Emotional Labor: 4 Tips for Sharing the Mental Load
Have you ever felt, much like Jennifer Aniston’s character in The Breakup, that you didn’t just want your partner to do the dishes; you wanted them to want to do the dishes? If so, you …
Health and Happiness
The Hedonic Treadmill and the Insidious Toll of Lifestyle Creep
What do you think of when you picture a treadmill? Most likely, it’s some combination of working hard, going nowhere, feeling miserable, and wanting to be somewhere else. Similarly, the hedonic treadmill is an effect …
Recognizing Optimism Bias: Are You an Irrational Optimist?
Would you believe that the average person expects to live a better-than-average life? The math doesn’t add up, but this skewed perception is quite common. This gap between perception and reality is due to a …
65+ Fun and Healthy Things to Do When Bored
People often find themselves bored and unsure what to do, and they spend so much time trying to decide what to do that they end up running out of time to do something anyway! Well, …
12 Quotes About Optimism From Around the World
One of the most incredible things about world travel is the ongoing discovery of fresh perspectives, ideas, and worldviews. Immersing yourself in a new culture can introduce you to a great diversity of thought. Yet, …
DON’T Make Lemonade: When Life Gives You Lemons, Try These 4 Things Instead
As most Smarter and Harder readers know by now, I’m an optimist. I believe in choosing to see the best possibilities in a situation and committing to making those possibilities into reality. Knowing this, you …
The Art of Letting Go: 5 Ways to Bring Levity and Joy Back to Your Life
The more you look at it, the clearer it becomes how much influence we each have over the shape of our own lives. It may not always feel like it, but a great deal of …
Negative Space: Making More Room For Nothing
Midway through college I found out I had to take a 2D art class to meet a requirement. As an engineering student taking mainly math and technical classes, this made me nervous. It was way …
6 Ways to Develop Your Naturally Generous Spirit
With one of our favorite holidays coming up, my wife and I have had generosity on our minds a lot lately. And just the other day we had a fascinating conversation about the meaning of …
It’s not a Tiger: Conquering Negativity Bias
Last weekend, while visiting a town a few hours away, I got into a pickle with a parking spot. It was a pretty pesky parking pickle, to be honest with you. And thanks to negativity …