Many people think a successful career moves in a straight line, always upward and forward. But life isn’t that neat. There are actually four different career paths, and which one is best for you depends on your individual psychology. In this episode of Office Hours, I talk about why the happiest...

Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks explains why boredom unlocks creativity, activates a powerful brain network, and might even protect you from depression. Learn how the mind wanders—and why that’s a very good thing.

I distinctly remember the day I sat in my junior English class after returning from Christmas break. My teacher asked us what our New Year’s resolutions were for the year. To be honest, I can’t remember mine, but I remember a classmate’s: starting a gratitude journal . That sounded like a good idea...

Wherever you go… you’re still there. Most of us don’t realize how much of our lives are built around trying to escape ourselves. We stay busy. We stay entertained. We stay scrolling, watching, working, planning, talking — anything to avoid being alone in the quiet with our own thoughts. Because...

My wife is employed in the disaster-relief sector of the international NGO space. She and her colleagues serve people who find themselves amid sudden need during unforeseen disasters. Recently, my wife’s work took her to the Canadian Prairies, a significant segment of which have been ravaged this...

The other day I was chatting with a friend over hot tea, discussing a change she was noticing in her significant other. His problems all seemed to boil down to low self-esteem, and she said, “I’m actually sort of surprised he’s insecure. I’ve always perceived him as being super-confident because...

When was the last time you experienced loneliness? Do you recall the feeling? The enveloping ache and the swarm of emotions—the sadness, the anxiousness, the uncertainty, the smallness, the shame, even—that the experience entailed? Terrible, wasn’t it? Do you recall what it was like to feel “on the...

Sr. Mary Grace, SV speaks to the places in us that feel bent over by shame, fear, lies, suffering, and disappointment. Drawing ...

I spent nearly two decades as a clinician in psychology, and the truth of the matter is I never would have gotten there had it not been for a couple of people in particular who saw in me what I could not see in myself. I was an abysmal failure in my high school days and academics were not something...