Marty Nemko's Blog, page 195

13 Secular Miracles

Especially in challenging times, taking a moment to appreciate the wondrous can be especially comforting.

Recently, I wrote about what’s probably the ultimate wonderment: birth. Today, my Psychology Today article offers 13 other secular miracles.

Are You More or Less Angry Than You’d Like to Be? 12 questions to help you decide

Should you be angrier? Less angry? In general, or situationally?

Answering the 12 questions  in my Psychology Today article today may help you decide.

RAD: A way to cope with uncertainty

Clarity is comforting while uncertainty can be disconcerting. For example:

If you’re vaccinated, how safe will you be from COVID? How transmissible will you be? You’re invited to a gathering of eight people. Do you go? How about if you'd have to get on a plane?Amid the COVID-shrunk economy, will you keep your job?How dangerous are carbs? Red meat? Saturated fat? Marijuana?Should you invest conservatively, such as in a bank CD or in a stock mutual fund, which has greater risk but potentially greater reward?Is there a God worth placing faith in?Is there an afterlife?

Alas, there are no clear answers to such questions. So how can you deal with the uncertainty?

One approach that my clients have found helpful is RAD. I describe it in my Psychology Today article today.

How Hard Do You Want to Work?

We often behave on autopilot. That can preclude us from living the life we’d actually like to live.  

A bit of reflection can help us decide if we want to change. To facilitate that, previous installments in this series asked you to self-assess how honest, how kind, and how high-standards you want to be.

My Psychology Today article today turns to looking at how hard you want to work. To that end, answer these five questions:

How Hard Do You Want to You Work?

We often behave on autopilot. That can preclude us from living the life we’d actually like to live.  

A bit of reflection can help us decide if we want to change. To facilitate that, previous installments in this series asked you to self-assess how honest, how kind, and how high-standards you want to be.

My Psychology Today article today turns to looking at how hard you want to work. To that end, answer these five questions:

How Kind vs. Just Do You Want to Be? 11 questions to help you decide

We tend to behave on auto-pilot. It may be helpful to step back and evaluate our behavior.. Previous installments in this series asked you to consider how ambitious you want to be, how honest, and whether to raise or lower your expectations of yourself and others. Here we turn to where you are and would like to be on the kindness vs. justice continuum.

My Psychology Today article today asks you 11 questions to help you decide.

Choosing a College, a Career, a Spouse

I’m amazed that some very intelligent, usually thorough people have made major life decisions quite simplistically.

My Psychology Today article today offers examples and then, a wiser yet not overly complex approach to choosing a college, a career, and a spouse.

When Time is Running Out: Making the most of what you have left

Even if your time isn’t running out, it may be wise to live as if it is.

Perhaps one or more of the ideas I offer in my Psychology Today article today might help you make the most of your time.

Should You Raise or Lower Your Expectations of People, Including of Yourself?

That's my Psychology Today article today.

Honesty’s Limits: 5 gray-area situations

Many of us cut our honesty teeth on the apocryphal tale of George Washington admitting to chopping down a cherry tree: “I cannot tell a lie.”

Well, truth is, none of us can honestly say that we cannot tell a lie. We can and do lie. The benefit and fun may lie in deciding when to lie.

Consider the 5 gray-area situations:I describe in my Psychology Today article today.