheer—you can read the slips and savor some happy memories.

It’s super-easy to make a Happy Jar….

Category: Happiness Tips

Everyone loves an uplifting, inspiring quote! So what were the most popular quotes on the Facebook page from 2015? Let’s count em down!

10. Sometimes there’s no better choice, and many of you agreed.

9. I love this sweet blessing, and it sure got a lot of “amen” comments.

8. Days like these are the best days.

7. Yes, indeed, this resonated with so many people.

6. This wonderful lyric from Carole King’s exhilarating song got a lot of love.

5. It was awesome to hear from so many of you who shared the nice things you do for others.

4. You loved this reminder to seize the day and savor every moment.

3. Like many of you commented, “SOOO much better!”

2. We each hold the power of kindness.

1. This was…

Category: Happiness Tips

A few years ago, our family had a holiday season jam-packed with car travel and a series of festive dinners at nice restaurants. As the mom of four teenagers at that point, I saw the writing on the wall that our time together could easily devolve into everyone staring at their own electronic devices in the car and a crew that was quiet and bored with each other at the dinner table. Sound familiar?

I decided that our family time together was too precious and fleeting to let that happen, so I began to think about what I could do to keep everyone engaged and happy. The afternoon before our second car trip to New York City, I had an epiphany. What if I compiled a bunch of interesting, non-controversial questions that we could…

Category: Happiness Tips

Here’s the million-dollar question during the holiday season: when it comes to kids, how can you make Christmas more about the feeling and less about the stuff?

Well, consider this idea: instead of showering your kids with a pile of this year’s hot clothes, toys, and electronics (which, let’s face it, will probably be collecting dust by the end of the school year), make it a tradition to give your kids the gift of a memorable holiday experience. It’s amazing how much kids value and remember family traditions. Unlike anything else, they’re a source of fun, they strengthen family bonds, and they form a meaningful link to the past. Whether you’re baking cookies, watching a favorite holiday movie, or piling into…

Category: Happiness Tips

Holiday entertaining turn you into the Grinch? Does the idea of traveling during the holidays give you cold sweats? Join the big and popular club of folks who finds that the stress of the holidays can sap them of their happiness. But it doesn’t have to be that way!

This time of year, I’m often asked for helpful solutions to irksome yet common holiday challenges ranging from cooking and eating to shopping and traveling—and, of course, everyone’s favorite: restraining yourself from killing your relatives! I’m happy to share some tips that you can use to make your holiday season a bit happier and hopefully less stressful.

Q: I spend all day in the kitchen preparing for Christmas dinner and can’t enjoy spending time…

Category: Happiness Tips

You can almost smell those chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and Jack Frost will be nipping at your nose any day now. Yes, the holiday season is almost here. It’s supposed to be a happy, joyful time of year! But with all the seasonal events and parties, shopping, wrapping, gift-giving, cooking, planning, decorating, mailing, shipping, grooming and dressing added to your normal daily responsibilities, it’s prime time to get stressed out and run yourself ragged.

So how can you maintain your happiness and sanity—and get the most out of the seasonal festivities? It’s all a matter of time and how you manage it. Just like with budgeting for the holidays which we tackled last week, planning is the key to getting it all done…

Category: Happiness Tips

The approach of the holiday season brings with it the anticipation of a month filled with family togetherness and merry memory making. And yes, more often than not, a heaping helping of stress.

Each year, you probably vow not to repeat the mistakes of holidays past: guilt from overspending, exhaustion from shopping and overbooking, frustration over kids who misbehave or act ungrateful. Each year, you probably promise yourself that this year will be different. And yet…as you’re having a nervous breakdown from hearing “Jingle Bell Rock” for the 94th time, you realize that things always seem to stay the same.

So what can you do to break the cycle of annual holiday stress? The key is to plan ahead and prepare purposefully. If you’ve got game plans in place—for budgeting,…

Category: Happiness Tips

I read tons of articles related to happiness each month, and I thought it would be helpful to select a few of the best to share with you. As you might imagine, gratitude was a recurring theme during November. But there were plenty more interesting and handy pieces as well:

BUSTLE.COM: 7 Daily Happiness Hacks to Improve Your Outlook

Yes, showing gratitude was one of the hacks in this upbeat Bustle piece on cultivating everyday happiness. But I especially loved #1: “Savor An Experience,” and #5: “Give Yourself Small Wins.” It’s so important to celebrate your small accomplishments while moving in a positive direction. Check out all seven happiness boosts and see what resonates with you.

NY TIMES: Choose to Be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier.

When I first came across this New…

Category: Happiness Tips