It's time to let go of the past and embrace all that awaits you. You can't start the next chapter of your life if you persist in reading the last one. Take the lessons you learned with you, yes, but don't allow your past to prevent you from soaring to new heights. Think of life as a game of football. The clock is ticking. You don't have time focus on the mistakes you made in the second quarter that cost you the lead. So long as you believe in yourself -- and mentally remain in the present moment -- you can persevere. Don't let painful reminders of yesterday get in the way of creating precious memories for tomorrow. Take a deep breath, relax, and tell yourself that you deserve to be happy! Whether your past includes a divorce, a failed business venture, or a series of mistakes you're having trouble shaking off, redirect your thoughts toward the present. While you can't change the past, your present is really what you make of it. Want to fi...

If you don't love yourself, you can't really love anyone else. Happiness starts from within. Love starts from within. Other people don't complete us -- we do that ourselves. Others merely enhance our lives. I know a few people who spend all their time pleasing others and are left feeling empty and burned down at the end of the day. Why? Because they fail to carve out some time for themselves -- to relax, to contemplate, to pamper themselves. When you feel good about and love yourself, you're more confident. You're in a better mood. You have the disposition and frame of mind to then focus on others and their needs. People may argue that seeing others is all it takes to make them happy, but if they don't love themselves sufficiently to begin with, that happiness just isn't sustainable. People won't always be around; sometimes you'll be by yourself. Take a few moments each day to contemplate your best qualities. Think about something gre...

Whether you're going through a tough time because you're short on cash, unable to find love, or having marital problems, I have a message for you: Things will eventually work out. That may strike you as impossible at this juncture, but over time, things will fall in place. It may not happen on your timetable, but it will occur nonetheless. This is only a passing storm, a temporary blip, a small fork in the road. With hard work, gumption, an irrepressible drive, and support from friends (including me and others on this blog), you'll land back on your feet before you know it. Don't underestimate your will and capacity to overcome even the most daunting obstacles. You can achieve anything you set your heart and mind to. As someone anonymous once put it, "A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power, but its persistence." Pray, put in a vigorous workout at the gym, treat yourself a hearty meal -- do whatever it takes to relax and blow off so...

Society leads us to believe that thrusting oneself into social settings is the antidote to loneliness. Yet, many people would agree that one can feel lonelier around a big group of people than when the person is by themselves. For starters, just because a person is alone doesn't mean they're lonely. There are actually people out there, myself included, who enjoy and thrive on time spent alone -- to relax, contemplate, clear their mind. Finding yourself amidst large groups of people whom you don't know can be more isolating than being by your lonesome. Sure, you can always try to strike up a conversation with someone, but it can come off as awkward and doesn't always lead to the desired result. This is especially true when everyone around you already is engaged in conversation with someone else. I feel much more at ease interacting with people when small groups of 2 to 3 people are involved. You don't have people talking and shouting over another. You d...

My psychology blog, How to Understand People , has now garnered a whopping 150,000 views  -- a remarkable feat for a site that came into being only two years ago. I want to thank everyone for reading, commenting on, and resharing my posts. Without my readers' support, I would have never amassed this many hits in such a short period of time. I continue to urge my readers to share these posts with friends and family so that they, too, can benefit from my advice and tips, which touch on subjects ranging from social psychology to relationships to consumer behavior. I also feature intermittent posts that include history fun facts and others that highlight and examine famous quotes from historic figures. Here are 10 of my most popular posts from the last couple of months: Why cheating should never be tolerated Here's a trick to make people like you... Why you should NEVER take back a cheater SECRET: Why people judge you Life is what YOU make of it Do what makes YO...

You have a huge fight with your spouse. Your car leaves you stranded on the highway. You lose power at the office and, to your dismay, you forgot to save three hours' worth of work. You accidentally spill soda on your spanking-brand-new blouse. Ever have a day like this, where everything seems to go wrong? We've all been there. I'm actually in something of a rut as we speak. When you find yourself stuck in such a rut, the first thing you need to do is calm down. Breathe. Relax. Decompress. Then, remind yourself that things will get better. It's normal to hit a rough patch every now and then. Sometimes things just don't go in our favor. The sooner you accept that, the quicker you'll get through this phase. Then, do your best to resolve the problems at hand. Once you and your spouse have calmed down enough to have a conversation, let him or her know what's on your mind and work together toward a resolution. Keep the lines of communication o...

You're tired. You're stressed out. You feel like there isn't enough time in the day to do everything. Life seems overwhelming, many of your problems seemingly insurmountable. We've all been there. Just relax and take things one day at a time. Problems can't be fixed overnight. Worries don't evaporate in the blink of an eye. Take it one step at a time. A horrible day won't last forever. There's always the promise of a better tomorrow. Things will get better with time. If you feel you've reached the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. If you feel it can't get any worse, smile -- it'll only get better moving forward. But you must never lose hope. Once hope is lost, it becomes nearly impossible to break out of the downward spiral so many of us get ourselves in. We become deeply depressed, our self-esteem and vigor diminishing more and more by the day. Don't let that vicious circle of negativity get the best of you. Remin...

As I've pointed out in other posts, being alone and being lonely are two completely different things. When people wish to be alone, they usually do so deliberately, whereas being lonely tends to be an undesirable consequence of a particular event, like breaking up with your boyfriend, moving to a new city, etc. People can desire to be alone for a host of reasons: To clear their heads To gather their thoughts To recharge after a long day at work To read or pursue other solitary tasks in a quiet environment They're not in the mood to be around people, especially after someone has done something to disappoint them And many more... Unfortunately, sometimes society makes people who crave alone time out to be weirdos. They're constantly given labels like "antisocial" and "stuck-up." Oftentimes, these descriptors have no basis in reality. Many people -- especially the highly extroverted, who thrive on social interaction -- fail to understand tha...