Personal Success, Real Happiness

In his book, The Templeton Plan: 21 Steps to Personal Success and Real Happiness, author John Templeton offers some rare gems in a world awash with self-help information. For example, he suggests demonstrating:

* Truthfulness when a lie would be so much easier.
* Reliability when you could slack off.
* Faithfulness during moments of doubt.
* Perseverance when you think that you are too tired to go on.

* Energy while encountering roadblocks.
* Humility while others heap their praise on you.
* Altruism although you may sense an atmosphere of selfishness around you.
* Joy at the moment your prospects seem darkest.

So refreshing to have handy these short passages of sage advice.

An Epidemic of Unhappiness

"Being able to choose has enormous important positive effects on us, but only up to a point. As the number of choices we face increases, the psychological benefits we derive start to level off. At the same time, some of the negative effects of choice...begin to appear, and rather than leveling off, they accelerate...a point is reached at which increase choice brings increased misery rather than increased opportunity. It appears that American society has long since passed that point."

"There's a good reason to believe that the overwhelming choice at least contributes to the epidemic of unhappiness spreading through modern society."
- Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

Good News You Can Use

What kind of information do you regularly receive from your favorite media sources? What type of picture do they paint about American society? Chris Michaud in a New York Post feature writes, "A surprising 94 percent of Americans say they are satisfied with their lives -- although far fewer in New York and other Eastern states think they're better off than they were five years ago, according to a new survey."

"The Harris Poll of more than 1,000 people reported the overall 'satisfaction' level, defined as people who said they were either very or somewhat satisfied with their lot, was up 4 percentage points, from 90 percent two years ago. But only 42 percent of people in the Eastern U.S. said things had improved since 2002. By contrast, 60 percent of Southerners and 62 percent of Westerners said their lives had improved."

Why is this poll surprising? Perhaps certain media powers are pushing an agenda. So, perhaps, ignore the New York Times and the other eastern media elite, and you have a better chance of grasping current reality

Cell Phones Plague Family Life

A study published in the "Journal of Marriage and Family" finds that cell phone and pager use has become a vehicle for job worries and problems to interfere with family life for both men and women. Cell phone technology is linked to increased psychological distress and lower family satisfaction in general for working men and women.

Upshot: Manage your cell phone after hours or it will quickly manage you.

The Strain of Cellphone Use

HealthDayNews.com: Cell phones and pagers, part of the technological revolution that was supposed to liberate everyone, is tethering people to their jobs to an unprecedented degree, to the point where family life is suffering. The study limited the blame to cell phones and pages, and not computer-based communication such as e-mail. Cell phones and pagers were linked to increased psychological distress and reduced family satisfaction for both sexes.

The research, by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sociologist Noelle Chesley, appears in the December issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family. "The use of cell phones and pagers was linked to increased distress and a decrease in family satisfaction over time," said Chesley, an assistant professor of sociology. "There is clearly a link between using the technology and experiencing increased access."