One of the early researchers in the field of positive psychology, Chris Peterson, was asked to sum up positive psychology (the scientific study of what makes life worth living) in two words or less. What do you think his answer was? A) "Housebroken pets." B) "Red wine." C) "Other people." I know, I know. It...

Summer! It’s arriving this Thursday, June 20, 2024, at 4:51pm EST, and like life, it’ll slip ‘n slide away from us unless we stop for a hot sec and figure out how to make these 94 days matter. Let’s do a quick temperature check. Where are you on the Summerlicious Heat-o-Meter? Regardless of where you...

Where do you fall on the Life Bullshitometer? Is there a dream or plan or notion you find yourself talking about ... fairly often ... and then promptly doing absolutely nothing about? You’re not alone. Here’s an assortment of examples: “I’m going to go back to school to finish my degree someday.” “I’m going to...

Remember my article from a few weeks ago about enjoying vs. saving “the good stuff” in life for special occasions? (If you don’t recall it, it’s probably because you were engrossed in my shiny new book—right?! I respect you for putting the rest of your life on hold until the very last page.) Okay but...

Who doesn’t love a good gimmick? Especially when a gimmick involves taking a photo of yourself, letting technology do mysterious/ sinister things in the bowels of an app, and TURNING YOU INTO AN OLD BAG. Check it out! Why sunscreen might be a good idea?   I’d like to introduce you to moi, at the...

Gather ‘round the flame, boys and girls! It’s excerpt time! This is a wee snippet from my brand-spanking-new book called You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets. (I promise I’m not just being lazy and shirking the task of writing an article this week; I love writing this...

It’s time for another installment of Personal Interrogation Reflection: multiple choice format! Take a shot of vodka truth serum and answer the following three questions: Question 1: How often do you use your “good” meal stuff (like the bone China, the fancy glasses, whatever precious stuff you put on your wedding registry, or anything you’ve...

Fair warning: I am feeling very exclamation-pointy today!! THERE IS A LOT OF EXCITEMENT GOING ON OVER HERE AND ALL-CAPS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS SURE DO CAPTURE THE FERVOR OF EMOTION, DON’T THEY?!! Except all-caps are too screamy for my conflict-avoidant sensibilities, so for now we’ll just stick with the exclamation points!! Okay even I am...

YOU: "What, what? WTF is a Life Review?" ME: "I love how inquisitive you are!" A life review exercise, which involves revisiting and evaluating your life experiences, can be a profoundly meaningful and therapeutic endeavor. (Look here for my article on this in Psychology Today, and a fabulous article in The New York Times about...

Brownies make our 4,000-ish Mondays on the planet better. There, I said it. I mention these brownies 12 times in my book, You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets, so that's like every 29 pages. (Now that I think about it, that's just not frequent enough. It should...

Don’t you love it when you run into people (almost) as crazy as you? Crazy in the same crazy ways? I love it when I come across folks as interested in this mortality mentality as I am ... and the good news is that there are a lot of us out there. (Necrophiliac? You can...

You play the “Will We Ever” game with your significant other too, right? Or the single version—the “Will I Ever” game? After watching season two of White Lotus: “Will we ever visit Sicily?” Flipping through the pages of Bon Appétit magazine: “Will I ever go to the trouble of soaking lentils? Instead of just buying...