Live Happy Now

We all have people in our lives that we love and appreciate, but have you ever thought about how good it is for you to show appreciation for others? A new study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies shows that learning how to show appreciation for others can help you feel less stressed and can even reduce symptoms of depression. Live Happy editor Chris Libby joins us for this podcast to ta...

Most of us focus on pursuing things we’re good at, but what if you like doing something … and discover you’re really bad at it? Karen Rinaldi, publisher at Harper Wave—a book imprint she founded in 2012—finds happiness in being able to surf, even though she does it poorly. Learning to accept her “suckitude” on the surfboard, she says, has helped her be more forgiving of herself in other areas of h...

All of us go through difficult times in life, but what do you do when you find yourself in a funk that you can’t get out of? That’s what Janeane Bernstein, Ed. D., wanted to find out after the death of her best friend from childhood. That tragic event launched a mission to discover how others have overcome their grief and led to creating her radio show, “Get the Funk Out.” She now has a book by th...

Every other year, the International Positive Psychology Association hosts a global gathering of leading researchers and practitioners to share the latest research and best practices in positive psychology. The 6th World Congress of IPPA will be in Melbourne, Australia, July 18-21, 2019, and it offers a tremendous selection of topics on areas including: work and organizations, positive health and w...

What do you do if you’ve spent your life building the career of your dreams…but realize one day that you’ve forgotten to build the life of your dreams? If you’re Sheri Salata, you leave your high-profile position as co-president of Harpo Studios and OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network and, along with your BFF, and you start reinventing every area of your personal life. In her book, The Beautiful No and...

Did you realize that women face different challenges than men when it comes to their happiness? With that in mind, Carin Rockind—creator of the PurposeGirl movement and founder of the Women’s Global Happiness Day, created the Women’s Happiness Summit. She’s bringing together experts in flourishing from around the globe with a uniquely feminine viewpoint, and she wants you to be a part of it. She’l...

As founder and board chair of the Skees Family Foundation, Suzanne Skees has worked in developing countries to support innovative education and job creation programs. She has compiled the stories of the fascinating people she has met around the world into a book series called My Job: People at Work Around the World, and she says that along the way, she’s learned the way our jobs affect us—and what...

Character strengths hold the key to help you begin to know yourself better, and the more you know yourself, the more you can flourish. With their new book, The Power of Character Strengths: Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality, Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy. D. and Robert E. McGrath, Ph. D., have written a powerful guide to understanding and using your character strengths. This week, Ryan joins...

Each year, Gallup releases its Global Emotions Report, which measures life’s intangibles: feelings and emotions. Using its Positive Experience Index, Gallup measures our enjoyment of life and looks at who’s doing well … and who’s not. This year’s report showed that, even as our economy improved, Americans found themselves being more stressed, worried and angry in 2018. Live Happy editor Chris Libb...

Do you have something you’d like to change about yourself? If so, are you giving yourself the tools you need to make those changes? In this episode, Susan Hyatt—author of the book BARE and host of the Bare Podcast, looks at how the way we approach making changes has a lot to do with how successful those changes are. Whether it’s losing weight, changing jobs or committing to healthier relationships...

In today’s busy world, sometimes traditions get pushed aside. But blogger and author Jessica Smartt believes that making memories are the missing piece in today’s families. Her book Memory-Making Mom: Building Traditions That Breathe Life Into Your Home looks at how even the busiest family can rethink their day-to-day activities and create memory-making traditions. In this episode, you’ll learn: H...

Even as our world becomes more connected, most of us are feeling less connected and more alone than ever before. Spiritual teacher, poet and author Mark Nepo’s latest book, More Together Than Alone: Discovering the Power and Spirit of Community in Our Lives and In Our World, looks at why we’re feeling so disconnected and how we can reconnect with others and learn to better accept one another’s dif...

If you’re having trouble turning off your job and can’t seem to unplug from work, Bryan E. Robinson, Ph. D., has just the solution for you. A recovering workaholic himself, he understands how hard it is to step away from work addiction and make time for life. His book, #Chill: Turn Off Your Job and Turn On Your Life, is a month-by-month guide to working less and living more. In this episode, you’l...

Each year, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network releases a comprehensive World Happiness Report to look at happiness from a global perspective. This year, the news isn’t exactly great for the U.S., so Live Happy Editor Chris Libby and Live Happy Now Host Paula Felps sat down to talk about what’s causing us to be less happy than we should be…and what we can do about it. In...

If you’ve ever felt that your fears are holding you back from creating the life you love, you’re not alone! This week, New York Times best-selling author Ruth Soukup and host of the Do It Scared podcast, joins us to talk about her new book, Do It Scared: Finding the Courage to Overcome Adversity, Face Your Fears and Create a Life You Love. She explains how all fear is not created equal and identif...

If you have a child, teach a child or have been a child, then you’ll want to hear what Renee Jain has to say on this week’s episode of Live Happy Now. Renee, the founder of GoZen!, developed her company to help children deal with anxiety as well as building life skills to find meaning, purpose and engagement in their lives. On April 8–11, in conjunction with Live Happy, GoZen! Will present the Hap...

This week, it’s all about time as best-selling author and Google Venture design partner Jake Knapp joins us. Jake spent 10 years at Google, where he helped build products like Gmail and Google Hangouts, but perhaps his greatest accomplishment is figuring out how we can design our days to get more out of them. In this episode, he’s talking with Live Happy Now about his new book, Make Time: How to F...

Here at Live Happy Now, it’s not just another week; it’s time to celebrate our 200th episode! Live Happy’s Deborah Heisz and Paula Felps talk about how the podcast came to be and what listeners can look forward to in the future.   In this episode you’ll learn: How Live Happy Now began—and how it’s evolved What we’ve learned during our first 199 episodes What to expect from Live Happy Now going for...

Author and advocate for positivity Shola Richards joins us to talk about how we can live in harmony when we work together. His latest book Go Together, covers the concept of the African philosophy of Unbuntu, which uses the power of human connectedness, compassion, kindness and togetherness to live happier, more productive lives. Shola is on a quest to show how to protect professionalism of our co...

Bestselling New York Times author Gretchen Rubin has spent more than a decade exploring what makes us happy. And, she’s found, one of the simplest ways to improve our well-being is to clear the clutter around us. Her latest book, Outer Order, Inner Calm offers more than 150 different ways to get rid of the clutter around us and create more order. In this episode, she explains the relationship betw...

Laird Hamilton plays a lot of roles in his life: surfing legend, fitness and nutrition expert, entrepreneur, TV host, model, stuntman, husband and father, just to name a few. No matter what he's doing, Laird uses five key pillars to guide his actions and improve his life. His new book, Liferider: Heart, Body, Soul and Life Beyond the Ocean, explains those five pillars and how each of us can use th...

Her groundbreaking book, Reviving Ophelia, psychologist Mary Pipher changed the way we looked at girls and adolescence. Now, with her 10th book, she is doing for aging what she did for adolescence, providing a wise and heartfelt guide to happiness in later life. Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We Age provides an engaging and uplifting examination of how to thrive...

For many people, Valentine’s Day can be fraught with danger. If you’re in a relationship, you might be worried that it won’t meet your expectations; if you’re single, it might make you feel lonely. This week, relationship expert Stacy Kaiser, author of the popular Ask Stacy column for Live Happy, takes on some of the questions that are common around this time of year and offers her gives insight o...

Have you ever wondered what happened to your playful side? If so, you’re not alone! Anthony DeBenedet, M.D., is author of the book, Playful Intelligence: The Power of Living Lightly in a Serious World. As a medical doctor and behavioral science enthusiast, Anthony explains how playfulness help us counteract some of the seriousness of our everyday life. In this episode, you’ll learn: The link betwe...

Most of us ask ourselves the same question every day: What do we need to do, and how will we get it done? But New York Times bestselling author Daniel Pink says that we need to be asking a different question:  When should we do it? His latest book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, looks at how the way we time our decisions can change our days, our jobs and our relationships. In this...