Social psychologists have a saying: “bad is stronger than good.”

If you’ve ever noticed that negative experiences seem to be more memorable, it’s not just you—psychologist Roy Baumeister and colleagues pointed out in a landmark 2001 paper that in nearly all corners of psychology, bad events are more impactful than good ones.

• Losing $100 is more painful than finding $100 is pleasurable.
• A fight with your partner damages the relationship more than a date night nurtures it.
• Bad parenting does more harm than good parenting does good.

It’s a fundamental principle of psychology, and a grim one. But knowing about it allows us to compensate by consciously savoring positive experiences. And here’s one little way to do that:

Until two weeks ago, I didn’t drink enough water.

Who does?

Well, all of a sudden, I do. Here’s what happened.

I recently mentioned to my doctor that I often feel like I need to clear my throat. To my surprise, he asked me how much water I drink. Not enough, I told him. He told me that dehydration could be the culprit, and that I should try drinking 60-80 oz. of water a day. I resolved to give it a shot.

A comment on a recent post got me thinking about a simple habit that improves workplace communication:

When asking for help, make it as easy as possible for the other person to say yes.

Too often we view workplace relationships in terms of personality (“They’re nice, so they’ll help me”), or power (“I outrank them, so they’ll help me”) or duty (“It’s literally this person’s job to help me, so surely they will”).

Stand guard at the door of your mind. — Jim Rohn

This time of year, folks are paying attention to their diet.

It’s a good time to do so. A new year provides a fresh start, and most of us need to rein things in a bit after the holidays. Now is a natural time to work on our eating habits—more apples, fewer Snickers.

But what about our mental diets?

Now is the time to fix the next ten years. — Jim Rohn

A new decade!

Congratulations, everyone, we made it. We’re all here together at the start of the 2020s. It’s exciting, no?

Landmark moments like this are a great time to stop and reflect, to ask ourselves the heavy questions, to step out of the whirlwind of our daily lives and examine how we’re living.

Some questions we might consider: