Category: Lifestyle

Gabriele Sewtz, a real estate agent from Brooklyn with a data-driven mindset and a simple breakfast preference for oatmeal, never considered herself someone drawn to wellness retreats. Her perception changed dramatically when she entered menopause and found herself exploring a ranch near Austin, Texas, where she tried sound baths, cold plunges, and breathwork—and ended up loving the experience.

Sewtz is part of a growing trend of women seeking resorts and hotels that offer specialized programs for menopause. Reflecting on her transformative retreat experience, she admitted, “If you had told me upfront how life-changing that (retreat) would be, I’m like, ‘Yeah, right. Not going to happen in a million years. Others might experience it, but definitely not me.’”

Menopause brings about significant physical, emotional, and psychological changes, which vary from one woman to another. As the wellness industry evolves, it has started to address the needs of women undergoing perimenopause and menopause. An increasing number of supplements, skincare brands, and nutrition programs target this demographic, with some women finding comfort in spas or hotels rather than traditional medical settings. “It always starts, I think, as a personal journey,” Sewtz noted.

Dr. Barbra Hanna, an ob-gyn based in Chicago and founder of MyMenopauseRX, a telehealth service specializing in menopause care, described the current focus on menopause as “having a moment.” She emphasized the importance of self-care, particularly since many women dealing with menopause symptoms also face additional life stressors, such as raising children, managing careers, or caring for elderly family members. While she views spas as excellent places for relaxation, she believes they may not be the best environment for medical care.

Dr. Naresh Perembuduri, an Ayurvedic doctor at the prestigious Ananda resort in the Himalayas—endorsed by celebrities like Uma Thurman and Oprah—expressed the view that menopause treatment should encompass more than just addressing the symptoms. “It is not simply the menopause we want to address. Before the menopause, they need to prepare themselves for a proper hormonal balance,” Perembuduri explained. Therefore, Ananda offers a “hormonal rebalance” program rather than a specific menopause-focused one.

Ananda’s 14-day program includes customized meal plans, exercise routines, and hormone testing, starting at $1,000 per night. However, the high cost and ongoing social stigma around menopause might deter some women from participating. With 51% of the world’s population being female, the symptoms of menopause—such as joint pain, hot flashes, mood swings, weight changes, and discomfort during sex—differ widely, complicating treatment approaches.

For those already inclined toward wellness travel, menopause symptoms can be an added incentive to visit a spa or retreat. Actress Josie Bissett, who had previously attended other wellness programs, chose Costa Rica’s The Retreat for a program specifically addressing menopausal changes. She told CNN that her experience with the seven-day “The Big M” program was so fulfilling that she extended her stay. “It was one of the most beautiful places and experiences I’ve ever had,” Bissett said. “There’s no manicures or pedicures. It’s not that place. This is a place to heal, to be nurtured.”

Sewtz’s retreat, organized by fitness influencer Hannah Eden, was designed for group participation. In contrast, Bissett preferred solitude. “I really needed time to myself,” she explained. “I wanted to take away from myself that feeling of, like, I should talk to people, I should be social, I should… No shoulds. You take care of you. You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do. You’re here for you. You don’t have to be friends with anybody.”

Despite the appeal of alternative therapies, some medical professionals advise caution. Dr. Hanna warns that treatments claiming to offer medical miracles beyond simple stress relief should be approached with skepticism. “If they want to offer you a lot of blood-testing, saliva-testing, fingerprints, all of these things, that is not evidence-based, that is not how we treat menopause. That’s red flag number one,” she said.

Hanna also cautions that while menopause-focused wellness businesses are capitalizing on this growing market, “A massage is a massage, a facial is a facial. There’s no extra lotions and potions that are going to be transformative for you because of perimenopause or menopause, at least not today.” However, she remains hopeful about future advancements, noting, “I don’t think menopause is going out of fashion. I think menopause is just getting started,” especially with increased funding for menopause research in the coming years.

Expats in Denmark are reportedly among the happiest in their work lives, as revealed by the latest Expat Insider survey from InterNations, an online global community for expatriates. Denmark leads the list for job satisfaction, career opportunities, and work-life balance.

The survey collected responses from over 12,500 expatriates, reflecting their sentiments on four major categories related to work, including career prospects, salary and job security, work culture and satisfaction, and work and leisure. Denmark topped the rankings for work culture and satisfaction, as well as work and leisure.

A notable 84% of expats in Denmark expressed satisfaction with their work-life balance, compared to the global average of 60%. Similarly, a high percentage of expats are content with their work hours, averaging 39.2 hours per week versus the global average of 42.5 hours.

The top 10 countries where expats are happiest with their work lives abroad are as follows:

1. Denmark
2. Saudi Arabia
3. Belgium
4. Netherlands
5. Luxembourg
6. United Arab Emirates
7. Australia
8. Mexico
9. Indonesia
10. Austria

Ilana Buhl, a contributor to CNBC Make It and an American teacher who relocated to Denmark, highlights several positive changes she experienced after moving from Texas to Copenhagen. These changes include shorter workweeks, stronger boundaries around off-hours, five weeks of paid vacation, and a higher salary that aligns well with the lower cost of living. Beyond work, Buhl appreciates Denmark’s robust public transit, public healthcare, affordable daycare, and generous maternity leave funded by both her employer and the government. “Many of these factors contribute to the fact that Denmark consistently ranks as one of the happiest countries in the world,” Buhl notes, referencing the annual World Happiness Report.

Saudi Arabia ranks second, with 75% of expats reporting improved career prospects after moving there, compared to the global average of 56%. A majority of newcomers, 63%, relocate to Saudi Arabia for work, where they find satisfaction with the local economy. In contrast, only 35% of expats globally cite job-related reasons for their move. However, the long working hours in Saudi Arabia, averaging 47.8 hours per week, may be a downside.

Belgium completes the top three, with expats highly satisfied with job security, the local job market, and career opportunities. In Belgium, 68% of expats report enjoying workplace flexibility, including the ability to work remotely. The average full-time workweek in Belgium is 40.8 hours, shorter than the global average.

Panama is recognized as the No. 1 best country for expats overall according to the InterNations survey. This ranking considers broader life and financial factors, with expats expressing satisfaction with the quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad, personal finances, and an “expat essentials” index that covers housing, administration, language, and digital life.

Denmark stands out as the top destination for expats seeking a fulfilling work life, with its strong work culture, satisfactory work-life balance, and numerous benefits outside of work. Saudi Arabia and Belgium also offer significant advantages for expatriates, despite some challenges like longer working hours in Saudi Arabia. Overall, these countries provide a supportive environment for career growth and job satisfaction.

An international study has revealed that nearly one in six adolescents have encountered cyberbullying, with an increase in such incidents among school-aged children since the onset of the pandemic, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO). Conducted across 44 countries and regions, the study involved over 279,000 young participants. In Wales, where approximately 37,000 youths were surveyed, 17% reported being victims of cyberbullying. The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey indicates a rise in the proportion of adolescents experiencing cyberbullying since 2018, with figures climbing from 12% to 15% for boys and from 13% to 16% for girls.

England and Scotland also witnessed alarming rates of cyberbullying among their youth. In England, out of over 4,200 respondents, nearly one in five (19%) disclosed being cyberbullied at least once or twice in recent months, with 11% admitting to perpetrating cyberbullying themselves. Similarly, in Scotland, where more than 4,300 young individuals participated, 18% reported experiencing cyberbullying, while 11% acknowledged engaging in cyberbullying behavior.

The report underscores an “urgent need” to enhance awareness among young people, families, and educational institutions regarding the various forms of cyberbullying and its consequences. Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, emphasized the heightened prevalence of cyberbullying amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, as social interactions shifted predominantly online during lockdowns. He stressed the imperative of addressing virtual forms of peer violence to safeguard the health and well-being of adolescents and young individuals. With youths spending significant amounts of time online daily, even minor fluctuations in bullying rates can significantly impact their overall health and well-being, warranting comprehensive action to combat cyberbullying as both a health and human rights concern.

Sarah Hannafin, a senior policy adviser for the NAHT school leaders’ union, expressed deep concern over the escalating rates of cyberbullying among children. She highlighted the pervasive nature of online bullying, which can occur anytime and anywhere, underscoring that schools alone cannot tackle the issue. Hannafin urged swift and effective implementation of the Online Safety Act by the government, emphasizing the crucial role of social media platforms in providing a safe online environment.

Responding to these concerns, a spokesperson for the UK government reiterated their commitment to making the UK the safest place for children online through the Online Safety Act. The act mandates companies to take decisive measures to protect children from harmful content, illegal activities, and abuse, including cyberbullying. Non-compliant companies risk facing fines of up to 10% of their global annual revenue, potentially amounting to billions of pounds.

Finland has once again secured the top position on the annual ranking of the happiest countries globally, marking its seventh consecutive year in this esteemed spot. The ranking, curated by the World Happiness Report, is determined by factors such as self-assessed life evaluations and responses to the Cantril ladder question, which prompts individuals to rate their current lives on a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 representing the best possible life for them.

The report, compiled by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, assesses over 130 countries, taking into account variables such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and freedom from corruption. While the top ten countries have remained relatively stable, the top 20 witnessed some changes, with Costa Rica and Kuwait ascending to the 12th and 13th positions, respectively, while the United States and Germany dropped out of the top 20 entirely, with the U.S. sliding from 15th to 23rd place this year.

Among the top ten happiest nations, only the Netherlands and Australia boast populations exceeding 15 million, while in the top 20, only Canada and the U.K. surpass 30 million inhabitants.

Finnland maintains its lead as the happiest country globally, scoring 7.741. Frank Martela, a Finnish philosopher and psychology researcher, attributes the nation’s happiness to its strong sense of community, altruistic behaviors, and individuals finding a clear purpose for themselves. Martela suggests that it might be more precise to say that Finland harbors the fewest unhappy individuals worldwide.

Finnland’s excellence extends beyond happiness rankings, as evidenced by its performance in education, work-life balance, environmental quality, social connections, safety, and life satisfaction, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Better Life Index. The country also boasts a life expectancy at birth of approximately 82 years, with women outliving men by an average of six years. Moreover, 96% of Finns believe they have someone reliable to lean on in times of need, as per the OECD Better Life Index.

Denmark secures the second spot on the happiness index with a score of 7.583. The nation’s high ranking is attributed, in part, to its commitment to equality and social welfare responsibilities, according to its official website. These factors are closely associated with happiness, according to the World Happiness Report.

Despite Denmark’s reputation for imposing some of the world’s highest taxes, which can reach up to half of an individual’s income, the benefits counterbalance the costs. The country offers free healthcare, subsidized childcare, tuition-free education for university students along with grants to cover expenses, and pensions for the elderly coupled with caregiver support.

According to the OECD Better Life Index, Denmark surpasses the global average in various domains including employment, education, healthcare, environmental quality, social connections, civic engagement, and life satisfaction. Additionally, Denmark holds membership in prominent international organizations such as the OECD and NATO.

Loneliness is a pressing health threat, with serious consequences for the health and mental well-being of the elderly and young people worldwide, said the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday.

Social isolation — having an insufficient number of social connections, and loneliness — and the social pain of not feeling connected are widespread.

Contrary to the perception that isolation and loneliness primarily affect older people in high-income countries, they impact the health and well-being of all age groups across the world.

According to research, social isolation is common among one in four older people and in five to 15 per cent adolescents. However, these figures are likely to be underestimations.

To address it, the UN health body announced a new Commission on Social Connection which will promote social connection as a priority and accelerate the scaling up of solutions in countries of all incomes.

“High rates of social isolation and loneliness around the world have serious consequences for health and well-being. People without enough strong social connections are at higher risk of stroke, anxiety, dementia, depression, suicide and more,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a statement.

“This WHO Commission will help establish social connection as a global health priority and share the most promising interventions,” he added.

The Commission, to be co-chaired by US Surgeon General, Dr Vivek Murthy, and African Union Youth Envoy, Chido Mpemba, will have 11 leading policy-makers, thought leaders and advocates.

Running for three years, it will analyse the central role social connection plays in improving health for people of all ages and outline solutions to build social connections at scale.

The Commission will consider how connection enhances the well-being of our communities and societies and helps foster economic progress, social development, and innovation.

Studies show that lack of social connection carries an equivalent, or even greater, risk of early death as other better-known risk factors – such as smoking, excessive drinking, physical inactivity, obesity, and air pollution.

Social isolation also has a serious impact on physical and mental health; studies show that it has been linked to anxiety and depression and can increase risk of cardiovascular disease by 30 per cent.

The Commission on Social Connection, supported by a Secretariat based at WHO, will hold its first leadership-level meeting from December 6 to 8, the WHO said. (IANS)

Economist Melissa Kearney’s recent book, “The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind,” has sparked a wide range of reactions, with some critics accusing her of stigmatizing single mothers, while others view her findings as a validation of their support for marriage. In this book, Kearney argues that children raised by two parents have a higher chance of success, and the marital status of parents significantly impacts their children’s success.

Kearney’s argument runs counter to the trend in the United States, where an increasing number of children are being born and raised by single mothers. The U.S. has the highest rate of children living in single-parent households globally, with approximately 23% of U.S. children under the age of 18 living with a single parent and no other adults.

Kearney’s research shows that this trend is detrimental to children, widens inequality, and has far-reaching consequences for society as a whole. She is sounding the alarm and calling for a conversation on this issue.

“I’ve achieved what I aimed for, which was to initiate a discussion,” Kearney states. “But I am frustrated that the initial reaction is often knee-jerk.”

Critics on both sides have expressed their discomfort with Kearney’s focus on one family structure over another. However, Kearney emphasizes that she is not prioritizing one family type over another but is merely acknowledging the data, evidence, and the reality of the situation.

One undeniable fact is the increasing number of women who are choosing to have children and remain single. In 2019, almost half of all babies born in the U.S. were born to unmarried women, a significant increase from 1960 when only 5% of births were to unmarried mothers. This shift towards single motherhood is not due to divorce, as many unpartnered mothers have never been married.

While some children raised by single mothers achieve great success, the overall data indicates that those growing up in single-mother households face lower odds of high school graduation, college degrees, and high earnings in adulthood. Kearney’s research shows that families led by single mothers are five times more likely to live in poverty than those headed by married couples. The presence of two adults in a household who can contribute to the income significantly reduces the likelihood of poverty. Raising children demands various resources, including financial support, time, emotional energy, and more.

Single mothers often start from a disadvantaged position, with lower levels of education and income. This discrepancy exists across racial and ethnic lines. Many single mothers do not have support from other adults, such as grandparents or family members, which places the full burden of financial support and caregiving on the mother. This situation can lead to exhaustion and added stress, with no one to provide support when needed.

Kearney’s focus on single mothers is based on their large number, as single fathers represent a much smaller fraction. Kearney is especially concerned about boys growing up without fathers as role models, which can have negative consequences. Data shows that boys from disadvantaged homes are more likely to face difficulties at school and within the criminal justice system.

In summary, Kearney’s research underscores that single parenting, particularly when the mother is unmarried, can have a profound impact on children’s outcomes and can contribute to inequality and reduced social mobility. While the decline in marriage rates and the evolving definitions of family structures have changed societal norms, Kearney emphasizes that the data indicates the benefits of a stable, long-term, two-parent household in raising children.

The decline in marriage rates and the challenges faced by men without college degrees have led to more women entering the workforce and an increase in their earnings, making them less likely to marry men who cannot provide economic security or stability. The economic changes and shifts in gender roles have altered the dynamics of marriage and family structures.

Kearney aims to draw attention to the issue of single parenting and its impact on inequality and mobility in the United States, seeking to engage both conservatives and progressives in a much-needed conversation on this complex and important topic.

I apologize for any confusion. I understand your request, and I will provide a paraphrased version of the article.

In the era of online dating and the advancement of technology, love knows no boundaries. Romance has found new avenues that do not adhere to any barriers, especially to that of age.  It is reported that there is a steady rise in the number of senior users on their app by dating app QuackQuack. It ran a poll among its senior users to better understand the changing dynamics of love and companionship.

The online survey ran for three days among a total of 6,000 participants from metros and smaller cities. The survey participants ranged between 50 and 68 years; a majority of them are retired,
and a portion of these daters are business owners. The survey results show the paradigm shift in societal attitudes towards love and romance in the later stages of life.

Breaking Bad Norms 

38 per cent of seniors from Tier 1 cities on the app explained how society would rather have them join a golf club or a yoga class, but dating is pretty much taboo for a retired individual. A man or a woman above 50 looking for romantic endeavors still instigates a lot of talks, but these seniors revealed they pay no heed to such gossip because having a healthy love life is much more satisfying than poking your noses into other’s business. They also mentioned how they find dating apps a more private way of finding love, keeping your love under wraps, especially from nosey neighbors.

Online dating to the rescue 

34 per cent of male daters from Tier 2 cities between the ages of 50 and 65 explained how online dating has turned out to be their saviour. 7 per cent of these men are widowed, 9 per cent
divorced, and 18 per cent never married. They disclosed the difficulties of dating in a small Indian city.

Firstly, women of that age are under more pressure from society than men. Hence, finding a suitable partner with the same emotional maturity and freedom to choose love over societal stigma is the biggest challenge. But on dating apps, they stated, people can connect from any part of the country, and not just their locality. Moreover, it offers the kind of privacy that is not possible in real life. Plus, the facility to chat with a person for a while before taking it IRL allows these men ample time to evaluate if they are being duped.

Companionship Over Love 

27 per cent of women above 50 voiced that companionship, the genuine kind, is superior to love, and that is what they are seeking. They mentioned being in relationships, experiencing true love,
and even truer heartbreaks when they were young, and after all these years, they have come to realise that comfortable companionship is what matters in the end. They also disclosed the exact
requirements on their bio, so no man will come with expectations that do not align with what they are willing to offer.

Success Stories 

8 per cent of the survey participants claim to have found genuine love on the app. 12 per cent of women mentioned they have found friends like family and urged more seniors to start using dating and friendship apps; age should never be the factor in deciding whether one deserves to find real connections. (IANS)

Steve Jobs’ Perspective:

Steve Jobs: it’s easy to think the Apple co-founder (did you know there were actually three?) possessed something — intelligence, talent, creativity, connections, etc. — that you don’t.

But here’s the thing. Scratch the surface of even the most successful people and you’ll likely find they suffer from impostor syndrome: the inner belief they’re inadequate and mediocre, despite objective evidence that proves their skills, talents, and achievements.

Jobs summed it up nicely:

“Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call ‘life’ was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it.

The minute you understand you can change it, you can mold it … that’s maybe the most important thing: to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just going to live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it …

… and make your mark upon it.”

Jobs was a mixed bag. Visionary entrepreneur, and a guy who sometimes ate only carrots or apples for a week. Incredibly influential leader, yet also the antithesis of a warm, empathetic boss.

We’re all mixed bags. At times, we’re all a little insecure. A little uncertain. A little — or a lot — messy. As Avenged Sevenfold guitarist Synyster Gates puts it, “Everyone is some sort of [screwed] up.”

Depressing? Absolutely not; that perspective is actually empowering, especially when you consider other examples.

Richard Branson’s Perspective:

Take Richard Branson. Quintessential entrepreneur. Noted philanthropist and humanitarian. World-class adventurer. Influencer of world leaders. I was nervous the first time I interviewed him, but I shouldn’t have been. He was gracious. Thoughtful. Considerate. (He even gave me half his sandwich.) Even though personal reality rarely lives up to public perception, Branson was exactly what you would hope he would be.

And then there’s this: As I was leaving, I heard him say to the PR rep, “Do you think that went OK? I’m not sure I did some of his questions justice.”

And it hit me: Even though Sir Richard is incredibly successful, intelligent, and accomplished, he’s also insecure. Just as you or I would have been, he was worried he didn’t come off well.

Additional Examples:

A few more examples? After our first interview, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett told me he had been nervous because he “never imagined he would ever be in a magazine like Inc.” Dany Garcia, the Rock’s business partner and CEO of the Garcia Companies, called me back after our interview, not because she wanted to change a few answers but because she was worried they lacked depth. Jack Welch paused after a question and said, “Let me think about that for a minute. I don’t want to sound dumb.”

I can list plenty more examples.

A Common Human Thread:

Why?

Because we’re all just people: No matter how talented, how celebrated, how successful or influential someone may appear on the outside, on the inside, people are just people. We all share the same doubts and fears.

That high-powered investor you’re about to pitch? She’s smart. Savvy. Successful. Naturally, you’re nervous. Even intimidated. You’re afraid your vision, your plans, your foresight, and your passion won’t be good enough.

You’re afraid you won’t be good enough.

But so is she. No matter her track record, she’s still insecure about the future: whether she can spot the next group company, the next great entrepreneur, the next great opportunity. Deep inside, she worries that she won’t be good enough.

Underneath the trappings of success is a person just as nervous and insecure as you.

Because, to paraphrase Jobs, we’re all just people — and the playing field is a lot more level than it might appear.

Embracing Our Shared Humanity:

The next time you feel nervous about meeting someone, pitching someone, selling someone, connecting with someone, make sure your nervousness isn’t misplaced. It makes sense to be nervous about how you will perform, especially if you aren’t prepared. (Confidence is all about preparation; the more prepared you are, the more confident you feel.)

But it doesn’t make sense to be nervous about the person. No matter how successful on the outside, on the inside they’re just like you: Scared. Nervous. Insecure. Messy.

Some sort of (screwed) up.

Which means you can be just as successful, in whatever way you choose to define success, as the people you admire. You can be just as successful as the people you think might be smarter, more talented, more skilled, more connected.

Because deep inside, we’re all the same.

In the best way possible.

What if a single phrase could change the course of your relationship?

The language and the words you use when you talk with your partner always matter. They are at the core of how successful your relationship is gonna be — they can literally make it or break it.

After studying 40,000 couples, psychologists Dr. John Gottman and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman discovered the one phrase that can significantly contribute to any relationship’s success:

We all want to feel appreciated

The #1 thing we all want in our relationships is to be valued.

We want our partners to notice the things we do for them. We want our efforts to be acknowledged. We want to be seen.

A simple “thank you” can do the trick.

Making room for gratitude within a relationship builds intimacy and emotional safety. But anyone who’s ever been in a long-term relationship knows that it’s far more common to notice the things our partners do wrong instead of what they’re doing right — and vice versa.

To quote the Gottmans:

“But it’s easy to fall into the trap of only seeing what your partner is not doing. You develop a narrative where you’re the one putting in all the effort, and you start to believe it’s true.”

We take the things our partners do for us for granted

We say “thank you” when our colleague or friend brings us a cup of coffee or holds the door for us, but when our partners do the same thing, we keep our gratitude silent.

Think about all the small and thoughtful gestures you and your partner do for each other. For example, you might make a cup of tea for them every morning. They, in turn, might cook your favorite meal every time you’re feeling down.

How often do you say “thank you” to each other?

The thing is, most of us take the little things our partners do for granted and act as if saying “thank you” should be reserved for some special occasions. Over time, we even forget how important saying “thank you” really is.

And it’s really important. Research has shown that romantic partners who express gratitude are more than three times less likely to break up. Another study suggests that individuals who feel appreciated by their partners have better-functioning relationships and are more resilient to internal and external stressors.

How to open a cycle of appreciation and gratitude

When it comes to relationships, “thank you” is the most under-appreciated and under-used phrase.

Saying “thank you” to your partner is like saying “I appreciate you”. You don’t always need grand gestures or big love words to show your appreciation. Those two “humble” words work their magic.

RELATED: 5 Words That Are Infinitely More Romantic Than Saying ‘I Love You’

Here are some situations where you or your partner (probably) don’t say thank you to each other but should:

• With every little thing you do for each other (making a cup of coffee every morning, washing the dishes when it’s not one’s turn, or bringing home one’s favorite snack).
• When you receive a genuine compliment (say “thank you” instead of deflecting the praise by saying something like “oh, it’s nothing”).
• When one of you shows patience (e.g., when you run late, or when your partner is having a tantrum).
• When one of you actively listens and gives the other one their undivided attention (say “thank you for listening”).
• When you support each other, especially in times of need (say “thank you for being there with me when I was going through “X thing”).

Expressing gratitude to your partner might be the single best way to maintain a high-quality relationship.

You don’t have to go around saying thank you to each other 10 times a day, but you should say it often to make each other feel valued and appreciated.

It goes without saying that a good partner should be supportive and considerate but that doesn’t mean you should take the things they do for you for granted — and vice versa.

Every little thing one of you does for the other takes thoughtfulness, time, and energy, and none of you should ever feel your actions go unnoticed and under-appreciated.

Silent gratitude sucks. Be vocal. Say “thank you” more often. A cycle of mutual appreciation and gratitude can work wonders for your relationship.

(Margaret Pan is a freelance writer who writes to help others find love for others and themselves. This article originally appeared on YourTango)

In January of 2023, the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA) conducted a survey involving adults aged 50 to 80 to assess their feelings of loneliness and social interactions. This study aimed to compare the results with similar surveys conducted in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022 to discern trends in loneliness and social engagement before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the NPHA’s latest report, 34% of adults aged 50 to 80 reported feeling isolated from others at some point in the past year. This marks a significant decrease from 56% in 2020 and a slight increase from 27% in 2018. Similarly, 37% of older adults indicated experiencing a lack of companionship in the past year, compared to 41% in 2020 and 34% in 2018.

The survey also revealed that one-third of older adults reported infrequent contact with people outside their homes in 2023. This rate was notably lower than the 46% reported in 2020, yet higher than the 28% in 2018. These findings indicated a mixed trajectory in terms of social interaction during the pandemic.

The survey identified certain factors associated with feelings of isolation, lack of companionship, and limited social contact. Those reporting fair or poor mental health, as well as poor physical health, were more likely to experience loneliness. The same was true for individuals with health issues or disabilities that affected daily activities, those not employed or retired, those living alone, and those in the 50-64 age group. Women also reported feeling lonelier than men.

Loneliness has substantial implications for mental, cognitive, and physical health, general well-being, and even longevity. Previous NPHA surveys consistently demonstrated that isolation, lack of companionship, and infrequent social contact correlated with poorer mental and physical health among older adults.

While the report showed a decline in feelings of isolation and lack of companionship among adults aged 50 to 80 in 2023, the rates were still significant. The findings emphasized that addressing loneliness requires a multifaceted approach. Similar to discussing diet and exercise, clinicians should identify older adults at higher risk of loneliness and refer them to community resources like senior centers or local libraries to promote social connections. Friends and family members are also encouraged to reconnect with older individuals who might have experienced limited contact in recent years.

The study’s results underscored the importance of tackling the issue of loneliness, which the U.S. Surgeon General has referred to as an “epidemic.” Policymakers, clinicians, and family members need to work together to combat this issue and its adverse effects on older adults’ well-being.

The data for this report were collected through a nationally representative survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. The survey, administered in January 2023 to adults aged 50 to 80 (n=2,563), combined online and phone methods. The sample was weighted to reflect U.S. Census Bureau figures, resulting in a completion rate of 61%. The margin of error ranged from ±1 to 3 percentage points for overall results and higher for subgroups.

It’s important to note that the findings from the National Poll on Healthy Aging do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the University of Michigan, which retains all rights over the material.

A recent study unveiled during the annual gathering of the American Society for Nutrition has pinpointed eight pivotal lifestyle factors that have the potential to significantly extend an individual’s lifespan. Drawing insights from an extensive analysis encompassing 719,147 participants enrolled in the Million Veteran Program, the research underscores the benefits of engaging in regular physical activity, cultivating robust social connections, practicing sound sleep routines, abstaining from excessive alcohol consumption, adhering to a wholesome dietary regimen, refraining from smoking, effectively managing stress levels, and steering clear of opioid dependence, all of which are correlated with a noteworthy increase in longevity.

In accordance with the study’s findings, individuals who wholeheartedly embraced all eight of these behaviors from the age of 40 onward were rewarded with a substantial boost in their lifespans, as compared to their counterparts who remained aloof from these practices. The upshot was particularly remarkable, with a remarkable lifespan augmentation of around 21 years observed among women and an even more impressive extension of 24 years among men. Furthermore, those individuals who rigorously adhered to the complete spectrum of these practices exhibited a remarkable 13% reduction in the risk of mortality during the duration of the study, in stark contrast to those who chose to forgo these habits entirely.

However, the study also underscored that there are advantages to be reaped even from the partial adoption of these behaviors, or commencing their practice subsequent to the age of 40. This underscores the study’s emphasis on the importance of inculcating these practices early on, to facilitate more favorable health outcomes as individuals age.

While all eight practices were underscored as critical pillars for fostering longevity, specific behaviors such as smoking, opioid consumption, and a sedentary lifestyle were intrinsically linked to an escalated jeopardy of untimely death. This poignant revelation underlines the need to prioritize these practices as a means to mitigate the looming threat of premature mortality.

Lending his expertise to the discourse, Dr. Patrick Coll, a distinguished geriatrician and the medical director for senior health at the esteemed University of Connecticut, accentuated the pivotal role of physical activity in the context of aging individuals. He expounded upon the manifold benefits of incorporating regular exercise routines, encompassing elements of resistance training, aerobic exercises, and exercises aimed at enhancing balance and flexibility. Such holistic physical engagement, he asserted, augments muscular strength and serves as an efficacious deterrent against potentially perilous falls.

In concurrence with its comprehensive findings, the study acknowledged that not all individuals enjoy uniform access to these propitious practices, owing to factors such as socioeconomic status, geographical location, and cultural disparities. The multifaceted inequities ingrained within society can exert a palpable impact upon an individual’s capacity to wholeheartedly embrace these transformative lifestyle shifts. Moreover, the researchers reiterated that the results gleaned from the study were of an observational nature and, thus, did not lay the foundation for causal relationships to be established with certitude.

The study’s profound insights contribute substantively to the burgeoning domain of research that endeavors to decipher the intricate nexus between lifestyle choices and the duration of one’s lifespan. Nevertheless, the researchers remain acutely aware of the imperative need for further in-depth investigations to definitively unravel the intricate tapestry of causation that underlies these associations.

Kindness is one of the most attractive qualities in a person and 41 per cent of Indian Gen Z respondents on the social networking app, Bumble, consider being unkind to strangers as a deal breaker in a relationship. Bumble also found that an overwhelming majority (76 per cent) of those surveyed stated that how they define what makes a great partner has changed dramatically over the past five years. 46 per cent of Indian respondents say that they are no longer willing to date someone who doesn’t make time for them and 44 per cent of respondents say they are no longer willing to put up with toxic behaviours.

The women-first dating app launched a global integrated campaign titled Kindness is Sexy featuring new content with actor Aditya Roy Kapur. This partnership comes at a time when singles in India are more focused on kindness as a key element of their dating decisions. According to its latest survey, an overwhelming majority (81 per cent) of respondents in India agree that kindness is sexy now more than ever before and 56 per cent of respondents value kindness over physical attributes in a potential partner.

“When we approach dating with kindness, we help create an environment of respect and compassion, and for connections to grow,” said Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble. “Kindness is a core value here at Bumble, and we know it is the driving force behind our mission of creating healthy and equitable relationships. This new content helps redefine the idea of attraction and encourages us to never lose sight of the most valuable traits in a relationship.”

The campaign’s new film embodies this sentiment as it features popular actor, Aditya Roy Kapur exploring modern online dating as he redefines stereotypical tropes of sexy through the lens of different facets of ‘kindness’ in a relationship-respect, vulnerability to empathy. The film leverages a playful, humourous twist in the end which ultimately shows how kindness is sexy and goes a long way in making meaningful connections.

Speaking on this partnership, actor Aditya Roy Kapur shares, “At the end of the day, the heart of everything lies at being good to people around you, including your romantic relationships. I think it’s great what Bumble is doing by telling everyone, who is on their platform and whoever wants to join, that what matters is being good to each other, being accountable and responsible on the platform. By showing kindness is sexy, I think they have set the tone very clearly about the kind of interactions and the kind of people they want on the platform – I think more power to Bumble for doing that!”

IANSlife caught up with Aditya Roy Kapur to get his opinion and thoughts regarding the campaign and dating:

According to you, what are the simple acts of kindness that can make a positive impact in the dating culture these days?

Aditya: I think open communication is key in every relationship, being open to listening and understanding each other is an act of kindness. So I would say being comfortable with each other is important and expressing gratitude in any kind of relationship goes a long way too!

Any tips for your fans to make kindness a habit?

Aditya: I think whenever you think someone is doing something nice, make them know that you notice and appreciate it. It feels nice to know that someone has noticed good things that you do and good qualities, if they have been nice to you or checked in with you – let them know that you notice because it matters to them that you see them for the good.

How does it feel to associate with Bumble for Kindness is Sexy Campaign? What message do you hope to communicate through this collaboration?

Aditya: What Bumble is trying to put across is something that resonated with me. I think being kind, asking people how you like to be treated with empathy should be at the core of any healthy relationship, whichever form it may take. So, when I heard of the campaign and what its message was, I looked at it only as something that can be positive, and I felt that Bumble always goes about putting their ideas across in a fun way. I really liked the stuff that they have done for their other campaigns as well. So, it was a really exciting prospect to collaborate with them on something that I felt would be fun, interesting and also a positive message. (IANS)

Global temperatures have reached alarmingly high levels across the U.S., Europe, and Asia as heat waves set record highs this week.

Parts of European countries including most of Italy, eastern Croatia, southern Spain, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro are under red alert, the European Union’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, as of July 18, Phoenix had experienced 19 consecutive days of 110°F temperatures or higher. And Beijing is also experiencing a record stretch of 95°F heat.

The extreme heat comes as weather phenomenon El Niño, which occurs every two to seven years and brings higher global temperatures along the northern hemisphere, takes place. It also arrives at a critical point in global warming.

“Extreme heat events in the United States are already occurring and expected to become more common, more severe and longer lasting due to climate change,” said Claudia Brown, a health scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some scientists say that 2023 could be the warmest year on record, posing a problem for millions across Europe where air-conditioning is relatively rare. Only about 3% of homes in Germany and less than 5% of homes in France have an air cooling unit in their home, according to the Washington Post. That’s compared to 90% of homes in the U.S.

TIME spoke to experts about how to keep cool in your home. Here’s what they said.

Block out sunlight

The main thing to do when attempting to keep your house cool, is to block sunlight from entering the home.

“What you want to do is stop the heat before it gets through the glass or any other wall,” David Wright, a solar environmental architect, says. “You can use outside shading techniques or shades that go up and down and block sunlight at certain times of the day, or horizontal shading devices like arbors, trellises, and awnings.” Any sort of plant life that can absorb sunlight before it hits a wall is helpful, he adds.

While blocking sunlight and heat from the outside before it has a chance to enter the home—such as by having trees around your house—is the most efficient way to keep your home cool, there are tricks for people living in apartments too, says Wright, pointing to blackout curtains as a good option.

“If sunlight is allowed to come through glass into the house, once it gets inside and strikes an object,” explains Wright, “the wavelength goes from long wave to shortwave. And the short waves don’t go back through the glass. That’s what traps heat.”

Homeowners can opt for insulated glass or low-e glass—which has a thin coating that reflects heat—to prevent heat from entering the home. Applying a tint to windows in your home may also be beneficial, Miami Chief Heat Officer Jane Gilbert writes to TIME in an email statement.

Gilbert adds that residents can paint their roof a reflective white to help block out sunlight, while Wright suggests people invest in a heat pump or air conditioner to help with additional cooling.

Improving insulation in ceilings, attics, crawl spaces and even walls, will also reduce heat, according to Gilbert. Residents can also get a deal when fixing their homes as “utilities offer rebates and the IRS provides tax credits for insulation,” Gilbert tells TIME.

Use the nighttime to your advantage

If you live in a house with thermal mass (meaning it’s made of brick or concrete and retains heat well), Wright says that you can try to cool your home at night without air conditioning. He suggests homeowners take note when the outside temperature drops below the interior temperature, and then open all the windows and doors that you can.

Of course, Wright mentions, this should only be done if safety is not a concern. Low lying windows or doors are especially beneficial when doing this technique because hot air rises.

Wright also mentions that any part of your house that is built into the ground, like a basement, is going to be much cooler than other parts of your house because it is touching the surrounding earth, which is likely cooler than the air temperature. Spending time there may be optimal for cooling.

Know when a fan is efficient

Wright says that ceiling fans with large paddles, or Casablanca fans, are most helpful. “It pushes the heat up toward the ceiling and provides evaporative cooling around the body of the person,” Wright tells TIME.

Sonia Singh is the marketing communications supervisor for Maricopa County, Ariz., where Phoenix is located. There, it can get so hot that simply slipping on the concrete can lead to second-degree burns. Singh says that fans “become insufficient for cooling the air at a safe temperature” when its hotter than 90°F. At that temperature, residents without air conditioning should move to a space with air conditioning.

Know when to move to a cooling center

Brown emphasizes that air conditioning is the most efficient way of staying cool when temperatures are particularly high.

After twelve years, a lot of individuals actually seek Steve Jobs for exhortation. Seems OK: The co-founder of Apple’s perspectives on leadership, creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship still hold up today. Great representation: Science supports Jobs’ assertion that the best managers never wanted to be managers.)

The following are five of his suggestions that have stayed with me.

On Insight

Occupations invested a ton of energy pondering the idea of insight, if by some stroke of good luck since it’s difficult to encircle yourself with savvy individuals in the event that you can’t distinguish brilliant individuals.

So what did he feel was the best sign of high insight? As Jobs said:

“A lot of it is memory. But a lot of it is the ability to zoom out, like you’re in a city and you could look at the whole thing from the 80th floor down at the city. And while other people are trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B, reading these stupid little maps, you can just see it in front of you. You can see the whole thing.

And you can make connections that seem obvious to you, because you can see the whole thing.”

Regardless of how much data you’re ready to hold, memory doesn’t be guaranteed to assist you with deciding. ( I know a lot of brilliant individuals who once in a while battle to simplify choices.)

Jobs believed that the smartest people are good at connecting with others. However, you can’t make associations except if you gather various encounters you can interface. As Jobs said:

“One of the funny things about being bright is everyone puts you on this path. To go to high school, go to college. …

[But] the key thing that comes through is they had a variety of experiences which they could draw upon in order to try to solve a problem, or attack a particular dilemma, in a unique way.

What you have to do is get different experiences. To make connections which are innovative, to connect two experiences together, you have to not have the same bag of experiences as everyone else … or you’ll make the same connections.”

Attempt new things. Discover new things. Do things that aren’t happy; That’s a sure sign that the experience, as well as the lessons you can learn from it and relate to it in the future, are unique to you.

Since it’s simple, in any event, soothing, to get familiar with something you definitely know. However at that point you’ll have something similar “pack of encounters” and make something very similar “road level” associations as every other person.

On Authority and Obligation

Nobody at any point does anything genuinely advantageous all alone. That implies we as a whole are, whether officially or casually, on occasion in a situation to lead.

Furthermore, to assume liability.

Here’s a story from John Rossman’s book Think Like Amazon:

Steve Jobs told employees a short story when they were promoted to vice president at Apple. Jobs would tell the VP that if the garbage in his office was not being emptied, Jobs would naturally demand an explanation from the janitor. “Well, the lock on the door was changed,” the janitor could reasonably respond, “and I couldn’t get a key.”

The janitor can’t do his job without a key. As a janitor, he’s allowed to have excuses.

“When you’re the janitor, reasons matter,” Jobs told his newly-minted VPs. “Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering.

“In other words, when the employee becomes a vice president, he or she must vacate all excuses for failure. A vice president is responsible for any mistakes that happen, and it doesn’t matter what you say.”

Certain things A lot of people believe that external factors, particularly those of other people, are to blame for success or failure. Assuming I succeed, others helped me, upheld me- – others were “with” me. On the off chance that I come up short, others let me down, didn’t have confidence in me, didn’t help me- – others were “against” me.

Somewhat, that is valid. Yet in addition not absolutely inside your control.

The one and only thing you can influence? Yourself. So go about as though achievement or disappointment is absolutely inside your control: Assuming you succeed, you caused it. Assuming that you fizzle, you caused it. As Jobs would agree, “Reasons quit making a difference.”

Never rationalize. Never list reasons. And never blame others.

Except if, obviously, you point them at yourself – – and resolve that in the future, you’ll take the necessary steps to make turn out the manner in which you wish.

Regarding Perseverance If talent is the capacity to acquire a skill or knowledge more quickly than the majority of people, I definitely lack talent.

But that’s fine because, as Jobs stated:

“I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance. It is so hard. You pour so much of your life into this thing.

There are such rough moments… that most people give up. I don’t blame them. It’s really tough.”

Although Jobs was referring to founders of startups, the concept is generalizable. For a large portion of us, achievement depends on appearing, many days, in any event, when we would rather not.

Despite the fact that persistence is only one factor in achieving any worthwhile goal, science demonstrates that showing up every day is of utmost importance. A meta-examination distributed To Review of Educational Research found that undergrads who reliably go to class get better grades.

That may appear to be more of a correlation than a causation because the smartest people may attend class more frequently, but there is more to it. Class attendance (better predicts) college grades than any other known predictor of academic performance, including scores on standardized admissions tests such as the SAT, high school GPA, study habits, and study skills.

Results also show that class attendance explains large amounts of unique variance in college grades because of its … weak relationship with student characteristics such as conscientiousness and motivation.

Are you not particularly gifted? Not very intelligent? However long you appear, and continue to appear, you’ll probably get along nicely.

On the off chance that you don’t have an ability for deals, deals abilities can in any case be learned. Most leadership skills—giving feedback, building teams, setting expectations, showing consideration for others, seeking input, focusing on meaningful priorities, etc.—are useless if you lack the ability to lead people. can be acquired.

Progress in many pursuits doesn’t need ability. Achievement basically requires expertise and experience you can acquire.

However long you’re willing to continue to appear.

Perhaps you would rather not start your own organization, significantly less form a flourishing business. All things considered, Jobs felt everybody ought to plunge a toe in the enterprising water, regardless of whether it’s “just” a part time job.

Why? As Jobs said:

I think that without owning something — over an extended period of time, like a few years — where you have the chance to take responsibility for your recommendations, where you have to see your recommendations through all action stages, and accumulate scar tissue for the mistakes, and pick yourself up off the ground and dust yourself off, you learn a fraction of what you can. Coming in and making recommendations and not owning the results, not owning the implications, [provides] a fraction of the value and a fraction of the opportunity to learn to be better.

Without the experience of actually doing it, one never gets three-dimensional. Begin a business or a part time job and you get to diagram your own course, go with your own choices, commit your own errors, be liable for your own prosperity – – and gain from those choices, missteps, and triumphs.

Additionally, add another dimension to your life, personality, and skills.

On Money

Abundance isn’t an intermediary for insight. Also, certainly not so much for progress.

Jobs stated:

“When I was 25, my net worth was $100 million or so. I decided then that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way you could ever spend it all, and I don’t view wealth as something that validates my intelligence.

My favorite things in life don’t cost any money.”

Simple to say when you’re valued at $100 million, yet at the same time. While money does a ton of things – – one of the most significant is to make decisions – – after a specific point, research shows cash doesn’t make individuals more joyful.

Jobs set his sights on earning a living doing what he loved. It’s up to you to decide what constitutes a “living,” but once you’ve achieved that level of financial success, you should put in a lot of effort to include at least some of the “love what you do” component.

Because if you do that, you’ll be living the life you want.

As President of Microsoft, Bill Doors had a pressed timetable — in any event, sending 2:00 a.m. solicitations to workers. Gates didn’t realize how to be kind to himself and his staff until he looked at the personal daybook of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.

“I had consistently pressed, and I felt that was the main way you could get things done,” Entryways told writer Charlie Rose in a meeting with Buffett in 2017. “[ I] recollect Warren showing me his schedule … he [still] has days that there’s nothing on it.”

Buffett’s sparser timetable showed Entryways a significant example: ” You control your time … It’s anything but an intermediary of your reality that you fill consistently in your timetable. I can purchase anything I need, essentially, yet I can’t delay,” Buffett added.

Science actually supports Buffett’s strategy, which is essentially “work smarter, not harder.” Laborers’ capability steeply declines when they work over 50 hours out of each week, a 2014 Stanford College concentrate on found.

Individuals who stir as long as 70 hours seven days get a similar measure of work done as the people who slouch over their PCs for 55 hours, the examination uncovered.

That lesson hasn’t just been hard for Gates’ CEO. For instance, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed to CNBC’s David Faber in May that he now sleeps at least six hours per night. Musk had previously stated that he frequently worked all-nighters to get to work. “I’ve tried [to sleep] less, but… even though I’m awake more hours, I get less done,” Musk stated. What’s more, the cerebrum torment level is terrible in the event that I get under six hours [of rest for each night].”

For some, getting there might be difficult. It took Doors years to find a solid balance between serious and fun activities, he said in a new beginning discourse at Northern Arizona College.

I didn’t take vacations when I was your age. I didn’t trust in ends of the week. Gates stated, “I didn’t think the people I worked with should either.”

He continued, “Don’t wait as long as I did to learn this lesson.” Take your time to nurture your relationships, recoup from your losses, and rejoice in your accomplishments. Whenever you need to, take a break. Resist the urge to stress about individuals around you when they need it, as well.”

While possessing the correct answers is crucial, success can also be attained by posing the right questions. As Gates stated:

Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve tackled every big new problem the same way: by starting off with two questions. I used this technique at Microsoft, and I still use it today. I ask these questions literally every week about Covid-19.

Here they are: Who has dealt with this problem well? And what can we learn from them?

In essence, this encapsulates Gates’ approach. When attempting to tackle a significant problem or reach a substantial goal, avoid spending time trying to create something new from scratch. Instead, look for an excellent existing solution that can be adapted to your needs. Seek out individuals who have successfully resolved the issue or achieved the objective. Begin with the end in mind – the resolution or accomplishment – and work your way back.

This method serves as a great equalizer since it doesn’t require you to be exceptionally creative, intelligent, connected, educated, or wealthy. All that’s needed is the willingness to search, examine, and follow the steps and processes discovered. The best part is that you’ll embark on this journey with confidence – rather than hope – that your efforts will produce results.

As the saying goes, “what works for others can definitely work for you.”

Bill Gates on Using Your Time Wisely

Warren Buffett once remarked, “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” Gates shares a similar perspective:

He recalls Warren showing him his calendar, which had many empty slots. Gates used to believe that filling every minute was the only way to be productive. However, he realized that being cautious with time and allowing for days with nothing on the schedule meant that “sitting and thinking may be a much higher priority.”

Gates emphasizes that a packed schedule is not an indicator of your commitment or effectiveness; it simply makes you busy.

If you find yourself struggling to achieve your goals, take a step back and identify what truly matters and drives results. In most cases, the key factor isn’t you, so don’t assume your presence is indispensable in every meeting or call.

Remember, an overbooked calendar might be preventing you from attaining the success you aspire to and rightfully deserve.

Bill Gates on Being a Good Leader

During Microsoft’s early years, Gates utilized his remarkable memory to monitor the hours employees worked by memorizing their license plates. He would check the parking lot to see when they arrived and left. Given that Gates worked weekends and “didn’t believe in vacations,” this approach is not too surprising.

However, Gates eventually recognized that focusing on results was more important and a better use of his time as a leader. He also learned to adjust his expectations, particularly in terms of patience. As Gates mentioned:

Patience is an essential component of success, particularly for leaders.

Reflect on the most exceptional boss you’ve ever had. You were inspired to perform your best because you knew they cared about and believed in you, and you didn’t want to disappoint them.

One of the most effective ways to demonstrate to your employees that you care and have faith in their abilities is by exercising patience. When you display patience and convey genuine confidence, your team members will naturally be driven to discover methods to accomplish tasks that astonish everyone – themselves included.

Navigating relationships can often appear more complex than necessary. We find ourselves questioning whether our partner is “the one” and if perfection can be sustained. However, reality doesn’t always meet our expectations. When issues arise, the feeling of being overwhelmed or lost in love can set in. To address this, you might explore scientific research, seek counseling, or sift through myriad relationship advice, trying to find something valuable.

The sheer volume of information can be daunting, making inaction seem like the best option. While doing nothing may provide temporary relief, it won’t lead to lasting improvements in your relationship. The good news? Enhancing your relationship is actually simpler than you think, boiling down to just three fundamental strategies.

Take Initiative People who adopt the “take initiative” approach tackle problems head-on. If this sounds like you, it’s difficult for you to sit idly by. Instead, you’re eager to take action and invest time and energy into resolving issues. You prefer being proactive, anticipating potential hurdles and addressing them before they become major concerns. As Nicholas Sparks penned in The Notebook, “So, it’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna be really hard. We’re gonna have to work at this every day…” Embrace the effort; it’s a natural part of building a strong relationship. Here are some ways to take initiative:

• The four-hour commitment:

Enhancing your relationship doesn’t need to be time-consuming. With 168 hours in a week, allocate just four to prioritizing your relationship. To maximize the impact, plan date nights with “N.I.C.E.” activities—those that are “new, interesting, challenging, and exciting.” Studies indicate that couples who engage in such activities together enjoy better relationships (Aron et al., 2022).

• Develop relationship skills: Use some of those four hours to improve your relationship skills. Key areas to focus on include communication, conflict resolution, understanding your partner, self-awareness, life management, stress management, and sexual/romantic skills (Epstein et al., 2013). Most of these skills involve self-improvement, making them easier to implement without your partner’s assistance. And since there’s always room for growth, revisiting these skills is beneficial. Research suggests that honing these abilities leads to a healthier relationship.
• Be more adventurous in bed: Here’s an enjoyable suggestion: increasing sexual variety can boost arousal and desire (Morton & Gorzalka, 2015). Greater desire and arousal lead to improved sexual satisfaction by combating monotony and boredom, ultimately reducing the likelihood of infidelity. It’s a win-win situation.

Lower Expectations

If adding more to your already busy life seems unattainable, consider wanting less instead of doing more. This doesn’t mean discarding all your standards; rather, adjust your expectations to be more realistic and appreciate what is sufficient.

The “lower expectations” approach appeals to those who understand that their perception of their partner’s actions or their relationship rules affects their happiness. For instance, viewing occasional moodiness as a deal-breaker or believing that happy couples don’t argue is counterproductive. As Hamlet said, “…there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” The issue might not be the relationship itself, but your perspective. Educating yourself about healthy relationships can help.

• Soulmate myth: While romance is important in a relationship, believing in soulmates can impose nearly impossible standards on your partner. No one is truly flawless. Soulmates are thought to be your perfect match, the person you’re destined to be with (Knee & Petty, 2013). When your partner inevitably falls short, doubts arise. You may question whether you’re in the right relationship or if your partner is the right person for you. Let go of these impossible standards.
• Manage expectations: In the film Up in the Air, Anna Kendrick’s character, Natalie, has a highly specific list of qualities she wants in a partner and claims, “I just don’t want to settle.” Vera Farmiga’s character, Alex, explains that not ticking every box on a wishlist isn’t a failure. However, unrealistic expectations will always disappoint, setting both your partner and your relationship up for failure. Instead, lower your expectations by recognizing that neither you nor your partner is perfect. Excessively high expectations and constant dissatisfaction can prevent you from appreciating your amazing partner.
• Avoid searching for problems: Even with properly adjusted expectations, you might still be overly critical of your partner and relationship. Our natural negativity bias encourages us to focus on negative aspects (Rozin & Royzman, 2001). This can lead to “problemicity” or identifying problems where none exist. Research suggests that when your relationship lacks significant issues, you tend to overemphasize smaller ones (Levari et al., 2018). One way to lower expectations is by not creating drama or seeking out problems.

However, don’t disregard all your standards. Lowering expectations too much can lead to unhappiness. Find a balance with reasonable and realistic expectations.

Appreciate What You Have Sometimes the best solutions are the simplest. If you struggle to find time to “do more” and you have fair expectations, consider adopting the easiest strategy: cherish your current relationship. As Alan Kay said, “A change of perspective is worth 80 IQ points.” It’s time to gain wisdom about your love life.

• Be grateful: Improving your relationship could be as simple as expressing gratitude for what you already have. Acknowledge everything that is easy, comfortable, uncomplicated, stable, and predictable in your relationship. We often take these fundamental building blocks for granted, but they are crucial to success. Expressing gratitude for these positive aspects can enhance relationship quality (Algoe et al., 2013).
• Celebrate the positives: Take your appreciation a step further by emphasizing the good parts even more. Researchers call this “capitalization,” which involves savoring good news and positive moments in a relationship to boost individual well-being and self-esteem (Gable & Reis, 2010). Capitalization also increases closeness, satisfaction, intimacy, and commitment in the relationship. Remember, healthy relationships typically have more positives than negatives – just take the time to notice them.
• Embrace positive illusions: You might worry that your partner and relationship aren’t as great as you perceive them to be. What if you’re wrong or deceiving yourself? Surprisingly, holding positive illusions, or viewing your relationship as better than it is, can actually benefit the relationship (Murray et al., 1996). Our overly generous assessments give our partners a goal to strive for, encouraging self-improvement (e.g., “My partner thinks I’m really wonderful, so I better make sure I am so they’re not disappointed.”), which ultimately benefits the relationship.

What’s the Ideal Approach? So, which of these three strategies should you choose? The best one is the one you’re most likely to put into practice. Your personal problem-solving preference will determine the ideal approach.

• If you’re proactive and driven, take initiative.
• Are you somewhat critical, judgmental, or demanding? Lower your expectations.
• If you believe stepping back and reassessing is necessary, focus on appreciating what you have.

Select the strategy that allows you to get started immediately. Once you begin implementing it, you’ll create positive momentum that can be utilized to incorporate other techniques. Feel free to mix and match or stick with the one that works best for you. What truly matters is that you’re actively working to enhance your relationship. Its future is too valuable to do anything less.

Residing in The Hague, I am surrounded by 11 kilometers of stunning coastline that features picturesque dunes and sandy shores. During summer, it’s common to find locals at Scheveningen or Kijkduin, the city’s most popular beaches, basking in the sun, taking leisurely walks, or cycling before settling on one of the many benches available. They might be reading, conversing with friends, or simply engaging in the act of niksen.

Niksen, a Dutch wellness trend translating to “doing nothing,” gained global attention in 2019 as a method for managing stress and recovering from burnout. At that time, many people were seeking relief from fatigue and depression caused by overwork, leading to the adoption of concepts like Japanese ikigai or Danish hygge. As a linguist, I appreciated how the idea of doing nothing could be conveyed in a single, easy-to-pronounce word.

In my book, Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing, I describe it as “doing nothing without a purpose” – not mindlessly scrolling through Facebook or meditating. While mindfulness focuses on being present in the moment, niksen is about setting aside time to simply exist, allowing your mind to wander freely. In our post-pandemic world, reevaluating how we work and utilize our time is crucial.

From a linguistic standpoint, the verb “niksen” (doing nothing) is derived from “niks,” meaning “nothing.” According to Monique Flecken, a psycholinguist at the University of Amsterdam, “It fits with the tendency of the Dutch language to create verbs out of nouns,” such as “voetbal” (football) becoming “voetballen” (playing football), or “internet” turning into “internetten.” She adds, “The Dutch are a practical, direct people and their language reflects that.”

In the Netherlands, niksen can have both positive and negative connotations. Flecken explains that a parent might ask their child, “Zit je weer te niksen?” (Are you doing nothing again?), while someone might also say “lekker niksen,” translating to “delicious doing nothing,” when referring to an evening blissfully devoid of tasks or work.

Psychologist and author Thijs Launspach defines niksen as “doing nothing or occupying yourself with something trivial as a way of enjoying your own time.” He notes that this concept is more applicable to older individuals with unstructured free time, whereas younger generations in the Netherlands – a country known for its work-life balance – are more stressed than ever.

Launspach attributes this stress to various factors: “Our lives and our jobs have become increasingly complex. We tend to spend a lot of time with computers. There is a lot of pressure on being the best version of yourself, be it in our jobs, or the expectations of parents [or] from social media. There is a lot of pressure to perform.”

Stress, as Bernet Elzinga, a psychology professor at Leiden University, points out, isn’t always detrimental. “It’s not necessarily bad to be for a moment in a state of stress, where you’re really on and focused. The problem is when this is getting out of hand,” she remarked. However, niksen can offer a solution by allowing the mind to wander and reflect, connecting us to our default mode network.

Interestingly, engaging in niksen can boost productivity, as taking breaks enables our brains to rest and refocus. This might explain why the Dutch, despite not working long hours, are highly efficient at work. In the Netherlands, the prevailing attitude is “just be normal, that’s already crazy enough,” discouraging overtime and reflecting the country’s honest and egalitarian culture.

This approach appears to be effective, as the Dutch are renowned for their creativity and innovation – from famous painters like Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Escher to inventive flood control measures like massive dams and floating houses.

The Dutch also value enjoyment, as evidenced by the word lekker, meaning “delicious,” but applicable to anything pleasant, such as lekker warm, lekker slapen, and lekker niksen. Their focus on leisure makes it easier for people to do nothing more effortlessly. Locals often spend their time actively, cycling or hiking, and flocking to cafes and terraces whenever the sun emerges, even in winter. These spaces are ideal for practicing niksen.

However, Launspach remains skeptical of using niksen as a stress prevention strategy. “I’m a little bit skeptical of the idea that you should create a buffer between you and stress. I don’t know if that’s even possible in the way that we live and work now,” he stated. Elzinga, on the other hand, believes engaging in physical activity in nature is a better way to distract from daily concerns.

Fortunately, the Netherlands offers opportunities to combine niksen, nature, and movement. The Dutch cherish their limited natural areas, with many dune spaces forming part of an extensive network of hiking and cycling routes across the country. Even in larger cities like Rotterdam, The Hague, or Amsterdam, trails are never too far away.

In collaboration with the Dutch Railway system, Wandelnet has developed NS Wandelingen, a series of easily accessible hiking routes via public transport. With distances ranging from 7 to 22 kilometers, these routes are perfect for day trips, and the numerous benches along the way provide opportunities for niksen breaks.

The Dutch can enjoy such leisure time thanks to their excellent welfare system and balance between hard work and ample days off. “Having a good social support system, having lower stress level relates to feeling secure and in balance. So, I wouldn’t overestimate the importance of that,” said Elzinga. Given the ongoing global challenges – the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine – stress relief is more vital than ever.

Arguably, the most crucial aspect you can bring to your relationship is being conscious of your own emotions. Equally important is understanding your partner’s feelings. To say that these skills are essential for a couple’s well-being and happiness would be a massive understatement.

Even with awareness of your relationship’s emotions, what should you do with this knowledge? This is where communication skills come into play. How do you express to your partner that they’ve angered or hurt you? How can you convey your needs to them? As most couples therapists know, “The way you communicate a difficult message is even more important than the message itself.”

Let’s examine examples of unsuccessful communication.

Ineffective Communication Examples

Mark is upset and angry because Beth didn’t pay attention to him at a party, even after he asked her to stay by his side since he didn’t know anyone.

1. Passive-aggressive: Mark decides, “I’ll show her how it feels. I’ll ignore her at my work party next week.”
2. Aggressive: Mark approaches Beth during the party and quietly, but furiously, says, “You are so self-centered! I’m never going to another party with you again.”
3. Sarcastic: As soon as they get in the car to drive home, Mark angrily says, “Well, I hope you had fun at that party because I sure didn’t.”

Passive-Aggressive

Passive-aggressive actions are more about retaliation than communication. Mark believes his tit-for-tat approach will teach Beth a lesson, but it won’t. When Mark ignores Beth at his work party, it’s likely that she’ll never link his behavior to her own. Even if she does, resentment will follow. This method only burdens the relationship with negativity over time.

Aggressive

In this example, Mark uses an accusatory and confrontational approach, with poor timing. His words, tone, and decision to confront her during the party guarantee that Beth won’t want to fix the issue. Instead, she’ll feel attacked, hurt, and potentially humiliated. Sadly, Mark’s needs will remain unaddressed.

Sarcastic

Here, Mark waits until it’s too late for Beth to correct her behavior in the moment. He doesn’t communicate his feelings directly or considerately. Sarcasm is like “a jab that comes at you from the side.” Beth will feel accused and attacked, raising her defenses. Consequently, Mark’s message will be lost.

If you see yourself or your partner in these examples, it’s likely that neither of you learned effective communication skills growing up. As a therapist specializing in childhood emotional neglect, I’ve observed that many couples’ communication is heavily influenced by their upbringing.

Some families openly and directly address emotions and are comfortable discussing problems. Others are deeply uncomfortable or entirely oblivious to their members’ feelings. Emotionally neglectful families fail to teach their children essential emotional communication skills required for a happy marriage.

If you or your partner were raised in an emotionally neglectful family, there’s a high chance your marriage suffers from a lack of communication skills. This can be frustrating and divisive, but there’s another lesser-known negative result: your messages, feelings, and needs go unheard, and thus, unfulfilled.

Good Communication Skills Examples

Consider the same scenario where Mark feels hurt and angry because Beth disregarded him at a party, even after he requested her to stay with him since he was unfamiliar with the crowd.

1. At the party, Mark gently places his hand on Beth’s shoulder and whispers in her ear, “Don’t forget, I don’t know anyone here. Please remember to stay with me.”
2. As they drive home, Mark calmly asks, “Beth, I thought we agreed to stick together at the party tonight. What happened?”

In the first instance, Mark’s communication is spot-on. He conveys his needs to Beth while still at the party, giving her the chance to rectify the situation. His approach is non-confrontational, as he merely reminds her. This way, he not only assumes she isn’t deliberately ignoring him but also encourages her to address the issue.

In the second example, although Beth cannot fix the problem during the party, Mark still communicates in a non-accusatory and non-aggressive manner.

Posing questions is an excellent method for avoiding blame and allowing your partner to explain their actions. It also fosters open discussion rather than inciting an angry or defensive reaction. Remember, “the moment your partner’s defenses are up, you lose their capacity to attend to your feelings or needs.”

The Greatest Benefit of Effective Communication

Effective communication skills offer numerous advantages. They facilitate honesty within the relationship and continuously deepen your understanding of one another—even after 20 years together.

As with poor communication skills, there’s another crucial aspect that most people overlook: when you express yourself appropriately, your partner is more likely to listen, increasing the chances of getting your wants and needs met.

If you or your partner were raised in an emotionally neglectful family and didn’t have the opportunity to learn effective communication skills, it’s essential to know that it’s never too late. As long as you’re willing to learn, you can acquire these skills and even pass them on to your children.

What differentiates successful people from others in social situations? The answer might be simpler than anticipated: habits. Adopting the right habits can lead to success in business and life, while letting go of harmful ones can help overcome challenges. To achieve greater success, learn from those who have already found it by emulating their habits and identifying any personal behaviors that might hinder your progress. In this article, we’ll discuss key habits that successful individuals avoid in social settings, providing a clear path for personal growth and achievement.

1.They Never Put Anyone Down

The journey to success can sometimes be lonely, especially if what we consider accomplishments aren’t widely recognized. Truly successful people understand this and develop empathy for those striving to succeed. Rejections and obstacles can be disheartening, but knowing that their efforts are appreciated by some can keep them going. Successful people are aware of the struggles involved in reaching the top, so they always advocate for fair treatment. They never intentionally demean anyone in public; instead, they elevate and uplift others’ spirits, encouraging them to keep going.

2. They Don’t Conform Just to Fit In

Successful individuals know how to adapt in social situations without conforming to ideas that conflict with their values. They consistently align with their core values, embracing authenticity and simplicity while overcoming challenges and expectations. If successful people stopped pursuing their passions after listening to naysayers, they wouldn’t become pioneers in their industries. For them, external validation is appreciated but not necessary for achieving success. Their priority is following their convictions, even if they’re in the minority.

3. They Don’t Tolerate Disrespect

Truly successful people recognize their worth and refuse to let others disrespect them. Their strong sense of self-respect enables them to distance themselves from situations or individuals who fail to appreciate and value them as they deserve. Disrespect in social settings can manifest in various ways, from subtle to blatant actions or words. However, instead of creating a scene, successful people handle confrontations gracefully. They maintain professionalism but always communicate their feelings and reasons for taking offense.

4.They Never Claim Perfection

Genuinely successful individuals understand that achieving perfection is impossible, and as such, they don’t pretend to be perfect. Maintaining a faultless exterior can be draining, as “it’s easy to slip up and make mistakes.” Society’s concept of perfection is so restrictive that those perceived as perfect often fear taking risks or stepping outside their comfort zones. Successful people acknowledge that certain factors, like the actions of others, are beyond their control. Instead of fretting over things that don’t go according to plan, they concentrate on what they can influence. They never feign perfection and consistently accept responsibility for their failures, rather than burdening themselves with stress and blaming those around them.

5.They Don’t Overcompensate

Successful individuals never feel compelled to overcompensate, as they possess a natural confidence based on a firm grasp of their own identity. They understand that their best efforts are sufficient for any given situation. Moreover, successful people recognize that overcompensation often arises from a need to hide personal deficiencies. With a strong faith in their own abilities, however, they have no reason to disguise any perceived shortcomings. This self-confidence enables them to concentrate on their objectives without succumbing to the pressure to overcompensate. Defining one’s own vision of success is essential – successful people clearly comprehend what accomplishment means to them, which eliminates the urge to overcompensate or overachieve. While they have a guiding compass directing them towards their goals, they’re not impervious to insecurities and failures. Nevertheless, they refuse to allow setbacks to define them or hinder their pursuits, maintaining focus and resilience in the face of adversity.

6.They Always Celebrate Their Achievements

For successful individuals, reaching their current position required a long and challenging journey. Many might have considered giving up along the way, but various motivations and milestones kept them going – which is why it’s crucial for them to consistently celebrate every victory. “Celebrating small wins gives us a feeling of pride and happiness that keeps us working towards bigger goals.” This sentiment is particularly true when others join in the celebration. However, celebrating achievements in social situations doesn’t grant people the right to be boastful or arrogant. Successful people do so because they’re genuinely proud of their accomplishments and wish to share their positivity, not because they want to feel superior to others.

7.They Always Listen to Others

While successful people have a clear sense of their goals, they also appreciate the significance of listening to others – even if it proves challenging at first. They never neglect to listen because they recognize that their ideas may not always be the best – others might have more valuable insights or methods for achieving a shared objective. Effective listening involves more than simply allowing others to speak; it also requires giving full attention and resisting the urge to react defensively. “If you start listening closely to what others have to say, then it’s easier to gain their trust and respect.”

1. They Always Prioritize Their Friends

Successful individuals understand when to accept requests and invitations, but they also recognize when it’s appropriate to decline. They develop the skill of discerning when to say no over time. These people always make time for their loved ones, ensuring they never cancel plans. Highly successful individuals avoid flaking on others by not overcommitting themselves. They enjoy spending quality time with important people in their lives while also setting boundaries and prioritizing self-care. Success, in their eyes, involves choosing whom to say no to. Effective time management allows them to strike a balance between pursuing their passions and bonding with loved ones.

1. They Seize Every Opportunity

Highly successful individuals believe that valuable lessons can be found in the most unexpected places. They are confident in their ability to handle any opportunity that comes their way. Many people struggle with self-doubt and impostor syndrome, but successful individuals set themselves apart with their unwavering faith in their own capabilities. Instead of being intimidated by significant opportunities, they confidently embrace them, understanding that even failure provides essential learning experiences. Successful people approach every situation as a chance for growth and improvement.

1. They Don’t Expect Too Much Too Soon

While successful people do their best to help those around them, they also acknowledge that they are not responsible for meeting everyone’s needs. They believe in earning their success and never anticipate handouts or unearned favors from others. When it comes to offering assistance, they are more than willing to return the support they’ve received during their times of need. Appreciative of the aid they’ve been given, they often form lasting friendships with those who have supported them, cultivating a network of caring, uplifting connections.

1. They Avoid “Humble Bragging”

Humble bragging is a way of boasting that thinly disguises arrogance with a semblance of humility. Successful people understand that humble bragging is irritating and toxic behavior, so they exercise restraint in their choice of words and tone. They don’t embellish their stories with exaggerations or false details to make them seem more impressive than they are. Their friends and family members take pride in their accomplishments, ensuring that their achievements are recognized and celebrated without the need for humble bragging.

1. They Never Pretend to Know It All

Successful individuals never claim to have all the answers, especially when their knowledge on a subject is limited. Rather than speaking thoughtlessly, they listen attentively to others and strive to learn from them. Many people lack the intellectual humility to admit their ignorance and seek help, often because they perceive it as a sign of weakness. However, successful individuals recognize that listening to those who possess greater expertise is crucial for achieving their goals. They understand that admitting what they don’t know is perfectly acceptable, as there is always room for growth and improvement.

Small habits can often bring about substantial changes in our lives. Incorporating easy yet impactful practices into our everyday routines can lead to enduring self-improvement and transformation. In this article, we delve into six minor habits that can alter your life for the better when consistently applied.

Write Down Your Goals

The initial habit to embrace is recording your objectives. “When you put your aspirations on paper, they become more concrete,” serving as visible, solid reminders of what you want to accomplish. Writing down your goals helps to engrave them in your memory, making it simpler to concentrate on achieving them.

To establish practical objectives, think about using the SMART criteria, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. By setting SMART goals, monitoring your progress and maintaining motivation becomes easier. With your written goals, you can “refer to them regularly,” supplying you with continuous motivation and guidance.

Establish Systems for Goal Achievement

Although goal-setting is essential, it’s equally important to develop systems that support their realization. A goal signifies the desired result, while a system represents the process leading you there. Having a systematic approach to attaining goals reduces the chances of being sidetracked by unexpected obstacles or distractions.

For instance, if you aim to lose 10 pounds within three months, a potential system could include regular exercise, meal planning, and monitoring your daily calorie consumption. By concentrating on the system rather than the outcome, you can maintain constant effort and enhance your chances of success.

Implementing and sustaining systems necessitates discipline, organization, and occasional reevaluation. Regularly assess your systems’ effectiveness and make adjustments to guarantee ongoing progress.

Apply the Pareto Principle to Prioritize Important Tasks

The Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule, implies that roughly 80% of results stem from 20% of efforts. Utilizing this principle in various aspects of your life enables you to concentrate on the most crucial tasks, ensuring that your energy is channeled toward activities with the most significant outcomes.

To effectively employ the Pareto Principle, start by identifying and prioritizing the most vital tasks in your personal and professional life. Focusing on these high-impact activities can lead to “meaningful progress toward your goals” while preventing the risk of overextending yourself.

Learn to Say No

Developing the ability to be selective with your commitments is one of the most influential habits you can cultivate. By declining things that don’t align with your objectives or values, you make room for activities that truly matter.

Establishing boundaries is crucial for maintaining equilibrium and focus in your life. Mastering the art of saying no without causing offense or straining relationships is essential. Practice assertive and transparent communication, and keep in mind that it’s often better to turn down an invitation or request than to overcommit and disappoint others or yourself.

Saying no to the right things can result in heightened focus and productivity, ultimately enabling you to accomplish more in less time.

Treat Time as Your Most Precious Asset

Time is a finite resource that cannot be regained once spent. When you acknowledge the true value of your time, you’re more likely to make choices that mirror your priorities and bring you closer to your goals.

To effectively utilize your time, devise methods for managing and monitoring it. Consider using tools like calendars, planners, and time-tracking apps to stay organized and maintain oversight of your schedule. Set aside time for crucial tasks and ensure you have enough downtime for relaxation and rejuvenation. Periodically evaluate how you use your time and adjust as necessary to maximize this invaluable resource.

Improve a Little Each Day

The notion of continuous improvement highlights the power of small, incremental changes. Rather than aiming for huge leaps forward, concentrate on making daily progress in various aspects of your life, such as health, relationships, and career. Over time, these minor adjustments can accumulate, leading to significant transformation.

To integrate daily improvement into your routine, begin by identifying areas where you want to grow. Next, establish attainable micro-goals that can be addressed each day. For instance, if you want to enhance your fitness, commit to doing ten minutes of exercise daily, gradually increasing the duration or intensity as you become stronger.

Consistency is the key to continuous improvement. Consciously engage in daily activities that promote growth and progress, creating a positive feedback loop that fuels your motivation and reinforces your commitment to change.

Inspirational stories of people who have transformed their lives through small, consistent changes serve as powerful reminders of what can be achieved when we concentrate on daily improvement. Embrace the potential of incremental progress, and you might accomplish more than you ever imagined.

Conclusion

The six habits examined in this article – recording goals, establishing systems for goal achievement, applying the Pareto Principle, learning to say no, valuing time, and pursuing daily improvement – can bring about lasting change when consistently practiced. As you begin your journey toward enduring transformation, remember these habits and commit to incorporating them into your everyday routine.

Change is rarely easy, but with perseverance, determination, and a focus on these minor habits, you can create a life that is more satisfying and more aligned with your values and ambitions. Keep in mind that small, consistent steps lead to major transformations. Start today and harness the power of small habits to change your life forever.

Despite global issues such as the cost-of-living crisis, climate change, and mass shootings, people remain obsessed with happiness. Happiness has become a central focus in modern society, with terms like “Chief Happiness Officer,” the Happy Planet Index, and the World Happiness Report emphasizing its importance. However, despite this, people are often unhappy, with millions suffering from depression and anxiety worldwide.

Happiness has long been seen as a goal and a reward for hard work, even by ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates. However, the positive thinking movement and abundance theory have made it seem like happiness is the primary objective that people can achieve if they try hard enough. However, the phenomenon of affective forecasting shows that people often misjudge what will make them happy, leading to disappointment.

Amidst this confusion, it’s worth asking whether happiness is the right goal to pursue. Instead, what if people pursued wonder, an emotion as universal as happiness and fear? Wonder can make people feel like a small part of a bigger system, which can make their problems seem smaller too. Negative emotions like sadness and fear shouldn’t be avoided, as they contribute to a more profound sense of well-being. Psychologist and philosopher Kirk Schneider calls happiness “potential fool’s gold” and warns against toxic positivity, which can be just as harmful as negative thinking.

Embracing negative emotions and emotional granularity, or emodiversity, can help people broaden their emotional vocabulary, which makes them more resilient. Co-activation, holding positive and negative emotions in one’s mind simultaneously, is also a powerful coping mechanism that increases people’s sense of meaning and gratitude in the face of adversity. Bittersweetness, sympathy, nostalgia, and wonder are mixed or “dually valenced” emotions that can have positive effects.

During times of stress, people often lean on simple emotions like happiness or sadness instead of embracing complex emotions like wonder. However, complex emotions make people more resilient and help them metabolize traumatic experiences. In one study, widows and widowers who recalled both positive and negative elements of their deceased spouses were better able to manage their grief. Author Susan Cain describes mixed emotions as “some of the most sublime aspects of being human,” connected to our appreciation of how fragile life can be.

In conclusion, it’s important to question whether happiness is the right goal to pursue. Wonder and mixed emotions like bittersweetness, nostalgia, and wonder can provide people with more profound well-being and resilience. By embracing complex emotions, people can better metabolize traumatic experiences and find meaning in them.

When it comes to trusting someone, certain traits help in establishing a sense of reliance. From honesty to accountability, here is a list of qualities often found among trustworthy people:

Honesty:

Signs that someone may not be entirely honest are difficulty making eye contact, nervous body language, and changing stories.

Reliability:

Consistency and following through on commitments indicate reliability. From being punctual to meeting deadlines without fail, trusted people remain dependable when called upon.

Consistency:

Unexpected changes in behavior and decision-making can pose as a warning sign – if you’re looking for someone to trust it’s best to observe their consistency across various scenarios over time.

Responsibility:

Taking initiative and dealing with problems before they arise sets responsible people apart from those who cannot be trusted, as they will always take ownership of their actions rather than shifting blame onto others.

Integrity:

Moral and ethical principles create an internal compass ensuring decisions will be made justly regardless of any external influences – making these people good role models for others to learn from.

Transparency:

By being open about thoughts, feelings, and intentions transparency creates a level of trustworthiness due to the knowledge that you’re never in the dark about how another person truly feels or what is really going on within them.

Loyalty:

Whether we’re talking about friendship or romantic relationships, loyalty is essential for another person to be considered trustworthy – staying committed even when times get tough or shinier alternatives come along!

Accountability:

In line with taking responsibility for their actions, accountable people are willing to face consequences if things do not go according to plan while also learning from mistakes so they don’t repeat them in the future as well as happily taking glory when success is achieved.

Empathy:

Having empathy means being able to understand how one feels and put yourself in their shoes – leading towards more favorable outcomes when another can identify with your experience at a human level instead of acting solely based on logic.

Confidentiality:

When confiding in someone any violation of secrecy shows lack of trustworthiness which applies both personally or within the workplace context where sensitive information needs protection from gossip or loose lips!

One of the surprising ways to boost energy and happiness is through the sense of smell. Every time one indulges in a lovely scent, it ties them to the present, with a feeling of being transported into the past. Scent memories can be powerful, prompting a person to remember the most loving moments of their past. Enjoying lovely fragrances helps people recall happy times. “With a scent, you can’t bookmark it, rewind it, stockpile it, or save it for later. It ties you the present moment,” says the author in the book.

Utilize Your Sense of Touch to Alleviate Stress

Another sense that people can tap into to calm their anxious selves is the sense of touch. Holding something cuddly and warm can be comforting in anxiety-ridden situations, such as medical facilities. “My aunt works in palliative care, and they recently put in a big order of light, cuddly throws. It’s comforting for people to touch something soft and warm,” the author explains. Similarly, the author has her way of using touch to address anxiety-ridden situations involving public speaking. She says, “I hold a pen when I’m in a situation that makes me anxious, like being backstage before giving a big talk.”

Boost your focus and productivity by harnessing the power of sound

Those distracted and feeling unproductive can use their sense of sound to help focus. One way to address the challenge of controlling the surroundings is to take breaks from enclosed spaces in a quieter and more serene atmosphere. For instance, one could work in a coffee shop or similar bustling environment while secluding oneself to a private space at the library or other areas designated to promote quiet workspaces.

Boost your creativity with your sense of sight

On the other hand, those seeking to boost their creative inspirations can use their sense of sight. Rather than getting lost in thought during a walk, the author suggests looking for small details. For example, during the daily walks, find small details such as colors, tree types, or materials on buildings. Notably, the author advises looking closer each day for the more beauty and surprises that likely exist. The author gained insights into mismatched details on a street she had walked on hundreds of times before.

Want to feel more connected to people? Tap into your sense of taste

Lastly, for those seeking to connect better with others, she recommends using taste. Sharing unique foods and flavors brings people together, as it is an ancient human custom. In creating shared sensory experiences, people loosen up and feel closer. Thus, the author organized a “Taste Party” event where her guests examined various flavors and rated them. They explored the five basic tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami, asked each other about childhood candy, and continually laughed throughout the evening. It was a tremendous experience, made their conversations feel unusually warm and intimate.

The five senses can help people to live healthier, happier, and more fulfilled lives. The author’s journey to find ways to enhance the quality of life led to her inspirational book “Life in Five Senses.” By tapping into the power of the senses, individuals can connect to the ordinary moments of life that they want to experience and remember.

(Gretchen Rubin is a happiness researcher and bestselling author of “The Happiness Project.” Her most recent book is “Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World.” She’s also host of the popular podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, and founder of the award-winning Happier app.)

The physical traits of women that attract men are no mystery.

Research has shown that just as broad shoulders and a narrow waist attract most women to men, a hip-to-waist ratio that accentuates the “right” curves on a woman is irresistible to most men. Oh, and also breasts, lips, eyes, butt, legs, hair, complexion … the list of physically alluring features is vast. Every man has his own preferences, just as every woman has hers.

But what if we look past the surface? Looks might catch someone’s eye initially, but what keeps them around past that first blush of physical attraction?

What personality traits does a man look for in a woman who could become a potential romantic partner?

We asked a panel of YourTango Experts who have made a study of relationships in their careers to share the traits that men seek in a woman to create a deep, lasting connection.

Six relationship experts share the non-physical traits that men are attracted to in a woman:

1. Encouraging and supportive

Encouragement. Men want not just approval, but someone who will have their back and make them feel that setbacks are not failures but a search for a new way forward. You can be cheerful and say, “You are smart. You will figure it out.”

– Jeff Saperstein, career coach

2. Emotional intelligence and a sense of humor

Outside of physical traits and attractiveness, the top traits high-value men look for are the following based on actual input from my male clients: light-heartedness, curiosity, a focus on personal growth, and possessed of a high EQ (emotional intelligence).

A woman who can emotionally connect with a man, and understands and appreciates his feelings, ambitions, and insecurities is a top trait men look for. High emotional intelligence plays a big role in any relationship. It speaks volumes when a woman can stay aware of her emotions and the emotions of others, allowing for meaningful communication and connection without blow-ups and emotional outbursts.

– Carmelia Ray, celebrity matchmaker and online dating coach

3. Warmth and confidence

Most men look for a woman who is comfortable with herself since this will likely help them feel comfortable in her presence. They like a woman who is warm, kind, and friendly with an upbeat personality because that makes them feel good. If he feels good when he’s with you, that is a great start!

– Ronnie Ann Ryan, dating and intuitive coach

4. Accepting and non-judgmental

We are all aware that men are visually stimulated. But when it comes to finding a partner to settle down with, many men are looking for someone that they can be themselves around. I’m not talking about gross bodily functions, I mean they want to be free to express their real desires, hopes, and fears.

Someone that will allow them to express themselves without judgment or shame. Men crave respect and they want to know that their partner won’t lose respect for them when they see them at their most vulnerable.

– Taylor Kovar, CFP, CEO at the Money Couple

5. Congeniality and a well-rounded life

As a matchmaker, the most common non-physical traits that my male clients seek in a partner are: easy to be with, happy with her life, and having interests that excite her.

6. Honesty and level-headedness

A partner must not make up stories and live in a fantasy world but must live in reality — where actions never lie.

– Jack Kinney, founder and career coach

When young people ask me for career advice, I always tell them: “Don’t just focus on your own accomplishments. Be a collaborator.”

Through a decade of teaching and research at Harvard’s business and law schools, I discovered an important and often overlooked insight: People who figured out how to collaborate across teams gained a major competitive edge over those who did not.

The advantages of collaboration skills

When it comes to hiring, smart collaborators are highly desirable candidates. They deliver higher quality results, get promoted faster, are more noticed by senior management, and have more satisfied clients.

But here’s what shocked me the most: Collaboration skills are surprisingly rare, especially among men.

A 2021 McKinsey study found that women leaders, compared with men at their same level, were about twice as likely to spend substantial time on collaborative efforts that fell outside their formal job.

How to be an exceptional collaborator

Being a collaborator isn’t easy. But the primary goal is simple: bringing people together to solve problems and learn something new.

Here’s how to get better at it:

1. Be an inclusive leader.

Whether or not you’re the project leader, take steps to draw diverse people together.

The mindset I always have is: “That person thinks differently from me. They know something different that I don’t, and I can learn a lot from them.”

These people shouldn’t just have different knowledge domains. They should also represent different professional backgrounds, ages and life experiences.

2. Show appreciation and acknowledgement.

A groundbreaking study by Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg found that workers, especially men, often take their professional networks for granted.

During job interviews, because they failed to appreciate how much support they received from their colleagues, they believed they were more independent and “portable” than they actually were.

This “me-first” mentality is often a dealbreaker — and turnoff — for hiring managers. Even Claire Hughes Johnson, a former Google VP of 10 years, says she looks for self-awareness and collaboration skills “before anything else.”

3. Ask for help.

If you’re in charge of presenting a sales report every week, but do it solely on your own, that could suggest you think your opinion is the most valuable.

But if you reach out to experts across different departments for insights, your data points will likely be more compelling.

Don’t forget to mention the names of those who contributed, as well as their expertise. This will give your report more credibility.

4. Crowdsource.

Give people a way to learn without having to be part of every team. My research found that a desire to learn is a frequent driver of voluntary commitment.

Communities created through Slack and similar messaging tools are a great way to spur virtual forms of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and knowledge distribution.

5. Share data streams.

Scorecards and dashboards are powerful tools for several reasons:

They allow you to measure progress against the goals you’ve set.

When shared publicly, they create a sense of peer pressure, because they allow the outcomes of leaders to be compared to those generated by their peers.

They make critical information accessible, and thereby make the process of inclusion more transparent.

Consider which data should be shared, and when, and how. The point is not to hide data, but rather to make it accessible and useful to specific audiences. A good rule of thumb: err on the side of oversharing.

(Heidi K. Gardner, PhD, is a Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Center on the Legal Profession and Program Chair of the Sector Leadership Master Class. Previously, she was a professor at Harvard Business School. She is also the coauthor of the bestselling book “Smarter Collaboration.” Heidi earned master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and a second PhD from London Business School. Follow her on Twitter.)

There has been a general decline in marriage over recent decades. But behind that general decline lies a more interesting story. Marriage is diversifying, with different people tying the knot for very different reasons. But marriage is also dividing, especially along class lines.

To understand these marriage patterns, it is important we try to understand why people get married in the first place. There are perhaps five main reasons to marry: God, money, love, pregnancy, or status:

For some people marriage is simply a religious matter, a covenantal relationship. Marriage is a sacrament, especially in the Christian tradition.

For many more people there’s still an economic element to getting married. (On that note, let me give an early recommendation of Melissa Kearney’s forthcoming book, The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind.)

There is obviously also companionship and love: you fall in love and want to spend the rest of your life with someone. So, for many there’s primarily a romantic element to marriage.

Another reason for getting married, much less common today than in the past, is because of an unintended pregnancy, the so-called, “shotgun wedding.” There was a sense that if you were bringing a new life into the world, then that should be done within marriage, and that remains true to some extent today.

Marriage is also a signal of status (what Andrew Cherlin calls the “trophy marriage”), and this may be more common today than in the past—being married is a way of signaling success and status within a society.

So there are now a range of reasons, including religion, romance, economics, and status, that might lead people to the marital state. But it is clear that the “standard” model of marriage as breadwinner and childrearer is passing away.

For women, the traditional model of marriage was an economic necessity particularly if she was planning to have children—to be with a man who would be the provider. Obviously, that has changed today. Women account for 40% of sole or primary breadwinners in U.S. households.

For men, marriage was a way to attach himself to children. If he was going to have children, he had to do that with a woman who would raise those children, and so he had to provide for them. So, there was a complementarity inherent in the traditional view of marriage, but which, of course, was founded on a very deep economic inequality between men and women.

That inequality was a driving force of the women’s movement, especially for people like Gloria Steinem, who said the point is to make marriage into a choice rather than a necessity, and to actually free women from the economic bondage of marriage. “Being able to support oneself allows one to choose a marriage out of love and not just economic dependence,” Steinem said in 2004. That inequality and dependence has been successfully shattered by the women’s movement.

Today, the very institution of marriage, which is central to human societies, has been fundamentally transformed. It’s an institution that is now entered into on the basis of egalitarian principles. Women have huge exit power—they are twice as likely as men to file for divorce. As a result, women are no longer stuck in bad marriages, which is a huge achievement for humanity.

But for men, of course, the old role of providing while their wives raise the children has largely gone out of the window, too. Men’s role in marriage and what it means for a man to be “marriageable,” to use a slightly ugly term from social science, is very different now from in the past. When it comes to marriage, women are increasingly looking for something more than just a paycheck.

Today, the very institution of marriage, which is central to human societies, has been fundamentally transformed. It’s an institution that is now entered into on the basis of egalitarian principles.

It’s a bit like the kaleidoscope has been shaken, and the patterns haven’t quite settled yet. You see lesbian and gay couples being able to opt into marriage. Within a couple of years of the Supreme Court decision, we saw almost 3 out of 5 lesbian and gay couples choosing to get married. You also see a big class gap opening up: fewer working-class and lower-income Americans are opting into the institution. What we now have is what my colleague Isabel Sawhill describes as “a new fault line in the American class structure.” No one expected that Americans with the most choice and the most economic power—and especially American women with the most choice and economic power—would be the ones who were continuing to get married and stay married.

There’s been a very slight decline in marriage for those with four-year college degrees, but a really big decline for those with less education. The typical college-educated American woman is almost as likely to get married as her mother was, and if anything, a little bit more likely to stay married.

One of the other big changes has been a significant rise in the age at first marriage, up to around 30. I think about my parents who married at 21, having met at 17, which was pretty common back then. Actually, as late as 1970, most women who went to college in the U.S., which was a minority of course, were married within a year of graduating. That’s a world that’s very difficult to fathom now, as both men and women now enter the labor market, become economically successful, and often establish themselves economically before getting married. Today, you do all that first, then you marry. Marriage has become more like a capstone, to use another of Andrew Cherlin’s descriptions, where marriage is a signal of everything that has led up to the ceremony, rather than the beginning of a journey.

We can no longer tell a single story about marriage in America in the way we could 40 years ago. We need to tell different stories based on class and race and geography. We’ve seen a real divide opening up in marriage in the United States.

Americans, today, are much less likely to see marriage as something that you need to do to be a complete person or have a good life. In fact, fewer than 1 in 5 Americans now believe that it’s essential to be married to have a fulfilling life. That’s a huge cultural change.

The model of marriage that was founded on economic dependency for women is completely obsolete. This is progress. But while we have created models of the family that are more equal and fair, they are often not such stable unions. The challenge we now face is to find ways to create more stability in our family life, without sacrificing the goal of equality. What we should be asking is how do we have strong relationships within which people can raise kids well? Marriage can still play a role here, of course. But there are alternative models, too. With 40% of children being born to unmarried parents, and most of those born to mothers without a college degree, there will need to be.

Because what matters above all is parenting, the way we raise our kids. It is possible to imagine a renewed future for marriage based around egalitarianism between men and women, but a shared commitment to kids. I think that’s for us to create. (That’s an argument I made in my 2014 Atlantic essay, “How to Save Marriage in America.”)

If marriage is to survive, it will be in this new model founded on shared parenting, not as a restoration of the old one based on economic inequality.

(Richard V. Reeves is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It (Brookings Institution Press, 2022. Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or views of the Publication: Courtesy: Brookings Institute)

In 1938, Harvard researchers embarked on a study that continues to this day to find out: What makes us happy in life?

The researchers gathered health records from 724 people from all over the world, asking detailed questions about their lives at two-year intervals.

As participants entered mid- and late-life, the Harvard Study often asked about retirement. Based on their responses, the No. 1 challenge people faced in retirement was not being able to replace the social connections that had sustained them for so long at work.

Retirees don’t miss working, they miss the people

When it comes to retirement, we often stress about things like financial concerns, health problems and caregiving.

But people who fare the best in retirement find ways to cultivate connections. And yet, almost no one talks about the importance of developing new sources of meaning and purpose.

One participant, when asked what he missed about being a doctor for nearly 50 years, answered: “Absolutely nothing about the work itself. I miss the people and the friendships.”

Leo DeMarco, another participant, had a similar feeling: After he retired as a high school teacher, he found it hard to stay in touch with his colleagues.

“I get spiritual sustenance from talking shop. It’s wonderful to help someone acquire skills,” he said. “Teaching young people was what started my whole process of exploring.”

Taking on hobbies might not be enough

For many of us, work is where we feel that we matter most — to our workmates, customers, communities, and even to our families — because we are providing for them.

Henry Keane was abruptly forced into retirement by changes at his factory. Suddenly he had an abundance of time and energy.

He started volunteering at the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He put time into his hobbies — refinishing furniture and cross-country skiing. But something was still missing.

“I need to work!” Keane told the researchers at age 65. “Nothing too substantial, but I’m learning that I just love being around people.”

To retire happy, invest in your relationships now

Keane’s realization teaches us an important lesson not only about retirement, but about work itself: We are often shrouded in financial concerns and the pressure of deadlines, so we don’t notice how significant our work relationships are until they’re gone.

To create more meaningful connections, ask yourself:

Who are the people I most enjoy working with, and what makes them valuable to me? Am I appreciating them?

What kinds of connections am I missing that I want more of? How can I make them happen?

Is there someone I’d like to know better? How can I reach out to them?

If I’m having conflict with a coworker, what can I do to alleviate it?

Who is different from me in some way (thinks differently, comes from a different background, has a different expertise)? What can I learn from them?

At the end of the day, notice how your experiences might affect your sense of meaning and purpose. It could be that this influence is, on balance, a good one. But if not, are there any small changes you can make?

“When I look back,” Ellen Freund, a former university administrator, told the study in 2006, “I wish I paid more attention to the people and less to the problems. I loved my job. But I think I was a difficult and impatient boss. I guess, now that you mention it, I wish I got to know everyone a little better.”

Every workday is an important part of our personal experience, and the more we enrich it with relationships, the more we benefit. Work, too, is life.

Robert Waldinger, MD, is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, and director of Psychodynamic Therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a practicing psychiatrist and also a Zen master and author of “The Good Life.” Follow Robert on Twitter @robertwaldinger.

Marc Shulz, PhD, is the associate director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, and a practicing therapist with postdoctoral training in health and clinical psychology at Harvard Medical School. He is also the author of “The Good Life.”

With burnout rates at historic highs, businesses are scrambling to find practical ways to retain staff — or at least so they should be.  As burnout continues to burn businesses, the problem is that the strategies that work best often seem backward. Take for example the strangest Great Resignation strategy, which is also the most effective, or Google’s wildly simple trick to increase productivity, which also decreases burnout.

What we see is that when it comes to keeping staff, oftentimes the most evident methods prove counterproductive. Meanwhile, the seemingly counterintuitive methods can work wonders.

Finding a viable solution is crucial. And not just for businesses looking to stave off the effects of burnout — such as decreased productivity, increased employee turnover, and damage to the overall ethos of a workplace — but for those who feel its sting first-hand along with its laundry list of symptoms, from chronic fatigue to brain fog, lack of focus, and even trouble sleeping.

The standard solution is something we can all get behind — and use more of: vacation time.

After all, time off is a much-welcomed reprieve from work, the stress at the office, and the burden of persistent pressure and endless responsibilities. With vacation time to burn and burnout to battle, many envision a blissful vacation beachside with zero expectations, time at home with nowhere to be, or an awe-inspiring adventure that will magically distract you from any lurking stresses long enough to magically dissipate them into thin air.

While the hope is that a vacation will recharge our proverbial batteries, the reality is that we often come back with even less patience for the things that we have little patience for. Rather than returning refreshed, we return worn out, disconnected, and even more disinterested.

Following a week of doing whatever it is we want to do is a week — and years — of the work that requires us to do what we have to do. In that stark contrast, feelings of discontent may magnify.

According to research recently published by the Harvard Business Review, vacations are not the most effective way to reduce burnout. But that doesn’t mean less time off is the answer.

In fact, more time off is.

What the Harvard researchers found is that employees need an extended period of time off in order to recharge and return to work with a rejuvenated perspective and renewed motivation.

In other words, the solution to burnout is a sabbatical. But the traditional sabbatical as we know it is not the sole antidote for a modern workplace.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

It’s not a common application of the classic quote, and yet when it comes to work, it works.

Especially in the case of a sabbatical. Because even though an extended amount of time off sounds like a dream, the reality is that after a point it gets old.

As humans, we need time for the excitement of our time off to wear off. For our to-do list to diminish. And for boredom to creep in.

For example, if you played your favorite song on repeat, you would eventually want to hear something else. As fun as it would be to eat at your favorite restaurant every day, there would only be so many days until you got tired of it and began to desire something else.

There are only so many movies and shows we want to watch on Netflix. Only so much time our family and friends have to spend with us. Only so much we can do to entertain ourselves during the day before we actually begin to miss work.

That’s right, I said it. After enough time, you might actually miss work, the intrinsically rewarding feeling of being productive, the chase, the colleagues, the clients or customers, and in the case of an unpaid sabbatical, the money.

Burnout recovery doesn’t have to burn business

Vacation time can be enough of a burden on businesses that struggle to carry on in the absence of staff. So the idea of an extended leave can simply seem out of the question. However, as Harvard researchers suggest, sabbatical leave can come in many forms. And it surely doesn’t have to burn your business to help your employees recover from burnout.

For example, while there are both paid and unpaid sabbaticals, there are also working sabbaticals where employees have the opportunity to work remotely — and independently — from anywhere in the world, whether that be their living room or a land far away.

The difference with a working sabbatical is that while remote work has become increasingly commonplace, that doesn’t always mean that staff have the freedom to work from other time zones, or even just work on a schedule that works best for them.

By giving employees the time and space to live more freely and enjoy their lives more fully, employees are not only more satisfied with their role but more grateful for it.

Sabbaticals do more than recharge staff — they elicit gratitude

It’s within this time away that we begin to regain (or simply gain) an appreciation for the jobs we have, the people we work with, and what our role affords us — mentally or financially.

In other words, what a sabbatical affords us is the ability to appreciate what we have and what our positions afford us in life.

It gives us perspective, and with that, it helps us reconnect to our why. The reality is that most aren’t necessarily in love with the work that they do. But when they can see that it gives them the things they want in life — whether that’s the money to live in a home they love, the flexibility to be a present parent, or the space to enjoy life outside of work — they realize why they do what they do because they see what they do it for.

Employers have a tendency to fear that employees won’t return after a sabbatical. But when employees are given the opportunity to take an extended leave, research shows that they tend to stay. Because most would hold onto an employer that provides them with the freedom to go — and come back.

Conn. (WTNH) — When choosing where you should live, happiness should certainly play a role. So, where do people find themselves most happy?

All 50 states were analyzed on a Happiness Index Score in a new study, conducted by the CBD experts at Joy Organics.

Each state was scored based on ten factors relating to well-being and happiness: suicide rates, average hourly wage, severity of depression and anxiety, unemployment rates, number of primary care and mental health providers, adverse childhood experiences, neighborhood amenities, and percentage of sleep-deprived residents.

Connecticut took the No. 3 spot with a happiness score of 83.9%. It had the third lowest mean severity score for anxiety across the country, and just 12% of its residents reported having an adverse childhood experience like witnessing domestic violence or death of a parent.

Massachusetts was ranked as the happiest state in the U.S., scoring 94.5 out of 100 with the highest number of mental health providers, the highest number of primary care providers, and the highest average hourly wage of any state at $28.14. Additionally, Massachusetts had the third lowest suicide rate.

New Jersey ranked well with the lowest suicide rate of any state, while Nebraska had the lowest levels of anxiety and depression. A spokesperson for Joy Organics noted that there are “lots of ideas as to what constitutes happiness for different people.”

“Mental wellbeing, support and suicide rates were weighted more heavily in the ranking, accounting for a larger proportion of each state’s overall score, as these were deemed to be the most important factors,” the spokesperson said. “Of course, there is much more that determines happiness than these specific factors alone, but they can help to build a picture of each state’s overall wellbeing levels.”

Additionally, mental health concerns are also underreported in more states than others due to a level of stigma, the spokesperson said, noting that some states may appear happier than they actually are.

Research shows that in some cases, money does lead to happiness. In fact, a 2021 University of Pennsylvania study found a correlation between happiness and income growth, even past an annual income of $80,000. This is in contrast to previous research that found happiness stagnated after an individual earned $75,000. However, not all places can offer the same level of happiness, as some cities offer more economic opportunities and a better quality of life than others.

To uncover the happiest places in America, we analyzed the 200 largest cities, 164 of which had available data. We looked at 13 different metrics across three categories: personal finance, well-being and quality of life. For details on our data sources and how we put all the information together to create our final rankings, read the Data and Methodology section below.

Key Findings

California cities dominate the top 10. While cities like Sunnyvale and Fremont offer the No. 1 and No. 3 highest earnings for individuals, these Western cities score highest in the quality of life category. Specifically, top 10 California cities had lower percentages of people living in poverty, higher marriage rates and lower violent crime rates.

Birmingham is the least happy city. This Alabama city ranks in the bottom five across metrics such as personal bankruptcy filings per capita, life expectancy and the percentage of residents living in poverty. Newark, New Jersey and Memphis, Tennessee follow as the second- and third-least happy cities.

Top 10 cities have high marriage rates. Residents who’ve said “I do” make up the majority of the population in all but one city: Arlington, Virginia, where the marriage rate is 44.0%. Frisco, Texas, which ranks No. 5 overall, has the highest marriage rate study-wide (62.6%).

1. Sunnyvale, CA

Well-being and quality of life is where Sunnyvale, California ranks best. The city has the highest percentage of individuals earning $100,000 or more (62.5%), the third-lowest percentage of adults living below the poverty-level (roughly 5%) and the fifth-highest marriage rate (56.8%). Violent crime in the area is also low (No. 9) with roughly 149 violent crimes per 100,000 residents.

2. Arlington, VA

While Arlington, Virginia ranks in the top seven across all three categories measured (personal finances, well-being and quality of life), the city ranks highest in the former. Specifically, roughly 48% of Arlington’s residents earn $100,000 or more (No. 5). Additionally, living costs make up less than 35% of the median household income (No. 6). The county in which Arlington is located also has the lowest amount of personal bankruptcy filings.

3. Bellevue, WA

Bellevue, Washington scores highest in the quality of life category but also does well for resident personal finances. Specifically, roughly 61% of Bellevue’s residents earn $100,000 or more (No. 2) and less than 8% of the population lives below the poverty line (No. 8). Additionally, cost of living as a percent of income is the lowest across the study (28.69%).

4. Fremont, CA

Fremont, California ranks No. 3 for both its high percentage of individuals earning $100,000 or more (55.4%) and its low living costs relative to income (32.17%). The city also ranks No. 2 for both the percentage of adults who live below the poverty-level (4.9%) and its marriage rate (61.6%).

5. Frisco, TX

Frisco, Texas takes both the No. 1 spots for the marriage rate (62.6%) and the percentage of residents living below the poverty-level (2.5%). Additionally, the city ranks No. 2 for its typical living costs compared to the median household income (29.55%) and its violent crime rate (roughly 86 crimes per 100,000 residents).

6. Plano, TX

Plano, Texas ranks the top 20 across six metrics, most notably: the city has the fourth-highest marriage rate (56.9%) and the 10th-lowest violent crime rate (roughly 155 for every 100,000 residents). Just over a third of the Plano population earns $100,000 or more and typical cost of living expenses make up 40.43% of the median household income in the city.

7. Roseville, CA

Living costs in Roseville, California are the fifth-lowest across the study making up about a third of the median household income annually. Just over 38% of the city’s population earn $100,000 or more (13th-highest) and less than 6% live below the poverty-level (fourth-lowest). The county in which Roseville is located also has the 15th-lowest number of personal bankruptcy filings study-wide.

8. San Jose, CA

Roughly 43% of San Jose, California residents earn $100,000 or more (10th-highest) and less than 7.4% live in poverty (eighth-lowest). Additionally, Santa Clara County – where San Jose is located – takes the No. 2 spot for both the percentage of residents reporting poor mental health days (10%) and life expectancy (84.7 years).

9. Santa Clarita, CA

Santa Clarita, California ranks best in the quality of life category, taking the No. 8 spot. Specifically, less than 7% of the city’s population live in poverty (sixth-lowest) and roughly 53% of residents are married (10th-highest). The area is also pretty safe, with the seventh-lowest violent crime rate study-wide (roughly 131 crimes per 100,000 residents).

10. Irvine, CA

Irvine, California ranks in the top 10 for both the percentage of individuals earning $100,000 or more (nearly 46%) and living costs as a percent of income (roughly 38%). Irvine also has the No. 1 lowest violent crime rate study-wide (51 crimes for every 100,000 residents). Additionally, the county in which Irvine is located is also No. 10 for both the percentage of residents reporting poor mental health days (11.3) and life expectancy (82.8 years).

More than 60 percent of young men are single, nearly twice the rate of unattached young women, signaling a larger breakdown in the social, romantic and sexual life of the American male.

Men in their 20s are more likely than women in their 20s to be romantically uninvolved, sexually dormant, friendless and lonely. They stand at the vanguard of an epidemic of declining marriage, sexuality and relationships that afflicts all of young America.

“We’re in a crisis of connection,” said Niobe Way, a psychology professor and founder of the Project for the Advancement of Our Common Humanity at New York University. “Disconnection from ourselves and disconnection from each other. And it’s getting worse.”

In the worst-case scenario, the young American man’s social disconnect can have tragic consequences. Young men commit suicide at four times the rate of young women. Younger men are largely responsible for rising rates of mass shootings, a trend some researchers link to their growing social isolation.

Societal changes that began in the Eisenhower years have eroded the patriarchy that once ruled the American home, classroom and workplace. Women now collect nearly 60 percent of bachelor’s degrees. Men still earn more, but among the youngest adults, the income gap has narrowed to $43 a week.

Scholars say the new era of gender parity has reshaped relationship dynamics, empowering young women and, in many cases, removing young men from the equation.

“Women don’t need to be in long-term relationships. They don’t need to be married. They’d rather go to brunch with friends than have a horrible date,” said Greg Matos, a couple and family psychologist in Los Angeles, who recently penned a viral article titled “What’s Behind the Rise of Lonely, Single Men.”

Recent years have seen a historic rise in “unpartnered” Americans, particularly among the young. The pandemic made things worse.

As of 2022, Pew Research Center found, 30 percent of U.S. adults are neither married, living with a partner nor engaged in a committed relationship. Nearly half of all young adults are single: 34 percent of women, and a whopping 63 percent of men.

Not surprisingly, the decline in relationships marches astride with a decline in sex. The share of sexually active Americans stands at a 30-year low. Around 30 percent of young men reported in 2019 that they had no sex in the past year, compared to about 20 percent of young women.

Only half of single men are actively seeking relationships or even casual dates, according to Pew. That figure is declining.

“You have to think that the pandemic had an impact on some of those numbers,” said Fred Rabinowitz, a psychologist and professor at the University of Redlands who studies masculinity.

Young men “are watching a lot of social media, they’re watching a lot of porn, and I think they’re getting a lot of their needs met without having to go out. And I think that’s starting to be a habit.”

Even seasoned researchers struggle to fully account for the relationship gap between young women and men: If single young men outnumber single young women nearly two to one, then who are all the young women dating?

Some of them are dating each other. One-fifth of Generation Z identifies as queer, and research suggests bisexual women make up a large share of the young-adult queer community.

Young women are also dating and marrying slightly older men, carrying on a tradition that stretches back more than a century. The average age at first marriage is around 30 for men, 28 for women, according to census figures.

Heterosexual women are getting more choosy. Women “don’t want to marry down,” to form a long-term relationship to a man with less education and earnings than herself, said Ronald Levant, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Akron and author of several books on masculinity.

In previous generations, young women entered adulthood in a society that expected them to find a financially stable man who would support them through decades of marriage and motherhood. Over the 1950s and 1960s, that pattern gradually broke down, and today it is all but gone.

Women are tiring of their stereotypical role as full-time therapist for emotionally distant men. They want a partner who is emotionally open and empathetic, the opposite of the age-old masculine ideal.

“Today in America, women expect more from men,” Levant said, “and unfortunately, so many men don’t have more to give.”

The same emotional deficits that hurt men in the dating pool also hamper them in forming meaningful friendships. Fifteen percent of men report having no close friendships, a fivefold increase from 1990, according to research by the Survey Center on American Life.

“Men are less naturally relational than women,” said Richard Reeves, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution whose new book, “Of Boys and Men,” has drawn wide praise.

Reeves points to a recent Saturday Night Live sketch that reimagined the neighborhood dog park as a “man park,” poking fun at “this reliance of men on women to do the emotional lifting for them.”

Social circles have been shrinking for men and women, especially since the pandemic, but men struggle more. Thirty years ago, 55 percent of men reported having six or more close friends. By 2021, that share had slipped to 27 percent.

“Women form friendships with each other that are emotionally intimate, whereas men do not,” Levant said. Young women “may not be dating, but they have girlfriends they spend time with and gain emotional support from.”

Aaron Karo and Matt Ritter, both in their early 40s, study the male “friendship recession” in their “Man of the Year” podcast. It arose out of an annual tradition of gathering at a steakhouse with several male friends, all close since elementary school.

“Guys are taught to prioritize career,” Karo said. “Also romantic relationships, although it doesn’t seem like they’re doing a very good job at that. Making friends and keeping friends seems to be a lower priority. And once guys get older, they suddenly realize they have no friends.”

The podcasters and their friends created the annual gathering as a way to keep their friendship alive. It spawned a year-round group chat and a “Man of the Year” trophy, awarded to the most deserving friend at the annual dinner.  “We treat friendship as a luxury, especially men,” Ritter said. “It’s a necessity.”

(AP) — Work less, get more. A trial of a four-day workweek in Britain, billed as the world’s largest, has found that an overwhelming majority of the 61 companies that participated from June to December will keep going with the shorter hours and that most employees were less stressed and had better work-life balance.

That was all while companies reported revenue largely stayed the same during the trial period last year and even grew compared with the same six months a year earlier, according to findings released this week.

“We feel really encouraged by the results, which showed the many ways companies were turning the four-day week from a dream into a realistic policy, with multiple benefits,” said David Frayne, research associate at University of Cambridge, who helped lead the team conducting employee interviews for the trial. “We think there is a lot here that ought to motivate other companies and industries to give it a try.”

The university’s team worked with researchers from Boston College; Autonomy, a research organization focused on the future of work; and the 4 Day Week Global nonprofit community to see how the companies from industries spanning marketing to finance to nonprofits and their 2,900 workers would respond to reduced work hours while pay stayed the same.

Not surprisingly, employees reported benefits, with 71% less burned out, 39% less stressed and 48% more satisfied with their job than before the trial.

Of the workers, 60% said it was easier to balance work and responsibilities at home, while 73% reported increased satisfaction with their lives. Fatigue was down, people were sleeping more and mental health improved, the findings show.

That’s just what Platten’s fish and chips restaurant in the English seaside town of Wells-Next-The Sea has found, especially in the hospitality industry where people often work seven days a week.

“Everyone is focused, everyone knows what they’re doing, everyone is refreshed,” said Kirsty Wainwright, general manager of the restaurant about a three-hour drive northeast of London. “What it means is that they are coming into work with a better frame of mind and passing that on to obviously the clients and the public that are coming here for their meals. They’re getting a greater service because the team are more engaged.”

Starting the trial going into the busy season in June, Platten’s, which is open seven days a week, found the biggest hurdle was finding a model that worked for everyone, Wainwright said.

They constantly communicated with employees to find what worked best, which was having the staff split into two groups, allowing one group to work two days on, and other to have two days off, she said.

The concept lets people work, have a day to do chores like cleaning the house and “then have two days off, seeing your friends, seeing your family, doing some stuff yourself,” Wainwright said. “And that’s what this is all about — is actually just working to live and not living to work.”

For companies that rolled out the shorter work hours — whether it was one less workday a week or longer hours in parts of the year and shorter hours the rest of the time to make an average 32-hour week — revenue wasn’t affected, the findings say.

Revenue grew 1.4% over the course of the trial for 23 companies that provided adequate data — weighted for the size of the business — while a separate 24 companies saw revenue climb more than 34% from the same six-month period a year earlier.

For Platten’s, “I don’t think we were really measuring it in terms of profitability,” Wainwright said. “That’s not really it for us. We wanted to measure it in productivity. And actually, the productivity has gone through the roof.”

For all those who participated in the trial, there was a drop in the likelihood of employees quitting, down 57% compared with the same period a year earlier, as well as those calling out sick, down 65% from a year ago, according to the findings.

Of the companies, 92% reported they would continue with the four-day workweek, with 30% saying it’s a permanent change. That includes Platten’s, which said it’s sticking with the model permanently.

Charlotte Lockhart, co-founder and managing director of 4 Day Week Global, said “resounding success” of the U.K. pilot program mirrors earlier efforts in Ireland and the U.S.

There are, of course, industries that can’t institute shorter hours because they need workers round the clock, such as nurses and first responders. Those workers and others have been walking off the job in the U.K. in recent months demanding better working conditions and pay that keeps pace with the high cost of living.

The pandemic changed the way the world works, with people seeking greater flexibility to improve work-life balance.

For the past 50 years, we’ve been putting love under the microscope. As psychologists, we’ve studied more than 40,000 partners about to begin couples therapy. We’ve also been happily married to each other for 35 years, so we know a thing or two about successful relationships.

While every partnership is unique, with its own set of challenges, there’s one thing that all couples have in common: We want to be appreciated. To be acknowledged for our efforts. We want to be seen.

The No. 1 phrase in successful relationships: ‘Thank you’

A thriving relationship requires an enthusiastic culture of appreciation, where we’re as good at noticing the things our partners are doing right as we are at noticing what they’re doing wrong.

But it’s easy to fall into the trap of only seeing what your partner is not doing. You develop a narrative where you’re the one putting in all the effort, and you start to believe it’s true.

Getting rid of this toxic mindset requires building a new one: scanning for the positives and saying “thank you.”

How to get into the appreciation mindset

You probably say “thank you” all day long, almost without thinking, to your colleagues, to the bagger at the supermarket, or to the stranger who holds the door for you.

But in our most intimate relationships, we can forget how important saying “thank you” really is.

For many of the couples we’ve worked with, we found that when one person started the cycle of appreciation, it became easy for the other to join in and strengthen it.

Here’s your assignment for today:

Step 1: Be an anthropologist.

Keep a close eye on your partner, whenever you can. Follow them around. Write down what they do, especially the positive stuff! Don’t write down the negatives, such as ignoring a pile of papers you asked them to pick up.

Note that they washed the breakfast dishes, fielded phone calls, picked up the toys strewn all over the living room, and made you coffee when they went to make one for themselves.

You don’t have to hide the fact that you’re spying. You can tell your partner you’re observing them to get a better sense of their day, and everything they do.

Their behavior isn’t going to change much just by knowing you’re watching.

Step 2: Say “thank you.”

Thank them for something routine that they’re doing right, even if it’s small, even if they do it every day — in fact, especially if it’s small and they do it every day!

But don’t just say “Hey, thanks.” Tell them why that small thing is a big deal to you: “Thank you for making the coffee every morning. I love waking up to the smell of it and the sounds of you in the kitchen. It just makes me start the day off right.”

Troubleshooting

Don’t expect this to be easy. You may run into some challenges. Here’s our best advice:

If you’re crunched for time…

Make a quick list of everything you each do, then pick a couple of things to flip-flop on. If you’re always the one who gets the kids off to school, have your partner do it today instead. If your partner is always the one to make dinner, you do it tonight.

See what it feels like to put yourself in each other’s shoes.

If you’re having trouble getting out of the negative perspective…

Try to separate the negative feelings about what happened in the past. Focus on the here and now, this specific moment, this specific person. What can you tangibly observe?

Ask yourself: “Have I had these negative feelings before this relationship ever began? Who with? What set off those feelings?”

Identifying, naming and sourcing these types of negative thoughts and feelings can help you let them go.

If it feels like you’re seeing the positives, but your partner is not…

Remember, you’re trying to change your own mental habits. You’re not changing your partner.

Ultimately, how they think and feel is not within your control. But changing your own way of looking at the world is powerful. You’re disrupting the cycle of negativity and refusing to give it any fuel to continue. And that alone can make a significant difference.

(Dr. John Gottman and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman are the co-founders of The Gottman Institute and Love Lab. Married for over 35 years, the two psychologists are world-renowned for their work on relationship stability and divorce prediction. They are also the co-authors of “The Love Prescription: Seven Days to More Intimacy, Connection, and Joy” and “10 Principles for Doing Effective Couples Therapy.” Follow them on Instagram and Twitter.)

(https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/the-no-1-phrase-that-makes-relationships-successful-according-to-psychologists-who-studied-40000-couples.html)

What makes you genuinely happy? There could be a wide range of answers ranging from closing a big sale or investment, reaching a mountain summit after an arduous hike, or eating a perfect ice cream cone on a hot summer day. But according to what may be the longest-running scientific study of happiness, the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has been going on for 85 years, the biggest determinant of genuine. long-term happiness isn’t wealth, or accomplishment, or even pleasure. It’s the relationships we form with the people in our lives, in our workplaces, and in our communities that bring us the greatest happiness in the long run.

With that in mind, the New York Times worked with the leader of the Harvard study to create a 7-Day Happiness Challenge as a way to start the new year. The whole challenge is well worth doing. These are the four steps that resonated most with me, and you can do any of them in about 10 minutes, any time of the day.

1. Plan an 8-minute phone call with a friend.

The Times’ wellness columnist, Jancee Dunn, tried this with a friend of hers and was surprised at how powerfully it lifted her mood. The eight-minute phone call plan solves two ongoing problems with conversations. The first is that most of us “tend to think that in some unspecified future, we’ll have a ‘time surplus,’ where we’ll be able to connect with old friends,” according to Bob Waldinger, the psychiatrist leading the Harvard study who worked with the Times on these challenges. But chances are that “someday” when we think we’ll have lots of time for our friends will never come. So we need to make time right now or risk drifting away from our friendships.

The second is that, as Harvard research has shown, most conversations go on too long–often longer than either party would prefer. So set an eight-minute limit ahead of time–what Dunn calls a “hard out,” guarantees that this won’t happen. It also makes it easy for even a very busy friend to say yes to the call. For instance, Dunn’s friend spent eight minutes talking with her while traveling to the dry cleaner’s.

What surprised Dunn was how much she and her friend were able to talk about in eight minutes. “We talked about our mothers’ health, made birthday plans, gossiped about a friend who abruptly quit his job and moved to a tiny Mexican town, traded book recommendations, and explored the possibility of an afterlife,” she wrote. Perhaps because they had both committed to a tight time limit, they were quick to get the important stuff.

Dunn wrote, “I had missed her, and didn’t realize it until I heard her voice.” This is an important factor, researchers say. Hearing someone’s voice is a more powerful way to connect than texting with them or chatting over social media. So make that eight-minute phone call today, if you can.

2. Start a conversation with a stranger.

Research has shown that starting a conversation with a stranger increases our happiness, even when we don’t expect that it will. Given that humans are profoundly social creatures and that we all thrive on connection, that shouldn’t really be as surprising as it is. Dunn put this advice to use herself when she asked a neighbor whose dog always barked at her if there was anything she could do to make friends with him. There was, and it was surprisingly simple–all she had to do was take off her hat, because hats upset this particular dog for some reason.

In my own case, a few years back, I struck up a conversation with Shelmina Babai Abji at a cocktail party and we soon became friends and supporters of each others’ careers. At the time we both had book projects we hoped to sell and in some odd twist, both our books came out on the same day. I’m proud to have her endorsement on my book, Career Self-Care.

3. Get to know someone at work.

Work friends are incredibly important–particularly in the high pressure and long hours that go with starting a business. Yet, experts say, we don’t always recognize the value of these relationships. So choose someone at work you would like to get to know better. This could be an acquaintance who you’d like to turn into a friend, or someone you don’t know at all but would like to get to know.

For someone you don’t yet know, find a bit of common ground. These conversation starters can help. If you like, pay attention to things they may have mentioned in public, perhaps that they are about to give an important presentation or will be attending a family member’s wedding. If you follow up afterward and ask how it went, they’ll be impressed and pleased that you were paying attention and remembered what was going on with them. You’ll have turned that person from a stranger into an acquaintance.

To go from acquaintance to friend, invite them to do something simple that takes only a few minutes, like walk with you to the corner deli to pick up lunch. Or, use the Ben Franklin
effect, and ask them to do you a small and easy favor, a counterintuitive but powerful way to get someone to like you. With most people, this approach will help start you on your way toward being a work friend. If it doesn’t work with this particular person, don’t dwell on it. Just pick someone else and try again.

4. Send someone a thank you message.

Research shows that this simple gesture creates immediate happiness benefits both for the person doing the thanking and the person receiving the thanks. So, even though it’s not the easiest of these steps, it may be the most important. Take a few minutes to write a note to a friend, a loved one, a family member, or even someone who’s helped you in your career. It can be someone you see all the time, or someone you haven’t spoken to in years.

Imagine that this is the last message you’ll be able to send this person, and write down what you’re grateful for. You don’t need to put a huge amount of thought into this–you can do it in less than 10 minutes, as promised. Now here’s the hard part: Send the message. Whether by email or social media, or snail mail, send it. Don’t worry if the person at the other end hasn’t heard from you for a long time. People are always happy to get a thank you note, even if it’s from someone they haven’t thought about in a long time. Getting it will make them happy, and sending it will make you happy.

If you can, try one of these 10-minute challenges every day next week. Altogether, they will ]take only about an hour of your time. At the end of the week, ask yourself if these small steps made you feel better than you would have without them. If the answer is yes, should you make them part of your routine every week? (https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/4-simple-ways-to-make-yourself-really-happy-in-10-minutes-or-less-backed-by-harvard-research.html)

The secret to happiness lies in being grateful. Follow these expert tips to learn how to practice gratitude every day.

Grateful people are happy people. This was one of the top findings of the Harvard Adult Development Study, the longest-running study on happiness and health in the world, spanning 100 years and two generations of Americans. What’s more, grateful people live longer and are healthier overall. This means that learning how to practice gratitude is one of the best things you can do for yourself, says the current director of the study, psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, MD.

Why? The answer is pretty simple: Being grateful focuses your attention on what you have, rather than what you don’t, and reminds you about all that is good in your life. It also has another, less-obvious benefit, according to Dr. Waldinger, who co-authored The Good Life, a book that divulges the secrets to happiness, based on the Harvard study. “Gratitude is one of the best tools we have for strengthening relationships, and our relationships with others are the strongest factor in determining happiness,” he explains, adding that being grateful is one of the simplest and easiest things you can do to increase your happiness—and the effect is almost instantaneous.

So if you want to know how to be happy, learn how to practice gratitude in your life every day. This can include doing gratitude meditations (one of Dr. Waldinger’s favorites!), writing thank-you notes, gratitude journaling in a gratitude journal and reading gratitude quotes. Keep reading for even more tips for practicing gratitude and becoming a happier you.

What is gratitude?

Before you learn how to practice gratitude, be sure you understand the concept. So, what does gratitude mean, exactly?

Gratitude is the positive feeling of being thankful for someone or something. But in practice, it’s so much more than that, says Canadian psychologist Haley Perlus, PhD.

“Gratitude is a productive emotional training tool. When you are grateful for your life, you can experience the positive and pleasant feelings associated with happiness, peace, passion, excitement and love. These pleasant emotions can then be a catalyst for positive changes in your life,” she explains. “Gratitude is also the opposite of our negative inner voice. It disrupts negative patterns and creates an opportunity to focus on all the good in one’s past, present and future.”

Why is gratitude important?

Science has proven over and over again that gratitude provides powerful physical and mental health benefits, says Dr. Waldinger. Being grateful can help prevent disease, and being thankful can even help you live longer.

Some of gratitude’s greatest benefits include:

Lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and other lifestyle diseases

Stronger immune system

Sharper memory and less mental decline with aging

Higher-quality sleep and less insomnia

Reduced perception of chronic pain

Less inflammation in the body

Better mood and less incidence of depression and anxiety

Higher self-confidence and fewer feelings of anger, jealousy and envy

Greater ability to forgive yourself and others

Better ability to prioritize and manage time

7 ways to practice gratitude

Being grateful is a learned skill—and one you can get better at with practice, even if it doesn’t come naturally to you at first, says Perlus. Ready to practice gratitude in your everyday life? Try the simple, expert-approved tips below.

1. Say what you’re grateful for out loud

Vocalizing what you’re grateful for can be more impactful than simply thinking it, says Perlus. Hearing yourself say it aloud helps cement it in your memory, and articulating it helps you identify what aspect of the experience you are grateful for.

How to practice gratitude: Use Voice Memos or another app to dictate what you’re grateful for (and save the recordings so you can go back and listen when you need a little moment of joy). Or encourage the family to share something they’re grateful for each evening at dinner.

2. Write down what you’re grateful for

Putting your thoughts on paper, whether that’s in a gratitude journal or a thank-you note, is a powerful way to connect your mind and your body, reinforcing the positive feelings.

How to practice gratitude: Keep a notebook in your purse or desk to jot down things you’re grateful for as they happen. Or try gratitude journaling: Write three things you’re grateful for every day in a journal you keep by your bed.

3. Share your gratitude with others

Sharing your gratitude has an immense effect on both you and others, triggering a cascade of happy thoughts and feelings while also strengthening your bond. Even people who said thank-you to a stranger reported a strong feeling of happiness, adds Dr. Waldinger.

How to practice gratitude: Make a conscious effort every single day to tell someone how grateful you are for them. Call a parent, write a thank-you note to an old teacher, give a friend a thank-you gift or simply thank the cashier at the grocery store.

4. Meditate on gratitude

People often make the mistake of assuming feelings control the mind—that how we feel determines what we think about. In reality, your mind dictates what you feel, says Dr. Waldinger. So focusing your mind on gratitude by doing a daily meditation is one of the best ways to feel more grateful in your life.

How to practice gratitude: Simply put, thinking grateful thoughts helps you see more things to be grateful for in your life. Clear your mind. Then take one to five minutes each morning to do a guided meditation on gratitude or to meditate on things or people you’re grateful for. A happiness meditation will help you be happier at home, at work and anywhere else you spend your day.

5. Plan to be grateful in advance

Gratitude doesn’t just occur in hindsight. Go ahead and plan your gratefulness ahead of time. And don’t wait to spontaneously “feel grateful.” Identify areas in your life in which you feel unhappy and then list ways to feel grateful in those situations.

How to practice gratitude: Write out a list of specific things to be grateful for and carry it with you, or set an alarm on your phone to remind you to look for moments of gratitude. Not sure where to start your planned gratitude journey? Sign up to do something nice for someone else—feeling grateful is just one of the benefits of volunteering.

6. Challenge yourself to be grateful in difficult circumstances

Life isn’t about what happens to you but how you handle it, and grateful people are more resilient when handling trying times, says Dr. Waldinger. There is no situation, no matter how difficult, in which you can’t find something to be grateful for—and practicing gratitude can go a long way toward improving the way you deal with hard things.

How to practice gratitude: Look back through old journals or photo albums of hard times in your life and make notes about what helped you get through them and what you were grateful for. Use that information to help you find the silver linings in current troubles.

7. Get inspired by others’ gratitude

Being grateful is a skill, and you can learn how to do it by seeing how others practice gratitude in their lives. Pay attention to the way friends, family members, colleagues and acquaintances show gratitude throughout the day—or ask them about their gratitude process. (https://www.rd.com/article/how-to-practice-gratitude/)

An 85-year-long study reveals the secret to long-term happiness. Should you try it? What makes you genuinely happy? There could be a wide range of answers ranging from closing a big sale or investment, reaching a mountain summit after an arduous hike, or eating a perfect ice cream cone on a hot summer day. But according to what may be the longest-running scientific study of happiness, the Harvard Study of Adult Development which has been going on for 85 years, the biggest determinant of genuine. long-term happiness isn’t wealth, or accomplishment, or even pleasure. It’s the relationships we form with the people in our lives, in our workplaces, and in our communities that bring us the greatest happiness in the long run.

With that in mind, the New York Times worked with the leader of the Harvard study to create a 7-Day Happiness Challenge as a way to start of the new year. The whole challenge is well worth doing. These are the four steps that resonated most with me, and you can do any of them in about 10 minutes any time of the day.

1. Plan an 8-minute phone call with a friend.

The Times’ wellness columnist Jancee Dunn tried this with a friend of hers and was surprised at how powerfully it lifted her mood. The eight-minute phone call plan solves two ongoing problems with conversations. The first is that most of us “tend to think that in some unspecified future, we’ll have a ‘time surplus,’ where we’ll be able to connect with old friends,” according to Bob Waldinger, the psychiatrist leading the Harvard study who worked with the Times on these challenges. But chances are that “someday” when we think we’ll have lots of time for our friends will never come. So we need to make time right now or risk drifting away from our friendships.

The second is that, as Harvard research has shown, most conversations go on too long–often longer than either party would prefer. So to set an eight-minute limit ahead of time–what Dunn calls a “hard out,” guarantees that this won’t happen. It also makes it easy for even a very busy friend to say yes to the call. For instance, Dunn’s friend spent eight minutes talking with her while traveling to the dry cleaner’s.

What surprised Dunn was how much she and her friend were able to talk about in eight minutes. “We talked about our mothers’ health, made birthday plans, gossiped about a friend who abruptly quit his job and moved to a tiny Mexican town, traded book recommendations and explored the possibility of an afterlife,” she wrote. Perhaps because they had both committed to a tight time limit, they were quick to get the important stuff.

Dunn wrote, “I had missed her, and didn’t realize it until I heard her voice.” This is an important factor, researchers say. Hearing someone’s voice is a more powerful way to connect than texting with them or chatting over social media. So make that eight-minute phone call today, if you can.

2. Start a conversation with a stranger.

Research has shown that starting a conversation with a stranger increases our happiness, even when we don’t expect that it will. Given that humans are profoundly social creatures and that we all thrive on connection, that shouldn’t really be as surprising as it is. Dunn put this advice to use herself when she asked a neighbor whose dog always barked at her if there was anything she could do to make friends with him. There was, and it was surprisingly simple–all she had to do was take off her hat, because hats upset this particular dog for some reason.

In my own case, a few years back, I struck up a conversation with Shelmina Babai Abji at a cocktail party and we soon became friends and supporters of each others’ careers. At the time we both had book projects we hoped to sell and in some odd twist, both our books came out on the same day. I’m proud to have her endorsement on my book Career Self-Care.

3. Get to know someone at work.

Work friends are incredibly important–particularly in the high pressure and long hours that go with starting a business. Yet, experts say, we don’t always recognize the value of these relationships. So choose someone at work you would like to get to know better. This could be an acquaintance who you’d like to turn into a friend, or someone you don’t know at all but would like to get to know.

For someone you don’t yet know, find a bit of common ground. These conversation starters can help. If you like, pay attention to things they may have mentioned in public, perhaps that they are about to give an important presentation or will be attending a family member’s wedding. If you follow up afterward and ask how it went, they’ll be impressed and pleased that you were paying attention and remembered what was going on with them. You’ll have turned that person from a stranger into an acquaintance.

To go from acquaintance to friend, invite them to do something simple that only takes a few minutes, like walk with you to the corner deli to pick up lunch. Or, use the Ben Franklin Effect, and ask them to do you a small and easy favor, a counterintuitive but powerful way to get someone to like you. With most people, this approach will help start you on your way toward being a work friend. If it doesn’t work with this particular person, don’t dwell on it. Just pick someone else and try again.

4. Send someone a thank you message.

Research shows that this simple gesture creates immediate happiness benefits both for the person doing the thanking and the person receiving the thanks. So, even though it’s not the easiest of these steps, it may be the most important. Take a few minutes to write a note to a friend, a loved one, a family member, or even someone who’s helped you in your career. It can be someone you see all the time, or someone you haven’t spoken to in years.

Imagine that this is the last message you’ll be able to send this person, and write down what you’re grateful for. You don’t need to put a huge amount of thought into this–you can do it in less than 10 minutes, as promised. Now here’s the hard part: Send the message. Whether by email or social media, or snail mail, but send it. Don’t worry if the person at the other end hasn’t heard from you for a long time. People are always happy to get a thank you note, even if it’s from someone they haven’t thought about in a long time. Getting it will make them happy, and sending it will make you happy.

If you can, try one of these ten-minute challenges every day next week. All together, they will only take about an hour of your time. At the end of the week, ask yourself if these small steps made you feel better than you would have without them. If the answer is yes, should you make them part of your routine every week? (https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/4-simple-ways-to-make-yourself-really-happy-in-10-minutes-or-less-backed-by-harvard-research.html)

What we call differently-abled people are people with different abilities, which cannot be denied.

“The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3. The Day observance aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights, and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains derived from integrating persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic, and cultural life. 

The main program of the observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the UN Headquarters in New York will include the Opening, panel discussions, and cultural events. Member States, civil society organizations, and the private sector are welcome to organize their events to celebrate International Day to raise awareness and promote the rights and perspectives of persons with disabilities worldwide”. (UN Department if Economic and Social Affairs)

Many disabled persons endorse that the biggest inspiration in their success, is Lipin Raj, who got into the civil service despite his visual impairment. The author as a disabled person, turned himself as an inspiration to many, but never compromises his attempts with a sense of inability!

Many people around us put aside the handicaps of life and put success into their own hands. Alix Louise Savage is an Australian Paralympic wheelchair racer and leading coach. Sauvage is considered Australia’s most famous disabled sportswoman. He won nine golds and four silvers in four Paralympic Games and eleven golds and two silvers in three IPC Athletics World Championships. And has won four Boston Marathons. He also achieved world records in 1500m, 5000m, 4x100m, and 4x400m relays. 

She was the Australian Female Athlete of the Year in 1999 and the International Female Wheelchair Athlete of the Year in 1999 and 2000. In 2002, her autobiography Louise Sauvage “My Story” was published. Many world-renowned people have come forward with the message that disability is not a barrier to success in life. Beethoven, a world-renowned pianist, born in Germany, was hard of hearing. American writer Helen Keller was visually challenged. 

Stephen Hawking, Steve Jobs, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and others are also great people who have overcome crises. Indian woman Arunima Sinha overcame physical challenges to become one of the world’s best mountaineers. They have conquered many peaks in the world, including Mount Everest. Ira Singhal, who topped the civil service examination in 2014, and Shekhar Naik, who led the Indian blind cricket team to victory in the Twenty20 match in 2012, have also fought tirelessly in the face of adversity. 

December is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The United Nations decided to celebrate this day to end the inequality and discrimination faced by people with disabilities in social life. 

In 1975, the United Nations made the Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Later 1982 was celebrated as the year of the differently abled. Then the period from 1983-92 was also observed as a Decade of Persons with Disabilities. Finally, in 1992, it was decided to celebrate December 3rd every year as Diversity Day 

A sign of cultural superiority is the vision to embrace more diversity. When one imagines primitive man struggling for basic survival, such as food, shelter, and security, artistic growth may seem like a spectacle. But in modern times, when we communicate as a global village, cultural promotion becomes an integral part of social life. 

A diversity perspective is also an approach that goes beyond dichotomies such as black-white and male-female. It is essential to include people with disabilities in this holistic approach. According to the World Health Organization, around 100 million people worldwide have some form of disability. It is also basic etiquette to share the joy of the cultural world that humanity has built. 

The United Nations promotes enabling inclusive development by ensuring the participation of the differently abled in the mainstream of society. To this end, the United Nations takes the initiative and intervenes to bring about changes in legislation and policy approaches at the national level. The World Health Organization, a part of the UN, also plays an essential role in coordinating Disability Day celebrations. 

The celebration of this day also reminds the world every year of the importance of protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, they too have equal rights to live.

A recent study has shown that stress can harm sexual performance and sperm health, leading to infertility. The study found that men who reported higher stress levels were more likely to have lower sperm counts and less sperm motility. In addition, the study found that stress can also lead to erectile dysfunction. While the study did not specifically look at the causes of infertility, it is clear that stress can play a role in both sexual performance and sperm health. This is yet another reason to try to reduce stress in your life.

Seven daily activities to help reduce stress levels to lead a better sexual life are:

Go for walks: Physical activities play a huge role in dealing with our stress levels. Going out for a walk early morning or evening helps us to stay active. Meeting new people, interacting with them, enjoying the small details in our surroundings, and inhaling fresh air while going for walks help reduce our stress level to a great extent.

Practicing Yoga: Yoga is a natural cure for many health problems. Several yoga positions and asanas help in better blood and oxygen circulation in our bodies. Lowering head positions in these asanas helps us maintain calm and also relaxes our nervous system

Communicate: It is important to communicate our feelings, especially during anger or grief. Holding our grief and anger for prolonged time results in added stress levels which affect our health. Communicating and sharing problems with our close and loved ones helps to relieve stress and brightens our mood. We never know if they have any ideas or suggestions to help us solve the issue.

Slow breathing & meditation: Even your breath, which you wouldn’t think, calms you down and enables you to make wiser judgments, controls your temper, and fosters patience. This facilitates better decision-making and improved stress management.

Proper diet: Good nutrition and a balanced diet are necessary to maintain stress levels. Often during stress, we tend to reach out to sweet cravings but that should be consumed within a limit. It is important to drink enough water to stay calm during stressful times.

Listen to music: Good music is a good stress manager and reliever. When you have music playing in the background of your life, you will enjoy it more and feel less stressed throughout the day.

Sleep enough: It’s crucial to obtain eight hours of sleep each night, go to bed and wake up at the same time at least five days a week. Sleep is the best healer. Sleep restores the worn-out tissue, lowers the danger of inflammation, and helps the body’s desperately required cell renewal.

If you are struggling with stress, talk to your doctor about ways to reduce it before it gets late, affecting your sexual health and mental well-being. Learn and adapt methods to deal with daily stress to live a happy life, not allowing stress to suppress your happy moments. (IANS)