Creating Your Best Life

Cutting-edge scientific research on goal-setting and happiness from a top motivational coach.

by Caroline Adams Miller

New Year’s Resolution Advice You Won’t Read Anywhere Else

There is no break from the deluge of New Year's resolution experts and self-described goal-setting strategists on television and radio at this time of year, many of whom are repeating the same advice that careens from blog to article to motivational speech. I've heard it all before - reward yourself, make it specific, SMART goals, and so on. If you close your eyes, everyone begins t Read More

The Commencement Speech I Wish I Could Give

For the last several years, I’ve written my thoughts about what I would say if I were asked to give a commencement speech, but until that invitation, here are some of the most important things I’ve learned in life and in my work with men and women around the world on how to create their own best lives. Read More

Jumping on the Bed, Concussions and David Ortiz

David Ortiz had to relearn it to start to hit again. My son had to do it to help recover from a concussion. My grandmother did it and left a powerful impression on me that is directly responsible for my high zest scores. What is IT and why does it matter? Read More

The Commencement Address I Will Not Give - Yet

Advice is being given by scores of athletes, musicians, politicians, celebrities and the famous among us who are gracing high school and college graduations all over the country. As long as this is the season of giving advice, I am unveiling "The Caroline Doctrine," which may someday turn into a commencement address (can you say "life list goal"?). Read More

Am I A Twit for Not Twittering?

A story on the front of the Washington Post recently stopped me dead in my tracks. A mom lamented that her teen daughter was so addicted to text messaging on her cell phone that she'd counted 6,473 texts that her daughter had sent and received in just one month, which boiled down 200 messages a day, or ten per waking hour. Read More

Listing Towards Success

Leonardo da Vinici did it. Michael Phelps did it. The head coach of the winning Super Bowl team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, does it. What is it? In a world where most people live reactive lives, what is one of the things you can do to not only become more successful, but get happier at the same time? Read More

The First Role Model

Albert Bandura's Self-Efficacy Theory states that this quality is promoted in four ways, and one of them is role-modeling by others. Happy people have high self-efficacy. What has Obama done since Election Day to create powerful self-efficacy among African Americans and test-taking abilities, and possibly enhance happiness levels? New research might surprise you! Read More

Blue Monday and Hope!

As I post this entry, my first one of this blog, my husband and my two youngest children have just ridden their bikes home from watching Barack Obama get sworn in as our 44th president down on the National Mall. Read More

Caroline Adams Miller is a graduate of Harvard and the Masters in Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania. Her latest book is Creating Your Best Life.

more...