My Favorite Things for a Happy & Healthy New Year

December 2, 2012

Every year, Oprah Winfrey announces her “favorite” things in her magazine and on television, and those annointed products instantly sell out.  Books become best-sellers, companies are launched into the stratosphere (Spanx) and people’s lives are changed for the better.

I’m obviously not Oprah Winfrey, nor do I have her following, but I do have my own favorite things that I think might make your life a little bit better in 2013, or at least a little happier.  With no further ado, here they are:

  • GetSomeHeadspace — After years of reading and knowing the research on the transformative properties of meditation, I finally found a way to start and follow-through on a meditation practice.  GetSomeHeadspace walks you gently through ten minutes of guided meditation for ten days, then fifteen minutes for fifteen, and then twenty minutes.  The time seems to pass quickly during the guided meditations, and good habits are instilled as you deepen your experience.  I’m not the only person who loves it; many clients and acquaintances say they’ve gotten hooked, too.  Apps for your tablet and smartphone make it seamless to keep up your practice anywhere.
  • Pulse — To stay up-to-date on a variety of areas ranging from psychology research to technology breakthroughs, I use the app Pulse on my Droid and Motorola tablet.  You can breeze through several dozens of the top stories from places like Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal and Scientific American.  Without going from site to site, or buying multiple subscriptions, I can easily see headlines and trends that keep me informed about my clients’ professions and what I need to know.  Best of all, it’s free.
  • Priceline – I know I’ve already raved  here about how I used Priceline to write and edit two books in the last few years, as well as occasionally get some quiet time to just recharge my batteries, but it’s so terrific that I have to mention it again.  If you name your own price for hotel rooms on Priceline, you can easily cut your hotel costs down by as much as 50%.  It’s the cheapest one-night getaway you can find in your own city (if I can get a $43/night hotel room on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. on short notice, anything is possible) and it’s also a vacation staple.
  • Fitbit– I have been a pedometer addict for many years, but I’ve lost more of
    The FitBit tracks calories, steps and even tells time, and it’s pretty hard to lose this snug little gadget – a huge plus.

    them than I can count or they’ve had only niggling problems.  They’ve been too clunky, too easily dislodged, or they didn’t keep accurate counts at times.  I gave up, until I stumbled on Fitbit (thanks to Pulse), the smallest, coolest most accurate pedometer I’ve ever used.  It’s so small it can be clipped almost anywhere, and it’s so snug that it just doesn’t jiggle off your waistband or wherever else you have fastened it.  It is also wirelessly connected to your computer so that your personalized Fitbit site keeps track of your mileage, sending you a stream of congratuations and smiley faces every time you hit a new milestone.  You can even keep track of your friends’ mileage, if you want, turning your daily activity into some healthy competition and accountability.  Cost: $60

  • The GoodNewsNetwork – Geri Weis-Corbley was a positive psychology enthusiast before the field was even invented.  In 1997, sick of being inundated with nothing but bad news in the media, she took her extensive experience in broadcasting and launched “The Good News Network.”  Among her goals is to distribute “news to enthuse,” which can arrive in your emailbox daily for a small annual fee which can start as low as $2/month.  Given the definitive research on priming – how the things we read/see/hear/smell impact our moods – seeing a blast of good news
    An airdesk allows you to continue to work on a computer or other device while standing, walking on a treadmill or even bicycling. It has changed my life.

    could help set you up for a positive day if it’s among the first things you see.

  • Airdesk – Not only is my airdesk one of my favorite things, it earned the stamp of approval for one of the top things that can improve your life one year in “U.S. News and World Report.”  The airdesk is a simple contraption that consists of a stand and a plexiglass attachment that allows you to do a variety of things – standing, walking on a treadmill, riding an exercise bike, for example – while also working on a laptop/netbook/tablet at the same time.  Cost – around $150
  • Making a Difference” – NBC News now ends many nightly broadcasts with a segment called “Making a Difference.”  This short feature always tells the story of someone who saw a need and stepped in to “make a difference” in others’ lives.  The heart-warming clips show examples such as teaching troubled teens to garden to help them learn how to care for something outside themselves, to restaurants that donate their surplus food to hungry children in the local school system where going hungry at home is the norm.  I think that my biggest takeaway is that there are many ways we can improve the world and lives of others if we just open our eyes and hearts to notice where we can help.

There are so many “favorite things” that we all cherish, and no one’s list is ever the same, so I’d love to hear about what other people count as their favorite things and why.

Caroline Adams Miller

Caroline Adams Miller, MAPP is a pioneer with her ground-breaking work in the areas of goal-setting/accomplishment, grit, happiness and success. Caroline is the author of seven books, including Positively CarolineMy Name is Caroline,  Creating Your Best Life and Getting Grit Live Happy Magazine named Creating Your Best Life one of the top ten goal-setting books ever published and Getting Grit one of the ten books that will change your life in 2017.  She has been featured in BBC World NewsThe New York TimesThe Washington Post, USA Today, U.S. News &World Report, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR and CNN.  Caroline  is a graduate of Harvard University and holds a Master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. And, she has more than three decades of unbroken recovery from bulimia.

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8 Responses
  1. This is the best positivity blog I have in eons! Can’t wait to check out every link. Christmas came early to my house, and not a calorie to bemoan! I am signing up for the GetSomeHeadspace ASAP! Looks fascination.

    Kudos for your swimming at 5 a.m.! You swim and I will walk. but I bet both of us wish we were at Bethany Beach. At least we will be in our relaxed minds.

    Kudos for your treats of holiday happiness and bliss. Big thanks for your sparkling creativity that plastered a huge smile on my face, Caroline.

    Blessings and continued success with your books and media appearances that spread Positive Psychology all over the welcoming globe.

  2. Christine

    Thank you so much for sharing! I am checking out several of them but I really liked “Good News Network” and “Making A Difference.” I am always on the hunt for hearing inspiring stories of real people.

    Wishing you a beautiful and merry Christmas seaon!

    Christine

    1. Caroline Adams Miller

      Thanks for commenting! I also love the CNN Heroes series because they have the same impact on me as the “Making a Difference” segments. I hope I’ll see some new ideas here that I never would have thought of otherwise.

  3. Sasha

    Thanks Caroline!! I can’t wait to check out “Get Some Headspace”! And the swimming earphones?! Amazing! Here’s to a flourishing and fit 2013!

  4. Do you mind if I quote a couple of your posts as long as
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    website is in the exact same niche as yours and my visitors would definitely benefit from a lot of the
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    1. Caroline Adams Miller

      Absolutely! Sorry for the delay in replying but I absolutely appreciate the request and hope you can benefit from more posts. My sixth book just came out and all of my writing abilities and thoughts have been diverted to birthing my newest book for the last six weeks!

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