How Exercise Can Boost Your Immunity

What’s worse than being in a pandemic with no end in sight? If your answer is to be in a pandemic with no end in sight during the peak of the flu season, you read my mind! 

Actually, what’s even worse is having a family with young children and two working adults, then daycare gets shut down for a week because another child tested positive for COVID. Trust me, it’s no fun trying to convince two kicking and screaming toddlers to let you swab the inside of their noses when they don’t want you to. 

Although getting a co-infection involving COVID and the flu—nicknamed "flurona"—is rare, it’s becoming more of a possibility as the flu picks up steam. I don’t know about you, but getting COVID or the flu sounds bad enough by itself. The thought of having flurona sounds brutal.

Luckily, there are ways to safely, effectively, and naturally boost your immunity to protect against viral infections such as COVID and the flu. Moderate intensity exercise is one solution and has a good amount of scientific research supporting it. So whether you’re looking to protect against a seasonal disease, or just want to naturally boost your immune system year-round, here are some key tips.

How exercise boosts the immune system

It’s well known that physical activity is an important part of healthy living. Exercise can prevent excess weight gain, combat chronic diseases, improve mood, and promote better sleep, just to name a few of the benefits. 

What’s not as well known are the benefits of physical exercise in reducing communicable disease, including viral infections such as covid and the flu. The general consensus in a branch of research known as exercise immunology is that the immune system is responsive to exercise. 

Without getting into too much unnecessary detail, research shows that moderate intensity exercise stimulates immune function in a way that can reduce the risk, duration, or severity of viral infections such as COVID and the flu. About 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week seems to be optimal for...

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How to Transition from One to Two Kids

Transitioning from being a parent of one tiny human to being a parent of two can feel overwhelming. There are so many questions about how you’ll make it work just from a logistical standpoint, let alone managing the emotional aspects of the situation. Will your first child feel excluded? Will your affection feel divided? Will your relationship with your partner be negatively affected? Will there be time to take care of yourself in any way? Expecting a second child can be a time of great excitement and anticipation for the adults involved—but how can you prepare a toddler or young child for the arrival of an infant? How do you help them deal with the drastic change of suddenly having to share you with another child?

The temporary—but intense—emotional upheaval that comes with bringing a second child into the family is one of the most common reasons parents reach out for my help. Managing this phase of family development will have its ups and downs, but it doesn’t have to be a source of distress.

Here are some tips for surviving this often turbulent transition with most of your sanity intact:

Preparing for your second child

Reflect on your own feelings and needs

Expecting a second child can be a very happy time for a parent. It can also be a time of chaos for the whole family. There are so many changes on the horizon. The knowledge that the dynamics with your first child will soon shift in permanent ways might spark worries about your older child’s well-being after the baby arrives. Make sure to process these worries with a trusted friend, family, or therapist—even journaling about it can be helpful. It’s normal to have some worries, but it’s also important not to let worry about the future negatively impact your current relationship with your older child or your newborn.

Proactively arrange for protected, non-childcare personal time

So often, once things get busy, you’ll end up doing more thinking about making time for self-care than actually making that time. Think of your future self and do this before you have two kids instead of one! Talk to the people in your community like family members, friends, or a partner about how they can help you make this happen. With a partner, talk about how you might rework your current divisions of home- and child-related tasks to account for two kids. Write these things down—don’t just speak of them in the abstract. Will one of you take the kids to the playground while the other sleeps in? Great—put it on a shared calendar so everyone knows what to expect of the other.

Will a trusted friend or family member hang with the kids for a few hours once a month so that you can have some alone time or a date night? Wonderful—get it on that calendar.

Understand your firstborn’s...

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Is a Reverse Mortgage the Right Fit for You?

In 1961, a Maine-based bank created the reverse mortgage loan, and it was later adopted by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Now a common financial product in the United States, many people wonder if the reverse mortgage is a right fit for them.

What is a reverse mortgage?

A reverse mortgage is a type of loan that uses the home as security. It was developed to help older homeowners with the majority of their assets in their homes supplement their life or pay for unforeseen expenses. The reverse mortgage was once reserved for Americans that were 62 or older but has since been changed to 55 or older. Many homeowners will use their reverse mortgage loan to pay off their remaining mortgage, should they have any left. Others will use it to pay for their medical expenses or supplement their current income. Borrowing against your equity is not free, and all reverse mortgages will accrue interest that will be paid when the loan is paid. Unlike typical loans, reverse mortgages do not have monthly payments, and all payments are due at the end of the loan’s term. A reverse mortgage will end when the owner sells the home, moves, or passes away.

Pros and Cons of Getting a Reverse Mortgage

Three types of reverse mortgage loans

Not all reverse mortgages are created equally, so homeowners will have choices if they are interested in acquiring one. The three types of reverse mortgages are single-purpose reverse mortgage, federally-insured reverse mortgage, and proprietary reverse mortgage. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks; deciding which one best fits your circumstances is a choice every loaner must look into. Some notable features to note about the loans are included below.

Single-purpose reverse mortgage:

This type of loan is rarer than the other two and is often more inexpensive with lower interest rates and fees. Single-purpose reverse mortgages are typically sponsored by a state, local, or nonprofit lender. The lowered cost is matched by the high restrictions of single-purpose reverse mortgages. As the name states, these loans are reserved for a single lender-approved purpose such as taxes or repairs. This is not characteristic of mortgage loans, with the other included loans having endless possibilities for spending.

Be sure to check with your local lenders as single-purpose reverse mortgages are not...

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7 Ways to Stomp Out Negative Thinking

It's a new year, and you want to have a new you. You’ve set an intention to adopt a brand new mindset. But it probably took you less than 10 minutes to realize that it's easier said than done.

You may fall victim to all-or-nothing thinking, perfectionism, or an ever-present inner critic. No matter the mental malfunction, here are 7 tips to help you rise above the unfounded negativity of your mind.

1. Identify the malfunction

You may have heard the phrase “name it to tame it.” This definitely applies to negative thinking. If you can identify and label your unhelpful thinking pattern, it’s easier to work around it. It can also be fun to give your common patterns fun names like, “hey, there’s Perfectionistic Patty showing up.” When you're aware that a problematic pattern has arisen, it can cue you to think about how this pattern may be affecting your judgment or your emotions about yourself or a situation.

18 Beliefs That Are Ruining Your Life

2. Be a detective

Examine all the evidence that supports or challenges your negative thought patterns. We have a tendency to accept our thoughts as facts without question. When you engage in that behavior, you’re essentially engaging in punishment without due process. Examine your thoughts and look for loopholes.

For instance, if you have the thought, “I’m always failing,” look for times when you didn’t fail. If there is one time where you succeeded, it means you're automatically wrong, which at a minimum softens the thought. Now you have to change the thought from “I’m always failing,” to “I sometimes fail” or “in this instance, the situation didn’t go the way I desired.”

None of those feel great, but the emotional impact of the word "always" is equivalent to getting sentenced to life in prison whereas the softened version is more like 3 years with time off for good behavior. If we can get in the habit of being a good detective, then we can always remain a few steps closer to being free from our negative thinking.

3. Be a scientist

Do an experiment to check the validity of your thought. For instance, if you have thoughts akin to “no one cares about me,” test it out! Like a good scientist, you need to have reasonable parameters. Don’t reach out to the guy who ghosted you 3 weeks ago, as that’s only setting you up for more rejection. Try contacting one of your friends, a parent, a work colleague, your sponsor, or your therapist. I’m confident one of these sources will have a welcoming response.

Now, I know...

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Tips for Learning a New Language: 'The Fluent Show'

In this interview, I talked with Kerstin Cable host of "The Fluent Show," a podcast about learning languages. We discussed:

• How she got started (and how many differnet languages she speaks).
• What her best tips are for people who feel stalled or bored when learning a new language.
• How knowing the good and bad things about language learning apps can help you use them better.
• How learning a language can make you more creative.
• Why enthusiasm is massively underestimated in helping you learn a new language.
• Which language is the hardest to learn.
• Why Welsh is her favorite language right now.
• And more.

You can listen to the interview using the player at the top of this page, or you can read a complete rough transcript.

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5 Tips for Growing a Successful Business

Businesses are evolving and there is tough competition among organizations to survive in the market. Startups struggle in their initial stages, and even established businesses have to constantly adopt changes for business growth. More than 40% of the top Fortune 500 companies were not there a decade ago. Understanding the market deeply and determining key performance indicators is crucial for success and growth. Every business goal is connected to profitability and progress, but lack of planning can significantly impact the success of a business. There are a few common themes found in successful businesses. 

Proper planning and structuring

Each step you plan to take to reach business goals should be well-defined in your planning stages. These plans should serve as a blueprint for core business decisions. These initial stages can be complex initially, but well-defined organizational structures help to arrange and allocate finances and human resources accordingly. 

Consistent research

Research shouldn't be restricted to the initial stages of your business. Before starting a new company, market research is crucial – but consistent exploration of industry trends and comparative issues helps find solutions to new glitches that inevitably will arise. Staying informed about what else is happening in the industry will help serve the customer better. 

Opt for ISO accreditations  

Best Practices help businesses get ISO certification. This helps to ensure customer satisfaction, trust, and consistent improvement. Being ISO certified means the company follows strict guidelines to ensure that its products or services are of the highest quality. Your brand image is improved because of your willingness to go through the process to get ISO certification, which also ensures enhanced quality and efficiency of your business.  

With an ISO system, business efficiency and productivity increase, product or service deficiencies are highlighted, product returns are reduced, waste is lowered, and customer complaints decrease. Orders are met consistently according to the correct specification and deliveries are on time. ISO accreditation has been reported for better sales growth in comparison to businesses that are not certified. 

Small business must opt for ISO standard certification to grow successfully – establishing even processes right from the start proves to be beneficial over time, especially for startups. Startups can consistently offer improved products or services and...

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Julia Cameron's "Seeking Wisdom" Audio Excerpt

Julia Cameron returns to the spiritual roots of the Artist’s Way in this 6-week Program

Author Julia Cameron changed the way the world thinks about creativity when she first published The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity thirty years ago. Over five million copies later, Cameron now turns her attention to creative prayer, which she believes is a key facet of the creative life. In Seeking Wisdom, a 6 Week Artist’s Way Program, readers, too, will learn to pray.

Tracing her own creative journey, Cameron reveals that prayer led her forward at a time of personal crisis. Unexpectedly, prayer became an indispensable support to her artistic life. The tools she created to save herself in her darkest hour became the tools she would share with the world through The Artist's Way. Seeking Wisdom details the origin of these tools, and by Cameron's example, the central role that prayer plays in sustaining a life as an artist.

In this volume, Cameron shares a mindful collection of prayer practices that open our creative souls. This path takes us beyond traditional religious rituals, welcoming readers regardless of their beliefs and backgrounds. As you journey through each week of the program you’ll explore prayers of petition, gratitude, creativity, and more. Along the way, the three beloved tools of The Artist’s Way—Morning Pages, Artist Dates, and Walks—are refreshed and reintroduced, to provide a proven, grounded framework for growth and development.

Additionally, Cameron introduces a fourth tool, Writing Out Guidance. She believes this powerful practice will greatly aid aspiring artists.

Seeking Wisdom issues an invitation to step further into exciting creative practice.

Excerpt provided by Macmillan Audio, in coordination with St. Martin's Essentials. 

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An Interview with Kerstin Cable: Transcript

7 Smart Ways to Invest Extra Money

Jessica A. in Texas says, “I’m a long-time listener and huge fan of your podcast! My husband and I are in our early 30s and have set ourselves up well financially. We have about $60,000 in cash sitting in a 0.4% 'high-yield' savings account. We think it could be doing more for us, but we’re not sure where to begin.

Our only debt is our mortgage and we pay extra toward the principal each month. We have a 12-month emergency fund, max out our workplace retirement accounts, and both max out our Roth IRAs every year. We’re not eligible for HSAs but contribute to a 529 savings plan for our infant.

Is there some way to invest our extra money that would earn a higher return? Should we open up a brokerage account, and if so, what types of investments should we buy? We’re not well-versed in non-tax advantaged accounts and would appreciate any resources you recommend for becoming more educated investors.”

Thanks so much for your great question, Jessica! You get a virtual high-five for accomplishing so much in your financial life at such a young age. You’re in an enviable position and are certainly asking the right questions.

Once you’ve covered the basics with funding your emergency savings and investing regularly, and you still have money left over, you have excellent options for growing it. In this post, we’ll cover what to do when your income increases or you receive a cash windfall and end up with extra money.

When you’re fortunate enough to have extra money to invest, I recommend first taking a holistic view of your financial life and reviewing your goals. Before making significant money decisions, it’s wise to consider what you genuinely want to accomplish.

For instance, should you create more security by increasing certain insurance coverages, open a college savings plan for your kids, buy a home, or start a business? Only you know the answers.

In addition, as your life changes, you may need more or less savings in the bank, updated emergency documents, or a new estate plan. As your income increases, the trick to building wealth is resisting “lifestyle creep” or spending more. If you earn more and maintain or decrease your expenses, you’ll reach any financial goal you dream about much faster.

Here are seven wise ways to make your extra money grow.

1. Max out a Roth IRA

I always recommend maxing out tax-advantaged accounts first and then putting money into taxable accounts. So, Jessica and her husband are smart to max out their Roth IRAs every year. It’s especially wise...

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How Does Plant-Based Chicken Compare to Real Chicken?

From fast food chains to upscale grocers to warehouse clubs, meatless meat alternatives continue to colonize restaurant menus and refrigerator cases. Beefless burgers such as the Beyond and Impossible burgers were the first products to really break through from the alternative food space into the mainstream. But 2022 seems to be shaping up as the year of poultry-less chicken. Most of the plant-based brands have now rolled out some form of chicken nugget. Let's see how they stack up—nutritionally and otherwise—against one another and real chicken.

Is the Vegan Impossible Burger Healthy for You?

Is The Beyond Burger Healthy for You?

What is plant-based chicken made from?

As with other meatless meats, most plant-based chicken products are based on either wheat or soy protein, doctored up with vegetable oil, salt, and various spices and other additives, including vitamins and minerals.  Some brands are now using protein from other legumes (such as peas or fava beans) in place of soy. 

Those who avoid either soy or gluten will need to read labels carefully.

Most of the meat-based chicken products available today are in the form of breaded chicken nuggets and, to be fair, a lot of the ingredients in these rather long lists actually seem to belong to the breading and not the "chicken" itself. 

The only brand I found (Daring) that offers a plain, unbreaded, plant-based chicken has a pretty short list of ingredients, all of which I actually have in my kitchen right now. However, these are not products that any of us would be able to produce using equipment available in our home kitchens. Which leads us to the burning question:

Is plant-based chicken an ultra-processed food?

In the widely-cited NOVA classification system (which I discussed in greater detail in this episode), all plant-based meat alternatives (and for that matter, most plant-based dairy alternatives) would be classified as a Category 4 (or, ultra-processed) food. This is a class of foods that we are advised to minimize in our diets.

Nutrition researcher Mark Messina argues that, despite their classification as ultra-processed foods, many soy-based meat and dairy alternatives actually compare quite well nutritionally with their animal-based counterparts.

"The NOVA food classification system over-simplifies the complexity of food. It fails to distinguish between a nutrient-dense, protein-rich, plant-based chicken nugget and a cupcake. Both are classified as ultra-processed foods."

...

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6 Myths That Are Costing You Money on Gas

The following are all myths you've probably heard regarding saving money on your gas and car maintenance.

Restarting your engine uses more gas than idling

If you are waiting for longer than 30 seconds in your car, turn off the engine. You use more fuel idling after 30 seconds than you use to restart your car.

How to Save Money on Gas

Your car needs to warm up in winter

If you have a newer car, you can skip the long warm-ups, even in winter! Today’s cars are designed to warm up while being driven, so after you give the car 30–60 seconds of idling time, you can be on your way—just take it easy for the first few minutes on the road. You’ll save both time and gas!

Seat warmers waste energy

Heated seats in your car may seem like a luxury, but they can actually be a huge money-saver. Heated seats don’t have to use as much energy (that is, gas) as your car’s heating vents to keep you warm. If they aren’t offered when you buy your car, consider getting a heated pad for your seat or even having heated seats installed after-market.

Changing your oil less frequently saves you money

Change your oil regularly and you’ll have to fill up on gas less often. As oil ages, it gets thicker and harder to push through the engine, causing more energy to be used. By changing your oil regularly, you’ll make sure you get the best fuel economy possible.

Premium gas makes your car run better

Only 5 percent of cars actually run better on premium gas as opposed to regular. Make sure to check your owner’s manual to see what it recommends.

How to Pay Less for Gas

“Topping off” is worthwhile

Have you ever “topped off” your car’s gas tank to round out the price at the pump? You should know that since the pump is only pumping out vapors at that point, they’re automatically sucked back into gas station’s tank. In other words, even though you now have exact change, you didn’t get any extra gas!

...

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Losing Our Minds: The Challenge of Defining Mental Illness

A compelling and incisive audiobook that questions the overuse of mental health terms to describe universal human emotions.

Public awareness of mental illness has been transformed in recent years, but our understanding of how to define it has yet to catch up. Too often, psychiatric disorders are confused with the inherent stresses and challenges of human experience. A narrative has taken hold that a mental health crisis has been building among young people. In this profoundly sensitive and constructive book, psychologist Lucy Foulkes argues that the crisis is one of ignorance as much as illness. Have we raised a 'snowflake' generation? Or are today's young people subjected to greater stress, exacerbated by social media, than ever before? Foulkes shows that both perspectives are useful but limited. The real question in need of answering is: how should we distinguish between 'normal' suffering and actual illness?

Drawing on her extensive knowledge of the scientific and clinical literature, Foulkes explains what is known about mental health problems—how they arise, why they so often appear during adolescence, the various tools we have to cope with them—but also what remains unclear: distinguishing between normality and disorder is essential if we are to provide the appropriate help, but no clear line between the two exists in nature. Providing necessary clarity and nuance, Losing Our Minds argues that the widespread misunderstanding of this aspect of mental illness might be contributing to its apparent prevalence.

A Macmillan Audio excerpt from St. Martin's Press

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Can Singlehood Be a Satisfying Alternative to Romantic Relationships?

I have a single friend who hates hearing this question: “Why are you still single?” Or, the similar question: “How are you still single? You’re so great!” She feels like the question implies that something is wrong with her or her approach to dating, or worse, that being single is in some way a reflection of her ability to get a partner rather than her desire to not be partnered. Not everyone has the desire to be in a romantic relationship. Whether it's the desire to be single just for now, or the lack of desire to be partnered long-term, singlehood is a totally valid decision. Similarly, being unintentionally single doesn’t inherently signal that there is a problem that needs fixing.

As we start to approach February, we may see increasing pressure from our family, friends, or society generally that we should be in a relationship. Some of this pressure may come from common misconceptions that single people may be immature or self-centered, or that marriage is and should be the end-all-be-all goal for everyone. 

Even with some of these outdated perceptions, the number of adults in the United States living without a partner continues to increase. Rates of marriage are falling. Even though rates of unmarried cohabitation, or living with your romantic partner, are rising, the number of adults living by themselves is still increasing. In 2021, 15% of American adults lived alone, compared to only 14% in 2011. The largest group of single adults is among people younger than 35 years old, with about 3 out of 5 adults younger than 35 living without a partner. So if you happen to be single and younger than 35, you are in good company.

What does the research say about singlehood?

So, does being single mean you’re inherently sad or lonely as your family and friends’ questions imply? Fortunately, research supports a resounding “no” to that question! Research has found that single people, compared to married people, are ...

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Unleash Your Creativity with Todd Henry

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking that creativity is something mystical, reserved exclusively for artists and inventors, then you’re going to love my conversation with Todd Henry.

Host of the Accidental Creative podcast, and author of four books including his most recent, The Motivation Code, Todd Henry is a sought-after speaker, consultant, and advisor to organizations seeking to enhance their collective creative capability.

In this interview, I had the opportunity to talk to Todd about why creativity is such an essential piece of what everyone does every day and some tangible strategies we can all be using to tap into our most creative selves.

Listen to the full conversation on Apple, Spotify, your favorite podcast platform, or just click play on the audio player above.

So, what is creativity?

“Creativity is—at the heart of it—is problem-solving,” began Todd. “If you're designing something [a logo, a building, a system], then you're solving a problem…[and] that’s certainly a creative act. Or maybe you have to manage a team of people and you have to develop systems and solve problems every day. That is also a creative act… sometimes we tend to conflate creativity and art. We think that, because I am not artistic, I'm not creative and that's not true… Creativity is problem-solving at the heart of it. So if you have to go to work, you have to solve problems under pressure every day, congratulations, you are a creative professional.”

How can we manufacture creative moments?

Todd effectively “teaches” creativity for a living. He works with leaders and organizations to help them learn and unleash actual practices that ladder up to creative inspiration.

“What I've spent most of my career teaching people…is if you want to be brilliant at a moment's notice, which of course we all want to do, you have to begin far upstream from the moment you need a brilliant idea. You have to build practices into your life to prepare you for those moments when you need that ‘Aha moment.’

Creativity, as Steve Jobs once put it, is simply connecting things. And that’s largely true. You see one thing, you see another thing, you see a connection between them click, [and] suddenly you have a [new] solution because nobody thought to connect those two things. In order...

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Why You Should Work Your Rear Delts

It’s not every day that you hear someone say “it’s rear delts day at the gym!” You typically hear people say “it’s shoulder day” and you see popular exercises such as the overhead press, front or lateral raises, and upright rows being performed.

Don’t get me wrong, these are all great shoulder exercises for strengthening your deltoids—“delts” for short—the large triangular-shaped muscles that give your shoulders their rounded contour. I know because I use all of these exercises as part of my workout routine!

The problem is that none of these exercises actually target your rear delts. Rear delts you ask? Yes, the all-important rear delts that our high school PE teacher conveniently never taught us about.

Our delts are made up of three distinct parts (front, mid, and rear) and all the previously mentioned shoulder exercises target either the front or mid delts. The rear delts are frequently ignored or forgotten about. 

That’s a problem because giving the rear delts a little love and attention can help you improve posture, reduce the risk of injuries, and boost athletic performance. Let’s also not forget that strong rear delts also look great in a tank top.   

Shoulder anatomy made simple

One of the main muscles that moves your shoulder is your deltoid. The word “deltoid” comes from the Greek letter “delta” which is shaped like a triangle. Your deltoids are named as such because they look like an upside-down triangle. Actually, they’re shaped more like a half cone, but close enough. 

This muscle wraps from your collar bone to the spine of your shoulder blade on top and converges on the side of your upper arm or humerus about a third of the way down. As mentioned earlier, your deltoids are made up of three distinct parts (front, mid, and rear). 

Your front, mid, and rear delts primarily work to lift your arms forward, sideways, and backward, respectively. Your front delts also rotate your arms inward while your rear delts rotate your arms outward. 

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How to Communicate More Effectively

Hey Project Parenthood listeners!

I'm taking a week away from the podcast, but I'll be back next week with a brand new episode.

In the meantime, I wanted to share an episode of Savvy Psychologist, another fantastic show on the Quick and Dirty Tips network. If you don't already listen to Savvy Psychologist, the start of a new year is the perfect time to start. Savvy Psychologist is your window into the world of psychology and how it can help you meet life's challenges. Host Dr. Monica Johnson is a licensed psychologist ready to tackle any subject, from how trauma hijacks the brain to busting myths about therapy. Every week, Dr. Johnson provides evidence-based research, a listening ear, and zero judgment.

The episode I'm sharing is all about how to give more to your relationships with effective communication strategies, something I think parents can implement with their kids, partners, friends—really, anyone in their lives! If you want to read the full transcript of the episode, click here.

See you next week!

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Do You Overuse 'Of'?

Today's topic is nixing the horrid "of."

How to Use the Word 'Of'

Almost everyone has a few bad writing habits. They're often the kind of thing experts or even your friends can point to and say, "Yup, I know who wrote that.  She always writes things that way." One of my bad habits is that I tend to overuse the word "of." A while ago, I was working on a document, and as I read back through it, I noticed there must have been 20 instances of the word "of." Ugh!

Bad Uses of 'Of'

"Of" is a preposition, and although it's not an inherently evil word, overusing it can make your writing sound passive and fussy. Here's an example of a bad sentence:

BAD SENTENCE: She is the wife of George.

That's just horrible. It makes me cringe just to say it. It makes me think of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," in which the handmaids have names like "Offred" to indicate that they belonged to Fred. But I digress.

Here's a better way to say the same thing:

BETTER SENTENCE: She's George's wife.

See? You don't need the "of." The sentence sounds much more straightforward without it. She is George's wife.

I'm hopeful that none of you would actually write, "She's the wife of George," or any other such strained sentence, but more subtle unnecessary "of"s can slip into your writing if you aren't careful. Here's a more reasonable example: Reporting on some bizarre science experiment, you might write, "The length of the remaining string can be used to calculate how far the snail has moved."

There's nothing really wrong with that sentence, except that it leaves you wondering how to attach string to a snail, but you'd probably get to that later in your write-up.

Nevertheless, you could tighten up the sentence by rewriting it to say, "The remaining string length can be used to calculate how far the snail has moved." See? Compare "The length of the remaining string," with "The remaining string length?" The second version, without the "of," sounds more direct.

And here's a final example how the word "of" can be a sign that your writing is bloated and could be more direct.

First, the bad sentence:

You can tell that the readers are passionate about flocked Christmas trees by ...

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How to Hold a Grudge with Nora McInerny

Hey everyone, you’re in for a special treat! You’re going to hear the conversation I had with Nora McInerny, host of the podcast Terrible, Thanks For Asking, on the concept of a grudge book—her form of journaling.

I am a big fan of journaling and it’s commonly recommended by therapists. Additionally, it’s something that most people have access to and is relatively inexpensive as a self-care practice.

In this interview, you’ll hear how Nora used the grudge book through one of the most difficult times of her life—the loss of a loved one.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

Some important takeaways:

• Journaling is an effective way to process painful emotions.
• Having a grudge for a period of time can be valid.
• Journaling can help a problem to feel more manageable.
• Journaling can help instill patience and a sense of discovery.
• There are many forms of journaling or writing that are beneficial to your mental health: gratitude, bullet, a regular notebook, letter writing, a grudge book, etc.

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Why ‘Tiny’ Sounds Smaller than ‘Huge’

What sized object comes to mind when you hear a made-up word like "teedee?"  Something small or something large?  And does "bouba" sounds round or spiky?  Fascinatingly, research has found that, even across languages, people often assign very similar meanings to certain types of words because of the way they sound.   

Sounds and symbols

This idea of words "sounding" like their meaning is something most people become acquainted with early in life when adults ask children what says "moo" and what says "woof." These words for the noises that animals make are derived from how people perceive the way the noises sound and then try to copy them in speech.  Of course, depending on our language system, we hear these animal noises differently, which is why dogs might say "woof" in English, but "wan wan" in Japanese.  

Such onomatopoeia, or words that mimic something about the thing they describe, is just the tip of the iceberg in modern sound symbolism research, a field which studies the non-arbitrary relationship of sounds to meaning.

Though the idea of words having an inherent sense had been tossed around by philosophers in antiquity who pondered the nature of meaning, a more scientific look at this topic began in the early 20^th century, focusing specifically on the sounds a word contained, rather than the word itself.  Since then, there has been a steady stream of work that has pointed to a link between certain sounds and a person’s perception of the properties of objects, like their size or shape. 

For instance, in an early experimental study by famed anthropological linguist Edward Sapir, made-up words were used to refer to a table.  When told the table was "mal," subjects identified the table as large as opposed to when the table was referred to as "mil," which they associated instead with a small table.   

What was behind this strange pattern?  Sapir hypothesized that words with vowels pronounced using the front part of the tongue, like "ee" (as in "tea"), were associated with smaller sized objects than words with vowels like "oh" or "ah" made more toward the back of the mouth. Since his early work, this vowel-size correlation has been replicated extensively and, moving beyond just size, later studies have tried to tease out both which sounds seem to trigger specific associations and what they seem to symbolize.

For instance, similar experiments...

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The Truth Behind 4 Common Relationship Myths

Many of us carry around irrational or unfounded beliefs about how our relationships ought to be. We impart these beliefs onto our partners and just expect them to intuitively know what we are thinking and feeling. “If my partner truly loved me, they would know why I am upset right now.” Similarly, we assume that we are able to accurately gauge how our partner is thinking and feeling. “My partner is only behaving this way because he is a man, and this is just what men do.” 

Marital therapists have found there are several common and particularly damaging irrational beliefs that we may carry around in our relationships which impact how we feel about and interact with our partner.

1. Disagreement is destructive

Here’s the thing about conflict—it is inevitable! In romantic relationships, we become more reliant on each other to accomplish everyday tasks. As two individuals who need to navigate the world around them and coordinate our behaviors to do so, we will inevitably irritate each other, get in the way, make mistakes, hurt each other accidentally, or have differing opinions. 

It is not the absence of conflict that makes a relationship thrive. Instead, it is the ability to effectively manage conflict when it appears that sets an effective foundation for relationship stability and satisfaction. Couples who are more able to manage their conflict have longer-lasting relationships, and their relationships are of better quality compared to couples who are unable to manage their conflicts. In fact, the absence or avoidance of conflict is a sign of a dysfunctional relationship.

One caveat I will add here is that people who say they never fight with their partner may be conceptualizing conflict as an overtly negative, or emotionally taxing conversation. In reality, they likely do experience conflict, but they are emotionally neutral experiences. All couples will at some point in their time together experience moments where they disagree or have...

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Social Trading Explained: Should You Copy Other Investors?

There has been lots of buzz and excitement around the crypto market over the past couple of years. This has largely been generated by sharp rises in some of the most popular cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Even crypto-sceptics are dipping their toes into the unpredictable world of crypto investing – and many seasoned investors are beginning to realize that the playing field is drastically different from what they are used to. Cryptocurrencies are unpredictable. They can skyrocket in value over a matter of hours, but they can crash back down just as quickly.

As the crypto community has continued to grow, ‘social trading’ has been becoming increasingly popular.

Social trading involves the free sharing and using of information between a group of traders. As well as providing traders with a community, its purpose is to give novice traders the ability to learn from and replicate expert traders, without having to spend years building up their knowledge and losing money through trial-and-error.

What is social trading, and how does it work?

Social trading platforms are essentially social networking platforms built especially for traders. Before they emerged, traders had to rely on their own research and technical analysis to figure out what they should invest their money into.

Now, novice traders, or traders who don’t have the time or expertise to sit in front of charts and analyze markets, can learn from traders who have more experience than them. What’s more, they can copy these trading strategies, and reap the benefits. Essentially, users can become profitable traders by simply replicating the positions of other traders.

There are three main types of trades on a social trading platform. The first is a single trade, which means that the user places a normal trade by themself. The second is a copy trade, which means that a trader places exactly the same trade as another trader. The third is a mirror trade, which means that a trader follows all of the trading activities of another trader, and automatically excuses them.

As a result, there are multiple ways to use social trading platforms. Users can choose to either choose to automatically copy all of a trader’s existing positions, they can choose to copy all of the trader’s future positions, or they can decide to manually select which trades they’d like to copy.

How has social trading evolved over the years?

Social trading as we know it today first began in 2010, when one of the first social trading platforms, eToro, was created. It was soon followed by Wikifolo in 2012.

The concept of social trading began to gain mainstream traction in 2015, when a World Economic Forum...

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5 Ways to Become an Active or Passive Real Estate Investor

Julie S. says, "Hi, Laura! I recently discovered your weekly podcast and have already binged a ton of episodes and learned a lot—thanks for all you do! One of my New Year's resolutions is to be more mindful and strategic about my finances, and your podcast has been super helpful.

I would love it if you could podcast on the trend of buying a second home first, where you rent your primary residence and buy a second home for vacations or rent out. I've been considering this and wondering if your guidance, such as not spending more than 25-30% of your income on housing, would be different for an investment property. I would surpass that amount, so can I afford it? Also, I've heard that lenders don't like giving mortgages for investment properties as much as primary residences." 

Kimberly C. says, "I'm a young professional starting my financial journey, and I've loved learning from your podcasts! One of my financial goals is to make passive income. You mentioned that you own some rental properties. Can you share your journey with how you obtained your first rental property and any tips you have for someone who wants to invest in real estate?"

Thanks for your great real estate questions, Julie and Kimberly. This post will answer them and review five ways you can invest in real estate actively or passively. Creating an additional income stream from real estate doesn't have to be difficult, time-consuming, or require special knowledge. Sound interesting? Keep reading.

5 Money Resolutions You Should Set for 2022

Real estate is a unique asset because it gives you a place to live or vacation and the opportunity for investment growth through price appreciation and income. That's why every investor should have some amount of real estate in their portfolio.

But if you think you have to shell out a lot of money to buy property, you may be surprised that there are ways to own it without a significant investment of money or time. Here are five ways to become an active or passive real estate investor.

1. Own...

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Can Nutrition Heal Your Thyroid?

Hashimoto's thyroiditis is a somewhat common auto-immune disorder that affects the thyroid gland. It affects more women than men and is usually diagnosed in early adulthood. Typical symptoms of low thyroid function include unexplained hair loss, weight gain, dry skin, and intolerance to cold. If you’re suffering from any of those symptoms, your doctor may order a blood test to see how your thyroid is functioning.

Standard medical treatment for Hashimoto's focuses on monitoring levels of thyroid hormone and supplementing with replacement hormone as needed. Beyond that, a conventional endocrinologist isn't likely to have much, if anything, to say in regards to diet or lifestyle changes. But women with this diagnosis often stumble across a lot of alternative therapies online... including a controversial diet called the Auto-Immune Protocol.

Joining me to discuss the role of nutrition in supporting a healthy thyroid is Sunny Brigham, a clinical nutritionist who specializes in digestive health, healthy weight loss, and all things thyroid, including Hashimoto's disease. She's also an adjunct professor at the Maryland University of Integrative Health.

Below are highlights from our conversation. Click play on the audio player above to hear the entire discussion.

Monica: Can you give us a quick overview of the basic tenets of the AIP?

Sunny: The goal of the auto-immune protocol is to remove inflammatory foods from the body, foods that the immune system tends to react to. You remove grains, legumes (including peanuts), nuts, seeds, most fruit, some vegetables, nightshades, various seasonings, alcohol, coffee, tea, chocolate, popcorn. Effectively, you're down to meat, a handful of vegetables, and 1-2 servings of low sugar fruit daily.  And then you systematically reintroduce foods to identify reactions.

Monica: In your opinion, how strong is the evidence to support the AIP approach? Have there been good, peer-review studies on outcomes, or is this mostly anecdotal evidence?

Sunny: There's very little evidence to support AIP as an approach to healing Hashimoto's or other autoimmune conditions. From my research, there are no systematic reviews and only one peer-reviewed study on AIP. The study found that while study participants felt better and their hs-CRP was lowered, it had little effect on their antibody numbers or their thyroid function. The study was...

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Languishing? Here’s How to Turn it Around

In the past couple of years, burnout has commanded a lot of our collective attention, because so many have suffered from its symptoms: overwhelm, exhaustion, cynicism, and a kind of helplessness.

 

Burnout is real. But it’s not universal. While many aren’t quite at the point of burnout, they’re clearly not thriving. They’re feeling more of a sense of “meh.” 

 

This gray, bland middle place that’s starting to feel familiar to many of us is what organizational psychologist Adam Grant calls “languishing.” It’s not depression or burnout, and it’s definitely not thriving or flourishing… it’s the place in between. This USA Today piece describes it as “feeling a lack of focus and a general purgatory between mental wellness and illness.” 

 

Does this sound familiar? If so, the good news is that Grant offers a clear and simple antidote to this feeling in a recent TED talk. So let’s break down his three-part framework and talk about how you might apply this at work to get a boost.

 

Overcoming languishing is about finding flow. And we do this by pulling three levers: mastery, mindfulness, and mattering. Let’s touch on each and consider what it might look like in practice.

Mastery

Mastery is the idea of achieving something that feels meaningful to you. It’s not crossing something off your to-do list or delivering something your boss or client needs. Those are important—but they’re not mastery.

 

Mastery leaves you feeling good at something; accomplished. Even if that thing you’ve mastered is tiny. 

 

A couple of things I’ve been striving to master in recent months include:

• Reading non-fiction that challenges me to explore new ideas about the workplace

• Doing outreach to people I haven’t met personally (yikes!)

• Experimenting with new ways to facilitate workshops and programs virtually 

 

These are all things I want to feel more skilled in doing, not because I should but because I’m hungry for the growth.

 

So, where’s your personal opportunity for mastery at work? 

Learn a skill or program

What have you always dreamed of doing and doing well? Public...

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How to Build the Perfect Home Gym

If you love working out but find going to the gym inconvenient or unappealing, building a home gym may be the way to go. The good news is that building the perfect home gym doesn’t have to cost a fortune or take up a ton of space.

I’ve had my home gym for about a year now and I really love it. What makes having a home gym so awesome for me is the convenience factor. I simply step into my garage anytime I want to exercise without worrying about whether the gym is busy or if it’s even open.

Not having to pack a gym bag, drive to the gym, wait for equipment to open up, and drive back home saves me at least 2 or 3 hours every week that I can spend doing more important things like catching up on sleep or playing with my kids. 

Plus, the convenience of having a gym literally steps away makes it easier to stick with a workout routine. I’ve definitely noticed that I’ve been more consistent with exercise now that it’s so difficult to come up with excuses not to hit the gym.

What’s also nice about a home gym is knowing that I’m not going to catch a bug from the person huffing and puffing next to me, which is definitely a concern during the pandemic and flu season.

A budget gym in a small space

Before we jump into talking about equipment, it’s important to know that there are two categories of gym equipment that you’ll want to consider owning: strength equipment and cardio equipment. 

Strength equipment will help you build muscle strength and endurance while cardio equipment will help you develop cardiovascular endurance. Both are an important part of a well-rounded workout routine. 

A budget gym in a small space can be as simple as having a pair of adjustable dumbbells and an exercise bench for your strength equipment. A pair of adjustable dumbbells will save you space and a multi-position workout bench will give you the flexibility of performing different exercises using a single piece of equipment, which will also save you space. 

These two pieces of equipment are all you really need for a full-body strength workout. Adjustable...

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4 Ways Parents Can Decrease Screen Time Conflict

Needing help with limiting a child’s screen time is pretty high up on the list of issues parents have these days. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant more time at home for safety reasons, and parents have had to be creative in helping their children manage so much unstructured time indoors. Parents who had to work full-time while their child’s school was shut down often used screens to occupy the kids so they could get work done, or just get a parenting break. As the pandemic wears on indefinitely, parents are wondering about collaborative ways to regain some screen time boundaries in their homes.

Is limiting screen time even necessary? Is it actually possible to limit it, given that kids use screens to socialize and for academic purposes as well? What if, with all of your other daily responsibilities, you just don’t feel like being a screen time warden too? Can the kids manage screen time on their own? Those answers will be different for different kids and different families, but here are some screen time ideas that can be helpful for any parent.

Teach kids about manipulative technology design

Nir Eyal, author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, describes the ways technology companies design devices that lead a consumer through a 4-step process he calls "The Hook Model." This process creates habitual behaviors that keep you coming back to the device over and over again.

The sequence starts with a trigger. Companies use triggers like notifications from your smartphone, app icons, and links on websites to motivate you to move to the next step.

You now feel motivated to take an action, like clicking on the app, which is made as easy and streamlined as possible through user experience design. After taking that action you’ve moved into the next phase: reward.

When the human brain anticipates getting a reward, the neurotransmitter dopamine is released, creating a pleasurable experience for you that motivates you to click through to the app. Once there, you find what you were looking for and more! The other buttons you could potentially click on kicks up your reward anticipation again. This is called a variable reward—a reward that comes at random intervals—which keeps you coming back for more. Before you know it, 20 minutes have passed.

The final phase of the cycle is the investment, where you’re prompted to do something small, like give your email to open a free account. This increases the likelihood that you’ll return to that site. And the cycle starts...

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The 4 Components of Body Image

It's the start of a new year, and for many, that means standing in front of the mirror, cataloging everything that is "wrong" with your body that you plan to fix this year. Well, I'm here to help you fix your mind about your body!

We will start by giving a basic definition of body image. Your body image encompasses your perceptions, beliefs, feelings, thoughts, and actions that pertain to your physical appearance. In essence, it’s your personal relationship with your body. I like this definition because you have a lot of control over those things if you’re using the right coping strategies.

The goal in my mind is to spend most of our time in a body positive or body neutral state. There is enormous societal pressure to look a certain way, so even the best of us will have insecurities that crop up from time to time.

Examples of negative body image

When people have a negative body image, there are many ways that manifests. We can be avoidant; for example, performing behaviors like avoiding buying new clothes or looking into mirrors, or intentionally trying to hide parts of our bodies. How many of you hide your bellies or refuse to wear shorts because you have thicker thighs or cellulite? All this does is communicate the message that your body is bad. The first time I wore a two-piece swimsuit, I was close to 400 lbs. I was inspired by Gabifresh, who had dropped on the scene as a fashion blogger and eventually started her own swimsuit line. It was liberating to let it all hang out. We are four-dimensional beings and it’s okay if our curves reflect that. Everything from a Megan Thee Stallion to Alfred Hitchcock silhouette is welcome!

Another negative body image style is conflictual. Are you constantly battling with your body and telling it that it needs to be something that it’s not? Does "I Wish" by Skee-Lo constantly ring in your head? Do you think if you were a little taller, that woman you’re crushing on would notice you? Do you have curly hair and wish it was straight? Or straight hair and wish it was curly? Are you more on the slender slide and want to be bigger?

Embrace yourself instead of trying to replace everything that makes you a unique human being. Fun fact, I was born with 7 birthmarks, one of which covers almost a third of my torso. I remember being in junior high and wishing that I had unmarked skin like every other girl I saw. If you looked at my yearbooks from high school, I wore a jacket every day—and I grew up in South Carolina, y’all! Now, I make off-color jokes about how I could never join a secret society or that if I ended up the victim in a true crime story, my body would be super identifiable. What changed? Those birthmarks are still there, but my perception changed over time,...

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Words of the Year: 2021

The word-of-the-year announcements always fascinate me and give a real look into the zeitgeist and the ways different people and countries experienced the last year, and I'm sure it won't surprise most of you that most of last year's words were almost all about the pandemic and politics.

Vaccine

The clear winner for 2021 was "vaccine," which was the word of the year from Merriam-Webster, "The Economist," the Foundation for Emerging Spanish in Spain, and by vote from the readers of "The Portugal News." And Oxford Languages also chose a variation of the word, "vax."

Most of the online dictionaries use their lookup data or corpus data to choose—or at least narrow—their choices. 

For example, in a recent interview in the Zoom show called "That Word Chat" hosted by Mark Allen, who you may know on Twitter as  @EditorMark, Peter Sokolowski, editor at large at Merriam-Webster, said that for the entire year, "vaccine" was in the top 20 or 25 words people were looking up on their site, and that lookups for that word were 1048% higher than in 2019. He said that all the way back in May they were thinking this would likely be the word of the year because it was just so huge. 

And in fact, Merriam-Webster also updated their definition of "vaccine" in May because the new technology, the mRNA vaccines, meant that their definition was out of date because it had previously said that a vaccine was "a preparation of killed microorganisms, living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease," but that's not how mRNA vaccines work. Since the press was talking about mRNA vaccines almost nonstop, Peter said there was an urgent need for more specificity in their definition. So it now has much more information, and they also changed the word "immunity" to "immune response," which now also has its own entry. 

Vax

"Vax" also jumped out from the data to the Oxford Languages people....

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How Much Debt Is Too Much? 8 Warning Signs

Debt is a powerful tool that can boost your success or cause your financial life to crash and burn. The trick to using debt wisely is knowing the difference between good and bad debt and the right amounts based on your income and goals.

Today, I'll cover tips to use debt strategically, so it helps not hurts you. Plus, you'll learn eight ways to know if you have too much debt and action steps to protect your finances.

Debt is a complex topic because people have different opinions about it. Some insist that no amount of debt is acceptable, not even a home mortgage. Others acknowledge that some debts, such as a mortgage or student loans, are OK but using a credit card or taking out a car loan is a mistake. There's a camp that believes using debt to purchase anything is acceptable as long as you can afford the payments. 

My recommendation is that you should consider going into debt when:

• You're confident that it will give you a financial return. 
• You have a steady income or ample savings to repay it on time.
• You qualify for a competitive interest rate and terms.

As you pay down the principal balance and/or your home value appreciates, you build wealth. That's why financing a home is generally considered good debt.

For example, if you buy an affordable home with a low-rate mortgage, you can build equity over time. As you pay down the principal balance and/or your home value appreciates, you build wealth. That's why financing a home is generally considered good debt.  

Additionally, mortgage interest rates are at historic lows. They also come with an interest tax deduction, making home loans cost even less on an after-tax basis. Depending on where you live, buying a home may be less expensive than renting a similar property, especially outside of large cities.

Another example of good debt is a reasonable amount of student loans. Interest rates vary depending on whether you have a federal or private loan; however, they typically have relatively low interest rates.

Plus, some amount of interest paid on education debt is tax-deductible, which further reduces the cost. And best of all, getting an education gives you the ability to earn more over your lifetime.

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5 Positive Ways To Use Tech For Your Mental Health

It’s common to see screen time being vilified in mainstream media today, and some practices are toxic. Yet, there are so many ways tech can be used positively to boost people’s mental health. A screen itself has the potential for healthy or unhealthy use. This article focuses on how you can use it in the right way.

Guidance surrounding tech use at the moment neglects people’s individual needs. While going out and socializing in person might benefit many people’s mental health, for introverts it could be a major source of stress. For these people, screen time could be a major source of comfort and relief.

Here are five ways to use tech positively.

Connect with friends and family

The importance of digital communication came to the forefront during the pandemic. So many people were unable to see their loved ones in person for months on end, which took a heavy toll on their psyche. The ability to jump on a Zoom call and laugh with friends and family kept many people going as a substitute.

For many other people, being away from the people they love is a normal part of their everyday lives. They may have moved to another city or country for their work and travel may be too expensive. They can use video calls to fill this void. It’s especially important for parents working away from their young children or people who have elderly parents who are lonely.

In a perfect world, people may wish they could always have an in-person connection, but modern schedules and distances can make this unfeasible. Seeing a loved one on a screen is better than not being able to see them at all, and is the best way to mimic the intimacy of meeting in person.

Play stress-busting games

Video games have been proven to have a positive impact on mental health in the right conditions. One study showed that boys who play video games have a lower depression risk than those who don’t. Games are designed to give players an enjoyable flurry of activity to keep them hooked. This feeling can have a significant positive impact on one’s belief in their own abilities.

When times got tough in the pandemic, many turned to video games as a way to relieve their stress. There was a 44% increase in the like-for-like sales of games as a result. It’s an important aspect of self-care for so many people across the world.

You don’t need to be a hardcore gamer to get the positive benefits of playing games. It’s common for people to love simple games for...

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Do Food Dyes Cause Hyperactivity?

Courtney writes:

"So many foods include artificial colors, like yellow 5 lake; red 40 lake, blue 1, and so on.  I have heard from several people that artificial red dyes are the worst. What makes them the worst? Are they really bad for you?"

If you start reading ingredient lists, you might surprised to see how many foods have added colorings. I’m not just talking about rainbow-colored cereals or other garishly tinted items. I’m talking about things like yogurt, cheese, gravy, and crackers—foods that don't look colored at all. For example, a blue dye might be added to make white frosting look whiter.

The synthetic dyes approved by the FDA for use in foods are identified by number, as in "Yellow No. 5" or "Blue No. 1."  The word "lake" indicates that the dye has been mixed with a mineral salt to make it insoluble in water. The straight dyes are generally used in drinks and other liquids. The lake colors are used in baking and other solid foods.

Why are colors added to foods?

Although we may think we don’t want anything unnatural in our food, studies of consumer preference repeatedly show that foods enhanced with synthetic colors are more appealing than foods made without coloring or made with natural colorants.

The color actually affects how we perceive the taste. The macaroni-and-cheese made with yellow dye tastiest creamier and cheesier than the all-natural brand with no coloring added.

How to Use Sensory Science to Improve Your Eating Habits

Synthetic colors tend to be a lot more stable and—ironically—better at making food look the we think it should look. And all of the the colorings approved by the FDA for use in food manufacturing have been thoroughly evaluated for safety. 

Nonetheless, artificial food colors have a bad reputation. In particular, there are persistent concerns that they may cause (or exacerbate) hyperactivity or ADHD in kids.

Does food coloring make kids hyper?

The idea that food colorings might be linked to hyperactivity in kids dates back to the 1970s, when a pediatrician named Ben Feingold proposed a diet that eliminated all artificial colorings and preservatives as a treatment for hyperactivity. He claimed that this protocol was highly effective in reducing symptoms. Other experts have questioned his results, claiming that when kids didn’t do well on the diet, he simply excluded those cases from his data.

What’s the evidence on artificial dyes and hyperactivity?

Nonetheless, Dr. Feingold’s hypothesis spurred others to research the question. It turns out that this is a tricky subject to study. Measuring the level of...

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How Does a DUI Affect My Auto Insurance?

Getting a single DUI conviction can negatively affect your life in many ways. Having too many drinks may seem harmless at the time, but the second you get behind the wheel intoxicated, you put yourself and others at risk. If you're lucky enough to not hurt anyone, you will still face fines, potential jail times, and skyrocketing auto insurance premiums.

DUI vs. DWI

Depending on where you live, you may get convicted of DUI or a DWI; however, there's little difference between the two. DUI stands for "driving under the influence," while DWI is "driving while intoxicated." Both describe someone driving a vehicle while legally impaired (i.e. over the legal limit) from alcohol, illegal drugs, prescription drugs, or inhalants.

DUI convictions and car insurance

State penalties vary for getting a DUI. Fines range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars, depending on the severity of your case. It's also possible that you could be sentenced to jail time, depending on the circumstances. And your driver's license may get suspended or revoked.

Having a DUI is a major red flag for your auto insurer, and they will view you as a much riskier policyholder. At the very least, your car insurance premiums will increase significantly. In the most extreme DUI cases, your insurance rate could increase by 300%. Traffic violations cause premiums to go up because insurers know you're more likely to get another violation or get involved in a car crash.  

In the most extreme DUI cases, your insurance rate could increase by 300%.

After getting a DUI, you could lose your auto insurance, especially if you have other violations on your driving record. Your provider could drop you immediately or choose not to renew your policy. That would force you to get coverage somewhere else, which could be challenging with a DUI on your record. 

Fulfilling SR22 insurance requirements

Following a DUI conviction, some states require you to carry SR22 insurance. SR22 insurance is required when you're deemed "high-risk" by an auto insurer. That could happen if you get...

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Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom

The Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of All the President’s Men—the chronicle of the investigative report about the Watergate break-in and resultant political scandal which led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation—recalls his formative years as a teenage newspaper reporter in JFK’s Washington—a tale of adventures, scrapes, clever escapes, and the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Carl Bernstein, Washington Star.”

With these words, the sixteen-year-old senior at Montgomery Blair High School set himself apart from the high school crowd and set himself on a track that would define his life. Carl Bernstein was far from the best student in his class—in fact, he was in danger of not graduating at all—but he had a talent for writing, a burning desire to know things that other people didn’t, and a flair for being in the right place at the right time. Those qualities got him inside the newsroom at the Washington Star, the afternoon paper in the nation’s capital, in the summer of 1960, a pivotal time for America, for Washington, D.C., and for a young man in a hurry on the cusp of adulthood.

Chasing History opens up the world of the early 1960s as Bernstein experienced it, chasing after grisly crimes with the paper’s police reporter, gathering colorful details at a John F. Kennedy campaign rally, running afoul of union rules, and confronting racial tensions as the civil rights movement gained strength. We learn alongside him as he comes to understand the life of a newspaperman, and we share his pride as he hunts down information, gets his first byline, and discovers that he has a talent for the job after all.

By turns exhilarating, funny, tense, and poignant, Chasing History shows us a country coming into its own maturity along with young Carl Bernstein, and when he strikes out on his own after five years at the Star, his hard-won knowledge and experience feels like ours as well.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company. Listen with the audio player above. 

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Why Is It Hard for Couples to Talk About Money?

Have you ever seen the show Marriage or Mortgage on Netflix? A couple has about $30,000 that they can either use as a down payment on a home or on a big wedding. After seeing a few houses and being wooed by wedding vendors, the couples have to decide which option seems like the best use of their money. This kind of discussion is something that couples may shy away from, but is really important to have.

Before my husband and I got married, we had conversations around some similar major life milestones. Looking at the numbers, my husband deduced that we could financially afford to do any two of the following three things in the next two years: have a small wedding, buy a house, or have a baby. For me, it was an easy decision to sacrifice a wedding, and we instead got married on a random weekday in a courthouse under a parking garage and behind a dojo for the cost of our wedding certificate.

When it comes to our romantic relationships, money conversations should start early and happen fairly regularly. For example, on a first date, do you split the check? Do you even discuss who pays, or do you feel there is a general rule around payment etiquette? I have heard the rule that whoever asks the other on a date should pay the bill. I have also heard that a first date should always be split. In truth, the answer is you should probably talk about it before the bill comes to avoid an awkward moment.

Why do couples shy away from conversations about money? Well, like most things in our relationships, we can trace it back to our childhood. Often times, children are not exposed to productive conversations about money in the house. They may be chastised for asking questions about money, particularly when asking their parents or other relatives how much they earn at their job. While they aren’t exposed to more positive money conversations around the house, they may very well be exposed to more negative conversations or conflicts among their parents when times are tough.

Money and finances are a source of conflict for many couples. In fact, in my own research, 75% of married participants indicated that they currently had an ongoing or repeated argument over money occurring in their relationships. When couples indicated they argued about money or finances with their partner, it corresponded with lower scores on satisfaction in their relationship. For about 25% of participants...

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How to Run an Effective Hybrid Meeting

Remember the olden days when meetings happened in a room? With people and snacks and tables? And then remember when, overnight, meetings suddenly went entirely virtual, and your pants and shoes took a hiatus?

 

And just when we thought things couldn’t get messier, we’ve put it all in a blender and we’re working now in this clunky, hybrid middle-place. With some team members back in the office while others are connecting from home, so many people are wondering how to run a great meeting—one that leaves everyone feeling included, engaged, and equally able to contribute.

 

Let’s talk today about some simple, tactical strategies you can use to ensure your hybrid meetings are delivering both great experiences and outcomes.

It begins with the prep

A great hybrid meeting requires some thorough planning and consideration. It won’t happen by accident. So before you show up in the room (physical or virtual) give these factors some pre-consideration.

Purpose

Begin with a clear sense of what you want this meeting to deliver. Do you need a decision to be made? A set of ideas to be generated? Challenge yourself to really think this through. Providing this clarity to your participants upfront will enable them to show up prepared to engage in the right conversation. 

 

Note that certain purposes—like providing an update or reviewing a client deliverable—may not even require a meeting. In some cases, an email or a series of individual calls will do. The least effective hybrid meetings are the ones that just didn’t need to be meetings.

Attendees

Clarity of purpose allows you to be intentional about whom you invite to the table. Hybrid meetings require you to pay more attention to each person’s experience, so minimizing the number of participants can be helpful. 

 

Don’t be exclusive. But do be thoughtful about each attendee’s role in the discussion. Who truly needs to be present, and who can you update after the fact? Fewer participants will help dial your impact up.

Tech

Engaging a blend of participants requires some extra creativity. So, think ahead about where you want to engage your participants—collecting ideas, opinions, or individual sentiment—and prepare ahead by setting up some polls or whiteboards ahead of time.

 

This advanced set up will leave you, the host, looking prepared and polished, while keeping your meeting running smoothly and allowing all participants able to engage on equal footing.

Rules of engagement

Decide what “ground rules” you’d like to establish and send these...

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9 Tips for Proper Gym Etiquette

It’s the second week of January and most people are in full swing with their New Year’s fitness resolutions. Gyms across the country are busier than usual, so I thought it would be timely to share tips for proper gym etiquette. 

If you’ve never stepped foot inside a gym before or it’s been a while since you’ve gone, knowing the dos and don'ts will help you quickly feel comfortable, fit in, and earn the respect of fellow gym-goers. 

The last thing anyone wants is to show up to a place with long-standing norms, like the gym, and zig while everyone else is zagging. That’s like the person who shows up at the holiday work party without a gift for secret Santa. 

If you’re a gym rat who's familiar with the dos and don’ts, it still might be time for a refresher, especially when the gym is busier than usual. It’s easy to let gym etiquette go down the drain out of convenience when the gym is not so busy. At least I know it is for me! 

For example, I love supersets, which is a strength training technique that involves switching back and forth between two different muscle groups instead of taking a break. This usually requires taking up two different pieces of workout equipment at once, which is poor etiquette when the gym is busy. 

On a side note, this is why I ended up building a garage gym with all of the essential workout equipment, which I’ll show you how to do in next week’s episode. 

A Beginner's Guide to the Gym

By following the 9 tips for gym etiquette below, you’ll know what to expect of your fellow gym-goers and how to act at a gym so that the only thing you worry about during your workout is your workout.

#1: Have good hygiene

The worst thing anyone can do is show up at the gym with heavy body odor. Now, I understand that we’re...

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