A mistake stops being a mistake when you admit you've made it, make amends (if necessary) for it, learn the lesson it has to teach you, and implement that lesson going forward so that it never reoccurs.

For many years, like many other people I had a fear of making...

At the risk of being what one of my beloved and recently deceased mentors would call overideational (i.e. carry an idea to absurd lengths), I had some thoughts about how to achieve a victory in the war in Afghanistan. But to complete them I will need input from the...

One of the best things about being truly thankful -- as I hope many of us were yesterday on Thanksgiving -- is that it enables us to come from a place of abundance vs. scarcity. When we are thankful and grateful, our cup runneth over and life feels more hopeful...

Why settle for giving a "thank you" when you can give a POWER THANK YOU*?

Make giving thanks the center piece of your Thanksgiving by having each person give a Power Thank You. It has 3 parts:

Part 1: Thank someone for something specific that they did for you...

An ounce of flattery will get you a well behaved guest.

Do you have any relatives or friends that ruin everyone's time on Thanksgiving or Christmas and you can't un-invite them? Do you feel guilty at wishing they'll either have other plans or be too...

What does it take to be happy in a relationship? If you're working to improve your marriage, here are the 10 habits of happy couples.

1. Go to bed at the same time
Remember the beginning of your relationship, when you couldn't wait to go to bed with each...

Who needs sleep when you can stay up all night glaring at your partner saying to yourself, "I think I've made the biggest mistake being in this relationship...and now I'm trapped!"

This unfortunately is not an unusual occurrence in contemporary marriage. In conducting marriage and couples therapy for more than...

The measure of a civilization is how it treats those who have hurt it.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan was not a bad person.  He was even possibly a good person.  But he was a very sick person who did a terrible thing.

If you are someone who disagrees with that, then...

Illness vs. Hubris: What would you choose?

Recently when I have been seeing couples, families or individuals in which an Axis I psychiatric illness (major depression, anxiety, bipolar illness, schizophrenia according to the current psychiatric diagnostic nomenclature that usually requires some sort of medication) is clearly not present I...

With the release of Windows 7 and Microsoft hoping it will reverse their luck after Vista, I was reminded of a recent appearance on This Week in Startups hosted by Jason Calacanis and our discussion about the difference between an opportunist and a visionary.

An opportunist* by...

"If a tree falls in the desert and nobody is listening, does it make a sound?"

Well if I write the following blog in the Living section of the Politics and Business heavy Huffington Post and nobody reads it, does it even exist?

I don't even know...

Hell hath no fury as when the most trusted brand on the planet becomes so deeply disappointed and feels so duped when "a force to be reckoned with turns out to be a farce to be managed."

First an initial disclaimer. I don't personally know Oprah Winfrey. I appeared a...

I like to consider myself a fairly empathic guy, but on a recent appearance on "This Week in Startups" I told Jason Calacanis that I am viewing people more as modems than as human beings.

Nearly everyone who is connected to the Internet is connected through a modem...

Jason Calacanis: "So are hard driving founders narcissists?"
Dr. Mark Goulston: "If anything they're more like people with features of Asperger's Syndrome."
- from "This Week in Startups" and Twist episode 21

Both narcissists and high functioning people with Asperger like features are goal minded...

An interview with David Booth, co-owner of Eloqui and co-author of "Own the Room" Business Presentations that Persuade, Engage, and Get Results.

Mark Goulston: We're certainly seeing a lot of President Obama. Given your background in the theatre prior to being...

Anxiety is the state of having your brain, mind and behavior be out of alignment with the task in front of you.
- Mark Goulston

Consider someone in their early forties or older who has a, b and c skills that have earned them a living. Skills that they...

Here's a great new book by my friend and colleague, Ed Wallace: Business Relationships That Last.

It is being released Thursday 10/01/09, and you can order your copy at Amazon.

"Ed has it exactly right: intent, character, making and keeping commitments, credibility, and authenticity--are all invaluable...

I recently visited with a wise and deeply principled female senior manager from a Fortune 500 company. She offered an observation that I have not been able to get out of my mind. She was happy to have me quote her, but upon further reflection I decided to save her...

In 1972 while attending medical school, I was working part time doing EKG's at a Jewish Home for the Aged in Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts. It was a clean and nice facility, but like most of its kind, a "waiting station" before people died. So many of the halls were filled...

Why Do Smart and Wealthy People Get Out and Back In the Market and You Don't?

Are you one of the many who waited too long to get out of the market and are now waiting too long to get back into it? Is this not the first time you've...