a daily blog on well-being and how to feel better by Mark Barger Elliott…

Goethe made the observation that, “Everyone holds his fortune in his own hands, like a sculptor the raw material he will fashion into a figure. But it’s the same with that type of artistic activity as with all others: We are merely born with the capability to do it. The skill to mold the material…

Clayton Paul Alderfer (1940- 2015) was a psychologist known for his work in organizational behavior and human motivation. He is particularly recognized for reimagining Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs into the ERG Theory which distills Maslow’s five levels of needs into three categories: Existence Needs: These relate to basic material and physiological requirements, such as food, water,…

A friend of mine has made the profound observation all we can control are “causes” and not “effects.” What he means is too often we focus on the effect our actions, words, and plans have, but if we think about it, we control little of such outcomes; too many factors play roles in determining how…

One of the most powerful feelings we can experience is trust and the most debilitating is fear. Faith grows when we live our lives seeking to trust while subtracting fear. The 4th Life Equation is Faith = Trust – Fear. In what might you trust today? What fear can you seek to subtract? With faith…

One of the hardest aspects of life is when we experience an event that prompts us to despair. Typically that event involves a loss that leads to a state of suffering. Such an event and loss can be physical, emotional, relational, vocational or spiritual. Chip Conley is an author who came up with this helpful…

The second life equation is inspired by former Google Chief Business Officer and author Mo Gawdat who observed our happiness is related to our expectations. We adapted that insight into this equation: Happiness = events – expectations. The more we are able to invite events to unfold without any expectations the more we will be…