Lifestyles

Okay, relax. I’m not suggesting burying your head in the sand or going into denial. I’ve spent much of my career working in TV news broadcasting, have hosted two podcasts, written blogs extensively, so I’m not indicting the media. I’m focusing on how to use news to improve your mood. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

How can we feel a part of something larger than ourselves and have a positive, beneficial impact on the well-being of others? How can we express our strengths and fervently pursue our emotional appetites? How can we create a sense of belonging and avoid stagnating, to move forward toward consequential purposes? [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

“Change your story, change your power,” according to positive psychology author Michelle Gielan who wrote Broadcasting Happiness. Sort of reminds me of my most recent book, The Link is What You Think. We change our lives, for the good or not, in the direction of our self-talk, our story. Our families, our companies, our neighbors, all benefit, or are harmed, by the stories we tell ourselves about the circumstances of our lives. We are all story tellers, to ourselves and to each other, and with that comes a great deal of accountability and answerability. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

Do you know anyone who is naturally immune to the unrest that uncertainty often brings? I don’t. I’d suggest there is far more emotional turmoil about the ravages of our lives torn asunder by COVID-19, than there are actual victims suffering with the disease. Uncertainty and its wake of confusion and disorder is by far the leading emotional challenge we face during this pandemic. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

As businesses prepare, thankfully, to enter the flow of customer service one again, transformational leadership prowess is called on more than ever to avoid “going back to the way we were.”  I hear forward-thinking visionary business leaders daily in coaching sessions use words like “adapt,” “grow,” “learn,” “be better,” “be nimble,” “be faster,” “more resilient,” “leaner than ever,” “way more productive.” Farseeing futurist trailblazers aren’t going back to anything. They are talented frontrunners, escorting their teams forward, upward, onward, and never in reverse. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

Are you still joking about obesity, even now? No, I’m not on a rant. But I sure could be. What’s funny about a chronic disease that impairs health and renders people more sensitive to deadly co-morbid factors associated with COVID-19? Nothing. Nothing is funny at all. [Michael R. Mantell, PhD]

That we are in a time of profound, extreme and for many, overwhelming transformation and adjustment, is unmistakable. Arianna Huffington, observed, “Transformative change rarely happens without a catalyst and a crisis,” in an article entitled, “We are Never Going Back.” No, we are, and never do, go back, despite our yearning for the “good old days,” that we erroneously believed were free of severe hardships and emotional turmoil. After all, it was Franklin Pierce Adams who said, “Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.” [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

Heard any good negative predictions lately? No, of course you haven’t heard any good negative predictions lately.  That’s because there aren’t any good negative predictions.  There are only negative negative predictions.  That’s because there’s essentially nothing good about a negative prediction!  Negative predictions can only be negative. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]