As I mentioned in my recent newsletter (which you are welcome to sign up for here ), many people take time in December to reflect and prepare for the coming new year. Others are crunched with year-end requests, closing the books, or preparing for the onslaught of family visits. Whether you reflect in December or some other time of the year doesn't really make a difference - what matters is that you take the time to look back and find patterns, habits, and, ideally, motivation. In addition...

The other day, I did some momming worthy of the Golden Globe for Best Parenting in a Comedy Series. My daughter had done something kind of stupid and impulsive and was mortified by her own behavior. My husband and I agreed that punishing her for what she did would just compound her embarrassment and shame, and so we decided to help her process her feelings instead. (And, of course, there was no screen time.) In that moment of parenting, I was intensely focused on the present. I was...

I was talking to a girlfriend of mine the other day, and she mentioned that a guy she was dating was confusing her by praising her too much. "It's weird," she said. "I like it, but after a while it doesn't feel like it's true, or at the very least, that it's not about me." I asked what he was saying, and she said that he was basically just telling her that she was beautiful over and over again. "I'd like that, too," I said, "but I think after a while, if it's not specific, it just loses its...