A British couple (David and Kathleen Long from Scunthorpe) beat unbelievable odds of 283-billion-to-one to win a second £1m prize on the EuroMillions lottery. Many of us dream about winning large life-changing amounts of money on games like Lotto. But does winning huge sums of money makes us happier and healthier?

When you feel disappointed or hurt, it’s tempting to get on a soapbox of ego. Yet if we can trust that somehow the tide of events is moving in our favor, we are often led to higher ground.

I know I’m not the only person who’s lived through tough times. I know that you, like me, have experienced your fair share of dreams, hopes, and disappointments. But I also know that you are committed to creating your best life. And I can help. I’ll share with you how I pushed the reset button on my life and take you through the steps so that you can too.

The idea that people can be classified into types has a long history. Writing 23 centuries ago, the Greek philosopher Theophrastus sketched 30 characters that are instantly recognisable to this day. They include the chatterbox, the back-biter, the ungrateful grumbler, the penny-pincher and the patron of rascals.

Values are simply your ideals and your beliefs about what matters to you and what will make your life the best it can be. Even if you choose to do something that feels unpleasant, if you examine the situation closely, you will see that your choice likely stems from your desire to live in accordance with your values.

The idea that we can achieve happiness by maximising pleasure and minimising pain is both intuitive and popular. The truth is, however, very different. Pleasure alone cannot not make us happy. Aldous Huxley recognised the possibility that endless pleasure may actually lead to dystopian societies in his 1932 novel Brave New World. Although the idea of endless pleasure seems idyllic...

You don’t need to manufacture success alone. You are in partnership with the Intelligence and Love that guides the entire Universe. Great events are not random. They are a part of a divine design.

Change is such a big ambiguous word. There are thousands of titles of books that offer you the opportunity to change. Change your mind. Change your body. Change your relationship. Change your soul. But is change what we really seek?

Grand theft identity began soon after you arrived on earth. Parents, teachers, siblings, clergy, and authority figures told you that you are inept, insignificant, ugly, unworthy, and sinful, and that the world is a menacing place with threats and danger at every turn. Over time you began to believe these terrible lies...

Every religious discipline teaches it. Every culture values it. Self-control or self-mastery is a key to power. "Though one should conquer a million men on the battlefield, yet he, indeed, is the noblest victor who has conquered himself."

Humans are highly social creatures. Our brains have evolved to allow us to survive and thrive in complex social environments. Accordingly, the behaviors and emotions that help us navigate our social sphere are entrenched in networks of neurons within our brains.

I always had a feeling inside that there was something more to life. In a sense I had a great life—two wonderful kids, a husband, a successful business, a house—but even with all the trappings of what one might call “success” I found that life felt empty and meaningless. Often I would ask God, “What am I doing here? What is the point of all of this?”

Study carefully the following list of six false beliefs and the false responsibilities that are never far away from them. Dare to learn everything you can about your own false beliefs and then watch how the weight of false responsibilities falls off of you.

I’ve spent the last few years studying what contributes to the good life – the elements of well-being – for folks around the world. Well-being, it turns out, is about more than just being well. It also requires strong family and social relations, a sense of dignity in our lives and fairness in our opportunities, and commitments to larger purposes.

It is now one hundred years since drugs were first banned – and all through this long century of waging war on drugs, we have been told a story about addiction, by our teachers, and by our governments. This story is so deeply ingrained in our minds that we take it for granted. It seems obvious. It seems manifestly true.

Every word in every language is nothing more than an agreement. If I say, “I adore my cat,” you understand what I have said only because we agree on the meaning of the sounds. What we may not agree on is the emotional charge of certain words.

As a retiree or person nearing retire­ment, you now have the opportunity to go where your heart leads you. You can also get lost or run in circles. To know where you’re going and how to get there, you need a map. Even if you look forward to retire­ment, you’re giving up an identity and need to create a new one.

Your truth cannot have an effect if it goes unspoken, or if not acted upon. Where would we be if people did not question systems? Where would we be if people such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa, Einstein, John Lennon, and Jesus did not speak and live their truth?

Many of us make New Year’s resolutions which, according to many surveys, don’t last very long. Many are gone by the end of January, and most are gone by July. Most resolutions have to do with losing weight, saving money, and taking self-improvement courses. All worthy goals, to be sure. But why do most resolutions tank?

You are more powerful than you know. But fear keeps you from your boldest possibilities. Yet what if you could cultivate a presence within that could help you choose your good all the time? Here’s an excerpt from A Year Without Fear, which can help you make these daily choices.

I realized how skewed was my interpretation of Brenda. I was focusing on one aspect of her that brought me pain to consider. Mark, on the other hand, had focused on an aspect of Brenda that brought him joy. Each of us was reaping the result of our interpretation...

For most of my childhood, one of my favorite sayings was “It’s not fair!” As an adult, I continued to believe life should go the way I wanted it to go. When I couldn’t control the external world, I tried to make things better by transferring the sense of “Life isn’t right when . . .” to “I’m not right unless . . .”

Resisting is a tensing-against something. It gets revved up via some kind of mental handling (complaint, story-spinning, denial), leading to emotional distress. Whatever difficulty you’re experiencing in the presence of something you’d prefer hadn’t happened, resistance compounds the challenge...