Lifelong habits aren’t forged by willpower alone — I once believed that forming and maintaining new habits required brute force of willpower. I would berate myself for being weak-willed any time I failed to create a new habit. I would assume that I simply hadn’t tried hard enough. What I didn’t recognize is that there is a repeatable…

Focus on creating the world you want — It’s a challenging time to write about positivity, hope, and personal choice as America is experiencing its darkest period in my lifetime. On the one hand, a pandemic is currently tearing through our country as many people act as if nothing is wrong. …

Teaching others will improve your self-worth and your relationships. — I’ve been a teacher in some form or fashion for most of my life. I tutored other students in high school. I owned a company that helped attorneys explain complex patent technology and business concepts to judges and juries during trials. I trained and mentored my employees. I also oversaw…

Willpower feels real, but it’s a myth — I once believed that I could accomplish anything if I only had enough willpower to take consistent action. Conversely, I thought that a lack of willpower stood between me and my dreams. I didn’t seem to possess enough willpower to make significant changes in my life. Every time I tried…

You must accept difficulty and become an advocate for what you desire — There’s an unsettling truth that most people resist — life is hard. Unsuccessful and unhappy people never accept this fact. Instead, they expect to find a shortcut to obtaining success and happiness and spend their lives looking for it. No such shortcut exists, but that does not mean you must…

Magical thinking may feel good, but it’s unproductive. — Magical thinking is interlaced throughout many conversations in modern society. Disney movies fill young imaginations with notions that dreams do come true by rubbing a magical lamp or discovering the existence of a fairy godmother wielding a magic wand. …

Tracking your accomplishments can rewire your brain and rewrite your story. — I spent the first forty years of my life sabotaging my goals and my mood. I chastised myself any time I procrastinated or failed to make sufficient progress toward my goals. …

Focus on creating meaningful commitments to achieve success naturally. — It is easy to become fixated on results. The results we achieve impact our level of success and can also impact our happiness. But fixating on our results can do us more harm than good. It took me several decades of failed dieting and finally losing 70 pounds to learn…

How to recognize and eliminate complaints from your life — We instinctively dislike complaints, yet we engage in them daily. Complaints feel like an inescapable fact of living in the age of social media. Facebook and Twitter can feel more like complaining platforms than socializing platforms most days. Expressing dissatisfaction has become a part of everyday life for most people…