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Author: Christine Carter

by Christine Carter

April Podcasts Round-up: Happiness Matters

Here is a list of Happiness Matters Podcasts you may have missed in April:

Do You Have Family Meetings?
If you’ve never had a family meeting, listen to this podcast! Rona and I talk about the ins and outs of having successful family meetings: what works, what doesn’t, and what you can hope to accomplish.

Are You Your Partner’s Equal?
What do you need out of your relationship? What are your priorities? This podcast is about creating harmony in our relationships—without rolling back to a time when women subverted their need’s to their husbands.

Are You Addicted to Your Email?
Rona and I talk about the ways that email and social media (like Facebook and Twitter) can make us feel connected as well as disconnected from our children and our family. It can make us laugh, but it can also make us feel drained. Listen to this week’s podcast for tips to reign in your media usage.

Parenting in a Media Age
It seems like kids many kids know much more than us adults about the technology around us—a friend of mine just discovered that her 11 year old daughter is very active on Instagram, when my friend didn’t even know what Instagram was. But just because kids love swimming in the sea of apps and techonolgies available to them, doesn’t mean that they don’t need firm limits placed on their usage.

Check out my podcast Happiness Matters with Rona Renner either here on the Greater Good website, or here on iTunes.  Happy listening!

by Christine Carter

Friday Inspiration

Ever wonder how to make life — under any circumstances — worth living? Take some advice from this 108-year-old holocaust survivor.  It’s worth watching to the end, even if you think you don’t have 10 minutes to spare.

I found this video on KarmaTube — it’s a great source for inspiration!

by Christine Carter

Your chance to win a $1200 prize!

Hello Raising Happiness friend!

We’ve worked hard over the last year to improve our Raising Happiness Classes, Happiness Tips, and website. Now it is your chance to tell us what we got right, and how we can do better in the future.

I know that you are busy, but I’d be delighted if you could take just a few minutes of your time to complete this

To thank you for participating, we are offering the following prizes to three randomly drawn winners:

Euphoric Prize
$200 cash card, or 6 weeks of private phone coaching with Dr. Christine Carter (valued at $1200)

Exuberant Prize
$100 cash card, or a free 10-week Raising Happiness Class (valued at $199)

Delightful Prize
$10 cash card, or a free hardcover copy of Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents (valued at $24) 

Winners will be contacted via email; surveys need to be submitted by Tuesday, May 2nd at midnight to be entered to win.

ADDED BONUS: By filling out our survey, you are also helping a team of UC Berkeley students fulfill their final statistics requirement. We are so thankful for your time and help!

by Christine Carter
happiness-tip-make-your-bed-christine-carter

Happiness Tip: Make Your Bed

A confession: I have only reliably made my bed for the last three or so years; for the first 21 years of my adulthood, I left it a mess, occasionally making it at night right before I climbed right back into it.

Then I read that people who make their bed every morning tend to be more productive in general, and I started to see truth in the adage that “the state of your bed is the state of your head.”  The small act of making your bed probably won’t cause you to be more clear-thinking or productive or even happier, but it is a meaningful habit.

Making the bed contributes to happiness because it is a “small win” in the willpower department. Loads of research shows that when we focus on one small area of improvement–standing up straighter, or watching a bit less TV, or meditating a few minutes a day–the improvement spills over. We then find ourselves exercising a bit more, too, or procrastinating a bit less.  Our good habits, large and small, can make life easier, happier, and more meaningful.

Take Action: Tomorrow morning, make your bed. If you already do this habitually, pick another small win, e.g., wash your dishes right after eating, or floss, or do some stretches when you wake up.

Join the Discussion: What “small win” will you go for this week? Comment below.

 

by Christine Carter

The Stuck-at-Home Generation

As a child and young adult, I was given lots of opportunities to develop independence. I went to a boarding school at age 14 that taught self-reliance by regularly sending me into the wilderness with only a scantily-filled backpack (no tents or fleece in those days). I was raised in California, but I went to college in New Hampshire, and after graduation, I moved to Chicago.

All of this was somewhat heart-breaking for my parents: They wanted me at home. My parents lobbied hard for local schools, and my father made me sign a contract (albeit on a napkin) saying I would not fall in love on the East Coast and marry and never return to California. (After my first New Hampshire winter, I reassured him that love couldn’t be that strong.)

My early independence worked out for me, and it didn’t cost our family anything in closeness, as we all live near each other now and see each other regularly.

I’d like to foster the same independence in my own children, too. But a recent article in The New York Times, “ The Go-Nowhere Generation,” made me realize that independence may no longer be stereotypically American. Read this post from my Greater Good blog and find out the how to foster independence in your kids.