People on the failure curve are masters of blame; they blame everyone and everything—the economy, the government, the oil crisis, the weather, their neighbors, the rich, the poor, the young, the old, their kids, their parents, their boss, their coworkers, their employees. Life itself. The inhabitants of the lower curve are life’s victims, the great

People don’t consistently do those simple things for three reasons: 1) while they’re easy to do, they are also easy not to do; 2) you don’t see any results at first; 3) they seem insignificant, like they don’t matter. But they do.

will look like the lower half of the graph. The upper curve is the formula for success: a few simple disciplines, repeated every day. The lower curve is the formula for failure: a few simple errors in judgment, repeated every day.

accomplishment … and success recedes ever further from your grasp. Can you guess why? That’s right: it’s the slight edge—working against you. Before you know it, life has become heavy. Welcome to the 95 percent. And as always, all you need to do is turn over the coin to find the good news here: it is just as easy to step back into the habit of

The first step to increasing your happiness is to understand what positive psychology research has been telling us for the past fifteen years: the most significant factors in your day-to-day, moment-to-moment level of happiness are not circumstantial. They’re not heredity. They’re not dictated by your genes or caused by outside events. The most

He showed the audience a map showing incidence of atherosclerotic disease, county by county, throughout the northeastern United States, as reported by the CDC. Then he put up on the screen a second map, right next to the first, this one showing the incidence of atherosclerotic disease, county by county, throughout the northeastern United

Growing up, I always had the perception that anything was attainable, as long as I was consistent about working on it every day.

Cultivating positive outlook does not mean you are always happy. It does not mean life never gets you down. It does not mean you walk around with an idiotic grin on your face even when you’re hurting, and it doesn’t mean living in denial, ignoring the realities of pain and struggle, or checking your brain at the door. People who cultivate a

You have probably heard the famous quote from anthropologist Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.” It’s a wonderful insight. But knowing the slight edge lets us take her statement one step further: never doubt that a single thoughtful, committed person can change the world. Because