Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D.

A few years ago I was -- like some of you reading this -- overextended, overworked and deeply unhappy about it. I was a young psychology professor desperately seeking tenure, with two toddlers at home and a husband whose work kept him away for days at a time. I exercised...

We are about a month into the new year, so it's a good time to check in on your 2012 goals. How are they going? Probably not as well as you hoped. If so, you're far from alone -- in fact, studies suggest that more than half of the people...

There are quite a number of motivational speakers and self-improvement books out there with a surprisingly simple message: Believe that success will come easily to you, and it will. There is one small problem in this argument, however, which unfortunately doesn't seem to stop anyone from making it: It is...

The holidays can be really, really hard. We struggle to find the right gifts, and to find the money in our budgets to pay for them. All the preparation -- decorating, shopping, wrapping, cooking, cleaning -- takes time and effort, and it's not as if you can put the rest...

Each year, we see Jan. 1 as a time for fresh starts -- for tackling our bad habits head-on and replacing them with new, healthier ones. Maybe you want to start exercising regularly, quit smoking, lose a few pounds or remember to call your mother more often. No matter what...

"What makes a test feel like an interesting challenge rather than an anxiety-provoking assault?"
This was the question posed by Elisabeth Rosenthal, in "Testing, The Chinese Way," an article that appeared about a year ago in the New York Times' Week in Review. In it, she described...

I spend a fair amount of time reading business books. (When you write business books, it's generally a good idea to read them, too.) Last week, I sat down for a second time with Good Boss, Bad Boss, Stanford professor Robert Sutton's excellent followup to The No A**hole Rule. In...

Negotiating well is a powerful skill, and it doesn't come naturally to most people. That's because a negotiation -- whether it's with a salesman, your boss, or your spouse -- is an experience that is rife with conflicting motivations.

When two parties haggle over the price of something (e.g.,...

The holidays are a difficult time for those of us who both enjoy eating and worry about our waistlines. Every year we overindulge a bit at Thanksgiving, and then look ahead to the month of December with a wary eye -- only too aware of the minefield of cookie platters,...

We all know how easy it is to damn someone with faint praise. When you describe a coworker as "not completely useless," or a potential blind date as "decent enough looking, I guess," other people understand immediately what you are really saying. Faint praise is generally used intentionally, to send...

Thinking about trying to shake things up at work? Brimming with new ideas and strategies? Hoping to get your organization to try a new way of doing things, or maybe just get your family to alter their holiday traditions a bit? Good for you. But if you are going to...

Which character traits do you need to have if you want to work effectively and get ahead? The answer depends, to some extent, on the kind of work you do -- but there's one trait that everyone needs to have if they want to succeed, and that's trustworthiness. Technically, it's...

Does that which does not kill us really make us stronger? People who have experienced significant adverse events, like having to endure physical abuse, experiencing homelessness, or becoming the victims of natural disasters, often suffer long-term negative effects, particularly in terms of mental health. There has been little in the...

As a part of every check-up, my pediatrician asks me about what my children (ages 3 and 5) are eating. "Are they getting lots of vegetables? Especially dark leafy greens, and iron-rich foods like broccoli?" she asks, one eyebrow raised skeptically.

"Oh, absolutely. Lots." I reply,...

Apologies can resolve conflicts, repair hurt feelings, foster forgiveness and improve relationships in both our personal and professional lives. They increase loyalty, trust and cooperation. An apology can even keep you out of the courtroom. (Despite the fact that lawyers tend to caution their clients to avoid apologies like the...

Your colleague Jim calls you "honey," makes cracks about women drivers, and suggests that you be the one to shop for the retirement gift for Bob because "women like that sort of thing." A lot of the sexism that women encounter in the workplace looks like this -- comments that...

Do you snack every night in front of the television? Do you drink a little too much when you are out with your friends? Do you ever find that you've smoked a whole pack of cigarettes, bitten off half your nails, or eaten an entire bag of Doritos without realizing...

For reasons that until very recently I'd never really understood, my husband is rarely made happy by my spontaneous gifts or generous gestures. When I bring home a favorite dessert from the supermarket to surprise him, or when I offer to get up early with the kids Saturday and Sunday...

It probably won't surprise you if I tell you that thinking about your past successes and failures can influence your performance in the here and now. There's nothing like a winning season to give a player confidence going into that last game, and there's nothing like a string of awkward...

Having a satisfying, healthy relationship with your partner doesn't mean never fighting -- it means learning to fight well. Like me, you've probably often heard that little piece of wisdom, and wondered what in the world it means. How exactly do you fight well? What is the best way for...