A lot of people have phobias. And phobias aren’t just everyday worries—they’re serious, intense fears that sometimes (or often) interfere with day-to-day life. For example, some people walk up...

How He Cured His Insomnia…Got in Shape…and Discovered His True Calling Ten years ago, I launched Intelligence for Your Life, a radio program offering effective strategies for living. When my staf...

Picture this: A close friend confides that he is going to take money out of his retirement account early—even though he has not yet reached retirement age. You have some concerns about this risky ta...

You spotted a friend’s husband dining by candlelight with another woman. The letter you opened by mistake said that your son didn’t get into his first-choice college. Your elderly neighbor weeps f...

Hint: Willpower won’t work Almost all of us have bad habits that we have tried to break but can’t. That’s because we have relied on willpower. Willpower can be effective, but it’s like a musc...

I had always thought that magicians trick us by misdirecting our gaze. More often, they actually misdirect our attention, says Alex Stone, a journalist and an amateur magician who wrote Fooling Houdin...

Ever go to a restaurant with someone who asked for, say, extra onions in his salad and then had a fit because he didn’t think that he received enough—embarrassing both you and the waitress in the ...

What gets you spitting mad? A housemate leaving the sink full of dishes…a catty coworker’s snide remarks…a fellow driver who cuts you off and then flips you the bird? It’s understandable if su...

Once, as she wept in my arms, a dear friend who was fighting a mighty battle against the bottle said to me, “My family keeps telling me to ‘just try harder’ not to drink. But saying that to an a...

Examples: When asked to divide a set amount of money between themselves and a stranger, participants wearing sunglasses took more for themselves when compared with those wearing regular glasses. Parti...