Live Happy Now

What better time than Valentine’s Day to look at how to improve your relationships? This week’s guest, Michelle Becker, is a marriage and family therapist who also specializes in compassion. Through workshops, online education, and her Well Connected podcast, she shares her understanding of compassions and offers couples the tools they need to relate to each other better. Her new book, Compassion for Couples: Building the Skills of Loving Connection, offers exercises and insight into how we can use compassion, and she’s here to explain why it’s so vital to a healthy relationship. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why self-compassion is the first step to a truly compassionate relationship. What happens to our brains when we fall in love — and why that changes over time. How compassion can change the way you view your significant other and deepen your relationship.

Would your life be happier if you were a unicorn? This week, we’ll find out as host Paula Felps talks with Andrea Goeglein about her 60-Day Unicorn Challenge. Andrea, who is also known as Dr. Success, holds a PhD in organizational psychology and hosts the Hey Boss Lady! podcast. She created the 60-Day Unicorn Challenge to offer small, daily tasks that will help you take steps toward reaching your goals — either personal or professional — while learning to make yourself a priority. In this episode, you’ll learn: How the 60-Day Unicorn Challenge came about. What to expect from the challenge. How prioritizing your own needs leads to success.

Creativity is a driving force of innovation, and in this episode, we look at how it can make us happier both at work and at home. Steven Kowalski, PhD, is a leading voice in the global movement for conscious creativity. In his new book, Creative Together: Sparking Innovation in the New World of Work, he explains that all of us are creative — whether we think we are or not. And recognizing that creativity is the first step in learning how to harness it and discover our true potential in all areas of life. In this episode, you’ll learn: What it means to be “consciously creative.” How to identify discover your personal creative style — and why that’s important. Why tapping into our creativity makes us happier at work and at home.

Learn How to Move Toward Happiness in Negative and Uncertain Times Life is full of inflection points. Divorce, career upheaval, illness, empty nests, retirement, and other life-changing events are full of uncertainty and stress. But what if those difficulties could become the doorways to positive possibilities? When approached in the right way, these challenges hold the opportunity to explore, strengthen, and move towards happiness. Join Paula Felps and Megan McDonough, Founder of Wholebeing Institute, and see how to take the next step toward happiness. Learn how the challenges you’re facing today — no matter how daunting they seem — actually hold the opportunity to explore, strengthen, and reshape your life. In this episode, you’ll learn: What inflection points are and how to identify them in your life. The concept of liminal space and how you can use it to thrive. The importance of “selfing” and “unselfing” — and what that means.

Most of us feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day — but what can we do about it? In her book, Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most, Cassie Holmes, PhD breaks it down for us. And on this episode of Live Happy Now, the award-winning teacher and researcher on time and happiness talks about what it means to feel “time poor” and why that has become so prevalent today. Then she’ll explain how we can better structure our days and begin using our time instead of losing it. In this episode, you’ll learn: How much time you need to feel “time affluent.” How tracking your time can help you identify where to find more of it. The philosophy of “time left” and how it can help you enjoy your hours more.

David Fishof is a legendary music producer and founder of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, which invites everyday people to play alongside world-renowned rock stars. David has seen first-hand the incredible power of music and how it transforms people both in their personal lives and their professional aspirations. His amazing story is told in the new documentary, Rock Camp, available now on Amazon, as well as in the book by the same name. In this episode, he shares how Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp began and how he has seen music change the lives of hundreds of people along the way.  In this episode, you’ll learn: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp was inspired by a backstage “fight” between Joe Walsh and Levon Helm. Why music is so powerful in bringing people together. How playing with their rock heroes has inspired campers to pursue new dreams off the stage.

Studies show us – and social media often backs it up – that we are becoming less empathetic. But this week’s guest tells us how we can begin to solve the empathy crisis. Rob Volpe is a thought leader in the role of empathy in the marketing and workspace and is author of Tell Me More About That: Solving the Empathy Crisis One Conversation at a Time. Today, he offers some unique insights into what’s causing our lack of empathy and what skills we need to develop to bring it back. In this episode, you’ll learn: What is creating the empathy crisis in our modern world. The important role empathy plays in our personal happiness. The five steps you can take to begin restoring empathy.

After a busy holiday season, we all could use a bit of stillness in our lives. This week, host Paula Felps is joined by Jeanine Thompson, a former clinical psychotherapist and Fortune 50 executive whose new book, 911 From Your Soul, is all about how to learn to listen for what you need and discover your greatest potential. Today, she’s here to talk about how important it is to learn to do nothing and listen to the lessons that are waiting for us in the stillness. And then she’ll teach us how to do that. In this episode, you’ll learn: What stillness is and how you can add it to your life. The five main benefits of creating stillness. How stillness can help you live more of your true potential.

It’s a brand-new year and we’re all thinking about creating new habits, so … why not make yours a fun one? This week’s guest is Mike Rucker, PhD, an esteemed organizational psychologist and author of the new book, The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life. His research shows us how prioritizing fun can make us happier, more productive, and more energetic. In this episode, you’ll learn: The difference between happiness and fun. Why the pursuit of happiness may make us miserable. How to assess your daily activities and design your day for fun.

While many people are thinking about their New Year’s Resolutions, others are taking a different approach to the new year and setting an intention. To do that, choosing one word to focus on throughout the year is a helpful and effective practice, and this week’s guest is here to tell us how to do it and how it works. Matt Derrenbacher is a fifth-year rabbinical student at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati and has served as a chaplain candidate for the U.S. Air Force and a Jewish educator. He explains how using a single word can help us set an intention for the year and help us stay on track in the months to come.  In this episode, you’ll learn: Why choosing one word to focus on throughout the coming year can help guide your actions. Why many people find it more effective than setting a resolution. How to decide what your word should be—and how to remind yourself of it regularly.