Just as you judge others based on their appearance, other people judge you. This episode begins with what exactly people decide about you when they first meet you based on how you are groomed and dressed. Source: Image consultant Sherry Maysonave author of Casual Power (https://amzn.to/3ffMODA) For many years John Cleese has been entertaining millions of people as a member of Monty Python, as well as a movie actor in a variety of films including Harry Potter and James Bond movies. He has also sp...
Nov 19, 2020•50 min•Ep. 502
Have you ever been mesmerized by the flicker of a flame in a fire or on a candle? What is it about fire that draws us near to it? This episode begins with an explanation of why evolution has made us so interested in fire and why we love to watch it. https://www.livescience.com/19853-fire-fascination.html If you lose your wallet are you likely to get it back? What’s the best way to shuffle a deck of cards? Do plants have feelings? Listen as I explore these and other fascinating science questions ...
Nov 16, 2020•49 min•Ep. 500
Have you taken your temperature lately? Most of us think a normal temperature is 98.6 degrees. However, if you were to take your temperature now – it probably ISN’T 98.6. This episode begins with an explanation of why that is. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201028171432.htm Could it be you are not as smart as you think you are? Apparently so according to David McRaney author of the book You Are Not So Smart (https://amzn.to/2tGvPTq). David explains some of the interesting quirks a...
Nov 14, 2020•43 min•Ep. 499
Ever worry that an elevator you are in will somehow come loose and drop? Or that a big spider will come after you and bite you? This episode begins with some insight into these and other common worries and whether or not that could likely happen. https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/everyday-dangers-not-to-worry-about How well do you handle difficult emotions that come your way? Do you try hard to push them aside and focus on the positive or do you confront those tough emotions h...
Nov 12, 2020•52 min•Ep. 498
What happens if you work hard to build up your FICO credit score but then you make a mistake and miss a payment? This episode begins by explaining what could happen and how to protect yourself from a drastic drop in your FICO score. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/does-one-late-payment-hurt-my-credit-score-11604078238?mod=personal-finance While there is a lot of science about what it takes to live a long and healthy life, there are also a lot of myths and misinformation. Joining me to set the ...
Nov 09, 2020•50 min•Ep. 497
If you would like to feel really good, then watch this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHiKxytbCWk. It’s a dull and boring video about folding towels and will make you (or at least many people) get chills and give you a “brain orgasm.” Why? No one really knows for sure but I’ll explain what is known about it as I start this episode. Do you know a complainer? It’s a trick question because you probably know a lot more than one. In fact, you might be a complainer without realizing it...
Nov 07, 2020•47 min•Ep. 496
Do you know how to get the most juice out of a lemon or lime? Or how to get the smell of garlic off your hands? This episode begins as I reveal a few very useful and well tested kitchen hacks you are sure to use in the kitchen. Source: Harold McGee author of On Food and Cooking (https://amzn.to/2TIxR2W) I bet there have been challenging times in your life when you wish you had been able to bounce back better and faster. Clearly some people do seem to be much more resilient in the face adversity ...
Nov 05, 2020•51 min•Ep. 495
While you are probably more careful about the surfaces you touch and keeping things sanitized, you may have overlooked all the surfaces in your car. This episode begins with a discussion on the surfaces in your car and what you should do to keep them as germ-free as possible. Source: Westways Magazine Nov/Dec 2020 Can someone really sue you if you use their picture on your website? Will they win if they do? This is just one of the areas of intellectual property law I discuss with attorney Devin ...
Nov 02, 2020•56 min•Ep. 494
When you search for something in Google does it matter what order you put the words in? What about punctuation – does that matter? We start this episode with the best ways to optimize Google searches to get the best results. https://edu.google.com/coursebuilder/courses/pswg/1.2/assets/notes/Lesson1.5/Lesson1.5Wordordermatters_Text_.html What makes someone beautiful? Can you really become more beautiful? These are important questions because beauty and attractiveness have some clear benefits for ...
Oct 31, 2020•48 min•Ep. 493
Did you know the can opener was invented 50 years AFTER the tin can? So how did they open cans before that? That’s one of the interesting stories about product packaging that kicks off this episode of the podcast. Source: Thomas Hine author of The Total Package (https://amzn.to/3mlNoC1). If you watch the news, you would think the world falling apart and going to hell. Yet it is totally NOT true. Sure, the world has problems not the least of which is the corona virus but when you look at all the ...
Oct 29, 2020•51 min•Ep. 492
First impressions count. One big reason why is that once a person makes judgements about you, they can be difficult to change even if they are not true. This episode begins with 3 things people decide about you within the first 30 seconds and how to make sure you put your best foot forward. Source: Sherry Maysonave author of Casual Power (https://amzn.to/2Thh1I7) Why should you fill your gas tank on Monday instead of Friday? Does transferring credit card balances to lower interest rate card make...
Oct 26, 2020•51 min•Ep. 491
Is it true that nice guys finish last? Sure, there are a lot of successful nice guys but there are a lot of successful jerks too. So which is it? The answer may actually lie somewhere in between. This episode begins with some interesting insight into that http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/06/why-it-pays-to-be-a-jerk/392066 What is the best way to motivate people? Traditional thinking has been that carrots and sticks – in other words rewards or punishments are the best way to get p...
Oct 24, 2020•46 min•Ep. 490
Everyone likes to feel appreciation, and everyone knows just how powerful appreciation can be. However, there is one huge problem with appreciation. This episode begins with an explanation of why appreciation is important and why it is so often a missed opportunity. http://ombudsfac.unm.edu/Article_Summaries/Beyond_Reason.pdf Laughter is important. Not just the act of laughter but the word laughter. People actually like it when you use that word in conversation. That’s according to my guest Will...
Oct 22, 2020•48 min•Ep. 489
I bet you’ve had that experience of waking up just before the alarm goes off. It turns out it isn’t coincidence. Listen as this episode begins with the explanation as to why this happens so often to so many people. https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/why-do-we-wake-up-right-before-our-alarm/ The next time you take a walk around the block you will see it very differently after you listen to Spike Carlsen author of the book A Walk Around the Block (https://amzn.to/378CyuL). He discusses...
Oct 19, 2020•52 min•Ep. 488
We humans are programmed to flirt. It’s the beginning of the process that keeps the species going forward. And while some people are clearly better at the art of flirting – there is some science to it as well. I begin this episode with scientifically proven ways to improve your flirting skills. http://theweek.com/articles/448643/how-flirt-according-science One thing that makes us human is our creativity. We are all creative and many of us could be even more creative according to Allen Gannett. A...
Oct 17, 2020•46 min•Ep. 487
When you get angry, it seems normal to also get upset and maybe start yelling at whoever made you mad. Bad idea. This episode begins with a discussion how on to use anger constructively, so you get what you want without everyone being mad at each other. Source: Thomas A. Schweich, author of Staying Power (https://amzn.to/34Qrb85). You and I can look at the same thing and see it differently. You look at the world through filters and biases and I see the same world through my filters and biases. S...
Oct 15, 2020•48 min•Ep. 486
People will be more attracted to you if you appear confident. So this episode begins with short list of things you can do easily that will make you feel and appear as confident as possible. http://www.askmen.com/money/body_and_mind_150/173_better_living.html Kind and nice are two words that are often used interchangeably but they don’t mean the same thing. Truly being kind is a lot harder and riskier and has a much greater chance of making the world a better place. Listen as I speak with Houston...
Oct 12, 2020•53 min•Ep. 485
Every time you sit down to eat, several things affect how MUCH you eat and how much you enjoy the food. I begin this episode by revealing how the environment and atmosphere of the room in which you are eating can have a big impact. When you learn the details, you can use this information to help you eat less while enjoying your food more. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/restaurant-lighting-calories-music_n_1841077 People in marriages and relationships cheat. No secret there. But why? Are we progr...
Oct 10, 2020•43 min•Ep. 484
The sandwich has been around for thousands of years in some form or another. Do you know how many sandwiches the average person eats in a year? Or why some sandwiches are called subs? Listen as I explain some fascinating facts about sandwiches to kickoff this episode. https://allthatsinteresting.com/sandwich-history You have no doubt contemplated questions like: Why am I here? Or what is my purpose? Will my life really matter? What legacy will I leave? Listen as I delve into these and other ques...
Oct 08, 2020•52 min•Ep. 483
The power of the human mind is amazing. This episode begins with a fascinating example of that. It turns out that how people feel about the medication they take determines how well it works. Things like cost, size of the pill and number of doses will influence your recovery. Listen and finds out how. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/health/research/05placebo.html There is sure a lot of talk about innovation. Who doesn’t want to be a great innovator? Interestingly though, there isn’t as much in...
Oct 05, 2020•54 min•Ep. 482
No one enjoys getting a shot at the doctor’s office. But there is something you can do to ease the pain. We begin this episode with a little strategy that can cut the pain in half. But you have to do it just right. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27514-hold-your-breath-to-dampen-the-pain-of-an-injection/ Music plays an important role in our lives – but why? We don’t need it to survive yet every culture on the planet has music of some sort. John Powell, author of the books Why You Love Mus...
Oct 03, 2020•45 min•Ep. 481
People generically call the dates on food packages, “expiration dates.” However, there are different kinds of expiration dates and they mean different things. This episode begins by sorting out what these different dates really mean. Don’t throw away any food until you hear this explanation. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/do-food-expiration-dates-matter#1 There is no one like you and never will be. Why is that? What makes you so unique and different than everyone else? Still, you a...
Oct 01, 2020•54 min•Ep. 480
You may be a good driver but there are a lot of bad ones out there. So how do you protect yourself from those people? This episode begins with some interesting intel on where and how serious traffic accidents happen and how to avoid them. Source: Reader’s Digest & author of an article titled “How Good Drivers Get Killed” Your neighborhood grocery store is a fascinating place. Did you know, for example, that some of the “fresh produce” could be over a year old? Did you know that selling groceries...
Sep 28, 2020•49 min•Ep. 479
You obviously know better than to talk on your phone while driving – but you should also tell other people in the car to stay off their phones as well. This episode starts with a discussion on why passenger’s phone conversation can be trouble for the driver. http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2010/05/half-heard-phone-conversations-reduce-performance How well do you sleep? Before you answer you should know that you may not HAVE the answer. So many people sleep so poorly, they don’t even know wha...
Sep 26, 2020•48 min•Ep. 478
Everyone knows what “riding shotgun” means. And most people think they know where it came from, which is from the days of stagecoaches. But that is not exactly correct. This episode begins by revealing the real origins of the phrase. Source: Cecil Adams author of The Straight Dope (https://amzn.to/3iPlGfp) What are you? It’s a fascinating question because we often don’t think about what we are made of. It turns out we are made from atoms that have been recycled and have been parts of stars, dino...
Sep 24, 2020•55 min•Ep. 477
Have you ever wondered why pumpkins are associated with Halloween? After all, they aren’t particularly scary and have nothing to do with ghosts. This episode begins with an explanation of why pumpkins and Halloween go hand in hand. www.pumpkin-patch.com I am sure you have wondered things like: Why do coincidences happen? Why is it so hard to find a 4-leaf clover? What day is best to buy a lottery ticket? Why do traffic jams happen? These are just some of the fascinating life questions tackled by...
Sep 21, 2020•55 min•Ep. 476
Every kid on the planet is told to, “Eat your veggies – they’re good for you!” Yet, as a parent, you probably shouldn’t say that to your kids. This episode begins with some fascinating research about what to tell kids about healthy foods and what not to tell them. https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/don-t-tell-kids-why-veggies-are-good-for-them-study-suggests-1.1833274 What if I told you that nothing really goes viral? You’d probably say, “Of course it does – cat videos, songs, lots of things go viral...
Sep 19, 2020•48 min•Ep. 475
With all we know about how medicine works, we still don’t understand the placebo effect very well. Yet, by all accounts it is very powerful. This episode begins with some interesting research that seems to show that believing you are healthy really makes it so. Source: Howard Brody, M.D. author of “The Placebo Response” (https://amzn.to/2ZzmXzH) Money is a tricky subject for just about everyone. Of course there is the “math of money” that shows how money works numerically but there is also how w...
Sep 17, 2020•50 min•Ep. 474
Who doesn’t like ketchup? It is one of the most universally loved American foods. Why? This episode begins with some interesting facts and history about ketchup that helps explain why there is a bottle of it in more than 97% of U.S. households. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/20/why-is-ketchup-so-delicious-science-answers-big-food-questions Have you ever had a winning streak? Maybe it was at work or in a game of tennis or chess – where you just could do no wrong. You often see ...
Sep 14, 2020•53 min•Ep. 473
Your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance covers much more than you probably realize – and it is worth knowing. For example, if you receive counterfeit money – your homeowner’s insurance may likely cover you for the loss. Who knew? And that’s only one thing we discuss about insurance you may not know. http://consumerist.com/2012/04/12/stuck-with-a-forged-check-homeowners-insurance-to-the-rescue/ How do peak performers get to the top of their field? And what separates a peak performer from everyone ...
Sep 12, 2020•44 min•Ep. 472
