Earlier this week, I watched a video on psychological techniques employed in marketing and advertising. One of the subjects they talked about extends well beyond the world of promotion. In fact, it's something we do in our lives quite often, sometimes to our detriment. They touched upon what is called the focusing illusion.  In a nutshell, it means that the more you think about something, the more importance you assign it. The moment you convince yourself that you're hungry, you might not want to do anything else until you've grabbed something to nosh on. And you might find yourself unable to stop thinking about an ad you saw on TV promoting the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte the night before. Moreover, we tend to see the focusing illusion in action when it comes to those things that make us excited, nervous, or sad. A couple of examples include: Not being able to take your mind off a new girl you just met Being consumed by negative thoughts as your doctor...

You exercise. You lower your food portions. You eat healthy. You do everything you know you're supposed to do in order to shed some pounds. And yet, you step on the scale and, to your dismay, your weight doesn't go down; in some cases, it even goes up! Doesn't make any sense, does it? I have found myself in a similar conundrum over the years. Eventually, it dawned on me that my near-obsessive habit of drinking Diet Coke was probably working against me. When I probed even deeper, I realized that depriving my body of water was likely making it more difficult to lose weight. I mistakenly assumed that drinking more water would make your body retain more of it. But the exact opposite is true: The less water you drink, the more your body hoards whatever water you have in your system, thereby making you heavier.  I learned years ago that my dark yellow urine likely meant I was dehydrated. (A pale color with a tinge of yellow, on the other hand, suggests the bod...

Here's to a happy, healthy, and productive March for us all! If February was a good month for you, I hope this month will be nothing short of great! If you're dealing with any problems that carried over into March, you now have a fresh 31 days to resolve them. It will get better! If you're working to achieve a goal but haven't quite crossed the finish line, don't despair. A new month presents a wonderful opportunity to work a bit harder toward achieving it. You'll get there, little by little. Don't ruminate on what did or did not happen in February, for that month is now behind us. Focus on what lies ahead. As long as you're positive, the forecast won't call for showers and thunderstorms. Instead, there will be plenty of sunny days in store. As I've put forward in prior entries, the mind exerts a powerful influence over our mood and attitude. If you go into the month assuming the worst, you'll get the worst. It's that simp...