There are two questions I want to answer in this blog…   How and why are we conditioned to become judgmental? How can overgeneralization be harmful? And how can it be overcome?   To understand how stereotypes and overgeneralizations are formed, let’s consider this example: Imagine you’re a naïve innocent child and you see a…

I don’t know about you, but every four years when the Winter Olympics come around, I’m always reminded me of the movie, “Cool Runnings.” Growing up in the 90’s, I enjoyed this movie from a child’s perspective. It was funny, heartwarming, and inspiring. Now, as an adult, I watch the movie with an even deeper…

So I just finished a 28 hour audio book on the life of Nelson Mandela. Here are my top 3 take-aways… 1. Hope Nelson Mandela was able to go from being a labeled a terrorist and an enemy of the state to the president of nation. He did this while also being able to avoid…

A somewhat cliche, but nevertheless, powerful story that illustrates finding the good in any life situation is the story of the two shoe salesmen. The story goes something like this…   Two shoe salesmen travel to a developing country to see if there’s a market for selling shoes. One salesman returns to the states and…

Daniel Hebb was one of the pioneers in recognizing this principle of “neural plasticity” in what was later coined, “Hebb’s Law.” That is, neurons that fire together wire together. Said another way, practice makes perfect.   Hebb’s Law   When a behavior is repeated over and over, the pathways in the brain begin to hardwire.…

Coined by endocrinologist, Hans Selye, consisting of the Greek prefix eu- meaning “good,” and stress, there’s even this thing called “eustress” (pronounced you-stress) which means beneficial stress – either psychological or physical.   Like getting a job promotion, having a child, getting married, retiring, or buying a home, in life, stress comes from not just…

So often in life we think of things in black and white. This person is good and this person is bad. This event is unfortunate, but this event is a blessing. This emotions is negative, while this emotion is positive. And truth be told, our brains are wired to keep things in these more simplistic…

The Self-Fulling Prophecy:  You Determine Your Own Potential   In life, your “I am” statements are the most important self-talk statements that we have. Similar to Henry Ford’s quote (“Whether you say you can or you can’t, you’re right”), we tend to either live up to, or down to, the expectations we set for of…

The Obstacles of Self-Care & Work-Life Balance A lot of us talk about the importance of self-care and work-life balance, but often we neglect to mention two very important aspects… 1. It’s really hard to find the time! 2. The guilt many of us feeling taking time for ourselves away from work or family Indeed,…

Here are some tips I’ve learned over the years that can make your long distance hike go as smooth as possible. 1. Take a picture of the trail map at the trailhead before you go. This can help even if your GPS or intenet fail for your own personal safety- both physically and psychologically. 2.…