18 Minutes

We’re ten times more likely to take action when choice is limited! It’s easy to become paralyzed when so many choices exist. We can’t decide among them so we end up not choosing. But life goes on, and no choice becomes the de facto choice, and suddenly we look back and feel like our talents have been wasted. We leave the store without buying any ja

presented to me (event), my instinct is to solve it (reaction). On the other hand, what I want most with my wife, Eleanor, is a strong vibrant relationship (outcome). So when she comes to me with a problem, instead of immediately trying to solve it, I ask her what she wants me to do. Listen? Solve? Coach? I am surprised, disappointed even, by the n

So, once you’ve got your categorized list of things to do, take your calendar and schedule those things into time slots, placing the hardest and most important items at the beginning of the day. And by “the beginning of the day,” I mean, if possible, before even checking your email. That will make it most likely that you’ll accomplish what you need

Here’s what I do: After I’ve filled my calendar for the day, I review what’s left on the list. If there are new items I added that day or the previous two days, I leave them on to see if they make it onto my calendar tomorrow. But for everything else—anything that’s been on my calendar for three days—I do one of four things:

When an unsettling event occurs, pause before reacting. In that pause, ask yourself a single question: What is the outcome I want? Then, instead of reacting to the event, react to the outcome. In other words, stop reacting to the past and start reacting to the future. If someone yells at you, pause before yelling back. Then ask yourself what outcom

differences, and pursue your passions, you can be confident that you are spending your time in the right places, doing the right things, no matter the short-term result. That thinking will keep you grounded through your successes and your failures.

Some people already have the first list—a to-do list—though there’s usually too much on it. Very few have the second—the ignore list.

In another study, two groups of drug addicts in withdrawal (can you find a more stressed-out population?) agreed to write an essay. One group was tasked to write the essay sometime before 5 PM on a certain day. The other group also had to write the essay before 5 PM on a certain day but were asked to first decide when and where on that day they wou

“People with mental illness often feel their identity is reduced to being mentally ill. Part of their recovery involves reclaiming other parts of their identity—being a friend, a volunteer, an artist, a dog lover, a student, a worker. It takes an active and bold effort to broaden