19 09, 2022

How to Resist Billions of Years of Evolution for Positive Life Change

By | September 19th, 2022|Categories: Personal Growth|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

In my last article, I described how evolution has enabled humans to adapt to a changing environment to ensure our survival as a species. I also showed how those very qualities that helped us survive can prevent us from thriving and becoming the best version of ourselves. In this article, I will explain how you [...]

6 09, 2022

Why Evolution Prevents You from Becoming Your Best Self

By | September 6th, 2022|Categories: Personal Growth, Popular Culture, Psychology|Tags: , , , , |1 Comment

Did you know that the so-called self-help industry is estimated to be worth $13.2 billion in 2022, up from $9.9 billion in 2016? What does that tell you about personal growth these days? Several observations. First, if you’ll pardon the pun, it’s a growth industry. Second, self-improvement has become a part of our cultural landscape. [...]

1 08, 2022

Unpack Your Emotional Baggage

By | August 1st, 2022|Categories: Personal Growth, Psychology|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment

In my last article, I explored the powerful influence of your emotional baggage on your life; it’s harmful effects on your happiness, relationships, and the pursuit of your life goals. Your response might be: “Okay, I now understand where my emotional baggage came from and how it affects me. But how do I unpack my [...]

23 05, 2022

Seven Ways to Change from a Human Doing to a Human Being

By | May 23rd, 2022|Categories: Personal Growth|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

My use of the phrase “human doing” may provoke in you some questions: What’s a human doing? What do human doing look and act like? Am I a human doing? This article will answer all of those questions. Plus, if you decide you are a human doing and you decide that you don’t want to [...]

20 04, 2022

Embrace Life as a Challenge to Pursue, not a Threat to Avoid

By | April 20th, 2022|Categories: Personal Growth, Psychology|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments

The ability to respond to our lives as a challenge separates us from our primitive forbearers because our evolved brain gives us the opportunity to resist our most basic instincts (though not easily). The fundamental goal behind the challenge response is to pause rather than act instinctively, deactivate the amygdala, engage our cerebral cortex, and [...]

21 03, 2022

Neither Fight nor Flight (nor Freeze) Helps Us “Survive” in Modern Times

By | March 21st, 2022|Categories: Personal Growth, Psychology|Tags: , , , , , , |2 Comments

In my last post, I described how we often view situations in our lives as life or death despite the fact that our physical lives aren’t in any danger. The evolutionary-based instinctive response to this perception is the triggering of the survival instinct followed by the fight-or-flight reaction (freeze should also be in there, but [...]

4 03, 2022

Life Shouldn’t Feel Like Life or Death

By | March 4th, 2022|Categories: COVID-19 Crisis, Personal Growth, Psychology|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment

Imagine you’re about to present to your bosses and colleagues at work, take an exam in school, play in the finals of a tennis tournament, or ask someone to marry you. A man comes up to you, shows you a gun, and tells you that if you don’t succeed, he will shoot you dead. How [...]

17 02, 2022

Our Unconscious and Conscious Minds Do Battle Daily

By | February 17th, 2022|Categories: Personal Growth, Psychology|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

We humans like to think of ourselves as highly evolved and rational beings who think, feel, and act in ways that are intentional and reasonable. We hold this perception because it enables us to believe that we are “captains” of our lives and help us believe that we are in control of the choices we [...]

1 12, 2021

Can Free Will Resist Five Powerful Life Forces-Part II

By | December 1st, 2021|Categories: COVID-19 Crisis, Health, Parenting, Personal Growth, Psychology, Technology|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

In my first article in this two-part series on the forces that shape our lives, I explored the five forces (genes, upbringing, popular culture, technology, and unexpected events) that I believe are most impactful on who we become, the choices we make, and the direction our lives take. In this article, I will introduce what [...]

22 11, 2021

Five Powerful Forces that Shape Our Lives (and Where Does Free Will Fit in?): Part I

By | November 22nd, 2021|Categories: COVID-19 Crisis, Parenting, Personal Growth, Psychology, Technology|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments

Choices, options, alternatives, preferences, opportunities, decisions; these are all words that have a powerful impact on our collective psyches as human beings. They evoke free will and self-determination, the ability to become whomever we want to become, and the ability to opt for whatever road we choose in our life’s journey. Yet, whether we actually [...]