The Easiest Way to Make a Great First Impression

I tend to be fairly introverted when meeting people for the first time, especially in large group settings.

I often get nervous or anxious when first arriving to a party or industry event, particularly when I don’t know many people who will be there. It all seems a bit overwhelming and I typically think more about myself and if people will like me instead of actually enjoying the experience.

I usually warm up and relax after a little while, but I have always dreaded those first few moments. And the discomfort of the introduction phase has led me to avoid certain social situations altogether. Therefore, I have been on the lookout for ways to be more confident and at ease when meeting new people. And I know that this is critical because people decide whether they like someone within the first few seconds of meeting them.

Until recently, I haven’t had a go-to system when meeting people for the first time. But I have now learned that there are a few incredibly easy things to do to ensure a great first impression. It all comes down to three things, according to human behavior expert Vanessa Van Edwards: your hands, your posture, and your eye contact. In Van Edwards’ excellent book Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People, she details the three most important things you can do to make a powerful first impression.

Show Your Hands

“The absolute easiest thing you can do to improve your first impression is to keep your hands visible”, says Van Edwards. This means keeping your hands out of your pockets and in plain sight whenever you meet a new person. The simple sight of your hands puts people at ease and makes you seem more trustworthy, well-intentioned, and likeable. Van Edwards notes that job candidates who use more hand gestures in their interviews are more likely to get hired, and the most popular TED talkers use more than double the amount of hand gestures compared with the least popular TED speakers.

You also want to go in for the perfect handshake when meeting someone new. Van Edwards says the skin-to-skin touch of a handshake produces the trust-inducing hormone oxytocin, so make sure to opt for the full shake instead of a more distant wave, high five, or fist bump. Never pass on the opportunity to shake someone’s hand and make sure it is effective by keeping your hand dry, vertical, and firm.

Credit: Vanessa Van Edwards

If you keep your hands visible and give a great handshake, you are well on your way to a memorable first impression.

Stand Like a Winner

People like to be associated with winners, and we are sized up right away (like it or not) to determine if we look more like a winner or a loser. In fact, it has been shown that having a high degree of confidence is more important than reputation, skill set, or history to earn the trust of potential clients.

Standing like a winner means projecting confidence when first meeting someone. Van Edwards says the perfect posture (what she calls Launch Stance) includes the following four elements:

• Keep your shoulders back and down
• Keep your chin, chest, and forehead straight in front of you or slightly up
• Keep space between your arms and torso
• Keep your hands visible

Credit: Maggie Kirkland/Honeysuckle Photography

If you maintain this broad-stance posture when meeting someone new, you will showcase confidence and a winning demeanor, helping you to make a great first impression.

Make Eye Contact

The third and final element of making a powerful first impression is using the right amount of eye contact. Similar to a good handshake, eye contact produces the trust-building chemical oxytocin. We like people who look at us more, and therefore it is important to resist the urge to shyly look away when we meet someone new. People (myself included) often worry about making too much eye contact, but that is unlikely to happen. Van Edwards says that we should hold eye contact for 60–70% of the time when having a conversation with someone. It is especially important to hold steady eye contact during the first few seconds of an interaction.

...

There you have it — implementing just these three easy steps significantly increases your chances of making a great first impression.

I certainly don’t expect to altogether eliminate my nerves or anxiety when entering a big social gathering or work event, but I am now able to change the way I approach these situations. By focusing on these three habits — visible hands, winning posture, and strong eye contact — I am now able to enter new situations with confidence and build trust right away.

These simple steps are helping me to make a memorable first impression, and I hope they do the same for you.

Why I Go Offline for 12 Straight Hours Each Day

I go offline from 8pm - 8am every day.

This means that I disconnect from email, social media, and internet for 12 consecutive hours each day.

This habit initially started with avoiding email first thing in the morning and last thing before bed, based on advice from from Tim Ferriss in the The 4-Hour Workweek. He said that one simple change would be a life-changer, and it has been for me.

I then extended to a full digital detox for 12 straight hours — including about eight hours of sleep and two hours immediately after waking and two hours just before going to sleep — after reading the book The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey.

I have been able to stick with this “12-on, 12-off” approach for the last several years and find that it greatly increases my overall productivity and peace of mind.

...

Disconnecting for 12 straight hours isn’t as hard or extreme as it might sound.

Roughly eight of these hours are spent sleeping, which I now prioritize based on sleep’s proven health benefits. I keep my phone on airplane mode during this time to prevent unwanted disturbances (I can be reached on my land line in case of emergency). I have personally found the ideal sleep hours to be 10pm - 6am (or 5:30am depending on the morning), in order to maximize my mornings and evenings while still getting enough rest.

Upon waking, I like to start the day with 10 minutes of meditation, 30 minutes of exercise (usually running outside), and then enjoy a cup of coffee while getting ready for work, followed by breakfast with my family.

This morning routine puts me in the right frame of mind to tackle the rest of the day and be “all in” at work. I also find that many of my work breakthroughs or ‘aha’ moments come during these pre-online morning hours. All of this would be derailed if I checked email or went down the rabbit hole of social media first thing in the morning.

I try to keep my work day to 9 hours (10 at most) because productivity has been shown to go down dramatically after that point, and I can feel this dropoff. I also find that setting hard office hours forces me to get my work done in that amount of time, much like a work deadline does. Getting home by 6 or 6:30pm (most of the time) enables me to spend time with my family, eat dinner, and then do a last check of email if necessary.

I then like to spend the last 1–2 hours before bed offline, taking care of personal items, hanging with family, and relaxing after the long day (which for me includes reading, writing, enjoying a glass of wine, or watching TV).

Checking email too close to bed makes my mind race with all of the things I need to do, making it very challenging to fall asleep. I am better prepared to read and respond to those emails the following day when I have the time and am well-rested.

...

All of this means that I am offline for 12 hours per day — from about 8pm - 8am (this window can shift up or back by 30 minutes on any given day). I also try to avoid email and social media for one day each weekend.

Keeping this schedule enables me to prioritize the things that are most important in my life — my family, my health, and my work. If I was always connected and attached to my phone or computer, I am sure that each of those three buckets would suffer.

Your schedule likely looks a bit different than mine, and that is to be expected. This is not a prescription for exactly how you should structure your time, or intended to be a one-size-fits-all approach. You should find the routine that works best for you. But I do believe that we all need enough time offline to gain perspective and make time for the things that truly matter.

I have found that balancing my online and offline time helps me to achieve balance in my life overall.

How to Become a Millionaire

I recently finished reading The Millionaire Next Door, in which authors Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko summarize more than 20 years of research into the most effective wealth-building habits of real millionaires.

Although the book was first published in 1996 (a new version was released in 2010 with a new preface), and being a millionaire ($1 million net worth or more) doesn’t mean as much today as it did then, many of the principles of wealth accumulation are still relevant today. In fact, the book is currently the #1 bestseller in Wealth Management on Amazon, which is a testament to its timelessness.

If you have a goal to grow your wealth and become financially independent, but haven’t had a chance to do much research into what actually works, this book recap is for you.

Unfortunately, if you’re hoping for a get-rich-quick guide, you won’t find it here. Stanley and Danko prove that building wealth takes self-discipline, sacrifice, and hard work more than anything else.

Here are my main takeaways from the book on how to become a millionaire:

Offense is important

Income generation (what the authors refer to as “offense”) is highly-correlated with net worth. The authors found that more than 2/3 of the millionaires in the U.S. had an annual income of more than $100,000 (equivalent to $157,000 in today’s terms). The more you earn, the more opportunity you have to become affluent.

And just in case you need additional incentive to make more money, life expectancy has been shown to greatly increase with income. The more you make, the longer you live.

Defense is even more important

While offense is important, defense (being frugal, budgeting, and planning) is even more important on the path to becoming a millionaire. The authors found that once you are a high earner ($150–250K annually or more in today’s terms), the amount of money you make is less important than what you do with what you already have. In fact, many extremely high earners do not become wealthy because they spend everything they make.

The authors assert that it is easier to make a great salary in America than it is to accumulate wealth — and even if you can’t increase your salary significantly, you can certainly still become affluent by playing great defense. Numerous millionaires were profiled in the book who made less than $80,000 per year, yet still managed to become quite wealthy through rigorous budgeting and planning.

Live well below your means

Being frugal is the foundation for growing wealth, and the number one common habit among millionaires. This means having the discipline to pass on the luxury car, fancy house, or designer clothes in order to live below your means and grow your money. As of the latest edition of the book, based on 2007 IRS estate data, millionaires who had estates worth $3.5 million or more owned homes with only a median value of $469,021 — which worked out to be less than 10% of their median net worth. Bottom line — whatever your income, live below your means.

Invest at least 15% of your pre-tax household income each year

Saving and investing 15% of your annual income every year is a simple strategy for becoming wealthy. And the earlier you start investing your income, the greater your opportunity to accumulate wealth. So start the process of earning and investing as early as possible in your life, and put away 15% or more of your income every year for investment purposes. The compounded growth over time can be remarkable.

Invest Wisely

Wealthy people spend more time planning their investments, and they typically hire a high-quality financial advisor to help guide their investment portfolio. Although millionaires are typically frugal, they recognize the importance of working with (and paying for) top experts to help grow their wealth. The authors found that millionaires are actively involved with the planning of their investments, and often ultimately make their own investment decisions (with consultation from a financial advisor), but they are not “active” investors. Less than 10% of millionaires interviewed by the authors held their investments for less than a year, and 42% of the millionaires made no stock trades at all in the prior year. Millionaires spend their time on a small number of stocks, focusing on companies they know and understand well, and then stay in it for the long haul. Aspiring millionaires should follow the same approach.

The typical millionaire, based on the book’s research, held about 20% of their wealth in publicly traded stocks (and never more than 30%), and had 2.5 times more money in investment real estate than in their own personal homes.

You’re more likely to become a millionaire if you are self-employed

The authors found that people who are self-employed are 4 times more likely to be a millionaire than people who work for someone else. Self-employed people accounted for less than 20% of U.S. workers, but more than 2/3 of all millionaires. However, the authors are also quick to point out that many entrepreneurs and self-employed people never become wealthy. As we all know, it is hard to become a successful entrepreneur or business owner, and most never make it. High risk, high reward.

You can do it without the help of a trust fund

The authors note that 80–85% of millionaires are self-made. They are first-generation rich, meaning they did it on their own without huge cash gifts and ongoing economic support from their parents. It should come as no surprise that self-made affluent people are typically frugal and price-sensitive.

Spend your money on the important things

Millionaires are often frugal when it comes to consumer goods and services, but they do spend their money on investment advice, legal services, medical care, education for their children, and even vacations and other experiences with friends and family. The lesson is to cut back on your consumption lifestyle and spend your money where it will make a difference.

I hope this book summary provides you a solid foundation to grow your wealth and become financially independent. I am certainly no expert in this space, but I found this book to be incredibly helpful, and I hope this recap does the same for you.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know by sharing it with others and leaving a comment. Thank you!

Andrew Merle writes about living well, including good habits for happiness, health, productivity, and success. Subscribe to his e-mail list at andrewmerle.com and follow him on Twitter and Medium.

Maximize Your Workday Productivity with the Rule of 4

There are eight hours in a typical workday. 

Do not spend more than four of those hours in meetings. 

Implementing this ‘Rule of 4’ means you will preserve four hours each day for your most important and meaningful work, not to mention actually having the time to take next steps from the meetings that you do attend. 

Protecting four meeting-free hours each day also gives you the time to tackle unavoidable administrative tasks such as checking email and returning calls without the stress of your inbox getting out of control.   

Four hours of focused work per day is ideal, according to Cal Newport, productivity expert and author of the bestselling business book Deep Work. 

But he also notes that it takes time to train our brains to focus for four hours each day.  Therefore, if you are just getting started with this process, blocking off a total of four hours will give you the opportunity to exercise your concentration muscles on deep and challenging work (perhaps 1-2 hours each day to start), while still having time for the smaller daily to-dos and other items that inevitably pop up. 

It is actually an incredibly liberating exercise to look at your calendar and make hard choices so that you do not commit to more than four hours of meetings in a day.  This forces you to prioritize the sessions that are critical to personally attend, while delegating or declining the rest.  You will almost certainly find that you did not miss much from the meetings you skipped (especially if the meeting organizer can send a brief recap following the session). 

Remember, this still means you are spending up to four hours each day in meetings, which is a significant amount of in-person time for your highest-priority sessions.   And you’ll actually be able to pay attention and be present in those sessions, without feeling the need to sneak in a few emails.  

Rescuing the other four hours is a game-changer.  You’ll feel a sense of control over your schedule, and will actually have enough time to get your real work done.  And with four hours each day to truly be productive, you likely won’t feel the need to work overtime, creating more balance in your life overall. 

Spending your whole day bouncing between meetings makes for a busy day, but not a productive one.  You’ll feel starved for time, with too many things to do and not enough time to do them. 

Don’t do that to yourself. 

As Tim Ferriss says, “Lack of time is a lack of priorities.” 

Use the Rule of 4 to prioritize and take back your time.

Andrew Merle writes about living well, including good habits for happiness, health, productivity, and success. Connect with him on Twitter.

Wake Up With This 9-Minute "Snooze" Ritual

I pride myself on being a morning person and having a highly-productive morning routine. 

I consistently get 7-8 hours of sleep, religiously go for a 30-minute run in the morning, always make my bed, and even block out the first hour of my work day to tackle my single most important task.  

But I’ll admit that it has always been hard for me to get out of bed.  I have struggled with this for as long as I can remember. 

It has been common for me to set my alarm for 6am, only to snooze several times and not get out of bed until 6:30 or later.  Somehow the warmth of my bed just seems impossible to leave, even if I know that those 30 minutes of snoozing are not actually restful or restorative. 

To make matters worse, I also pride myself on time management, and yet I know that those 30 minutes of snoozing are a total waste of time. 

So I have been in search of an effective way to actually wake up when the alarm goes off.  And I think I have finally found the answer. 

I have learned that I need to ease into the day.  It is essential for me to have a bridge between the peaceful night’s rest and the commotion of the day.  I have found that there just isn’t anything that reliably causes me jump up and excitedly rush out of bed (other than realizing I’m late for a meeting!). 

Understanding this about myself, I started thinking about meditation as an ideal start to the day.  I know all about the benefits of meditation, and have tried to work it into my routine in the past, but have not consistently made time for this practice in my schedule.  There just has never seemed to be enough time in the morning to meditate, along with everything else I try to fit in before heading off to work. 

So that got me thinking about using my “snooze” period more productively.  It occurred to me that I could swap my snooze time for meditation time - if only I could get out of bed.  And then I thought to myself, “Why even get out bed?”  Maybe I’d be more successful waking up and sticking to a meditation practice if I removed the barrier of actually leaving my bed.  And that’s exactly what has happened. 

It turns out that my need for slowly easing into the day, interest in meditation, and love of maximizing time have all combined for the perfect wake-up solution. 

I still set my alarm for 6am.  And I still hit the snooze button.  But now that snooze button starts the timer for my meditation session.  I simply sit up in bed – a much lower threshold than actually getting out – and spend the snooze period meditating. 

My meditation is nothing fancy.  I sit up in a comfortable position with my back against the wall, supported by two pillows.  And then I just close my eyes and focus on my breathing.  Whenever I notice my attention wandering, I just bring my focus back to my breath. I do this repeatedly for nine minutes (the duration of one “snooze” on my settings) until the alarm goes off again.  And remarkably I have not once fallen back asleep. 

I’m sure this isn’t the textbook meditation technique, but I do know that I feel calm, centered, and ready to start the day after my 9-minute snooze meditation.  I then drink a glass of water (that I keep next to my bed), slowly get out of bed, and continue on with my morning routine. 

This simple process means that I am getting out of bed 20 minutes earlier than I previously was, all while fitting in a morning meditation, and getting into the right frame of mind to take on the day.  And I’m not sacrificing any quality sleep. 

This wake-up ritual is working wonders for me, and I thought it could be helpful for other habitual “snoozers” as well.  I hope it works for you.         

Here’s to a great morning!

Here's a Recipe for a Great Weekend

During the busy workweek, I tend to be pretty good at maximizing my time and productivity.  I enjoy the challenge of finding pockets of time amidst a packed schedule, and tuning out distractions in order to do my best work. 

But I have struggled in the past to create a great weekend routine.  The unstructured nature of weekends, and ample free time, has sometimes left me feeling overwhelmed or not knowing where to start.  I have always looked forward to weekends as the optimal time to have fun and relieve stress, but haven’t consistently spent my time in a way that produced these results.  Therefore, I wanted to take a more strategic approach to weekends in order to increase my enjoyment, relaxation, and regeneration. 

After much experimentation and research, here are the best habits I have found to maximize happiness and rejuvenation during those precious weekends. 

Consider this a recipe for a great weekend:

Avoid Work Email and Social Media

You will never gain perspective or fully experience life if you are constantly buried in email or scrolling through social media.  The weekend is the perfect time to disconnect – avoiding all work email and social media.  If this seems like a major step, consider implementing this for just one of your weekend days to start (Saturday has been the easiest day for me to apply this tactic).  In general, I believe in minimizing technology on weekends, but not eliminating it altogether – for example, you might want to call or text people to make plans, email an old friend, or relax by watching a movie on Saturday night.  All of these are perfectly acceptable and rely on some use of technology. 

Spend Time with Friends and Family

Celebrate the end of the week in the company of friends and family.  Social connection is the greatest predictor of happiness, and also vital to our health.  Our close relationships can get crowded out of the busy workweek, so it is critical that we make time for them on the weekends.  Make it a point to get at least one social activity on the calendar each weekend.  I have found it helpful to keep a list of people I’d like to see, and then reference this list as I schedule social outings for upcoming weekends.  Last-minute get-togethers can be great too, but they might not happen if you don’t plan ahead. 

Exercise

I am a huge believer in the mental and physical benefits of exercise, and the weekend is an excellent time to bring some variety to your workouts.  If you do the same gym routine or morning jog every weekday, try mixing it up on Saturday and Sunday.  Use the extra time to go for a long hike, bike ride, or even just a nice walk outside (or whatever other sport or activity you like to do, whether that’s spin class, skiing, tennis, or tai chi). 

Get Outside

It is all too common to spend most of our weekdays inside and in front of a computer screen.  So use the weekends to get outdoors and enjoy the fresh air – if the weather is great or not.  I have found that my happiness is often proportional to the amount of time I spend outside.  Track how many hours you spend outside on Saturday and Sunday, and see if you can increase this number each weekend.  It will likely do wonders for your mood and outlook on life. 

Enjoy Good Food and Drink

I love a great meal and glass of wine.  Meals can sometimes be rushed on weekdays, so I like to slow it down and savor a great dinner on Friday or Saturday night (either cooking at home or going out).  I think of weekend meals as a special treat, and am always happier when I take the time to really appreciate them. 

Do What You Love to Do

This might seem obvious, but the extra time on weekends gives us the opportunity to do more of what we love to do.  I actually recommend the practice of writing out what you love to do (for me, this includes spending time with my wife and kids, traveling, watching sporting events, listening to music, reading, and writing).  Whenever I need some inspiration, I just reference the list of things I love to do and start doing them.  This list will be unique to every person, but spending more time doing what you love on the weekends will make for a very happy couple of days.  And I find that this good feeling often lasts well into the workweek.     

So there you have it – a recipe for a great weekend! 

If this list seems daunting, just think about how many of these elements can be combined together.  For example, you can enjoy a great meal in the company of friends, or make it a point to always exercise outside on the weekend. 

Incorporate these weekend ingredients into your life and make the most of your precious "off" days!  

Make Mine O'Clock Part of Your Morning Routine

In order to be successful, it is essential to make progress against your top priorities before responding to other people’s requests.

This means starting each day in proactive mode — doing the work that is most important to you before turning your attention to the ‘urgent’ needs of others.

I recommend protecting the first hour of each work day — what I refer to as ‘Mine O’Clock’ — and attack it on your own terms.

Taking this hour, every morning, to make progress against your short- and long-term goals will add up to big wins over time.

On the flip side, if you don’t guard the first hour of your day — and instead spend it responding to email or rushing off to meetings — your most meaningful work will get crowded out. The day will quickly be eaten up, and your energy drained, before you even get started on our own projects.

Take the following steps to make Mine O’Clock part of your morning routine:

1. Block off the first hour of every work day

• Set a daily recurring appointment in Outlook (or other calendar you use) so this time is preserved and shows others you are booked
• Do not schedule meetings or calls during this hour
• Respectfully decline or ask to reschedule all meeting/call invites during this hour, unless mandatory. If there are meetings scheduled during this time that are required, consider starting your day an hour earlier in those instances

2. Establish your daily to-do list in advance

• Limit it to 3 (or fewer) critical items
• I recommend writing out your to-do list the night before

3. Begin the day with your single most important task

• Find a quiet place to work where you will not be interrupted
• Start your day working on your single most important item. Once complete, move on to other critical to-dos from there
• Avoid email and social media during this hour

It might seem selfish to devote the first hour of every day to your own priorities, but this routine will actually increase your productivity and impact for your company.

And it is highly likely that your boss and co-workers will respect (and perhaps follow) your routine, especially when they see your increased performance.

Oftentimes you’ll accomplish more in the first hour taking this approach than you otherwise would all day. Completing something significant first-thing gives you momentum and can set off a chain reaction of high output throughout the day.

Just imagine how much more effective we would all be if we completed our most important task of the day first thing in the morning.

There are 8+ hours in a typical workday. Protect the first one for your most meaningful work.

Are you ready to make Mine O’Clock part of your morning routine?

Follow This 4-Step Routine Every Friday

Don’t make the mistake of treating Friday like any other workday.

Having a specific and intentional routine on Friday will set you up for a relaxing weekend and a successful following week.

Follow this 4-step process every Friday to maximize your productivity and peace of mind:

1. Block off your calendar for all of Friday afternoon

This means not scheduling any meetings or calls after 12 noon on Friday (trust me, your co-workers will thank you for this), and declining all invites unless they are absolutely critical (e.g. mandated by your boss).

With some open space on your calendar, now you will be able to close out the week on your own terms.

2. Spend 2+ hours working on unfinished top-priority tasks

If there are still any major outstanding items on your weekly to-do list — specifically ones that will cause anxiety and stress over the weekend — now is the time to tackle them.

Find a quiet place to work where you won’t be interrupted, and spend a couple of focused hours on these top-priority tasks, completing them or getting them into a good place before the weekend.

Once progress has been made against these big items, you can turn your attention to the little ones.

3. Spend 1 hour cleaning out your inbox

Scroll through your entire inbox for emails or calls that slipped through the cracks during the week.

If sending a response or giving a quick call back will only take a few minutes, do it right away.

Consider whether some of these items really need to be done at all. If they aren’t that important — and you will never actually get around to doing them anyway — just delete now and save yourself the stress of seeing them again.

Do make a note of any items that are important and require more time to complete, and will need to wait until the following week. It can alleviate pressure (and is a nice courtesy) to take a moment to quickly respond, saying you’ll get back to them with a more in-depth answer next week. This leads right into the next step.

4. Write out your to-do list for the following week

With a clear understanding of where things are being left off with all big and little items, you can now prioritize what you will do the following week (and equally as important, what you will not do).

It is critical to take time on Friday to write out your to-do list for the next week. Your top priorities will be much fresher than trying to do this on Sunday night or Monday morning.

This will also give you the peace of mind to know that your top priorities have been captured on paper, and will enable you to hit the ground running the next week.

Limit your weekly to-do list to no more than 3–5 essential items.

And that completes the fourth step of the routine.

* I know I said this was a 4-step process, but there is a bonus step that might be most important of all.

5. Leave the office early

At this point in the day, you have made progress against your major projects, cleared out as many minor-but-necessary items as possible, and set yourself up for a successful week ahead.

With a highly-productive Friday afternoon in the books, it’s time to get out of the office early.

Even leaving at 4 or 4:30pm will make your weekend feel significantly longer.

You deserve it!

Top 10 Business Books of 2016

I love to read business books that help me learn and grow, but sometimes it is hard to know where to start — especially because there are 11,000 new business books published every year.

To help narrow down my reading list, I went in search of the best-of-the-best business books from the past year. I researched just about every top media outlet that has been publishing “best-of-2016” lists, including Fast Company, Inc., Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, Success, and Amazon.

I then cross-referenced the lists to see which books showed up multiple times. It turns out that, among the seven lists I studied, only 10 books made the cut more than once.

That made an easy cutoff point for an overall Top 10 Business Books of 2016 list. A “list of lists,” if you will.

I figure that if more than one top business media outlet believes a book is among the very best from the past year, that book is certainly worth my time (and yours).

The order of the Top 10 below is based on the number of times that book showed up on the various media lists I examined. For example, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth, is ranked No. 1 because it landed on five of the seven top lists I read, two more than the next closest competitor (the number of top lists for each book is listed in parentheses after the author’s name below).

For tie-breakers, I referenced the book’s ranking from the lists I researched, as well as customer reviews and ratings on Amazon.com.

If you keep reading past the overall Top 10 below, you will see the full list from each of the media outlets I studied (as well as links to Amazon to purchase any of the books).

Happy (and successful) reading in 2017!

TOP 10 BUSINESS BOOKS OF 2016

1. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth (5)

2. Hustle: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum by Neil Patel, Patrick Vlaskovits, and Jonas Koffler (3)

3. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport (3)

4. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant (3)

5. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (2)

6. Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Dr. Robert Cialdini (2)

7. Only Humans Need Apply: Winners and Losers in the Age of Smart Machines by Thomas H. Davenport and Julia Kirby (2)

8. Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Startup Bubble by Dan Lyons (2)

9. Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg (2)

10. Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley by Antonio Garcia Martinez (2)

And now here are the Best Business Books of 2016 as selected by the top media outlets I researched:

Fast Company Top 10

1. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

2. Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice by Clayton M. Christensen, Karen Dillon, David S. Duncan and Taddy Hall

3. Here’s the Plan: Your Practical, Tactical Guide to Advancing Your Career During Pregnancy and Parenthood by Allyson Downey

4. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

5. Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Startup Bubble by Dan Lyons

6. The Signals Are Talking: Why Today’s Fringe Is Tomorrow’s Mainstream by Amy Webb

7. Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future by Joi Ito and Jeff Howe

8. The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee

9. The New Alpha: Join the Rising Movement of Influencers and Changemakers Who Are Redefining Leadership by Danielle Harlan

10. The Content Trap: A Strategist’s Guide to Digital Change by Bharat Anand

Inc. Top 10

1. Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent by Sydney Finkelstein

2. Only Humans Need Apply: Winners and Losers in the Age of Smart Machines by Thomas H. Davenport and Julia Kirby

3. Hustle: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum by Neil Patel, Patrick Vlaskovits, and Jonas Koffler

4. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

5. Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change: Inspire the People and Succeed Where Others Fail by H. James Dallas

6. Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days by Jake Knapp

7. If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy? by Raj Raghunathan

8. Hell Week: Seven Days to Be Your Best Self by Erik Bertrand Larssen

9. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

10. The Art of People: 11 Simple People Skills That Will Get You Everything You Want by Dave Kerpen

Forbes Top 10

1. Keep It Simple: Unclutter Your Mind to Uncomplicate Your Life by Joe Calloway

2. Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger

3. Scrappy: A Little Book about Choosing to Play Big by Terri Sjodin

4. Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Dr. Robert Cialdini

5. Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It by Dorie Clark

6. Gift-ology: The Art and Science of Using Gifts to Cut Through the Noise, Increase Referrals and Strengthen Retention by John Ruhlin

7. Look: A Practical Guide for Improving Your Observation Skills by Jim Gilmore

8. How to Wow: 68 Effortless Ways to Make Every Customer Experience Amazing by Adrian Swinscoe

9. Dealstorming: The Secret Weapon that Can Solve Your Toughest Sales Challenges by Tim Sanders

10. All About Them: Grow Your Business by Focusing on Others by Bruce Turkel

Fortune Top 10

1. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

2. Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss

3. The Power of Broke by Daymond John

4. The Code of the Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani

5. Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Startup Bubble by Dan Lyons

6. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant

7. Hustle: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum by Neil Patel, Patrick Vlaskovits, and Jonas Koffler

8. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

9. Building the Internet of Things by Maciej Kranz

10. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Financial Times Top 10

1. What Works: Gender Equality by Design by Iris Bohnet

2. Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Dr. Robert Cialdini

3. Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark

4. Brazillionaires: Wealth, Power, Decadence, and Hope in an American Country by Alex Cuadros

5. Only Humans Need Apply: Winners and Losers in the Age of Smart Machines by Thomas H. Davenport and Julia Kirby

6. The Innovation Illusion: How So Little Is Created by So Many Working So Hard by Fredrik Erixon and Bjorn Weigel

7. Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley by Antonio Garcia Martinez

8. Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism by Jeff Gramm

9. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant

10. The 100-Year Life: Living and working in an age of longevity by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott

Success Top 5

1. A Paperboy’s Fable: The 11 Principles of Success by Deep Patel

2. Hustle: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum by Neil Patel, Patrick Vlaskovits, and Jonas Koffler

3. Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

4. Chief Marketing Officers at Work by Josh Steimle

5. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

Amazon Top 10

1. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

2. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

3. Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

4. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant

5. The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future by Kevin Kelly

6. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

7. Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

8. Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley by Antonio Garcia Martinez

9. #AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur’s Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness by Gary Vaynerchuk

10. Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives by Tim Harford

Overall, there are almost 50 unique titles from the lists above — plenty of excellent business books to keep us occupied in the weeks and months ahead.

Hope you find some books that you love!

Andrew Merle writes about living well, including good habits for happiness, health, productivity, and success. Subscribe to his e-mail list at andrewmerle.com and follow him on Twitter.

How to Find Your True Calling

Many people are in search of their purpose, or true calling, in life. 

And this is certainly a worthy endeavor – research has shown that knowing your sense of purpose adds up to 7 years of extra life expectancy. 

But finding your purpose can be quite challenging since it can be an abstract and ambiguous phenomenon.

Therefore, the objective of this article is to make the process more concrete and actionable. 

I believe that true calling lies at the intersection of three important areas: your strengths, interests, and what benefits others. 

When these three forces are all at play, you are doing what you were born to do. 

Of course it is important to have a clear understanding about each of the three components, so let’s break them down. 

Strengths

We are all born with, or have developed, talents and strengths that distinguish us from others.  We simply do some things better than most other people do, and it is important to know what these things are and to lean in to them.  Research shows that applying our strengths is connected to greater work satisfaction, engagement, and productivity.  And using our strengths makes us happier and more successful, too.   

You probably have a sense of what you do well, but a great place to dive deeper and crystallize what you do best is by taking the StrengthsFinder assessment.  This costs $15 and requires about 30 minutes of your time - if you are serious about this self-discovery, it is a worthy investment.

Alternatively (or additionally), you can take the VIA Character Strengths survey (free with log-in) to discover your top strengths. 

Taking one or both of these tests, along with your gut feel, will yield an excellent understanding of your signature strengths and how to leverage them. 

It is through this process that I learned that some of my top strengths are my focus, determination, and analytical nature.     

Interests

This might seem like an obvious one, and certainly unique to every individual.  But even identifying personal interests can be tricky. 

We’re often told to pursue our passions, but many people do not have pre-existing burning passions.  The reality is that passion often doesn’t just exist – it needs to be developed.    

Therefore, a better approach is to start by thinking about anything that you are interested in or enjoy doing (even remotely).  Take the time to write these interest areas down, and then add to the list whenever something makes you happy, curious, or intrigued to learn more.  Over time trends will appear and you will have a good sense for what you truly enjoy doing. 

If you get stuck, start by designing what your perfect day would look like, from the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep. 

Even thinking about how you choose to spend your free Saturday afternoons gives a good indication of your interests. 

I have discovered that I love reading and writing, especially about personal improvement and philosophies of life. 

What Benefits Others

Now that your top strengths and interests have been identified, you are already light years ahead of most people.  Uniting just those two forces, whether as a profession or hobby, can ignite your happiness and success.  But to truly find your calling and purpose in life, it is important to leverage those areas for the greater good.    

Hopefully you are one of the lucky ones already operating in your sweet spot.  But if not, often just combining your strengths and interests will naturally unearth a path to help others.  And perhaps by now you have already had some ‘a ha’ moments. 

You don’t need to only consider major global issues – your family, community, school, city, company (or other group or organization that is important to you) are also in need of your unique contributions.

Don’t forget that people are in need of entertainment, humor, relaxation, education, beauty, social gathering, and other simple joys.   

For example, if you’re a particularly patient person, and you enjoy spending time with children, you could focus your efforts on mentoring or coaching.  Or maybe you’re a doctor with a passion for travel, so you seek out opportunities to volunteer your medical services abroad.  Or perhaps you are great with numbers and interested in money markets, and therefore are well-suited to help people accumulate wealth and save for retirement.      

For me personally, I found that I was reading every book I could get my hands on related to happiness, health, productivity, and success.  I would underline key passages and then, after finishing the book, would transcribe my key takeaways into a one-pager.  I was initially doing this for my own use, but then realized that others could also benefit from my research and writing about these key insights for living well. 

I have now been writing about these topics for almost two years, and find it very meaningful to leverage my top talents (focus, analytical nature) and interests (reading and writing about personal improvement) to help other people lead happier, healthier, more productive lives. 

Go Find Your Calling

We all want to wake up in the morning with a clear sense of purpose that guides and gives meaning to our lives.    

But your calling won’t necessarily just “call” out to you.  You will likely need to search for it. 

By following the steps outlined above, you can find and nurture it. 

Your true calling will emerge as you combine your top strengths and interests with what benefits others. 

When you do that, you are doing what you were meant to do.  

Why 10pm is the Perfect Bedtime

10pm is the perfect bedtime. 

Going to sleep at 10pm enables you to get the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep, and still wake up by 5 or 6am. 

That means you can get in at least a 30-minute workout in the morning – a common habit among the most successful and productive people – and still be at work by 8 or 9am. 

With exercise out of the way, and an energized mind, you are poised and ready to tackle your most important task of the day - all before lunch. 

And when you do that, you’re playing with the house’s money for the remainder of the day. 

You see, I believe a successful morning routine actually starts the night before. 

Most people have commitments in the morning, so sleeping in is not an option.  That means the only way to get a full night’s rest – setting you up for a highly-successful day – is to go to sleep earlier the night before. 

Turning in at 10pm isn’t a major compromise.  It still means that you can have a pleasant and productive evening (family time, dinner, work, TV, reading, glass of wine, etc.) without rushing to bed. 

Even if you don’t get home from work until 7pm, that still means you have 3 hours to make the most of the night before heading to sleep. 

I find that a bedtime much earlier than 10pm really cuts into the evening, and a bedtime much later than 10pm cuts into sleep time and the ability to be effective the next morning. 

Of course this is based on a fairly typical schedule that can apply to most people. 

I fully recognize that there are circumstances (an extra-long commute, getting the kids off to school, etc.) that might require a different routine.  Or perhaps you’re a night owl without any demands in the morning.   

But the principle holds true – find that perfect bedtime balance that allows you to enjoy the evening and still have a great next day.  I believe that a 10pm bedtime yields that perfect balance.  

How about you?  What time do you go to bed and what is the routine that works for you?     

What to Eat to Live to 100

I aspire to live an incredibly long, happy, and healthy life.

That is why I recently read the The Blue Zones Solution, in which New York Times best-selling author Dan Buettner reveals the eating and living habits of the world’s longest-lived people.

For over a decade, Buettner (along with the National Geographic Society and a team of researchers) studied the 5 locations around the globe that have the highest concentrations of 100-year-olds, as well as exceptionally low rates of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, and heart problems.

In the book, Buettner lays out the specifics for each of these “Blue Zones” locations, analyzes the trends, and then prescribes a plan for people looking achieve the same level of health and longevity.

The book is fantastic and I highly recommend it for anyone who is looking to live a longer, happier life. In case you are short on time, I have tried to summarize my main takeaways below.

Note: Most of the book focuses on food because, as Buettner says, “food may be the best starting point for anyone seeking to emulate the health, longevity, and well-being found in the world’s Blue Zones.” But a significant portion of the book is also devoted to other healthy lifestyle habits commonly found in Blue Zones locations, and I have included some of those key behaviors at the end of this post.

According to The Blue Zones Solution:

The best-of-the-best longevity foods are (Include at least 3 of these daily):

• Beans (black beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, black-eyed peas, lentils)
• Greens (spinach, kale, chards, beet tops, fennel tops, collards)
• Sweet Potatoes
• Nuts (almonds, peanuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, cashews)
• Olive Oil (green, extra-virgin is best)
• Oats (slow-cook or Irish steel-cut are best)
• Barley
• Fruits (all kinds)
• Green or Herbal teas
• Turmeric (spice or tea)

The 4 best beverages are:

• Water
• Coffee
• Green Tea
• Red Wine (no more than 2 glasses daily)

Foods to Minimize include:

• Meat (eat meat only 2 times per week or less; meat servings should be 2 oz. cooked or less; fine to eat up to 3 oz. of fish daily)
• Dairy such as cheese, cream, and butter (limit as much as possible; Goat’s and Sheep’s milk products are ok)
• Eggs (eat no more than 3 eggs per week)
• Sugar (limit as much as possible — opt for honey and fruit instead)
• Bread (OK to eat 100% whole wheat and true sourdough bread; look for sprouted grain bread, whole grain rye, or pumpernickel bread)

Foods to Avoid (other than a special treat):

• Sugary beverages (sodas, boxed juices)
• Salty snacks (chips, crackers)
• Processed Meats (sausages, salami, bacon, lunch meats)
• Packaged sweets (cookies, candy bars)

Food Guidelines to Live By:

• 95% of your food should be plant-based
• Eat your largest meal at breakfast, a mid-sized lunch, and small dinner
• Stop eating when you’re 80% full
• If you need to snack, make it a piece of fruit or handful of nuts
• Cook most of your meals at home and eat with friends and family as much as possible

The top longevity foods eaten in each Blue Zone:

Ikaria, Greece:

• Olive oil
• Wild Greens
• Potatoes
• Legumes (garbanzo beans, black-eyed peas, lentils)
• Feta and Goat Cheese
• Sourdough bread
• Lemons
• Honey
• Herbal Tea
• Coffee
• Wine

Okinawa, Japan:

• Tofu
• Sweet Potatoes
• Brown Rice
• Shiitake Mushrooms
• Seaweeds
• Garlic
• Turmeric
• Green Tea

Sardinia, Italy:

• Olive oil
• Beans
• Goat’s Milk and Sheep’s Milk (including sharp pecorino cheese)
• Flat Bread
• Barley
• Sourdough Bread
• Fennel
• Fava Beans and Chickpeas
• Potatoes
• Greens
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Zucchini
• Cabbage
• Lemons
• Almonds
• Wine

Loma Linda, California:

• Avocados
• Salmon
• Nuts
• Fruits
• Beans
• Water (7 glasses per day)
• Oatmeal
• Whole Wheat Bread
• Soy Milk

Peninsula, Costa Rica:

• Corn Tortillas
• Black Beans
• Squash
• Papayas
• Yams
• Bananas

Blue Zones lifestyle lessons to maximize happiness, health, and longevity:

• Move daily (e.g. walking or other moderate-intensity activity).
• Socialize more. Research shows that the happiest people socialize at least 8 hours per day, especially with parents and family.
• Know what gets you up in the morning. Knowing your sense of purpose, or reason for living, has been shown to add up to 7 years of life expectancy.
• Have faith. Attending faith-based services (it doesn’t matter what faith) 4 times per month has been shown to add 4–14 years to your life.
• Committing to a life partner can add up to 3 years of life expectancy.
• Aim to sleep 8 hours per night for maximum health and longevity.
• Have sex. 80% of people in Ikaria ages 65–100 are still having sex, and sex has been shown to enhance longevity.

In summary, as noted in the book, “Eat well, stress less, move more, and love more.”

Here’s to a long, happy, healthy, and fulfilling life!

How to Get By on 4-5 Hours of Sleep

We all know that it is optimal to get 8 hours of sleep per night. 

The benefits of sleep for our health, happiness, and productivity have been well-documented. 

There is simply no doubt that we need sleep to be at our best.    

But sometimes 8 hours just isn’t in the cards. 

Whether because of work stress, a crying baby, or some other late-night disturbance, we are sometimes forced to function on 4-5 hours of sleep (or less). 

When that is the case, should we just resign ourselves to a day filled with moodiness and limited output?  Or are there some strategies to counteract the effects of little sleep? 

Fortunately, there are some effective ways to survive (and even thrive) after a night of tossing and turning. 

Try this routine the next time you’re short on sleep:

• Force yourself to get up and exercise.  I personally find that a 30-minute run in the morning is worth an extra 2 hours of sleep, and makes me feel close to how I typically would during a well-rested workday.  It may not be your finest workout after limited shut-eye, but working up a sweat will make you feel sharper and more alert afterwards.
• Follow exercise with a cold shower, which has been shown to increase mood, alertness, and energy.
• Have a cup (or two) of coffee.  Caffeine in moderation can help boost your concentration and mental alertness.  Feel free to go back for another round - coffee or green tea - in the early afternoon if you’re not overly sensitive to caffeine.
• Get your most important work done in the morning.  It is critical to prioritize your day.  Expect an energy dip in the afternoon, so tackle your must-do items first-thing.
• Eat light, healthy meals and snacks.  The food we eat has a big effect on our energy levels, so treat food as fuel when operating on little sleep.  In general, opt for complex carbs and protein to increase energy levels.  Some revitalizing options include berries and other fruits, steel-cut oatmeal, eggs, nuts, vegetables, lean meats (such as grilled chicken), and fresh fish (such as salmon).  Be sure to also drink lots of water throughout the day.  Heavy meals, sugar, and processed carbs will only worsen the situation and make you want to hit the pillow.
• Take a walk outside to break up the day.  When sleepiness hits at your desk, get up and go outside for a 10-15 minute walk.  The break and sunlight will help to restore your energy levels.
• Allow yourself a quick afternoon nap.  A short 30-minute nap has been shown to boost alertness and limit the effects of sleep deprivation.
• Leave work on time.  This isn’t the day to put in overtime, if you can avoid it.  You accomplished your most important tasks early and made it all the way through, so pat yourself on the back and call it a day.  Go home and enjoy a relaxing evening and hopefully better sleep than the night before. 

Of course it is never ideal to operate on little sleep, but the reality is that we all find ourselves in this situation from time to time.  And fortunately there are some proven strategies to make the most of it. 

Your day will certainly be more manageable by following this plan, whether you adhere to every step or just select a few of the items.  

Perhaps it also jumped out at you that this routine could maximize your day even when you are well-rested.

Here’s to a great day (sleep or not)!    

 

How To Have More Time

If you’re like many people, you feel starved for time.

This is a result of being busier than ever, more technologically connected than ever, and often spending our days rushing from one activity or obligation to the next. It is all too common to feel overcommitted and overwhelmed as we try to fit it all in.

Although the world shows no signs of slowing down around us, fortunately there are proven ways to rescue back some of our precious time.

Here are some great ways to create breathing room in your day:

• Buy time. One way to have more time is to buy it, as pointed out by Professors Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton in their eye-opening book Happy Money. “By permitting ourselves to outsource our most dreaded tasks, from scrubbing toilets to cleaning gutters, money can transform the way we spend our time, freeing us to pursue our passions,” according to Dunn and Norton. Yes, buying time costs money, but it is a great use of it.
• Cut down on 2 notorious time-suckers — commuting and watching TV. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Americans spend more than 100 hours per year commuting to work, which is more than a typical worker’s annual vacation time. Additionally, Americans spend on average about two months per year watching television! Of course television can produce a lot of pleasure, but we probably don’t need 4 hours of it per day.
• Stick to routines and simplify decision-making. This is the approach Steve Jobs took by wearing the same thing every day (black turtlenecks and Levi’s 501 jeans) and why President Barack Obama stocks his closet with only gray or blue suits. President Obama has said, “I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”
• Block off time on your calendar. New York Times best-selling author Greg McKeown says that “The faster and busier things get, the more we need to build thinking time into our schedule. And the noisier things get, the more we need to build quiet reflection spaces in which we can truly focus.” So proactively block off time to get the things done that really matter. Bill Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner are just a few examples of people who habitually put this into practice, even during the busiest of times.
• Say “no” more often. As New York Times best-selling author Tom Rath says, “The next time a new opportunity presents itself, think carefully before making an ongoing commitment. If it is something you feel you should take on, determine what other activity you might need to let go of. When you are struggling between two choices, remember there is always a third option: doing nothing. In many cases, declining both options is the best route.”
• Unplug. Check email and social media fewer times per day. You’ll be surprised by how much more time you have when you disconnect and pay less attention to your devices.

There is no doubt that we live busy lives with many things competing for our attention. But we can take control of our calendar by implementing just some of these ideas.

Now what will you do with all of the extra time?

The Secret to True Happiness and Making a Unique Impact on the World

What if I told you that there is one main secret to true happiness?

And that this secret also guarantees that you will make a truly unique impact on the world?

And live a fulfilling life without regret?

It turns out that this secret does exist.

It is actually incredibly simple.

And it is something that you have and nobody else does.

The secret is being yourself and totally owning it.

Or as Neil Pasricha, #1 bestselling author of The Happiness Equation, says, “Be you and be cool with it.”

As he describes, “There is nothing more satisfying than being loved for who you are and nothing more painful than being loved for who you’re not but pretending to be.”

How true.

This point is validated by the number one regret of the dying, which is “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

Of course a key word in that line is “courage.” While being yourself is a simple concept, it is challenging to implement.

But it is worth striving for. Every day.

And only you know exactly what that means for you.

As Pasricha says, “Settling in to your true, weird, authentic self isn’t easy, but it’s the most satisfying way to have everything.”

If you are already living a life true to yourself, continue down that path. It is the right one.

On the other hand, if you sense that you could lean in to being you even more, do it.

Whatever you love to do, resolve to do more of it.

Don’t have the same regrets when you look back on your life.

Be you and be cool with it.

It is the secret to happiness, fulfillment, and making a truly unique impact on the world.

As Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”

Why I Run In The Morning

I never go into a big day without running first thing in the morning.

There is no doubt that running in the morning makes me better at work throughout the day — I think more clearly and overall have a more optimistic outlook on work and life.

Knowing I’ll be sharper all day is exactly the motivation I need to get out of bed at 6am when sometimes my body is screaming for more sleep. The overall health and fitness benefits are nice bonuses, but it’s really the mental benefits that keep me running each morning, day after day.

Morning is also the time when nothing else gets in the way. When I used to put off working out until later in the day, something would inevitably pop up — being buried in work, an unexpected meeting, last-minute requests, a co-worker’s birthday celebration, or just general laziness and fatigue. But nobody is looking for me at 6am (helped by the fact that I don’t check my iPhone before lacing up and heading out)!

I find that my morning run also gives me a great opportunity to think about the day ahead and my top priorities. Sometimes this gives me the aha moment I need to have a breakthrough at work, and at the very least it gives me achance to think about things — work or personal — without being interrupted or distracted. I like to think of my morning run as a form of active meditation — it sets the tone and calibrates me for the day ahead.

And I see all of these benefits with just a 30-minute run at a very manageable pace (9–10 minute mile). That is all I need to feel better for hours and hours after the run finishes. Maybe it’s mental, but now when I don’t run, I feel lethargic, cloudy, and more irritable. My thinking isn’t as crisp and I’m sure my friends, family, and co-workers notice a difference in my attitude.

I will admit it is really hard to actually get out of bed, but once I do, it’s pretty easy to throw on a pair of shorts, t-shirt, and running shoes and go out for a 30-minute jog. Even on days when I’ve slept poorly the night before, I find that pushing myself to go out for the run actually makes me feel better than if I would have gotten an extra 30 minutes of sleep. But I definitely highly value my sleep and aim for 8 hours per night if possible (asleep by 10pm).

I started running in the morning over 10 years ago and it has changed my life and career more than any other habit.

Best-selling author Tom Rath summed up many of the benefits in his book,“Are You Fully Charged?”, noting that just 20 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise has been shown to improve mood and make people feel better for 12 hours afterwards. So getting your exercise first thing in the morning can set you up for success all day long.

Rath said it best — “You simply think better when you are active.”

Want To Be Happier? Do This One Simple Thing

There are plenty of scientifically-proven keys to happiness.

Regular exercise, close social relationships, meaningful work, and knowing your sense of purpose all have been shown to improve happiness, just to name a few.

And while all are very worthy to strive for, there is no denying the considerable amount of thought, self-discipline, or time commitment required of each.

Fortunately, it turns out that little things are also important for happiness.

So what is one very simple thing that anyone can do to dramatically increase happiness?

Send a “Thank You” email every morning.

That’s right — the simple act of sending a quick email every morning thanking or complimenting someone you know produces a major happiness spike.

This is according to Harvard researcher and happiness expert Shawn Achor, who says that the effects are profound when people send these short thank you emails (or texts, tweets, etc.) to a different person each day, for 21 days in a row.

The email could be sent to a colleague, friend, family member, neighbor, teacher, coach, or anyone else who deserves it.

Achor says the senders of these emails feel a deep sense of social support, which is important for happiness (and could help us live longer as well).

Instead of being fearful of (and reactive to) our email inbox, imagine if each day started on a positive note instead.

Imagine if everyone followed this practice of saying something nice first thing in the morning, every morning.

So make a resolution to start your day with a quick thank you email.

It’ll only take a couple minutes and doesn’t need to be longer than a couple of sentences.

It’ll make your day. And maybe someone else’s, too.

What Successful People Eat For Lunch

There is a lot of information out there about great morning routines, including numerous articles about the breakfast habits of the rich and famous.

And while those stories can be interesting and helpful, I personally have been more in need of mid-day recommendations. Anybody who knows me is well aware that I make a Starbucks run for a caffeine fix just about every afternoon.

I typically feel great and am at my best in the morning, only to have my energy and productivity dip precipitously right after lunch.

Of course this is common — we’re wired to become sleepy between 1pm and 3pm, when our core body temperature drops and the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin is released. This is a natural part of our body’s circadian rhythm.

But I also know that what we eat for lunch plays a big role in how we feel for the remainder of the day. As best-selling author Tom Rath says, “What you do at lunch can either make or break the rest of your day.”

So I have been on the lookout for lunch options that will keep me mentally sharp through the end of the work day.

As part of my research, I looked for inspiration from some highly-successful people. Although there seems to be far less information out there about the lunch foods of successful people relative to what they eat for breakfast, I was able to uncover the following:

• Entrepreneur, author, and productivity guru Tim Ferriss recommends eating the same thing for lunch almost every day, which for him consists of organic beef, mixed vegetables, pinto beans, and guacamole.
• Michelle Obama has been known to eat fish and stir-fried vegetables for lunch, and occasionally brown rice or a potato.One of her lunchtime favorites is also veggie pizza on whole wheat bread, loaded with vegetables, cheese, and tomato sauce.
• Editor-In-Chief of Vogue Magazine Anna Wintour opts for a high-protein lunch, usually consisting of a steak or hamburger without the bun.
• Actor Mark Wahlberg (and co-owner of the burger restaurant chain Wahlburgers) typically eats a salad, turkey burger, and sweet potato for lunch.
• And then there is CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who eats the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for months in a row. At times this has meant just scrambled egg whites three times a day, or baked potatoes, or oatmeal raisin bars, or veggie burgers for every meal, month after month.Wow.

Interesting information for sure, but next I needed to turn to the experts to see what they recommend.

According to Karen Ansel, Registered Dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the ultimate lunch for a productivity boost is chickpeas and iced green tea.

Chickpeas provide the perfect blend of protein and complex carbs to power the brain, and apparently adding some balsamic vinegar is icing on the cake because it slows down carbohydrate digestion to sustain energy even longer.Washing it down with green tea sharpens concentration and focus thanks to the drink’s combo of a key amino acid plus a small amount of caffeine.

Research also shows that eating fruits and vegetables throughout the day is as beneficial for the mind as it is for the body. A recent study found that the more fruits and vegetables people ate, the happier, more engaged, and more creative they became.

Other great lunchtime options include lean meats (such as grilled chicken), fresh fish, healthy fats (such as avocado and nuts), and drinking plenty of water.

It’s no surprise that foods to avoid at lunch are anything high in sugar such as cookies, candy, and soda. And best to stay away from refined carbs such as white pasta and bread, which release their glucose quickly producing an energy spike followed by a slump.

With healthy lunch options now in the bag, here are some other energizing habits to consider incorporating into your lunch break:

• Leave your desk and get outside, even for as short as 10 minutes
• Eat with friends or co-workers to socialize and build relationships
• Listen to music to release tension and stress
• Exercise to boost afternoon energy levels and productivity
• Unplug and recharge by shutting off your devices during your lunch hour

If your energy does happen to dip in the afternoon, here are some brain-boosting snack ideas to power you through the end of the day, including almonds, walnuts, carrots, raisins, yogurt, berries, and even some dark chocolate.

Have a great afternoon!

Why You Should Never Stop Moving Forward

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” — Albert Einstein

This quotes resonates, and yet I’d argue that worse than falling over is staying completely still.

Stagnant.

Resting on past successes and settling in to certainty and comfort.

Success and accomplishment feel amazing in the moment, but those feelings can also hold us back from starting something new again. We can hesitate to put ourselves back out there, worried that our next effort won’t be as good as the last.

Scared that people might think about us differently if we don’t have the same triumph again.

But one thing I have learned from the best innovators, entrepreneurs, athletes, and business leaders is that it is critical to push beyond this fear.

We need to start again — to force ourselves back into the arena where results aren’t guaranteed.

“The key is to never stop moving forward,” says Ed Catmull, President of Pixar and Disney Animation, in his New York Times bestselling book, Creativity Inc.

Catmull knows a little something about creativity, success, and consistently putting yourself out there — he pioneered the computer-animated film industry, and then led Pixar to 14 consecutive #1 box office hits and 30 Academy Awards.

And yet he freely admits that, “Early on, all of our movies suck.”

Catmull requires his team to endure the inevitable mess at the beginning of a project in order to produce great work in the end. And he doesn’t allow complacency after success. He believes that getting started again and making needed adjustments along the way is far better than remaining still.

Always moving forward means embracing that attitude of relentless progress, even if it isn’t pretty at times. Even when it is slow and barely noticeable.

It means being committed to learning, experiencing, experimenting, and doing.

It means having a bias toward action, not being paralyzed by the pressure of perfection.

As famous author Margaret Atwood said, “If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” This coming from someone who has written more than 40 books.

The key is to always start again.

Get back out there.

Never stop moving forward.

“To me, if life boils down to one thing, it’s movement. To live is to keep moving.” — Jerry Seinfeld

Why Curiosity Is The Key To Breakthrough Creativity

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it fuels high levels of creativity in us.

In fact, curiosity has been found to be just as important as intelligence in order to succeed and navigate our increasingly complex world.

Perhaps that’s why author Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote an excellent book about creativity called Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear (not to mention one of the bestselling books of our time Eat, Pray, Love), says that following our curiosity instead of our passion is the real key to an interesting and creative life.

This approach leads to creativity because it enables us to lean into uncertainty with a positive attitude — relaxing and opening our minds to new ideas, skills, and ways of solving problems.

As Albert Einstein said, “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”

Developing curiosity is like building any other new skill or habit — it takes repeated practice. As Gilbert says, “If you want to live a curiosity-driven life, you must commit to being vigilant about looking for what’s piquing your curiosity.” Her advice is to follow what is interesting to you, even if that interest is faint at first.

This instinct came naturally to us as children, when we had curiosity coursing through our bodies, excitedly exploring new experiences.

Artist and author Erik Wahl describes this youthful mindset in his inspirational book, Unthink: Rediscover Your Creative Genius, saying “In our early years, you and I consistently embodied the key traits that drive constant creativity. Curiosity ruled our senses. Enthusiasm ignited our actions. We did not fear what we did not know — instead we thrived on the process of discovery.”

However, as we get older, we often lose this sense of novelty and exploration.We tend to favor certainty, security, and a simple way of making sense of the world. Ironically, it is only once we become adults that our brains are developed enough to process new discoveries and turn them into concrete ideas and strategies.

In order to spark new levels creativity as adults, we need to get back in touch with our childlike curiosity. We need to observe, explore, ask questions, and again venture into the unknown.

Opening our minds in this way will help us thrive in our current jobs and secure new opportunities. Curiosity is one of the top traits employers are looking for when making hiring decisions, because it is a key indicator of other great workplace qualities such as empathy, creativity, innovation, and the ability to learn quickly.

If you are more of an introvert, it could help to reframe curiosity as a form of research. You might love reading a book or poring over information to expand your mind, and you could take that same mentality into new experiences and interactions with other people.

Ultimately, the more we follow our curiosities, the more we’ll be able to connect the dots and combine new discoveries with what we already know.

Our unique past experiences and knowledge, combined with a passion to learn and discover more, leads to truly original and breakthrough creativity.