Parker Houston

Lessons in Happiness from 75 Years of Harvard Research

by Parker Houston | Jul 7, 2022 | The Science of Happiness

“I wish everyone could experience being rich and famous, so they could know it wasn’t the answer to anything.” –Jim Carey In the last 100 years, science has come a very long...

Using the Science of Decision Fatigue to Improve Your Leadership Decisions

by Parker Houston | Jun 30, 2022 | Self Leadership

It used to be that my wife would save her most complex and difficult questions for me until after 8pm when our kids are in bed and we finally have 2 minutes to talk. As an...

When Helping Hurts

by Parker Houston | Jun 9, 2022 | Family Leadership, Personal Leadership

“Give a person a fish and they eat for a day. Teach a person to fish and they eat for a lifetime.” –Lao Tzu A few months ago, I was getting my three-year-old daughter ready...

Vacations are not enough, daily and weekly recovery is essential

by Parker Houston | May 26, 2022 | Optimal Performance

“A field that has rested produces a bountiful crop.” –Ovid I’ve shared a lot of research about how vacations are essential to keep you functioning optimally at work...

The Trial is My Teacher

by Parker Houston | May 5, 2022 | Personal Leadership

“Accept whatever comes to you, woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?” –Marcus Aurelius Theodore Roosevelt was born with crippling...

All Great Thinking Begins With a Growth Mindset

by Parker Houston | Apr 28, 2022 | Personal Leadership, The Science of Mindset

“Failure is the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.” –Henry Ford Regarding core principles of personal leadership, few things are more important than...

Could Taking More Vacation Days Help You Get a Raise?

by Parker Houston | Apr 14, 2022 | Optimal Performance

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it…including you.” –Anne Lamott According to Greg Mckeown, bestselling author and winner of the Young Global Leader Award...

Are You Immune To Changing?

by Parker Houston | Mar 31, 2022 | How People Change

Today’s Big Idea: We all have a kind of emotional immune system that may be hidden from our awareness and preventing us from making changes we want to make in our lives....

Stop Giving Advice and Pushing Your Agenda, Do This Instead (Motivational Interviewing)

by Parker Houston | Mar 24, 2022 | How People Change

Today’s Big Idea: Advice rarely works. In leadership, you need communication strategies that increase your odds that people will listen to what you have to say. This post...

Get Off Autopilot!

by Parker Houston | Feb 24, 2022 | How People Change

.Today’s Big Idea—As a leader, it is essential to understand how to change your own habits, and how to help foster change in others. Science clearly reveals that some ways...

Relationships Shape Your Life

by Parker Houston | Feb 3, 2022 | How People Change

Every so often, you hear a quote that changes your whole life perspective. This one did that for me a couple years ago: Today’s Big Idea: “You are the average of the top 5...

We Are What We Repeatedly Do

by Parker Houston | Jan 27, 2022 | How People Change

Today’s Big Idea—To a great extent, your life is the sum total of your habits. 99% of the time, people don’t change overnight. Change is almost always cumulative, it occurs...

Why Leaders Need to Understand The Science of Happiness

by Parker Houston | Jan 13, 2022 | The Science of Happiness

The Big Idea—Authentic happiness is an extremely important thing to understand—for people, for leadership—and for life. When I say happiness, I am also talking about...

Direction is More Important Than Speed

by Parker Houston | Dec 23, 2021 | Productivity Best Practices

One morning in 1972 Yogi Berra awakened his wife and three sons and piled them into the car to drive to his Hall of Fame ceremony. They were in a bit of a hurry, and it soon...

In the Modern Era of Distraction Addiction, You Need This Skill

by Parker Houston | Dec 16, 2021 | Optimal Performance

“Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.” –Pablo Picasso We are only just beginning to see the long-term effects of our hyper-connected internet and smartphone...

Happy at Work—10 Tips For Finding a Job You Love

by Parker Houston | Oct 21, 2021 | Self Leadership, The Science of Happiness

For most people, work has a huge impact on overall life happiness. Furthermore, staying in a job you hate can have devastating consequences for your health, your emotional...

9 Money Habits That Influence Happiness

by Parker Houston | Sep 23, 2021 | The Science of Happiness

We’ve all heard the expression—“Money can’t buy happiness.” That may not be completely true. Psychological science suggests that how we spend can have a big impact on...

Walking 4 Hours On A Broken Ankle In The Snow

by Parker Houston | Sep 16, 2021 | Leading During COVID19

“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”― J.K. Rowling I slept restlessly all night, tossing and turning with excitement and anticipation...

To Supercharge Your Productivity, Make Sure To Be Unproductive

by Parker Houston | Jul 8, 2021 | Productivity Best Practices

If you think you read that title wrong—you didn’t. The BIG IDEA—In order to be wildly productive, you need designated periods of being wildly unproductive. At the beginning...

9 Elite Productivity Tips

by Parker Houston | Jul 1, 2021 | Productivity Best Practices

This post includes some incredible expert tips that did not fit neatly into the rest of the 10x Your Productivity series. When we started this series, we started with the...

Strong Teams Must Engage In Productive Conflict

by Parker Houston | May 13, 2021 | Top Teams Made Simple

“While profit may be the ultimate measure of any corporation, the goals and objectives the team unites to achieve, ultimately drives the success of the organization— which...

Great Leaders Paint a Compelling Picture of the Future

by Parker Houston | Apr 22, 2021 | Top Teams Made Simple

The photo in this post is one I took several years ago. For many years I arranged most of our travel plans based on top shark-diving locations around the world. When we...

Get the Right People on Your Bus

by Parker Houston | Apr 15, 2021 | Top Teams Made Simple

This series will give you simple strategies for killer teams. Today’s BIG IDEA—Research shows there is absolutely nothing more vital to building a high-performance team than...

Seven Practices for Leading Your Marriage

by Parker Houston | Apr 8, 2021 | Family Leadership, Personal Leadership

“It’s not lack of love, but lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.”—Nietzsche In western cultures, about 90% of people get married by age 50. And according to the...

Parenting Skills Need to Be Part of Your Leadership Toolkit

by Parker Houston | Apr 1, 2021 | Family Leadership, Personal Leadership

Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash Your greatest impact on the world may not be something you do, but someone you raise. In fact, leadership author and pastor of the largest...