The Harvard Study on Adult Development has been going on for nearly 100 years. It started following 268 Harvard University male graduates from the classes of 1939–1944 throughout their entire lives in parallel with 456 men who grew up in low-socioeconomic Boston households. The study has tracked their major life…

What is the essence of what’s most important in life? Of all the ideas and resources I’ve encountered, I think the Harvard Study of Adult Development aka the Harvard Grant Study) has the best distillation. One of the study’s directors—George Vaillant—summarized the findings by saying “The only thing that really…

We revere creativity in our culture. We praise children for having vast imaginations and we reward adults who craft the best art and entertainment. But there is a dark side to creativity. Creativity is essentially the rejection of the truth. Of what is in the world vs. …

This is a partial transcript of this video embedded below. I encourage you to watch the 2-minute video; his performance really brings it to life. I have a mental illness called Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, which, is often associated with anxiety and depression problems. I try to talk about that sometimes because…

The Easterlin Paradox states that at a point in time, happiness varies directly with income—both among and within nations; But over time the long-term growth rates of happiness and income are not significantly related. The principal reason for the contradiction is social comparison. At a point in time, those with…

Mindfulness is a misnomer*. The goal of mindfulness and meditation is to let go of thoughts of the past and the future—to be fully in the present moment, with complete attention on our sensory input. You want to get out of your head and into your body and senses. “Sensefulness”…

Every moment, you make choices in your actions. You are modeling for yourself and others what you consider to be proper, appropriate behavior in your given situation. Likewise, you observe others and their actions. They are modeling to you what they consider to be proper, appropriate behavior in their situation. Never underestimate the power you wield by simply showing up and being authentic. People notice, and it moves them.

In the 60s, the town of Rosteo, Pennsylvania has statistically significantly fewer heart attacks and heart disease than surrounding towns that on their surface looked identical. The odds were against them; they worked difficult blue-collar jobs, ate fatty foods, and even smoked cigars. The one difference: Roseto was founded by recent Italian immigrants, and they embraced their old tight-knit community ways of living life. Evidence from the Roseto Effect is clear—if you have unconditional love and belonging in a tribe, practically every other lifestyle choice you make is a rounding error to your health, happiness, and longevity.

A few years ago, I read this story about Ireland’s citizen assembly, and how an unlikely friendship catalyzed the legalization of same-sex marriage. It moved me to tears both when I originally read it, and when I reread it just now. 🥲 I think the big takeaway is that we all can find common ground when we drop our guarded facade and show up with vulnerable authenticity.