OBSERVATION: Michael Josephson on The Bare Essentials of Home-Run Decision-Making: Choices that Produce the Best Possible Result

In both our work and our personal lives, all of us regularly face situations that raise the most common and basic question: “What should I do?” In all these cases, we must first decide what we should do and how we should do it. Then, we have to decide whether we will, in fact, do what we should do. The best decision makers …

WORTH READING: Get Smarter! Start the New Year With the Five Best Books I Read in 2011. What books are on your list?

Here are the best five books I’ve read this year. They are so good they are all on my top-ten of all-time list. In the comment section please share the names of the best books you’ve read this year and if you are willing add a sentence or two on what you found so good about each book. The Happiness Hypothesis by …

WORTH READING: 8 Helpful Ways To Deal With Critical People

Reposted from Personal Excellence blog by Celestine Chua 1. Don’t Take It Personally. Most of the times, their criticisms reflect more about themselves than about you. They react in this manner because of certain beliefs and frameworks they have about life. You may think the critical person is all out to get you, but it’s more likely he/she reacts in …

WORTH READING: Setting Goals

Six Principles of Goal Setting Written by Susanna Palomares Sunday, 16 January 2011 Reprinted from Women’s Media Why is setting goals important? Because goals can help you to be, do, and experience everything you want in life. Instead of just letting life happen to you, goals allow you to make your life happen. Successful and happy women have a vision of how …

WORTH READING: Parents, Kids, and Discipline

[The photo is intended as humor – it is not recommended as a good parenting strategy!] Re-printed from Web-MD: How can you provide discipline to your child so that he or she can function well at home and in public? Every parent wants their children to be happy, respectful, respected by others, and able to find their place in the world …

WORTH READING: Recommended Books on Understanding and Parenting Teenagers

Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen by David Walsh, Ph.D. (2004) Reviews from Amazon: “A powerful, practical book on the teenage brain. Walsh is a storyteller with the gifts of simplicity and clarity. This book is an easy read, but its message is fresh, nuanced, and important. I recommend …

WORTH READING: Why Living a Life of Gratitude Can Make You Happy

by Leo Babauta “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘Thank you,’ that would suffice.” – Meister Eckhart Many days, I try to humble myself and hold a 2-minute gratitude session. I simply sit or kneel, with no distractions, close my eyes, and think about what I’m grateful for and who I’m grateful for. I don’t do it every …

Achievements and Challenges: A Personal Note from Michael

Dear Friend, This has been a year full of great achievements and challenges. On the achievement side, the Josephson Institute and CHARACTER COUNTS!  have expanded our impact on children and the nation through the introduction of CHARACTER COUNTS! 4.0 (a major upgrade in strategy and services). We have begun to restore the best of Puerto Rico’s ethical culture with Tus …

WORTH READING: The Truth About Money and Happiness

From Tejvan Pettinger at PickTheBrain.com: It is an oft repeated axiom that money cannot buy happiness. While this is certainly true, poverty will not buy happiness either. Some people become very wealthy, yet struggle to enjoy their lives. On the other hand, others manage to go through life with very few money problems simply because they are able to make …

WORTH READING: Who is happier: Lottery winners or paralyzed accident victims?

According to Eric Barker at the Business Insider, Lottery winners… but not by nearly as much as you might guess. Some time after winning their money, lottery winners weren’t all that much happier than people who hadn’t won — and accident victims weren’t anywhere as unhappy as the researchers had assumed.

WORTH READING: THE ASPEN DECLARATION. In July 1992, the Josephson Institute of Ethics hosted a summit in Aspen, Colorado bringing together ethicists, educators and youth-service professionals to identify shared ethical values that could be the foundation of character education programs. The result was the Aspen Declaration, the seminal document for the CHARACTER COUNTS! movement which presently engages about 7 million children and families worldwide. (click to see the Declaration)

Click to see 12′ x 25′ mural by Nadi Spencer at Monson Sultana School in Tulare County, CA

OBSERVATION: The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality. – attributed to Dante

This quotation was frequently used by President Kennedy to make the point that on important moral issue it is wrong to sit on the fence and refuse to take a side. Martin Luther king, Jr. used a variation of the quote  (“The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.”). He added, “He who passively …

OBSERVATION: The precept ‘Judge not that ye be not judged’…is an abdication of moral responsibility. It is a moral blank check one gives to others in exchange for a moral blank check one expects for oneself. – Ayn Rand

When I graduated law school in 1967 it was popular to rail against people who made moral judgments. We called finger wagging moralists presuming to judge people and life styles as right or wrong “moral imperialists” and adopted, instead, a form of ethical relativism implying that there was no true universal right or wrong, just equally valid or invalid opinions. After all, we …

WORTH READING: A “Thank you, Dad” poem

Thank You, Dad for always being there for being strong yet showing you cared. For being my protector and setting the rules for the rides, the money, and the help with school. For all the times I was grounded for my own good I may not have been happy, but I always understood that I am lucky to be one …

WORTH READING: Learn more on how to identify and deal with toxic relationships and emotional vampires.

Life coach Cheryl Richardson describes six types of toxic qualities in people. The Blamer: This person likes to hear his own voice. He constantly complains about what isn’t working in his life, and yet gets energy from complaining and dumping his frustrations on you. The Drainer: This is the needy person who calls to ask for your guidance, support, information, advice or …