MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors

Five takeaways:

1. The author’s decades of experience in holistic medicine, as well her learned wisdom as a 102-year-old, have shown her that the happiest and healthiest people are those who are able to let go of things or experiences that no longer serve them- who do not ruminate over things they cannot control or the perceptions of others.
2. The writer is empowered by knowing that whenever she notices a burdensome thought or unwelcome interaction making itself present in her life, she gets to choose whether to let it bother her. Remember your own power to control and repel negativity.
3. Developing the ability to repel negativity creates the mental space necessary to engage deeply, create, and think openly.
4. Physically let go of worry: The writer of the article has found it helpful to actually perform a physical ritual when filled with worry. First, identify the worrisome thought. Then visualize it as a small object and hold that small object in your hand. Look at it and squeeze it into nothingness.
5. The article emphasizes appreciating the flow of life and acknowledging that sometimes it’s necessary to let go. By releasing stuckness and regret– by forgiving oneself, you embrace the happiness and fulfillment that comes with an unburdened mind.

By Dr. Gladys McGarey for CNBC
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Five takeaways:

1. New research shows that the well-known idea of a “bucket list”–a list of thrilling experiences one wants to have before they die– does not actually track with the immediate priorities of those faced with the end of their lives (such as those with terminal diseases).
2. Research in fact shows that people tend to prefer familiar experiences more when they are reminded that their days are limited. In some cases, they can regret moments of thrill-seeking or short sighted decision making throughout their lives.
3. Even when not facing death, many people just don’t seem to like exiting their comfort zone or breaking their routines. In 2017, a poll by a British soup company found that 77 percent of U.K. workers had consumed the exact same lunch every day for nine months and that one in six people had done so for at least two years.
4. While new and unexpected experiences can be rewarding– they often show a huge spike in dopamine release and more intense sense of pleasure– they do not bring the type of enduring happiness that can arise with familiar comforts, which may bring less adrenaline but hold greater sentimental value or sense of emotional ease.
5. While globe-trotting trips and adrenalized experiences have value, prioritizing the meaningful connections in your life will ensure that you don’t reach the end of your life wishing you had spent more time on them.

From Richard A. Friedman at The Atlantic:
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Note: At the time of this posting The Atlantic offers five free article views per month.

Six takeaways:

1. Enthusiasm for life (as 19th-century philosopher William James put it, “zest [for] the common objects of life.”) is one of the biggest and most often ignored drivers of individual happiness.
2. We can take steps in our own lives to enhance/build our sense of enthusiasm. Overall, they involve a conscious decision to resist the urge to withdraw from the minutiae of life.
3. One tactic to enhance your enthusiasm is to use the “As If Principle“: This is a “fake it till you make it” approach– research shows that intentionally faking enthusiasm for things can actually result in increased enthusiasm for them.
4. One can also reframe challenges as chances. This is a common strategy in creativity and innovation, and a successful technique in business leadership. When presented with a challenge or problem, look at it as a chance to improve, learn, or build.
5. It is also important to Curate Your Friends. If you notice a tendency to withdraw, try to hang out with people you find infectiously enthusiastic- the active, the extroverted. Their habits can rub off on you!
6. Overall, some level of withdrawal can be healthy; it is also not sustainable to force enthusiasm on oneself- but being intentional about elevating enthusiasm’s role in your life can lead to a healthier, happier existence.

From Arthur C Brooks at The Atlantic:
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Note: At the time of this posting The Atlantic offers five free article views per month.

Five takeaways:

1. For generations, the agreed-upon scientific understanding of human habit forming (for instance: becoming a habitual runner) was that it was all about attitude. If you wanted to be a runner badly enough, you would simply become one. New research says it is more complicated than that– that habit forming is affected “by some combination of heredity, culture, and environment.”
2. That combination of heredity, culture, and environment is boiled down in the article to a phrase: “Trait self-control” – and everyone’s trait self-control is different. Someone who can wake up at 4:30am to run every morning has higher trait self-control and is not going to be as easily distracted by common factors, be they leisurely, work-related, or otherwise, that keep them from that habit.
3. Research shows that forming new habits as an adult, while difficult, is possible– and very much a measure of altering life conditions to enable a habit to become second nature.
4. Studies prove that people who live closer to gyms tend to work out more, just as people who live closer to good grocery stores tend to eat more vegetables. If you want to make a habit second nature, you should do as best you can to eliminate the conditions in your life that form barriers to performing that goal on a daily basis.
5. Obviously eliminating certain conditions in one’s life is not an easy thing to do- this is why it is important to be realistic in forming new habits, and to be forgiving of yourself when the pickup is slower than desired. Those who demonize themselves for not picking up a habit are more likely to drop the pursuit entirely, whereas people who make slower, incremental progress are more likely to stick to habits until they are indeed second nature.

From Amanda Mull at The Atlantic:
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Note: At the time of this posting The Atlantic offers five free article views per month.