1: Ready for an interesting fact about games?

When we play them, we almost never feel hopeless.

“It’s true,” Jane McGonigal writes in her book SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully.

“Psychologists have studied the top emotions during game play, and genuine anxiety and pessimism are extremely rare,” Jane notes. “Even when we’re losing or struggling, we’re vastly more likely to feel determined and optimistic than panicked or powerless.”… continue reading

1: “Our conversations started out funny and just got funnier,” Diane Button writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.

Diane and Franck Battelli, both end-of-life doulas, were meeting with Greg, 53, who was dying from ALS.

Before proceeding, Greg wanted to make sure it would be a good fit.

“He let us know in a very serious tone of voice that … continue reading

1: Randall was frustrated.

“Everyone wants to know how I’m doing, if I’m sleeping, and what treatments I’m having,”  Diane Button writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.

“Don’t they understand this is the this is the last think in the world I want to talk about?” Randall said.

“I want to talk about life, and love, and how everyone is … continue reading

1: The global wellness economy is $4.4 trillion.

Wowza.

“With each new fitness gadget promising perfect abs and each new miracle health food promising youthful vigor, we are forced into a silent battle against the overwhelmingly strong and savvy energy of the world’s best marketers,” Sahil Bloom writes in his book The 5 Types of Wealth.

“Their jobs depend on convincing us that we need all of it to … continue reading

1: In her book Imaginable, New York Times bestselling author Jane McGonigal takes her readers through what she calls “futures thinking” that “inspires us to take actions today that set us up for future happiness and success.”

The guided exercise has us imagine our future self in great detail.

Imagine that it is our 80th birthday… 

“What are we wearing? Where are we? What’s around us? Who is around … continue reading

1: Diane Button had been living in Nashville for only a year when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“Whether it was divine providence or sheer luck, during a time when our family truly needed help,” Diane writes in her book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living, “people showed up from almost everywhere.”

One afternoon, while recovering from surgery and starting chemotherapy, Diane heard … continue reading

1: “In an early 2000s study on the impact of meditation,”  Sahil Bloom writes in his book The 5 Types of Wealth, “psychologist Richard Davidson asked Matthieu Ricard to meditate while covered in sensors and wires.”

Matthieu had earned his PhD in cellular genetics before leaving academia to become a Buddhist monk in India.

“Along the way,” Sahil notes, “he worked as a French interpreter for the Dalai Lama… continue reading

1: “Fortune favors the curious,” Sahil Bloom writes in his book The 5 Types of Wealth.

As it turns out, curiosity is an actual “Fountain of Youth.”

Yesterday, we looked at how curiosity makes us healthier as we age—both mentally and physically.  

The bad news? “Unfortunately, that raw childhood curiosity we’re born with slowly atrophies throughout our adult lives,” Sahil writes.

We begin our lives brimming with curiosity. … continue reading

1: “It’s always the same list,” Oliver Burkeman writes in Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts.

How to live a fulfilling life. It’s always the same list.

“Nurture our relationships, pursue challenging goals, spend time in nature, and make room for fun,” Oliver notes.

But we knew that already.  

“If following a list was all it took, we’d have solved … continue reading

1: Researchers at Harvard and MIT analyzed the moods and behaviors of 28,000 smartphone users.

What did they learn?

“When people felt down,” Rachel Barr writes in How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend, “they tended to seek out activities that promised instant gratification, like watching TV or drinking wine.”

When the participants were in a good mood, however, “they leaned toward more productive activities,” Rachel notes, “that … continue reading