Life Habits

A new area in the field of psychology is Applied Positive Psychology.  Karel interviews Kathryn Britton a professional coach who specializes in this area. Kathryn describes the major career changes she made to become become an expert in Applied Positive Psychology.  She outlines its history and the major themes it addresses given practical examples of each.  Discussion in the episod...

Some people just dream of success while others actually achieve it.  After reading some insightful quotes on the topic, Karel summarizes 10 ideas for you to develop into skills and in turn into habits to increase the likelihood of you being clear about what success means to you and then systematically achieving it.  He also reads a comment from a listener regarding a previous podcast whi...

The sexes are different.  Karel reviews some surprising recent research findings regarding gender differences, provides some personal context for the topic, and then summarizes 10 ideas for developing some good skills in this area which can be honed into life habits.  Karel deals with topics having to do with equality, ideas for cross-gender learning yielding optimized androgyny, and adv...

Technology pervades all aspects of our lives.  This episode provides you with advice to make technology work for you rather than you being a slave to it.  Karel gives advice on how to control the inputs, which are often technology interruptions, and the outputs, which are your ways of taking action.  He also provides his usual list of 10 items to consider in this case to optimize th...

Tom Friedman wrote the best-seller "The World is Flat" and described how the world was becoming smaller and more interconnected as a result of, among other things, the advancement of technology.  After quoting some statistics regarding internet, blog, and podcast use worldwide, Karel makes the case for being more aware of and sensitive to global audiences and cultures.  He summarizes 10...

Spoken language is one of the most important abilities humans possess but, surprisingly, also often the most neglected in terms of skill development.  The last episode dealt with spoken language as it relates to public speaking, an activity that is most feared by many people.  This episode deals with person-to-person, or interpersonal, communication which everyone does everyday.  Af...

Being effective at public speaking is among the most important skills to have yet most people fear speaking in public and lack some of the skills to be effective at it.  Karel provides advice regarding 10 valuable habits to develop in this important aspect of life.  He discusses relevance to work as well as non-work settings.

This episode deals with the important topic of fitness both in terms of doing it for life and gleaning the benefits that include a better and longer life. After reading some famous quotes on the topic of fitness, Karel provides 10 things to think about regarding fitness. The first three deal with ways of thinking about the importance and the benefits of optimal fitness and the remaining seven deal...

This episode deals with the important topic of Authentic Parenting. Whether you're a parent now, planning to be one in the future, or simply want to understand the world of parenting better, this is for you. Based on the first-hand experience of being a parent of four kids, observing the parenting of others, and the academic literature, Karel provides his list of 10 most important habits for being...

Building on Episode 6 which dealt with the topic of Career Planning, this episode addresses Career Strategies.  Karel provides 10 strategies for choosing a career and being successful in it.  The ideas are relevant to those who are still in school and just thinking about future careers, those at the start of their career in order to enhance their success, and those well into their career...

Whether you're still in school and haven't started your career, just got your first job, or in mid-career, the topic of career planning is hugely important.  As Lewis Carroll said, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."  Most people don't pay enough attention to career planning or think about it too narrowly and then wonder why they don't have the career th...

There is a significant trend toward people working from home but there is very little information about good habits and best practices regarding this mode of working. Karel summarizes the three most common types of working from home and then outlines the benefits and challenges of remote work. He then provides specific advice about how best to arrange and handle working remotely as well as when it...

The mind is amazingly powerful. We can either control it or be controlled by it. This episode is all about being aware of what your mind is capable of doing when you don't control it and, once you're aware of it, to take control. Karel quotes Marcus Aurelius, who said, "You have the power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength". Karel gives a few examples of t...

One of the most important habits to learn is to stay positive no matter what the stimulus and now matter what the context. Karel starts off this episode by quoting Helen Keller who said, "when one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us". The episode includes a story about a university coach who w...

Karel Vredenburg focuses on time management in this episode. You might be thinking, "I don't have time for that!" but after listening and taking the advice given you will have a lot more time to devote to the important items in your life. Karel starts off by quoting Thomas Edison who said, "Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can't afford to lose." to re...

Karel Vredenburg welcomes listeners to this new podcast series and provides an overview of the content, format, and frequency. He also introduces the first topic - starting with the end in mind and finishes up by inviting listeners to provide feedback via the website or gmail.