Moving Forward with Sunday SAGe

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Sunday SAGe: Moving Forward with Sunday SAGe

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week is a transition week. There have now been 52 editions of Sunday SAGe, a full year. Let’s reflect and then resolve to move forward and nurture the wonderful gift of our existence!

Moving Forward with Sunday SAGe

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

You are now at a critical inflection point in your Wellness Ethic journey. You have been presented with insights, practices, and inspiration to help you thrive in an unpredictable world (where stupid things can happen). So, what do you want to do about it? What do you need to do about it?

Hopefully, you’ve already dabbled with lessons from “The Wellness Ethic” to create love in your life and the universe. If not, that’s okay. What matters most is what you do moving forward. Do you choose to nurture the wonderful gift of your existence every day? When you do so, living a SAGe-inspired existence will become who you are. Your life will have a brilliant aura that will attract positive energy like fireflies attract wonderstruck children.

What It Means

The Wellness Ethic was written to help people move forward in their lives and nurture the wonderful gift of their existence. By making wellness accessible and actionable, The Wellness Ethic provides practical insights and approaches to help people move forward with all aspects of their well-being, ranging from mind, body and spirit to relationships, personal and professional pursuits, and lifestyle maintenance.

Being committed to your well-being doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Take it step by step, at your own pace and on your own terms, and you’ll achieve a success “unexpected in common hours.”

Sunday SAGe is designed to supplement The Wellness Ethic. It consists of the 52 most potent lessons from the book, carefully curated to cover the full breadth of what it takes to thrive in life. Each week, I share one of those lessons to serve as a nudge for you to take action to keep wellness front and center in your life. By doing so, your Wellness Ethic will strengthen and your life satisfaction will soar. Your commitment to well-being will become who you are.

Your Call to Action

Reflect upon where you’re at in your Wellness Ethic journey. Resolve to make the next twelve months the best twelve months of your life, based on what you can control.

Honor that inspiration by taking decisive steps this week toward being healthier in mind, body, or spirit. Start an exercise routine. Meditate. Spend a wonderful day with a loved one. Be grateful for your blessings. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Pick one area and move forward.

When you receive Sunday SAGe each Sunday, let it serve as inspiration and motivation to continue to move forward on your Wellness Ethic journey.

Have a thriving week!

Remember

SAGe (Self-Actualized Genius)—Learn More

Sunday SAGe Volume 52: Remember

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week marks the 52nd edition of Sunday SAGe, a full year of actionable insights derived from The Wellness Ethic. Today, I’ll share the final page of The Wellness Ethic.

Remember

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

Your life journey has no destination. Banish that limiting belief. You don’t need to arrive anywhere because you’re already there.

Don’t let disorienting fog obscure your vision of a purposeful life. When you stay true to your inspiring purpose, you realize your life’s meaning, to feel and share love.

Embrace your past, but don’t live in it. The wisdom and grace learned from the mistakes and triumphs of yesteryear will serve a better today.

Dream about the future, but don’t be beholden to the precision of your dreams. You live a fulfilled life by experiencing the spiritual essence of why you were born into this world, not by achieving an outcome beyond your control.

Engage in the precious now and nurture the wonderful gift of your existence every moment of your life. Your loving responses to life’s happenings and your positive mindset in the moment will determine your happiness.

Be kind to your one-of-a-kind self, always.

What It Means

Your life’s meaning isn’t found in chasing distant outcomes out of your control, but in living with love, presence, and purpose right now.

Honor your unique self with kindness and grace in each moment of your life.

Thrive.

Your Call to Action

Move forward by going out of your way to treat yourself to kindness each day this week. Start a streak that you continue for the rest of your life.

Have a peaceful week!

Looking Back at Your Perfectly Imperfect Life

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Sunday SAGe Volume 51: Looking Back at Your Perfectly Imperfect Life

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week we’ll put our glorious lives in proper perspective.

Looking Back at Your Perfectly Imperfect Life

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

When I thought about the totality of my life, I kept returning to Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw’s quote: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” How did I create myself? Since I have to be me, I created a diagram to help me wrap my arms around my life journey:

As I look at the chart, I find it fascinating how little I knew about what was in store for me once I graduated from RPI. There was no way I could have foreseen the countless adventures that would unfold as I crisscrossed the United States and lived in so many diverse places.

Who could have predicted a wicked tornado would level my cherished home in Mechanicville? That my professional life would include working for Fortune 500 companies and midsize firms in diverse industries, and during that career, I would weather the storm of four layoffs? That I would have a loving family, and they would prove to be the most fulfilling part of my life? That I would passionately pursue side hustles to manifest my dreams? My life journey boggles my mind, just like your life journey probably boggles your mind.

I’ve experienced so much change throughout the years and so much growth. Every box in my diagram represents my humble attempt to nurture the wonderful gift of my existence. The boxes represent relationships, adventures, successes, and challenges. They represent love.

What It Means

My life has been perfectly imperfect. Many people have achieved more financial success and professional accolades than me. Many people have better aligned their lives to their life purpose. And they may be happier and more fulfilled than I am. But I’m not living their life—I’m living mine.

I’ve done my best to make love and character central to my life. I’ve been challenged with stupid stuff, but who hasn’t? It’s a part of everyone’s journey. Obstacles lead to opportunity, engagement, and growth. They’re an indispensable ingredient to a fulfilling life.

My life is the perfect life of an imperfect husband, father, son, brother, friend, writer, creator, leader, collector, entrepreneur, life coach, humorist, and servant. I’m thrilled with that. It’s a good life.

Your Call to Action

Consider mapping out your own life journey. Then think about the triumphs and challenges in your life, the constant change, the relationships, the love. Give yourself grace. Understand and accept that you did the best you could. You are living your own perfectly imperfect life.

With the wisdom of your life journey by your side, how do you want to shape today and tomorrow?

Embrace the opportunity to live your fullest life this week.

The 80/20 of the 80/20—Summing Up the Wellness Ethic

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Sunday SAGe Volume 50: The 80/20 of the 80/20—Summing Up the Wellness Ethic

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

To celebrate Volume 50 of the Sunday SAGe newsletter, I’ll offer a summary of the key insights from the previous editions. This is truly the 80/20 of the 80/20, a simple checklist to thrive in today’s unpredictable world (where stupid things can happen).

The 80/20 of the 80/20—Summing Up the Wellness Ethic

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

A constant theme of this book has been to keep it simple by focusing on the vital few breakthrough ideas, the 80/20 concepts that will benefit you the most. So here’s my take on the five most important concepts to live your life with a Wellness Ethic (it’s the 80/20 of the 80/20!).

• Live a spiritual life. Embrace your life purpose. Love the universe of existence. Surrender to the ways of the universe. Have faith, if that’s what you choose. Living a spiritual life puts you in the best position to realize the meaning of your life, to feel and share love.

• Serve your body. To promote health, apply the STEER model (Science, Treat, Eat, Exercise, and Rest). You can fully engage in life when you’re as healthy as possible (to the extent you can control).

• Surround yourself with those who bring love into your life. Wellness is dependent upon thriving relationships. Spend quality time with the important people in your life. Get out and mingle with the community. Make new friends. Distance yourself from toxic people. Make cultivating loving relationships a top priority.

• Seek satisfaction-dense experiences. Pry open the oyster and get the most out of your personal and professional pursuits. Align them with your life purpose and what you love. Don’t settle for blah; eliminate never-dids.

• Boost your happiness by empowering your SAGe to accept, frame, and respond to your circumstances. By doing so, you’ll stay aligned with your life purpose and values. You’ll cultivate a healthy mindset. You’ll adopt meaningful change. You’ll choose the most loving response to what happens in your life. You’ll put yourself in the best position to thrive.

What It Means

Simply put, adopting the above principles is how you nurture the wonderful gift of your existence.

As for me, I’ve been living those values for over six years as a part of my Wellness Ethic experiment. I’ve had a lot of trials to test how the concepts work. I wouldn’t characterize it as trial and error. I view it as trial and success. Every step forward has yielded progress. I’ve either had positive outcomes—some have been transformational—or I’ve fallen short but have been armed with insights to try again.

Your Call to Action

Keep it simple and pick one opportunity to make your life better. Move forward with that opportunity. You can read The Wellness Ethic for guidance on how to make wellness accessible and actionable. Perform Google searches for more insights. Solicit support from friends and family. Leverage an app. Utilize whatever approaches will help you adopt meaningful change in your life.

Take a decisive, life-affirming step forward this week!

Advance Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams

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Sunday SAGe Volume 49: Advance Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week’s focus is on my favorite quote from Henry David Thoreau and has served as a guide for my life.

Advance Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

But whatever you’ve done, wherever you are, you’re on a journey. You’re on a never-ending quest to connect with the beautiful love inside of you and to feel it and share it with the world every day of your glorious life. Your Self-Actualized Genius will guide you on your journey, so you’re in good hands.

Nurture the wonderful gift of your existence, my friend, and advance confidently in the direction of your dreams!

What It Means

Thoreau’s immortal words, in this quote below, never cease to inspire me.

I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

—Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist and philosopher

When you pursue your dreams with passion, and actively shape your life around them, you’ll often find joy and success in ways you never anticipated. For me, I never expected that writing my first screenplay in my early-20s would lead to a life-long journey of creative writing that would culminate with the publication of The Wellness Ethic. Writing my book, no matter if it sells 50 copies or 50,000 copies, is, for me, a “success unexpected in common hours”!

Your Call to Action

Do you have an unfulfilled dream? No matter what age you are or what your circumstances may be, how can you take a step forward in the direction of your dreams? Once you take that first step, there’s no reason to ever stop.

Advance confidently in the direction of your dreams!

Be Satisfied with Your Professional Pursuits

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Sunday SAGe Volume 48: Be Satisfied with Your Professional Pursuits

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week’s focus is on professional satisfaction.

Be Satisfied with Your Professional Pursuits

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

Professional pursuits are activities that you engage in related to your career. They include what you do in your job, of course, but they also encompass professional development opportunities like earning certifications and degrees, writing articles or books, and joining professional organizations.

Typically, the main outcome you seek from your professional pursuits is to fund your lifestyle. But when you consider that most working people dedicate nearly half their waking hours to their job (including commute time), you’ll also want your work to satisfy you. Getting the most satisfaction out of your professional pursuits is synonymous with nurturing the wonderful gift of your existence.

What It Means

Being satisfied with your work is essential to thriving in life. To bring more satisfaction to your professional pursuits, you can:

• Mindfully engage in what you do. Try to create “flow” when working on a task. Closely observe meeting dynamics (nonverbal cues, how people interact, momentum shifts, energy levels) and use those insights to influence the meeting outcomes. Practice deep breathing to increase focus before working on a project. Don’t multitask.

• Increase the challenge with what you pursue—develop mastery. Complete a task in half the time without sacrificing quality or safety. Set a stretch objective requiring you to expand your capabilities. Stay on top of industry trends. Practice to build mastery. Pursue certifications and degrees. Go to conferences. Use your superpowers to excel at your job. Work with your leader and human resources to develop a career path. Seek promotions or challenging lateral moves.

• Diversify a pursuit. Start a blog around your area of expertise. Write a book or an article. Be a podcast guest. Present at a conference. Teach what you know. Offer your skills to a nonprofit.

• Add other loves to a pursuit to multiply the love. Listen to podcasts and audiobooks related to your career while you do personal activities. Bring your child (or pet) to your workplace. Exercise while you take virtual meetings. Schedule meditation into your workday.

• Pursue something you have never done before. Learn how to code. Job shadow in a different department. Design an app. Explore a career change. Volunteer to take on assignments outside your comfort zone.

There are unlimited ways to bring more satisfaction into your work.

Your Call to Action

Being satisfied in your work requires initiative. Even jobs that aren’t aligned to your calling in life can be made more interesting and fulfilling. You can always find ways to become more engaged in your work. What can you do this week to boost your job satisfaction?

Have a satisfying week!

Love Yourself

SAGe (Self-Actualized Genius)—Learn More

Sunday SAGe Volume 47: Love Yourself

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

Today, our focus is on a life essential: loving yourself.

Love Yourself

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

Love starts and ends with you. In between is the love you share with others. When you love yourself, you embrace your spiritual essence as good. You know you have a lot to offer the world. You believe that you deserve happiness and fulfillment, and you move your life in a direction that realizes that promise.

What It Means

Practically all happiness and fulfillment is rooted in self-love. When you love yourself, you’re activated to fully embrace the wonder of your life. If you struggle in this area, here are some ways to boost self-love:

• Repeat daily affirmations that you are worthy of love.

• Summon your SAGe and choose a positive frame and a self-loving response when you doubt or criticize yourself.

• Celebrate wins in your life, no matter if they are big or small.

• Embrace a healthy body image; accept the perfection of your creation.

• Develop daily rituals that bring little doses of happiness into your life—drink delicious tea, take a warm bath, read uplifting books.

• Create a lengthy list of your positive attributes. Ask others to share what they admire about you. Keep the list accessible, and go to it often.

• Forgive yourself for past regrets. We have all made mistakes.

• Spend time with people who love and encourage your authentic self.

• Practice meditation and mindfulness to foster a sense of peace and love within your spirit.

• Align your thoughts and actions with your values.

• Find a way to move forward with your dreams, even if you take baby steps at first.

• Refuse to compare yourself to others. No one has ever lived your unique life, so the comparison would be pointless.

• Say “no” to something to say “yes” to something more important.

• Resurrect a childhood joy—playing a game you loved, drawing, collecting baseball cards—and be happy as you get lost in the activity.

• Seek therapy, if necessary. Seeking professional support is a powerful act of self-love.

And that’s just my short list! What ideas do you have?

Your Call to Action

Take action to promote self-love, every day, for the rest of your life!

Be kind to your one-of-a-kind self, always.

Have a thriving week!

Lead with Love in Your Relationships

SAGe (Self-Actualized Genius)—Learn More

Sunday SAGe Volume 46: Lead with Love in Your Relationships

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

Today, our focus is on bringing more love into your relationships.

Lead with Love in Your Relationships

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

When you lead with love, you lead with empathy and care. You recognize that everyone has stuff going on in their life that you’re not privy to. You realize that everyone is imperfect and deserves a break. You believe that everyone deserves love, including yourself. You choose a love-centered response to life that creates the best outcomes for everyone involved.

Relationship Translation: Have love be your default position. Share your love often. Bring kindness, compassion, patience, and forgiveness to your relationships.

What It Means

Bringing more love into your relationships requires intentionality. It doesn’t have to require money or even a lot of time. You’re just creating special moments that let someone know you care about them. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• When you interact with a stranger, imagine they have a family, dreams, and a need to be loved. They’re just like you. Interact kindly and notice their spirits lift. How does it make you feel?

• Practice random acts of kindness regularly. Send a thoughtful gift or a kind handwritten note to a friend. Buy supplies for a teacher.

• Use loving words in your conversations. Describe a person as amazing, awesome, beautiful, brilliant, caring, charming, considerate, creative, delightful, fascinating, funny, generous, humble, kind, lovely, patient, radiant, special, and other words that make them feel good.

• Forgive someone who wronged you in your past. Help them move on with their life while learning from your loving example.

• Be a servant leader at work. Understand the needs of those around you and make it your mission to serve them. Build your reputation for service, teamwork, helpfulness, and generosity.

• Plan a special day for someone you love, including their favorite activities and foods. Leave no doubt that you love and appreciate them.

• When someone is rude or insensitive to you, don’t internalize their words. Choose a kind, uplifting response. Rise above the fray to bring peace to the relationship.

• Recognize milestones and successes of others. Find ways to make people feel loved when something important happens in their lives.

• Provide selfless support to someone who needs help—be an empathetic friend or lend a hand without being asked.

• Share your good fortune with others. If you get a raise or bonus at work, give a portion to charity or take a friend to dinner.

Yes, there is not a shortage of ideas on how you can bring more love into your relationships!

Your Call to Action

Go out of your way to bring more love into your relationships. You can start small, or do something grand. Mindfully engage in the experience as you share your love. Feel love fill your heart. Feel joy as you see how your thoughtfulness and kindness lifts others. Love is all upside!

Have a thriving week!

Choose Whole & Organic Foods

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Sunday SAGe Volume 45: Choose Whole & Organic Foods

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

Today, our focus is on whole and organic foods and their positive impact on your health.

Choose Whole & Organic Foods

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

Whole foods are natural, unprocessed foods free from additives and artificial ingredients. When food is processed, unhealthy ingredients like saturated fats, sugar, and excessive salt are often added, and industrial processing methods (heating, milling, refining) can strip nutrients from the food.

Organic foods are free from synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, antibiotics, hormones, artificial preservatives, and other unnatural modifications.

What It Means

There are significant health benefits associated with whole and organic foods. Two studies published in the British Medical Journal in 2019 showed that people who eat less ultra-processed food (manufactured food that contains minimal whole ingredients) have a lower risk of heart disease, manage weight better, and live longer.

Other studies have shown that nonorganic foods can have a lower nutritional value than their organic counterparts and may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease and a host of other health issues (due to pesticide exposure).

Your Call to Action

This week, be mindful about what you eat and choose whole and organic foods as much as possible. See how you feel. Gauge your energy levels. You’ll probably want to continue the healthy habit.

Every time you choose natural foods, it’s a gift to your body. You’ll even find that their authentic, natural flavors, textures, and aromas engage your senses more than the ultra-processed, homogenized alternatives.

A key to performing well with nutrition is translating your knowledge about healthy eating into guidelines you follow. Be a SAGe who chooses natural foods that cover your nutritional needs. Make healthy eating an inseparable part of your identity.

Have a healthy week!

Detach from Outcomes

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Sunday SAGe Volume 44: Detach from Outcomes

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week, we’ll explore outcomes and how your mindset toward them can have a significant impact on your happiness.

Detach from Outcomes

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

A Stoic understands that they always have control over their response to a given situation but not necessarily the outcome of that response.

Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our actions.

—Epictetus, Greek Stoic philosopher

The Stoic chooses responses to life that align with their values and have the most potential to create a positive outcome. That is what they control. If the actual result is out of their control, they emotionally detach from it.

That doesn’t mean they don’t care. They still do everything they can to achieve an objective, but they won’t sacrifice their mental well-being for a result beyond their control. They emotionally invest in what they own, which is their mindset and their actions.

What It Means

When you set specificity to an intention, ensure it is largely within your control.

You can control the effort you put into studying for a test, but you can’t control the actual test score you get. You can control how you train for a sporting event; you can’t control winning the competition. You can control positioning yourself to get a promotion at work, but you can’t control actually getting the promotion.

In my life, I have fun dreaming about being dealt a royal flush in my pursuits, but I won’t put my satisfaction in the dealer’s hands. That’s why, with my book The Wellness Ethic, I defined my dream by what I controlled: publishing a book representing my best attempt to articulate my vision, not how many books I sold. Selling a lot of books would be nice, but it’s not required to be fulfilled with my writing journey.

Your Call to Action

Take a look at what you’re trying to accomplish in your life, whether it’s personal or professional. Do you have a healthy and realistic perspective toward your desired outcomes? Are they within your control? If not, then how do you want to reframe them so you position yourself for a result that you’re genuinely happy with?

Have a peaceful week!

Get into a Flow

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Sunday SAGe Volume 43: Get into a Flow

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week, our focus is on just that—being focused!

Get into a Flow

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote an influential book about being “in the zone” called “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.” Csikszentmihalyi described flow as “the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” That may explain why people climb dangerous peaks, BASE jump, or engage in other risky activities.

But you don’t need to risk your life to have an optimal experience where you lose your sense of self. I’ve experienced flow while writing this book, playing sports, and working on projects at my job.

As you train yourself to become more mindful, you’ll learn how to block out distractions and fully engage in the moments that make up your day. And sometimes you’ll find yourself in the zone where you lose track of time as you seamlessly immerse in the task at hand. When that happens, your activity will seem natural and effortless, you’ll perform at your peak, and you’ll love every second of it.

What It Means

Several elements go into creating the conditions for a “flow” experience. To simplify flow, I’ll focus on four key ones, which are derived from Csikszentmihalyi’s work:

• Engage in a rewarding task that has a goal. The task should have a clear objective that intrinsically motivates you. It should also be something you enjoy. Example: playing a competitive sport.

• Strike the balance between skill and action. The task should be challenging enough that you need to leverage your talents in a focused manner to be successful, but not so hard that the task is impossible. Example: completing a difficult work task.

• Have an immediate feedback loop. You should know how you’re doing throughout the task and whether you’re trending toward success. Example: taking a timed test.

• Block out all distractions. Your focus and engagement should be such that the rest of the world recedes to the background. Example: playing a musical instrument.

When you combine those elements, sometimes you’ll experience flow, or maybe not—flow is unpredictable. But the more you practice mindfulness and set the conditions for an optimal experience (especially blocking out distractions), the more you’ll engage with your experiences. That’s a win, whether flow happens or not.

Your Call to Action

Try to create more flow in your life, whether it’s when you exercise, work, cook, do a chore, or perform practically any activity. Set up the conditions for more optimal engagement. Get lost in the task at hand. Get lost in the moment. How does it feel?

Have a focused week!

A Time to Be Happy

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Sunday SAGe Volume 42: A Time to Be Happy

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week, our focus is on a life-affirming, essential truth about happiness.

A Time to Be Happy

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

Happiness can be experienced anywhere, anytime, and in any circumstance. You could be happy doing things that just about any reasonable person would enjoy, such as relaxing on a recliner and losing yourself in a good book like “The Wellness Ethic,” or going to the beach to soak up the sun as the cool ocean breeze lulls you into a state of peaceful bliss, while you lose yourself in a good book like “The Wellness Ethic.” You could be happy doing the mundane, like cleaning a house. Just listen to music. That’s probably all it’ll take. You could also be happy at a wake as you celebrate a loved one’s magnificent life with friends and family as tears and laughter flow.

What It Means

You have significant control over your happiness but not complete control. Studies have shown that your genetics, life circumstances (age, health, relationships, life events, where you live, economic status), and intentional activity (what you do and your mindset) determine your happiness level.

The percentage breakdown of how each factor impacts happiness varies across studies—one study showed that, on average, 50% of happiness is driven by genetics, 10% by life circumstances, and 40% by intentional activity. But regardless of the exact percentages, the key takeaway is that you can influence a significant portion of your happiness by how you think and behave, what you pursue, and how you respond to life. That’s empowering.

Your Call to Action

Think about a specific action you can take which will bring happiness to your life, and then take that action. It could be simple, like planning a relaxing day filled with your favorite foods and activities. Perhaps you would like to get outside and soak in nature? The possibilities are endless.

Remember: Happiness is not an external phenomenon. It is already within you. But if you struggle with happiness, consider professional support. Seeking help for something that challenges you is a sign of inner strength.

Have a happy week!

Share Your Love

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Sunday SAGe Volume 41: Share Your Love

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week, our focus is on sharing experiences with others to nurture healthy relationships.

Share Your Love

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

The best relationships are between two people whose expectations of each other are met. They are compatible in the areas that matter to them. That doesn’t mean they are carbon copies of each other. They could have different personalities, politics, spiritual beliefs, you name it. But through it all, they’ve figured out how to share the intersection of their lives in a satisfying way that creates love and harmony and minimizes discord.

One way people share in a relationship is by engaging in everyday interactions. These are the ongoing connections that keep a relationship vibrant and fulfilling. They include conversations, experiences, and the simple joy of spending time together.

Another way to share is by providing support—emotionally and through words and actions—to help another person have the best possible outcome with whatever is going on in their life. When you provide support, you’re sharing you—your love, time, talents, encouragement, resources, and wisdom. That’s powerful. It’s exciting. Your support has a meaningful impact on a person’s life, sometimes a transformational one. It helps people feel like they matter and that they’re loved.

A third way to share in a relationship is by partnering on a common mission. When people engage at that level, they are mutually invested in the mission, and their emotional connection increases. Think about how you feel toward classmates who shared the coming-of-age experience with you, a life partner who has been lovingly by your side throughout life’s successes and sorrows, or a work colleague who was in the trenches with you on a big project. When two people row in the same direction on a common mission, it sets the stage for a deeper relationship. They share the journey of the partnership, both the triumphs and setbacks.

What It Means

To nurture healthy relationships, consider what is shared. How are you connecting in your everyday interactions? Are you getting the support you need from others? Have you asked your family, friends, or work colleagues what support they need from you? How about the missions in your life that you partner with others to fulfill? Are those partnerships thriving? What can be done to bring more satisfaction into your partnerships?

Every step forward that you take in your relationships improves your life and the lives of others.

Your Call to Action

Have a conversation with an important person in your life about what is shared in your relationship. What is working well, and what could be improved? Move forward with the opportunities that you both agree will bring more satisfaction to your relationship.

Have a thriving week!

Emotional Intelligence Is a Superpower

SAGe (Self-Actualized Genius)—Learn More

Sunday SAGe Volume 40: Emotional Intelligence Is a Superpower

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week, our focus is on emotional intelligence, which is one of the most influential factors in a person’s happiness and success.

Emotional Intelligence Is a Superpower

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

After I read Daniel Goleman’s book “Emotional Intelligence”, I knew it was going to be a game changer for my relationships and overall happiness. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to recognize and regulate one’s emotions, as well as the ability to engage effectively with the feelings of others. To make EI accessible and actionable, I’ll focus on four elements: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management, which are derived from Goleman’s work.

Emotional intelligence begins with self-awareness of positive and negative emotions. When you are emotionally intelligent, you’re in touch with your feelings and understand how they affect your thoughts and behavior. You savor positive emotions like joy, compassion, hope, gratitude, love, and serenity. You’re also aware of mood shifts and their triggers, recognizing that negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, jealousy, and frustration undermine your happiness and ability to relate to others.

Self-awareness then leads to self-management of your feelings to maintain emotional well-being. When you are in a positive emotional state, you are happier, of course, but you also improve your ability to foster healthy relationships, defuse difficult situations, and make better decisions.

Once you’re in a productive emotional state, if you’re relating with others, you can then focus on the next step: social awareness. What are the emotional states of the people you’re dealing with? Are they positive? If not, what negative emotions are present, what’s driving them, and how are they impacting your relationship? When you are socially aware, you empathize with others. You seek to understand their feelings, needs, and perspectives without passing judgment. You pay attention to verbal and nonverbal cues. You are also in tune with group dynamics and social norms and how they influence a person’s emotions and behaviors.

After factoring in social awareness, you are then ready for relationship management, which is the process of relating with others to achieve a positive outcome. Considering the emotions of the involved parties is critical in this step. Someone who is emotionally hurt or angry probably won’t relate effectively until those emotions are mitigated.

What It Means

Emotional intelligence starts with being aware of your emotional state and effectively steering your emotions to a positive state if you’re struggling emotionally.

If your emotional state isn’t where it needs to be, what can you do to get it there? You could apply a Stoic mindset and detach from negative forces. Or summon your SAGe and work through accepting and framing what has happened to get underneath what’s driving your emotions and how best to regulate them. You could also talk with a friend to help sort out how you feel, or calm your mind through deep breathing, meditation, and exercising.

A person with high emotional intelligence genuinely cares about others. They communicate openly and respectfully. They manage their own emotions and promote productive emotions within others. They admit when they are at fault, build trust, and resolve conflicts. A person with high EI nurtures healthy relationships and finds pathways to win-win outcomes.

When the emotional charge in a relationship is positive, both parties are positioned to bring their best to their interactions. Better results are achieved, and the experience is more enjoyable. Emotional intelligence is a superpower.

Your Call to Action

Do you have any opportunities with your emotional self-awareness, emotional self-regulation, being in tune with the emotions of others, or managing the emotional charge in your relationships? If so, determine how you want to move forward. If you need help, here are three suggestions:

• Buy a copy of Daniel Goleman’s book Emotional Intelligence and do a deeper dive on the topic. It’s a terrific book that will open your mind to the power of emotional intelligence.

• Buy a copy of The Wellness Ethic (yes, a shameless plug for my book!) and apply the learnings from the “Adopt Change in Your Life” and “Choose Your Response to Life” sections. The entire book, and especially those sections, were designed to help you adopt meaningful change in your life so you thrive.

• View back issues of Sunday SAGe on the WellnessEthic.com website. There are plenty of tips to help you bring meaningful change into your life.

Have a happy week!

Reframe Automatic Negative Thought Patterns

SAGe (Self-Actualized Genius)—Learn More

Sunday SAGe Volume 39: Reframe Automatic Negative Thought Patterns

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week, our focus is on reframing automatic negative thought patterns.

Reframe Automatic Negative Thought Patterns

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

Based on past experiences, you may feel negative about something without much thought. This can be helpful in dicey situations where every second counts. For example, if you were a caveman moseying about with another caveman and a saber-toothed tiger jumped out from the brush, you wouldn’t want to complete a detailed root cause analysis to better understand the tiger’s intentions. There’s no time! Your life is at risk! You must quickly trip the other caveman, offer your sincere apology to said caveman, and then flee for your life!

But you want to be careful not to assign negativity to situations that don’t need to be negative. This tendency, called automatic negative thought patterns (ANTs), can lead to unhappiness and poor decisions.

What It Means

Some common ANTs are:

• All-or-Nothing Thinking: You see a situation in black-and-white terms with no middle ground. Example: If you make a mistake, you view yourself as a complete failure who can’t do anything right.

• Magnification and Minimization: You blow things out of proportion. Examples: You think a setback is the world’s end (magnification), or your achievement doesn’t matter (minimization).

• Overgeneralization: You draw broad conclusions from a single event. Example: You feel like you are not smart after failing a test.

• Jumping to Conclusions: You immediately think the worst about a situation without objectively considering the facts. Examples: You think a hiring manager will reject you (mind reading), or you expect that a future event will turn out negatively (fortune-telling).

To counter automatic negative thought patterns, focus on developing the habit of catching yourself in the moment when you’re feeling negative. Then, objectively look at the truth of your situation and choose a positive, reality-based frame.

Your Call to Action

Do you have a tendency to assume the worse in a given situation? Is that happening to you right now in any aspect of your life? Think about where automatic negative thought patterns have infiltrated your mind and then reframe those thoughts with a positive, reality-based perspective. You’ll lift your spirits.

The more you focus on positivity, the more positive your life will be!

Have a positive week!

Neutralize Negative Interactions

SAGe (Self-Actualized Genius)—Learn More

Sunday SAGe Volume 38: Neutralize Negative Interactions

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week, our focus is on negative interactions in relationships.

Neutralize Negative Interactions

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

In his book “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work,” Dr. John M. Gottman identified four types of negative interactions between a couple: criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling. All four have the potential to stifle the love between two people if left unaddressed. Here’s a breakdown:

• Criticism: Criticism is the act of passing judgment, often by revealing perceived shortcomings in an action or behavior. It can be delivered constructively and compassionately, inspiring a spirit of cooperation in addressing the issue, or it can be communicated in a judgmental and demoralizing manner, creating a negative interaction. Examples (delivered poorly): You always screw things up. You should have known better. I can’t rely on you. You clearly don’t care. If I want something done right, I have to do it myself.

• Contempt: When a person feels contempt toward someone, they often show disgust and disrespect or act with an air of superiority. You may see eye-rolling or hear sarcasm and belittling comments. Contempt usually signifies a deeper issue in a relationship. Examples: You’ll never amount to anything. You’re so dumb. You disgust me. You’re incompetent. I wish I had never met you.

• Defensiveness: People who act defensively fail to take accountability for their actions. They tend to blame others, deny responsibility, and make excuses. The root cause of this behavior can be low self-esteem, insecurity, or the fear of being wrong or rejected. It can also result from how a person was spoken to during a conversation (harsh language can immediately put someone in a defensive posture). Examples: I didn’t do anything wrong; you screwed it up. I tried my best; you’re just being critical. Why do you always judge me? No one helped me—what did you expect? You’re too sensitive.

• Stonewalling: When someone stonewalls during a conflict, they withdraw or shut down. Telltale signs of stonewalling include avoiding eye contact, being silent, giving short answers to questions, showing indifference, or disengaging completely. Stonewalling prevents issues from being addressed and undermines emotional connection. Examples (if anything is even said): I won’t discuss this further. I don’t have to explain myself to you. I don’t care.

What It Means

When negative interactions occur, it is important that both parties engage in an open and respectful dialogue to understand the behavior, its root causes, and the impact on the relationship. Being vulnerable and sharing feelings during the discussion can lead to a breakthrough.

To bring emotions to the forefront, use phrasing like: “When you do [negative behavior], I feel [specific emotion].” That makes the negative behavior more personal. It shows that a real person is negatively impacted. It underscores the need for change.

Once the truth is understood, the focus can then turn to improving interactions moving forward.

Your Call to Action

Do you have any negative interactions in your relationships? What can you do better with your communication approach to create more positive interactions? Do you need to provide constructive feedback to someone in your life to improve your interactions with them?

Effective communication is a two-way street. Usually, both parties have opportunities to improve their communication style. Take action today to bring more positivity in your interactions with others.

Have a positive week!

Financial Wellness 101

SAGe (Self-Actualized Genius)—Learn More

Sunday SAGe Volume 37: Financial Wellness 101

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week, we’ll explore fundamentals of financial wellness. But before we get into the topic, we’ll recognize a huge milestone: The Wellness Ethic has been published! It was a long and fulfilling six-year journey from typing the first word of the book to getting it listed on Amazon and other online retailers. It certainly wasn’t a solo effort; dozens of people played a vital role in the creation of the book. I am forever grateful!

Any support you can provide to spread the word about the book is most appreciated. And, as you get into reading The Wellness Ethic, I’d love to hear about your experience. You can email me at WellnessEthic@gmail.com.

To order The Wellness Ethic, please click on one of the links below:

Amazon eBook

Amazon Print Editions

Financial Wellness 101

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

Money can play a role in your wellness. It can support your basic needs, lifestyle, and pursuits. It can reduce stress as you worry less about making ends meet or being positioned for retirement. It can provide a safety net for when stupid things happen. Money can be a positive force in your life when it stays centered around enabling well-being.

That’s what we’ll focus on now—how to move forward in the direction of financial wellness to support a person’s well-being. But I will need to be very modest in my 80/20 approach. I would do my readers a disservice if I attempted to provide a prescriptive path to financial well-being. Financial wellness is a broad subject that includes budgeting, debt management, investment strategies, retirement planning, and much more—a single chapter wouldn’t do it justice. Financial wellness is also a journey that should be customized to your needs, preferably with the help of certified experts.

However, I will offer three basic steps to get you started on the right path: know your financial guiding principles, leverage resources to build a financial plan, and be an active manager of your money.

What It Means

For this Sunday SAGe, I’ll offer insights on the first step: know your financial guiding principles.

Financial guiding principles serve as a framework for getting the most satisfaction out of your money. They should influence the financial objectives you set, the money decisions you make daily, and how you approach your financial future. Here’s a beginning list of principles to consider:

• Be an active manager of your money. Effective financial management requires managing a budget and holding yourself accountable to your saving and spending priorities. If you don’t keep your money on a leash, it will run away from home (and probably join the circus).

• Live below your means (or at least within your means). Be frugal. Use the money you save to become more financially secure.

• Get the most satisfaction out of every dollar you spend. Make the money you spend satisfaction-dense to enable your well-being. Ensure your money supports what you love the most.

• Be a committed saver. Strive to save at least 15% of your income for retirement. You may need to start at a smaller percentage, but then try to increase the rate yearly, especially if your income rises. If your employer offers a 401(k) retirement plan, participate in it and take advantage of the full company match (it’s free money). What other future needs should you save for? Paying for college? Buying a home?

• Proactively manage financial risk. Many experts suggest having an emergency fund available to cover at least six months of expenses (in case of a job loss or other hardships). If that’s not possible today, strive to build to that over time. Another risk consideration is buying insurance to protect against loss and harm (life, health, auto, others).

• Minimize or eliminate debt. Scrutinize all debt you take on and understand the terms and impact on your finances. Avoid credit card debt, if possible. If you’re uncomfortable with your debt load, develop a plan to reduce it. That plan could include consolidating debt, increasing monthly payments (pay off higher-interest debt first), and leveraging debt relief or credit counseling experts for support.

• Be a wise investor. When you invest, understand your objectives, investment options, and risk tolerance. That leads to the next item . . .

• Seek help. You can leverage online resources or engage a certified financial expert for support.

• Give back. Consider giving a portion of your income to those in need.

Your Call to Action

Which financial guiding principles resonate with you? Would you add any? As you identify your principles, you’ll begin to get a sense of your financial objectives. You could have an objective to build a budget, develop a retirement savings plan, create a strategy to pay down debt, or establish an emergency fund. Your objectives will guide your financial plan.

Considering moving forward with one area of opportunity. You may start by researching options, connecting with professionals, or building out a plan. You’ll decide the focus and pace of your efforts, and what support you need.

Have a frugal week!

Align Support to Help You Thrive

SAGe (Self-Actualized Genius)—Learn More

Sunday SAGe Newsletter Volume 36: Align Support to Help You Thrive

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week, we’ll explore aligning support to help you realize your best self (your SAGe). Thriving in life is not a solo endeavor.

Align Support to Help You Thrive

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

You don’t have to improve your life on your own. There is always someone out there who wants to help you. There is always someone trying to do what you want to do and would welcome camaraderie. Engage with those people. You’ll increase your odds of success if you do.

What It Means

Whatever you want to achieve, whether it’s regularly exercising, quitting or cutting back on alcohol, changing your spending habits, or pursuing a degree, when you enlist support, you position yourself for success.

To align support, you can try the following:

• Tell your friends and family what you’re working on and ask for their support. Be specific about what you need from them. You may need ongoing encouragement and help with keeping temptation away. Or the support could be taking on a few of your responsibilities to create space for you to focus on your desired change.

• Engage with a mentor or a certified professional (doctor, therapist, dietitian, life coach, fitness trainer) who has experience with what you’re trying to accomplish. Partnering with someone with the expertise to help you chart a course and work through challenges can be invaluable.

• Find an accountability partner. An accountability partner takes on the role of keeping you honest with your intentions. They celebrate your successes with you, help you when you struggle, and motivate you to move forward. For example, the arrangement could involve two friends trying to accomplish something and agreeing to support each other along the way, though the accountability relationship doesn’t have to be reciprocal. Trust, commitment, and a willingness to be vulnerable are key aspects of a successful partnership.

• Join a group of like-minded folks. Take a dance class. Participate in an online community. Join a gym or a club. Whatever approach you take, the more you surround yourself with people who do what you do, the more motivated you’ll be to keep doing those things. Get immersed in the fun and dynamic world of your positive pursuits.

Your Call to Action

Do you aspire to do something where aligning support could help you succeed? Then, of course, move forward in that direction and get the support! Seeking help is an admirable act of self-love.

Have a thriving week!

Root Out Limiting Beliefs

SAGe (Self-Actualized Genius)—Learn More

Sunday SAGe Newsletter Volume 35: Root Out Limiting Beliefs

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

On the docket this week are limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs can hold a person back from realizing their full potential for happiness and fulfillment.

Root Out Limiting Beliefs

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

Limiting beliefs impact most people to some degree, including me. Limiting beliefs are a person’s self-sabotaging thoughts about themselves or how life works. These deeply ingrained beliefs create a mental hindrance to success and are often influenced by past experiences and how someone perceives the world around them. Limiting beliefs are usually rooted in fear or irrationality—I’m not smart enough, I’m too old, I’ll never change, I always screw up, I don’t deserve happiness, I’ll never be successful.

What It Means

Uncovering limiting beliefs can be difficult. It requires you to get to the root cause of what’s driving your beliefs and behaviors. But if you notice that you’re treading water in life or find yourself repeating the same mistake over and over again, a limiting belief may be the culprit. Has a dream drowned in a flood of flimsy excuses because you don’t believe you’re talented enough to succeed? Do you resist adopting healthy habits, like eliminating junk food from your diet, because you falsely believe you don’t have the willpower to overcome temptation? Do you fear relationship commitment because you think the other person will eventually reject you?

One of the best ways to eradicate a limiting belief is to expose its fallacy through logic. Is the limiting belief really true? Are there examples where it isn’t? Then, consider alternative ways of thinking—how would your life-affirming SAGe reframe your belief so it reflects you at your best? Think along those lines and get excited about what could be possible. The light will begin to shine through. You’ll be on your way to shifting your mindset.

Your Call to Action

Think about your life. Do you have any limiting beliefs that have prevented you from living your life to the fullest? If so, are you okay with that? Do you want a different future?

Expose the fallacy of your limiting beliefs and take a step forward toward your best self without bearing the weight of pessimism. That step can start out small. What’s important is to take the step. Begin to deflate the limiting belief. Then take another step, and another one after that. Soon, you’ll have all the proof you need that your limiting belief wasn’t based in reality. There was a different truth all along, and it was a life-affirming truth that you have unlimited potential for growth and happiness.

Have a wonderful week!

The Art of Responding

SAGe (Self-Actualized Genius)—Learn More

Sunday SAGe Newsletter Volume 34: The Art of Responding

Here is this week’s installment of Sunday SAGe, an email communication that shares wellness inspiration from The Wellness Ethic to help people thrive during the coming week (and beyond!).

This week, we’ll cover one of the most empowering truths always present in your life—your freedom to choose how you respond to a situation to move your life forward.

The Art of Responding

An excerpt from The Wellness Ethic:

I was first exposed to the power of intentionally choosing your response to life when I read Viktor Frankl’s seminal masterpiece “Man’s Search for Meaning.”

Frankl, born in 1905, was a practicing psychiatrist in Austria as Nazi Germany began its evil aggressions during World War II. In 1942, he was arrested by the Nazis and then held as a prisoner in a series of concentration camps. Despite the horrific conditions, Frankl found that it was still possible to nurture a spiritual life. He and others could “retreat from their terrible surroundings to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom.”

As Frankl wrote in his book:

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. And there were always choices to make. Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you would become the plaything of circumstance.

What It Means

That passage best captures your challenge when faced with a difficult situation: How can you respond to your reality in a way that stays true to the meaning of your life, to feel and share love? How can you avoid becoming the “plaything of circumstance”?

Whether you face significant challenges, or minor issues that pitterpatter into your life each day, you are always empowered to choose a life-affirming response to your circumstances to move your life forward.

You’re not guaranteeing an outcome when you choose your response—the result is out of your control. You’re putting yourself in a position for the best possible outcome given your situation—that’s what you can control.

A paradigm shift regarding how you view outcomes may be required for you to become fully satisfied with your life. Most people view outcomes as pass/fail: I will take X action to accomplish Y goal. If they fall short of their goal, they feel like they’ve been unsuccessful.

When responding to life, the only outcome you should seek is to have your Self-Actualized Genius engage in the moment to move your life forward in a positive direction to the best of your ability. Nothing more, nothing less. If the result turns out favorably, that is preferred but not required for success, as the outcome can depend on factors outside your sphere of influence.

A fulfilled life is an engaged life that brings out your best, based on what you can control, not necessarily a life filled with accomplishments that awe society.

Your Call to Action

Take a look at what’s going on in your life. There are probably many good things but also circumstances that challenge you, whether it’s a health issue, a relationship breakdown, a layoff at work, or current events that you’re passionate about.

What is a response to a challenge in your life that aligns with your values, has the best chance to bring love into your life and the lives of others, and is within your control? Choose that response.

Have a wonderful week!