It’s rare to find gratitude around the workplace, but appreciation is an even better motivator than money. Continue reading
Author Archives: Janice Kaplan
To Be Successful, Make Your Own Luck
from the WALL STREET JOURNAL
March 1, 2018
Stories about getting lucky are common in the business world, but attributing success to random chance is misleading. Simple rules to create luck for yourself
When Scott Crane became president of the fast-casual restaurant chain Smashburger in 2007, he wanted “to put better burgers into people’s lives,” he told us. It was a smart concept, but according to Mr. Crane, there was another key factor: luck.
The recession of 2008 hit shortly after he took over, and Americans were looking for more value when they dined out. Also, real-estate prices had gone down, so Smashburger was able to expand in a way that wouldn’t have been Continue reading
A Scrabble Board Led to a Lifelong Commitment
FROM AMERICAN WAY magazine (March 2018)
If you get your ideas of romance from novels or Hollywood movies, you might be surprised by the non-steamy start of my love story. My boyfriend, Ron, and I were crossing a street many years ago when he nonchalantly asked, “What do you say maybe we get married?” I was 25 and knew I loved him. But was he the love of my life? What about all the other men in the world I hadn’t met yet? Ron seemed casual about the whole thing, so I was, too. I suggested we get married but only commit to two years. If we liked it, we could renew. Continue reading
The Secret To Being Lucky In Love
The Secret to Being Lucky in Love Is Investing in the Relationship You Have
I once dated a guy who freaked out when I baked him a banana bread. He stared at the foil covered loaf as if it were a small nuclear bomb.
“You can’t bring me stuff like this,” he said, not touching it.
Could he be allergic to bananas? No — but he was definitely allergic to the idea that I’d tried to do something special for him.
“You made too much of an investment,” he said nervously.
I’d spent only a couple of bucks on the ingredients and I hadn’t buried a diamond ring in the batter, but he was right that I’d invested too much time and attention in thinking about what he might like. Usually that’s a scenario for getting lucky in love, but if it was more than he could handle, it was time to take my banana bread and go.
The real luck of a marriage develops once you decide that you’re going to trust each other and stick around.
Not long after “banana bread guy,” I met a man named Ron. One weekend, he took me to Vermont for a weekend of Continue reading
For World Gratitude Day Try To See The Good In Life
From the Chicago Tribune op-ed
As an experiment, social psychologist Paul Piff once invited people to play Monopoly, then he rigged the game. He selected two players, but one was given twice as much cash to start the game and received twice as much cash each time he passed Go. The lucky player rolled two dice on each turn, the opponent rolled one.
At the end, when the winners were asked to explain their success, they would describe their talent for the game and the clever strategies they had used. “Almost nobody attributed their success to the initial flip of a coin that got them into their position of privilege,” Piff reported. Continue reading
A Paycheck is No Substitute for Thanks
From the Boston Globe op-ed page 9.5.2015
THE ORIGINS of Labor Day are slightly hazy, but the US Department of Labor points to one of the likely originators as Peter McGuire, a union leader in the 1880s who wanted to honor workers “who from rude nature . . . carved all the grandeur we behold.”
On Monday we will continue to celebrate the grandeur of work. But isn’t it time to do something about the rudeness? Fair pay is important, but we also need to change to a culture where people are appreciated. Continue reading
My Strangely Amazing Year of Living Gratefully
from The Daily Beast
At a dinner party in a sprawling apartment on Park Avenue, I brought up the topic of gratitude—and everyone looked down at their plates in embarrassment.
Had I brought up Caitlyn Jenner, sex slavery, or women menstruating through their eyeballs, nobody would have finched. But gratitude? Not in polite company, dear.
I had just spent a year living gratefully and writing about it in my new book The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking On The Bright Side Can Transform Your Life.
I am neither sappy nor spiritual, and while I eat kale and quinoa, I’m not new age-y. I don’t Continue reading
The Best Time To Travel With Your Kids
from Conde Nast Traveler, May 2015
Starting your kids’ wanderlust early is beneficial for everyone in your family.
My sons still talk about the family trip we took down the Salmon River in Idaho one summer. The scenery was gorgeous and the rapids were rough—and the guide let my oldest, Zach, negotiate one wild pass alone in a rubber canoe. He was 7 at the time. His little brother Matt, then 5, paddled excitedly along with my husband. Were they too young for that adventure? Absolutely not. Continue reading
What Kids Are Really Thinking on Mother’s Day
from Huffington Post May 2015
On Mother’s Day, young kids cheerfully give their moms flowers, candy, or whatever bauble Dad has helped them buy. But they’re often mystified. Why say thanks to mom? Isn’t she supposed to take care of you?
3 Reasons Don Draper Should Be Grateful
from Huffington PostWatching the latest episode of Mad Men, it occurred to me that Don Draper may be our modern-day Aristotle. Like the great philosopher who preceded him by a couple of millennia, he is trying to figure out how to feel fulfilled. And he understands the challenge.
“What is happiness? It’s a moment before you need more happiness,” he said a couple of seasons ago. Continue reading