What do you want in life? You may think it’s money, or a hot relationship or a better job, but why do you want those things? Because you think if you had them, you’d be even happier. I call this belief the “as soon as” method for finding happiness. You think “As soon as I have more money, or as soon as I lose 10 pounds, or as soon as I find my soul mate, THEN I will be happy.” I have good news and bad news for you. First, the bad news: if you are a member of the “as soon as” approach to finding happiness, you’ll never be happy for long.
But there’s good news. Recent research shows that happiness can be learned, and it doesn’t require that you change anything in your life. In my new book, “Find Happiness Now” I reveal simple ways you can: Continue reading →


One day I called up my friend, Susan, and asked her how she was. She said, “Things are great. Joe and I just got back from another week long vacation.” I realized that, just about every time I talked to Susan, she had recently gone on vacation. I was a bit annoyed and jealous. “How do you take so many vacations?” I asked. Her reply made me even more annoyed, “We simply make it a priority.” I felt a certain amount of self-pity as I shot back, “Boy, I wish my life was set up so I could take so much time off.” In a compassionate, yet direct manner, Susan replied, “You can if it’s important enough to you. Joe and I just decided we’d take eight weeks off each year. There’s a lot of resistance to doing that, but we’re committed to living the life that we want to live.”