For many of us, this is a special time of the year. So much so that we think of it as a season of joy because joy involves changing how we engage in the world. Find out how this feeling of joy is related to Maslow’s 1964 concept of peak experiences in this week’s blog.

Decades of research indicate that acts of kindness provide substantial benefits to our wellbeing. But how much kindness is needed? Several studies show that at least five acts of kindness are necessary over the week (Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013). Here’s which acts of kindness are necessary over the week…

The second pillar of kindness is kind thoughts. The best way to think about this is to picture the running dialogue in our heads. Typically, that dialogue is composed of thoughts about ourselves and others. It's that voice that whispers things like, "that person doesn't like me," or “they think I'm not smart, etc." Let’s learn how to address these thoughts and develop self-compassion.

For kindness to be your "default" mode, you must hone those other-related emotions such as empathy, sympathy, and compassion. Here is how to identify and differentiate these emotions - and how to use them to be kind!