We all make mistakes and wish we hadn’t, but can they benefit us? In her book Better By Mistake, Alina Tugend suggests that understanding mistakes can actually improve our lives. The following are some of the common myths about mistakes that Tugend insightfully rebuts in her book…

If you think about it, how much money do you really need to be happy? Now matter how much we have, most of us want more. It has long been said that money can’t buy happiness, but it turns out there is a connection between income and happiness.

Most people feel too connected to their electronic devices. Checking texts and emails has become like a tic, a hard habit to break. Companies are coming to realize that employees need to be disconnected occasionally to help with ultimate long-term productivity.

Previous to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, Americans with mental illness and substance disorders faced stingy annual and lifetime caps on their coverage, higher deductibles, or no coverage at all. About half of all Americans will suffer a psychiatric or substance abuse disorder at some time, but only 50% of these will receive psychiatric treatment.

A recent study indicated that for older people, loneliness can have serious health consequences, including an earlier-than-expected death and loss of physical functioning. Geriatricians asked 1,604 adults age 60 and older how often they felt isolated or left out.

We all want to feel special, but there is always someone smarter, prettier, or more successful. We tend to deal with this in one of two ways: we either put others down so that we can feel good in comparison or we beat ourselves up.

It once took Nobel-winning economist George Akerlof eight months to ship a package from India to the United States. He later wrote about the mystery of the experience in a paper called, “Procrastination and Obedience.”

Many college graduates will be picking up their degrees and moving back home with Mom and Dad. Others won’t move back home, but will still need financial assistance from their parents. Surprisingly, this can be a good thing.

Many believe that the more time you put into a task, the more you’ll get done, but evidence shows that the opposite is true. Taking regular breaks from mental tasks can improve productivity and creativity, while skipping breaks can cause stress and exhaustion.

The Atlantic magazine recently published a controversial cover story by Anne-Marie Slaughter, a Princeton University scholar and former Obama administration official. Asking if women today can still have it all: be involved mothers, superstar workers, and perfect wives,

In a graduation speech at Wellesley High School, English teacher David McCullough Jr. said, “You are not special. You are not exceptional.” His speech highlighted the concern some have come to have about Americans’ love of accolades more than genuine achievement.

Empathy is an essential component of compassionate care, and physician empathy has been shown to reduce medical errors, create better patient outcomes, and result in more satisfied patients. It also results in fewer malpractice claims and happier doctors.

A study by researchers at Cambridge University suggests that music can make us feel more connected to other people, especially when we play music together. They studied 28 girls and 24 boys between the ages of 8 and 11.

The need for creativity has become a hot commodity in the world of business. “Think outside the box,” “synergize,” and “intellectual capital” are hot buzzwords that have been beaten in to the average office lingo. But the issue is that this need for constant creativity can be stifled by the average office set-up: the cubicle.

Self-punishment can take many forms, from negative self-talk to self-injury. Why do people punish themselves? Research in social psychology suggests there are three major reasons why people might choose to punish themselves.

In her 1968 anthology of essays, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion wrote the essay "On Self-Respect,” in which she points out that self-respect has nothing to do with the approval of others. Rather, self-respect comes from the willingness to accept responsibility for our lives.

Christoph Niemann once said, “Creativity is like chasing chickens.” Author Maria Popova pointed out that sometimes it can feel like being chased by angry, menacing chickens! To gain insights on fear and creativity, Popova shares five favorite books on the creative process.

Addressing the 2012 graduating class of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Neil Gaiman imparted several pieces of life-wisdom to those beginning a career in the arts. He advised graduates to avoid projects that take them away from their creative goals, and to approach their creative labor with joy.

Rudolfo Mendoza-Denton, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, pondered why so many of his students were jeopardizing their grades by missing class. He had encouraged them to adopt an “incremental” rather than a “fixed” view of their abilities, and expected this understanding to result in good class attendance, among other behaviors

When it comes to embarrassment, most of us will do whatever we can to avoid this awkward experience. Embarrassment might show as a blush, or in nervous laughter, sweaty palms, averted eyes, or other involuntary responses.