Archives for October 2011

12 Happiness Habits for Busy People

10.30.2011 by Marc Chernoff // 26 Comments

12 Happiness Habits for Busy People

It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what
you do that is the secret of happiness.
– James M. Barrie

You should never be too busy to smile, because creating happiness in your life does not take a lot of time. You just have to do a few things right.

1. Smile at perfect strangers.

Don’t wait for people to smile. Show them how.

Let your guard down. Talk to someone you don’t know straight from your heart. Compliment them. Don’t anticipate awkwardness. Just be you in that beautiful way only you know and give them the chance to smile and connect with you.

The more you smile at others, the more others will smile at you. And life’s a lot more pleasant when everyone around you is smiling. Read How To Win Friends and Influence People.

2. Pretend today is going to be great.

Do so, and it will be. Research shows that although we think that we act because [Read more…]

10 Things You Should Be Able To Say Before You Die

10.23.2011 by Marc Chernoff // 60 Comments

10 Things You Should Be Able To Say Before You Die

“Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness.
Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.”
– Mary Anne Radmacher

Many moons from now, just before you take your final breath, I hope, for your sake, that you are able to repeat the following ten headlines to yourself, honestly.

1. I followed my heart and intuition.

As our friend Steve Jobs says:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

This is your life, and it’s a short one. Don’t accept false choices. Don’t let others put a cage around you. Try what you want to try. Go where you want to go. Follow your own intuition. Read Quitter.

2. I said what I needed to say.

Everyone has this little watchdog inside their head. It’s always there watching you. It was born and raised by your family, friends, coworkers, bosses and society at large, and its sole purpose is to watch you and make sure you stay in line. And once you become accustomed to the watchdog’s presence, you begin to [Read more…]

30 Lessons A Wise Man Once Shared

10.16.2011 by Marc Chernoff // 26 Comments

30 Life Lessons A Wise Man Once Shared

My father is one of the wisest men I know. Over the past year he has been dispensing bits of wisdom to friends, business partners and family members via his Facebook wall and private Twitter stream. Since much of what he posts is in line with the focus of our blog, I figured I’d share some of his advice with you today. Here are my 30 favorite excerpts from his recent posts.

You can’t make choices for other people. Don’t let other people make choices for you.
There are an unlimited number of ‘Dr. No’ folks that you will encounter in this life. If you have a personal inspiration, idea or goal, don’t let a ‘Dr. No’ deter you! Trust your gut, do the planning and then DO IT!
Opportunities are often disguised as work, so most people don’t recognize them.
The Chinese character for the word ‘crisis’ literally means ‘danger and opportunity.’
Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small pieces. -Henry Ford – Same concept configured as a question: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time. Read Getting Things Done.
Learn from the past, but don’t dwell in the past. In other words, don’t abuse the precious ‘now’ by not being in it.
Worry is a misuse of the imagination.
Perfect is the enemy of good.
Education and knowledge are invaluable. But do we need to know everything? Is it possible in a specialized world to know everything? For instance, do you need to have a comprehensive understanding of dentistry [Read more…]

10 Ways to Create Your Own Good Luck

10.09.2011 by Marc Chernoff // 23 Comments

10 Ways To Create Good Luck

Diligence is the mother of good luck.
-Benjamin Franklin

I have great news! Today could be your lucky day. It’s not a matter of chance, it’s a matter of choice. Lucky people are ordinary people who create their own good luck by practicing simple luck-producing habits. Here’s what you need to do:

Constantly try new things.

There’s a saying that the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If you want to improve your luck, you have to try new things to see what works and what doesn’t.

Unlucky people tend to be creatures of habit. They take the same route to and from work every single day, talk to the same types of people at social functions, and live out the same routine day in and day out.

In contrast, lucky people try to introduce variety into their lives. For example, one lucky friend I know recently described how he thought of a color before arriving at a business convention and then introduced himself to people wearing that color. This kind of behavior boosts the likelihood of chance opportunities by [Read more…]

10 Things To Stop Caring About Today

10.02.2011 by Marc Chernoff // 76 Comments

10 Things You Need To Stop Caring About

Every day is a new beginning. But in life, sometimes you have to stop before you can truly begin. So starting today…

Stop caring about everyone’s opinion of you.

For the most part, what other people think and say about you doesn’t matter. When I was younger I let the opinions of my high school and early college peers influence my decisions. And at times they steered me away from ideas and goals I strongly believed in. I realize now, many years later, that this was a foolish way to live, especially when I consider that nearly all of these people whose opinions I cared so much about are no longer a part of my life.

Unless you’re trying to make a great first impression (job interview, first date, etc.), don’t let the opinions of others stand in your way. What they think and say about you isn’t important. What is important is how you feel about yourself. Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Stop caring about being politically correct.

I had a discussion with a friend yesterday about censorship and how speaking a certain way simply to please others contributes to the loss of one’s true inner voice. During the discussion I watched him closely, and I could actually pinpoint the heated moment when he was about to give me a piece of his mind, but stopped himself. It was so obvious! So I called him out on it. “You just censored yourself, didn’t you?” He laughed and nodded.