Hi folks. Here is something I published last week in Metro. It is a concept I have discussed with almost all of my clients over the years. It is also a part of almost every presentation I give. I thought it was time to try and summarize the idea in my 400 word-limit column. Not an easy task [...]
Category Archives: Happiness
Aiming high and the pursuit of goals
Some people just don’t seem to care much about things while others seem to make an issue of everything. Our standards determine much of human achievement…and happiness. Except happiness doesn’t always seem to correlate with achievement. In today’s column in Métro, I tell a story of two salesmen, each of whom have very high standards. [...]
A child and a half
There is nothing more moving than seeing a baby being born. If you can watch a video of that without crying, you’re far more stoic than I can ever be. Just seeing a delivery of some stranger’s kid is enough to make my face wet. I can’t imagine how powerful it would be to watch the [...]
People don’t like me. I don’t like people.
Ahhhh…look at all the lonely people. That’s my attempt at singing a Beatles lyric in print. Today’s post is about people who have few or no friends. There are many such folks. Some are happy about it and some aren’t. In clinical practice you meet many people who are relatively isolated and it doesn’t take too [...]
Psychologists make for lousy soldiers
I often think of all the talented artists and musicians who will never earn a living at their craft. It’s sad that we simply do not live in a world where such talents are rewarded. No, our current leaders are the ones with the most marketing savvy – whether they sell products or their political [...]
Amy and the Duke
Here is something published in today’s edition of Métro: Mon cadeau de Noël préféré. My favourite Christmas gift For my last column before the holidays I decided to write about my favourite Christmas gift. Unfortunately I sat for quite a while and couldn’t think of what it was. I considered a few possibilities such as [...]
It gnaws at me!
“I’m like a fish out of water / a cat in a tree /I got a big chain around my neck / and I’m broken down like a train wreck / well it’s over, I know it but I can’t let go.” – Lucinda Williams from the song “Can’t Let Go” When you’re thinkin’ of things [...]
What made me so happy?
What question teaches us more: “What went wrong?” or “What went right?” “What the hell happened there?” is a question I often find myself asking when the golf ball I just hit goes sailing off into the forest. More often than not I just scratch my head and really have no idea. On the other [...]
Standards of happiness
Is there a secret to happiness? Well, I can’t say for sure but if you like to get your psychology from pithy aphorisms there are plenty of secrets out there. One secret to happiness that recently came to my attention was the following: Lower Your Standards! The psychologist in me says YES! I cannot think [...]
