Growing up in Nara, Japan, one food that was a constant in my home was tofu. It’s truly been a lifelong staple. When I was a baby, once I could eat solids, my mom commonly prepared two dishes for me — one was a mix of tofu, rice porridge, sweet potato, kabocha (squash), and nori … Read more
Feeling anxious and perpetually behind? You are not alone. In a recent survey from the American Psychological Association, nearly half of the parents polled reported feeling overwhelming stress on most days. This unrelenting strain has become so prevalent in the U.S. that the Surgeon General issued an advisory warning on the mental health and well-being … Read more
In 2016, when I was 35, and my wife Courtney was 32, we sold our house, a 4 bed, 2 bath 1,600-square-foot Arizona home, moved into a 200-square-foot Airstream RV with our two dogs, and set up our new home in a KOA campground in Tucson. It was the first of many big changes for … Read more
My mornings in the small village of San Antonio Tlayacapan, Mexico, are filled with birds. There’s the soft cooing of doves, the chirping of kiskadees, and the iconic shrieking of roosters, which begins not at sunrise (go figure) but hours before. It’s a far cry from Mazatlán, the city on Mexico’s Pacific coast where I … Read more
Being mentally strong requires productive self-regulation of your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Yet few things are as difficult to control as a sense of confidence. You might feel self-assured one moment, and then something external, like a bad meeting with a boss, can send you into a spiral of insecurity. Growing your confidence is hard … Read more
In 2021, I was 36 years old, and I had a big year. Thanks to the income streams that grew from my blog and podcast, I started making enough passive income to quit my 9-to-5. This financial freedom made me start to think about what other goals I wanted to achieve, starting with what I … Read more
In functional romantic relationships, it’s psychologically healthy to feel a deep sense of belonging and attachment. However, becoming overly reliant on another person to feel whole, healed and secure is not only harmful to our wellbeing — it can damage relationships over time. This behavior is often referred to in mental health circles as codependency. … Read more
Growing up in Nara, Japan, surrounded by tea fields, matcha has always been a part of my life. The full aroma and the deep bitter and sweet umami taste of this vivid green tea evokes so much nostalgia for me. When I was in high school, I started taking formal tea ceremony lessons. It was … Read more
Growing up, I felt anxious and overwhelmed. My career path is one that I never could have expected when I was that constantly worried kid. Today, I’ve written 10 books and journals about happiness, gratitude, habits and resilience. My goal is to help other people who struggle with those negative spirals tune out the noise and … Read more
There’s a joke in Norway that people move here for two reasons: a job or love. I’m in the latter group. I met my Norwegian partner in my international Master’s program in Migration and Intercultural Relations. I decided to do my master’s in Europe after a post-college graduation gap year in 2016. Part of the … Read more
