Ideas on Mental Health & Meaning

Are You Possessed by Your Work?

Are you possessed by your work? Or, another way I've heard this asked lately - "are you a slave to your own internal Pharaoh (or master)?"  Obviously taken from a bit of Biblical reading. But the question seems to come from a lot of different angles lately - not just...

read more

On the Meaning of Work

I was skimming through The Doctor and the Soul in preparation for an upcoming speech I'm giving at the 2021 Educating for Careers Conference, and remembered again how pertinent this information is right now - especially as many of us face frustrations and...

read more

Golf, Mental Health, Education, & Work

What do golf, mental health, education, and work all have in common?  (Other than being things I am very interested, and sometimes very active, in?) They are all institutions that once, or maybe still, believe that there is ONE WAY to do something right. But that is...

read more

Be Greater Than Average

We are all unique and special individuals, with a specific task, or tasks, we are born to accomplish, ideally for the benefit of others and the transcendence of ourselves.  We can begin that task by asking what life is asking of us, rather than what we should get from...

read more

New Year +4 Days

We are four days in to the new year.  Is it as different from the old year as you had hoped? If not.  What are you doing about it? We can discover new meaning in our lives in a variety of ways - through engaging in creative acts of work or beauty; through experiencing...

read more

What Will You Do With The New Year?

Usually, around this time of year, I write about resolutions, SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Based), or Meaningful ideas for the New Year.  Sometimes I discuss taking the "suffering" of the previous year and using it to discover...

read more

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

I hope you and your family have an "unprecedented" Christmas, and a "new normal" New Year! I can't believe, just a few years ago, I thought those were some really smart words or phrases.  Using "unprecedented" in a sentence was a sophisticated way of saying "weird",...

read more

What is Love?

Now, if you grew up in the 1990's, that question may have brought a vision of two sharply dressed gentlemen bobbing their heads, and you answered the question with, "Baby, don't hurt me..." And if you didn't grow up in the '90's, I'm sorry if you completely missed...

read more

“Happy” Holidays!

I'm sure I've shared this many times, but it strikes me as an obvious idea when it comes to having a "Happy" holiday season: "Happiness cannot be pursued, it must ensue.  One must have a reason to 'be happy'.  Once the reason is found, however, one becomes happy...

read more

Dr. Dan’s Cyber Monday

In this "unprecedented" time, maybe we look to celebrate an "unprecedented" holiday season.  As I wrote last week - we get to choose.  As much as I try not avoid the materialistic culture that surrounds the Christmas and the holiday season, I'm not a complete...

read more

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays - short work week, a day of eating great food with family and friends, football, and then a long weekend before entering into the Christmas Season. But this year is different. There are a lot of things that are...

read more

Leader or Manager?

Leaders are those people around you who choose to take charge, but do so in a tactful, respectful manner,  They are self-aware and recognize their own biases and how they affect others.  They choose responsibly and act with integrity.  They aim to make those around...

read more