Tag Archives: happiness

Reality Check: Presents and Presence

How have you spent your December? Indeed, “spent” may be the appropriate word, as folks have been rushing around the malls, the stores, and on-line, shopping for those perfect gifts. As this traditional season of giving comes to a close, … Continue reading →

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Reality Check: Habit-Forming

It’s commonly said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. It’s tempting to believe that if you rigidly adhere to a new behaviour for a set number of days, then it magically becomes engrained in you. You … Continue reading →

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Reality Check: Engagement as an Employability Skill

Skills such as getting along with others, overcoming shyness, and developing a willingness to learn can help us get and keep employment. I’ve been referring to these as “employability skills.” Even if you don’t care deeply about your workplace, such … Continue reading →

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Reality Check: Building Emotional Resources

What comes to mind when you think of resources? There are natural resources—forests, fresh water, and minerals. There are financial resources—money in the bank and those toonies in your pocket. Companies refer to human resources—employees with skills and knowledge who … Continue reading →

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Reality Check: Their Good News

How do you respond when someone tells you their good news? In his book Flourish, Martin Seligman describes four ways of responding, and suggests that only one of those ways is helpful for relationship building. Let’s look at an example. … Continue reading →

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Reality Check: Retirement Planning

Retirement planning is often associated with money. You already know that money isn’t everything, so let’s try looking at retirement planning from a choice theory perspective. According to choice theory, we all have a set of basic needs: survival, love … Continue reading →

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Reality Check: Facebook and Feelings

Some folks choose to be annoyed when they perceive that they have been treated like guinea pigs! So there was some outrage when the results of a Facebook study were recently published in a scientific journal. Here’s the gist of … Continue reading →

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Reality Check: Remembering the “Why” of To-do

It’s a beautiful day. You, however, have to go to work. And mow the lawn. And take the kids to practice, the cat to the vet, and visit the in-laws. Does it seem that your to-do list goes on and … Continue reading →

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Reality Check: Strong, Wise, or Stubborn?

Bob’s the kind of guy who always seems to know what to do and is always ready to lend a hand. He’s strong, capable, and independent. Then, Bob had a heart attack. Did that change Bob’s life? Well, the doctors … Continue reading →

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Reality Check: New Year’s Values

It’s the traditional season to make promises to ourselves: how we’ll change our lives, what we will achieve, what disciplines we will force on ourselves… While each day is as valuable as another, taking stock of life at New Year’s … Continue reading →

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