Chris Loper has been writing about self-improvement and helping busy adults with habit formation since 2017. He also writes an education blog for parents and students for Northwest Educational Services. Along with Greg Smith, Chris is the cocreator of Parenting for Academic Success, a series of transformative classes that create empowered parents, confident students, and harmonious families. His most recent endeavor combines his academic and habit-formation expertise to help students thrive in college. Visit SmartCollegeHabits.com to learn more. In 2021, Chris published a humorous memoir titled Wood Floats and Other Brilliant Observations, a book that blends crazy stories with practical life lessons. He lives in Issaquah, WA where he is the owner of South Cove Tutoring.
“The hardest truth about happiness is that it’s a choice.” –Shane Parrish1 You can focus on what you don’t like about a situation, or you can choose to pay attention to the aspects that you do like. You can long for what you don’t have or be glad for what you do. You can resist what you’re experiencing or accept it with grace. You can focus on scarcity and feel… Read More »Happiness is a Choice
Take a moment to remember the last time you cooked in an unfamiliar kitchen. Maybe it was at a friend’s house; maybe it was an Airbnb. Remember the feeling of not being sure where things are, the slightly frustrating inefficiency of working in that kitchen? Compare that to how it feels to cook in your own kitchen, where everything is exactly where you expect it to be. At home, you… Read More »Using Mise En Place for Home, Work, and Life
I’m in a crowded Trader Joe’s parking lot, trying to find a parking space. Other cars are slowly schooling around. Shoppers with bags and carts are crossing the pavement. It’s the kind of situation that could trigger impatience. But, instead, my brain generates a better interpretation: We all have to share the space. My mind expresses this thought calmly, with a positive tone, and I feel good. Peaceful. The truth… Read More »Sharing the Space
Anxiety is caused by worrying about the future. Worrying can be helpful if it encourages us to make wise preparations. But, too often, anxiety spirals out of control, and we fixate on catastrophes that probably won’t occur. This goes hand-in-hand with a desire to both know and control what’s going to happen. Both are impossible. We can’t know what’s going to happen, and we can’t control what’s going to happen.… Read More »We Need to Embrace Uncertainty