The key to a happier life, as Albert Einstein said, is to tie your life to a goal -- not to people or things. We all have goals we aim to achieve, from getting a degree to traveling around the world to losing weight to spending more time with our family. When you make your happiness contingent upon the acquisition of material possessions or the approval of others, the quality of your life takes a nosedive. For one, material stuff rusts, wears, and tears. Sure, it's always nice to get a new phone or car, but the novelty of the item dissipates quite fast. Before you know it, that phone or car is giving you problems. People who feel they have to be the first to obtain the latest and greatest gadgets will never be content, and it's likely because they're trying to stay ahead of their peers. In the end, buying loads of expensive products you may not even need does nothing but eat away at your bank account and credit. Typing your happiness to other people is similarly ...

Albert Einstein once said, " Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow ." The vaunted theoretical physicist was not only succinct, but spot on. By learning from yesterday -- and what's implied is really learning from our mistakes -- we can create a better, more fruitful today. But we must guard against the impulse to dwell on those things we did wrong. Instead, we should see the start of a new day as akin to turning the page -- the chance to start anew. Yesterday is no more. Focus on what you can do TODAY so that it turns out to be an even better day than yesterday was. While no one likes to admit they've made a mistake, we're only human. As long as we recognize what we did wrong and aim to right the ship so that history doesn't repeat itself, we come out stronger and wiser in the end. Moreover, life is a precious gift -- one that can be taken away at any moment. We really don't know when it'll be our time to bid this world adieu,...

This is an easy one to answer, at least for me. Anything that isn't intellectually stimulating tends to bore me, with exception to comedy movies and animals. Talk to me about the presidential election and I'm fully engaged. Talk to me about your neighbor's boss's husband's new lawnmower, and you'll have me zoning out in no time. Whether you call it small talk or chit chat, it's anathema to people like me with a perpetual thirst for knowledge. I often find greater company in a book or documentary. At least those things teach you something . What comes out of most people's mouths nowadays is mostly nonsense, or empty talk. I know that small talk is the name of the game in Corporate America, and one has no choice but to play along if they wish to keep their job. I do so rather grudgingly. So what am I trying to say?  That with exception to certain individuals, I find the vast majority of people I come across to be, well, boring. As I've stat...

Albert Einstein (1879-1955), arguably the most influential scientist ever to have lived, once said: "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." I agree with this quote 100 percent. No matter what goals we may work toward, life throws curveballs our way that can quickly stop us in our tracks. Whether we're aiming to find a partner, land a new job, or lose weight, we can become easily discouraged and give up. As I have noted in earlier posts, life isn't so much what happens to us as what we do with what happens to us. In other words, if we fail in our first few attempts, do we have reason to lose hope and just accept that we can't do it? Absolutely not! If a person wants something enough -- if he truly puts his heart and soul into it -- sooner or later, he will catch a break. This brings me two famous quotes from the 3rd President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826): "Why is it that the harder I try,...