Live Happy Now

January is National Organization Month, which makes it a great time to get your home in order. But how do you do that when it seems you have more “stuff” than you have places to put it? This episode’s guest is Marla Stone, a psychotherapist turned professional organizer and author of The Clutter Remedy: A Guide to Getting Organized for Those Who Love Their Stuff. She explains how to create a de-cluttering strategy built around less stuff and more satisfaction. In this episode, you’ll learn: How our outside clutter reflects our inner state. Where to start clearing the clutter. How to live a perpetually organized life.

If someone told you there was a simple practice that could lower your stress, improve your health and boost your overall well-being, you might be skeptical. But this week’s guest has a science-based solution that can do all those things … and so much more. Jessica Ortner is a New York Times bestselling author and producer of The Tapping Solution, the breakthrough documentary film on EFT tapping. She’s here today to explain what EFT tapping is, how it works and how you can start using it today to change your life for the better. In this episode, you’ll learn: What tapping is and how to do it. Why tapping is so effective. Different ways tapping can be used to solve challenges.

As we begin a new year and a new decade, many of us have set ambitious resolutions for change. Or maybe we’re still trying to decide what it is that we want and need from the next 12 months. Today’s guest, Dr. Andrea Goeglein, can help. Known as Dr. Success because she helps business leaders learn how to define and reach their goals, Andrea shares those same practices to help you create goals for the coming year, learn how to think differently and how to keep going even when it seems like you’ve gotten off track. In this episode, you’ll learn: Understanding the important difference between a resolution and a goal. How to prepare your mind to reach your goals. Steps to set yourself up for success.

Many of us will start the New Year with a renewed commitment to change or to following a new purpose in life. This week’s guest, Joanne Fink, literally wrote the guidebook to lead us on that journey. As an award-winning designer and author of books on creativity, grief, faith and spirituality, she has created journals that help readers explore their own path in their own time. Her latest book, My Spiritual Journey, is a guided journal that asks the hard questions needed to help you ground yourself in gratitude, find deeper connections and determine your personal purpose. In this episode, you'll learn: How and why your purpose can change throughout your life. Why it’s important to define your purpose. What happens when you begin to live life more intentionally.

With the New Year just around the corner, you might already be thinking about that New Year’s resolution or what you hope to accomplish in 2020. We have some ideas! In this episode, we hear from Deborah Heisz, who is CEO and Co-Founder of Live Happy. But she’s also the driving force behind the global #HappyActs movement and, this week, she tells us how committing to happy acts can help us create a happy New Year—for ourselves and for others. In this episode, you’ll learn: How #HappyActs began and what they are. What you can do to start your own #HappyActs initiatives. Where to find more ideas for performing #HappyActs.

Technology has changed our lives in many ways, but when holiday celebrations are spent with guests on their phones or tablets, it takes away much of the magic of the moment. This episode’s guest is Joe McCormack, who literally wrote the book on how to find focus and human interaction in the midst of technology’s interference. His book, Noise: Living and Leading When Nobody Can Focus, provides tips on surviving in today’s business world, but he sat down to talk with us about how to keep the holidays happier by preventing technology from intruding on our quality time. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to create a technology-free holiday gathering. The benefits of setting aside the noise of our technology for a few hours. Tips to get everyone to (gladly) participate in a tech-free celebration.

After leaving a successful career in the finance industry, Peter Montoya was concerned by the growing anxiety, depression and loneliness that we’re experiencing as a society. To help turn the tide on all of the negativity, he started Thrive Union, an organization whose mission is to help people go from loneliness and isolation to purposeful belonging. His free online videos provide a life school to teach us the things we need to know to have a thriving, happier life. Peter sat down to talk about why we need a life school and how it can help trigger global change. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why community is so important. How sharing your purpose with others can improve your life. What you can learn at “Life School.”

When she wrote the book Simple Abundance 25 years ago, author Sarah Ban Breathnach had no idea that she was about to launch a global movement. Long before gratitude journals were a “thing,” her organic approach to gratitude and a simpler, happier life resonated with readers around the world. Simple Abundance sparked a movement that sold millions of books and changed not just her life, but the lives of countless readers. Now, she has refreshed her book for modern times and sat down to talk to us about her updated edition of Simple Abundance: 365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life.

We’ve heard a lot about the power of saying thank you, but what happens when a simple thank you turns into a heartfelt letter? Nancy Davis Kho was at a reflective point in her life when she decided to write one thank-you letter every week for a whole year. In her new book, The Thank-You Project: Cultivating Happiness One Letter of Gratitude at a Time, she explains why she wanted to embark on this project and what kind of effect it had on her—and those she wrote to. We knew we had to talk about it on the show. And what better time to talk about it than right before Thanksgiving? Nancy is a freelance writer, podcast host and author of The Thank You Project. She talked to me about how the project started, what it taught her, and why each of us can benefit from writing thank you letters. In this episode, you’ll learn: How you can benefit from your own letter-writing project. Why it’s so life-changing to write thank-you letters—even if you never mail them. Some of the surprising letters you’ll want to write—including your exes!

We’ve all heard about the principles of visualization and manifestation, but to many of us, it might sound a little too good to be true. Today, we’re talking to a neuroscientist who guides us through the science of visualization and tells us how it can help us reach our goals and live happier lives. Dr. Tara Swart is a neuroscientist, psychiatrist and senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. She works with top executives all over the world to help them achieve mental resilience and peak brain performance. Her new book, The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain, shows how you can actively change the way your mind works to train it for happiness. In this episode, you'll learn: Why it’s critical to take control over what we’re thinking about. How we can make dramatic, positive changes by changing how we think. The science behind vision boards — and how to put it into practice.