I have a proposal to make: 2026 should be the year that you spend more time doing what you want. The new year should be the moment we commit to dedicating more of our finite hours on the planet to things we genuinely, deeply enjoy doing to the activities that seize our interest, and that make us feel vibrantly alive.
When an event, such as the death of someone close, affects you in a major way, a common idiom says the event "really hits you where you live." But where, exactly, do you live? Not in a country, state, city, house, or apartment, but inside your body? Until recently, I assumed everyone was like me, localizing "self" inside the head.
A much-loved Christmas story tells about the journey of the Magi-the three Wise Men who came seeking the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?" they ask. "For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." The essence of the tale is their unshakable faith in a worldly sign-a star in the sky-which the Magi trusted would guide them to the savior of the world.
ROBERT WALDINGER: I started out as an intern in pediatrics and I would see one ear infection after another, and the kids were adorable, but one ear infection is pretty much the same as every other. Whereas when you talk to people about their lives, it's never the same. And I knew that that would keep me interested for my whole career, which it has.
If someone truly wants an object, consider choosing one that's fair-trade and environmentally responsible. Sadly, much of the "stuff" we find on shelves has been made in sweatshops by underpaid workers (and even children). You can make a difference by being selective about where you spend your dollars. Ethical consumption increases well-being-not just for the recipient, but for the giver, too-because it aligns our actions with our values and our care for the larger world.
The view that aging is all downhill may be one that you implicitly believe in. How many times have you made jokes about your age, made jokes about someone else's age, or just looked in the mirror with despair at the toll time takes on your face? Yet, the media is full of images of people whose aging brings them joy rather than pain.
On a Tuesday night in Atwater Village, Teresa "Toogie" Barcelo is creating a portal. With her arms stretched out, she beckons the participants of her movement workshop, Wiggle Room, to join her on the other side, where they will meet a renewed version of themselves. "Walk into the next iteration of yourself," she commands. The participants, who have spent the last hour squirming, shaking and humming, cross the invisible threshold. Their limbs swing loosely, their smiling faces sticky with sweat.
Envy arises when we compare ourselves to someone else and conclude they're better off. We've all been there. And while envy is a universal emotion, it's also a corrosive one. In a large longitudinal study of more than 18,000 adults, researchers found that higher levels of envy predicted poorer well-being years later. Put simply: The more envious we are, the worse we tend to feel over time.
For almost five years, I've been dutifully drawing little green dots at the top of my journal entries. A small green dot means it was a generally good day, a slightly bigger one that it was pretty fantastic. A huge one represents one of the handful of no-notes, absolutely perfect days of the year. Orange dots equal stress, red denotes anger, and blue means feeling blue.
Lead researcher Professor Katharina Spiess and her team questioned 30,000 people in Germany aged 20 to 52 for the study, focusing on both newcomers and those with deeper roots in the country. It asked each respondent to rate how "satisfied" they were with their life currently on a scale of 0 to 10. The aim, according to BiB, is to use well-being as a measure not only of personal happiness but also of social integration and economic prosperity.
But one of the simplest, most personal considerations is whether, and how, having a child will affect a person's quality of life. Here, psychologists studying well-being have encountered what's sometimes called the parenting paradox: parents report lower mood and more stress and depression in their daily lives than adults without children; yet parents also tend to report higher life satisfaction in general.
Many stressed-out people are attracted to eastern meditation, believing that it will give them relief from their "monkey mind" and lower their anxiety about life. Unfortunately, the monkey usually wins because people find the mental focus required for meditation devilishly hard. On a trip last year to India, I asked a Buddhist teacher why Westerners struggle so much with the practice. "You won't get the benefit from meditation," he said, "as long as you are meditating to get the benefit."
and I demonstrate how art can gently tip the scales back toward harmony. Think of visual art as a toolkit to soothe the mind and spirit. Every day, we are inundated with imagery urging us to work harder, buy more ... and never stop. Art offers the exact opposite. It slows and calms us down, sharpens our critical thinking, nurtures happiness, and helps us resist the endless cycle of consumption.
The concert was a collective exercise in nostalgia - that powerful emotion triggered by the intersection of experience and memory. Some people think of nostalgia as a sort of bittersweet feeling, an aching reminder of what we have lost. It is joy tinged with sadness, but primarily a positive emotion that is part of the human experience. It is a feeling that sneaks up on you, and not just at massive concerts.
It turns out that it makes a difference-and a measurable difference in the quality of our lives, both for the giver of the random acts and the receiver. The research is impressive: It can help reduce depression and anxiety, it stimulates serotonin, it produces oxytocin, which is helpful if you are feeling anxious or shy in a social situation, and it increases a sense of self-worth.
Popular media has made loneliness look bad, but is it really? Author and psychologist Ethan Kross explains his study of loneliness, finding that it is actually our response to loneliness - rather than the act of being alone itself - that has negative effects. If we reframe loneliness as an opportunity instead of a threat, it can have surprising benefits for our creativity, well-being, and relationships with ourselves.
I believe there are two versions of purpose. Big P Purpose is audacious and goal-oriented. It has an all-or-nothing focus and often leaves us chasing huge, distant outcomes. The end result, more often than not, is anxiety. Little p purpose, on the other hand, is about process rather than goals. It's abundance-oriented. You find things that light you up and simply do them. Failure becomes almost impossible, because the reward is in the doing.
Seeing your life as a Hero's Journey can make you happier, more resilient, and more fulfilled. But these same principles can also transform your digital products, helping you create more motivating and meaningful user experiences. In this article, I'll share insights from a recent paper on the psychology of the Hero's Journey. I'll explain what it is, guide you through a simple exercise to help you experience its psychological effects, and explore how you might heroify your own digital products.
