Season 2
The PAC model of stress management
June 5, 2023
In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, host Craig introduces the PAC model of stress management. Stress is an inevitable part of life, but it can be effectively managed by following three main approaches: preparation, av…
Coping with stress: Adaptive and maladaptive strategies (5MF)
May 31, 2023
Are you ready to conquer stress and reclaim your well-being? In this captivating episode of Live Well and Flourish, we dive deep into the world of stress coping strategies. Stress is an inevitable part of life, but you CAN l…
Stress Trifecta: Uncertainty, Isolation, and Overload
May 24, 2023
Stress can literally kill you ... if it's not managed well. In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, Craig shares his insights on the three main causes of stress: uncertainty, isolation, and overload. He discusses how each…
Seven Pillars of Well-Being (Five-Minute Flourishing)
May 17, 2023
Join Craig as he delves into the fundamental components that contribute to your well-being. In the episode, he introduces the concept of the seven pillars of well-being and offers insights into each one. Be sure to check out…
What if? Counterfactual thinking and a trip to the ER
May 10, 2023
In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, Craig delves into the fascinating subject of counterfactual thinking. He explores both the advantages and disadvantages of this thought process and offers practical tips on how to m…
Building Your Resilience Inventory (Five-Minute Flourishing)
May 3, 2023
In this Five-Minute Flourishing episode, Craig dives into the concept of resilience and introduces the idea of a resilience inventory. He highlights the benefits of having and using a resilience inventory to help you deal wi…
Stress, Good and Bad: How Eustress Can Help You Flourish
April 26, 2023
On this episode of Live Well and Flourish, we'll be talking about the power of stress and how it can impact our lives in positive and negative ways. We'll dive into the concept of Eustress and how it can lead to increased pr…
Fueling Your Purpose with Passion: A Guide to Living a Fulfilling Life (Five-Minute Flourishing)
April 19, 2023
In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, Craig dives into the relationship between purpose and passion, and why they are both crucial components of a fulfilling life. He explains why purpose is the foundation of a flourish…
Embracing impermanence with wabi-sabi: Lessons from nature
April 12, 2023
In this episode, Craig explores the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of wabi-sabi and how it can help individuals not only accept but embrace the impermanence of life to improve their mental health and overall well-being. Drawi…
Using negative visualization to accept impermanence
April 5, 2023
In this episode, Craig discusses the concept of impermanence and how to accept and embrace it as a natural part of life. Through his own personal experiences, he delves into the role of impermanence in various religious and …
Self-compassion as a moral duty - Why being kind to yourself is a virtue
March 29, 2023
Are you hard on yourself? Do you struggle with negative self-talk and self-criticism? If so, this episode is for you. Join host Craig as he delves into the fascinating topic of self-compassion and why he believes it is not o…
Why are people so angry (Five Minute Flourishing)
March 22, 2023
It seems like people are very angry these days. Everywhere you turn, airports (even airplanes!), restaurants, stores, traffic, social media ... anger just seems endless. Why is this so? In this episode, Craig discusses the a…
Practical Wisdom and Living a Flourishing Life
March 15, 2023
Practical wisdom isn’t some esoteric, abstract concept, it’s eminently practical, and it’s critical to living a flourishing life. In this episode, Craig discusses what practical wisdom is, and how you can start cultivating a…
Mindful Habits: Using Habits to Overcome Weakness of Will
March 8, 2023
In episode 53 of "Live Well and Flourish," host Craig discusses how to use mindful habits to overcome weakness of will. He explains that habits can hinder your ability to flourish, but developing virtuous habits can help you…
Overcoming weakness of will
Feb. 28, 2023
Do you find yourself struggling to follow through on your goals and commitments, even when you know they are important? Do you ever feel like you lack the willpower to make lasting changes in your life? If so, you may be exp…
Hedonic treadmill: The dulling of shiny new things (5MF)
Feb. 22, 2023
Uncover a Secret to Long-Term Happiness with Craig on Five-Minute Flourishing! Learn about the phenomenon of hedonic adaptation and how it affects our satisfaction with new things over time. Craig shares expert insights and …
Finding Fulfillment through Self-Determination
Feb. 15, 2023
Much of your well-being is determined by satisfying three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. In this episode, Craig discusses the theory behind this thinking, self-determination theory, and how…
Annoying people (Five Minute Flourishing)
Feb. 8, 2023
Life makes it pretty much impossible to completely avoid potentially annoying people and events. But, we don't have to be annoyed, that's a choice we make. In this short episode, Craig discusses how to avoid becoming unneces…
Social comparison
Feb. 1, 2023
Evaluating ourselves is an innate human behavior, but when you evaluate yourself by making comparisons to others, it can be misleading and harmful to your flourishing. In this episode, Craig discusses the pros and cons of so…
Positive and negative cues (Five Minute Flourishing)
Jan. 25, 2023
One way to take control of your life, is to take care of your environment. In this Five Minute Flourishing episode, Craig discusses how you can shape your environment in a way that enhances your flourishing by adding positiv…
Losing weight without speed
Jan. 18, 2023
Making big changes is scary, but doesn’t have to be. In this episode, I discuss my formula for taking control and making big changes through finding the right motivation, setting the right goals, and taking small steps. Whet…
Comfort is the enemy (Five-Minute Flourishing)
Jan. 9, 2023
We all want to be comfortable, but in some ways comfort is the enemy of progress in growth. In this short episode, Craig discusses why becoming too comfortable can actually hinder your flourishing. ------ Live Well and Flour…
Possibilities, not limitations
Jan. 4, 2023
Life is full of roadblocks and impediments. If you pay too much attention to these, it seems like you can never make progress. In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, Craig discusses how to focus on the endless possibilit…
Managing Conflict
Nov. 9, 2022
Conflict is a part of human relationships, and relationships are critical to flourishing. So, knowing how to effectively manage these inevitable conflicts is an important aspect of living a good life. In this episode, Craig …
Causes and Consequences of Conflict
Oct. 26, 2022
Conflict is an inevitable part of life. (Well, maybe not if you're a hermit, but otherwise ...) So, effectively dealing with conflict is important to your flourishing. In this episode, Craig talks about the how diversity cau…
Incivility and Collective Flourishing
Oct. 12, 2022
The current climate of incivility not only hurts your individual flourishing, it is also detrimental to our collective flourishing. In this episode, Craig discusses why this is so, and provides one simple way that you can ma…
Incivility and Your Flourishing
Sept. 28, 2022
Incivility is harmful to your flourishing, whether you're the one acting with incivility or just exposed to excess incivility. In this episode, Craig discusses why this is so, and offers some insights on how to reduce incivi…
The Futility of Incivility
Sept. 14, 2022
Incivility abounds in today's social media, sound bite driven world. Recently, Craig attended a major conference during which a controversy erupted, which led to an unfortunate, but predictable Twitter storm of incivility. I…
Dealing with Moral Dilemmas
Aug. 31, 2022
Moral dilemmas are an inevitable part of life ... you're going to face decisions that offer no fully satisfying alternatives. In this episode, Craig is joined by practical philosopher, Dr. Andrea Christelle, to discuss how w…
COVID and Me
Aug. 3, 2022
COVID finally caught up to Craig. But, there's knowledge to be had in every experience. In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, Craig discusses what he learned from his thankfully brief bout with COVID-19. Links Live Well…
In Times of Trouble
July 20, 2022
Difficult times are an inevitable part of life; you are going to face times of trouble. In this episode, Craig discusses how applying a simple idea from Stoicism helped him get through an especially troubling time, the illne…
Taking Control of Your Life
July 6, 2022
When you have a low sense of personal control, you suffer increased stress, anxiety, depression and negative mood. Your physical health also suffers. In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, Craig discusses the effects of …
The Problem with Generalizations
June 22, 2022
Generalizations help us make sense of a complex world; generalizing is a fundamental human function. Most of the time, our generalizations serve us well. But, when we make generalizations errors, bad things happen, such as s…
Controlling Your Emotions through Emotional Regulation
May 25, 2022
Being able to control your emotions to minimize unnecessary suffering, and to maximize positive feelings is important to your flourishing. In this episode, Craig discusses emotional regulation and provides some strategies fo…
Emotional Contagion
May 11, 2022
Emotions, like viruses, can be contagious. In this episode, Craig discusses emotional contagion and its effects, and offers some advice on how to use emotional contagion to make the world a little better. Live Well and Flour…
The Power of Small Things: The Small Wins Strategy of Change
April 27, 2022
In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, Craig discusses the small wins strategy of change, which involves breaking big changes into a series of smaller changes such that each of the small changes has its own value. This i…
The Power of Small Things: The Between Times
April 13, 2022
We mark the progress of our lives through big events, but most of life occurs in the between times, the times that lie between the big events. In this episode, Craig discusses the importance of the small events that occur be…
The Power of Small: Micro-Kindness
March 30, 2022
Do you want to make the world a better place? Try a little kindness. In this episode, Craig discusses the power of micro-kindness, small acts of kindness, which are small sincere and voluntary acts and attitudes, intentional…
Practice, Habit and Being
March 16, 2022
In the final episode of the mini-series on Self-Leadership, Craig discusses Aristotle's practice-habit-being method of developing virtue. He focuses on the role of habit, and describes how habits are built and broken. Listen…
Living Well through Reflection
March 2, 2022
The world is often a chaotic, puzzling place. Reflection is how we can make sense of the world and our place in it. As the Jesuits at Boston College put it, “Reflection is the way we discover and compose the meaning of our e…
Living Well Through Mindfulness
Feb. 16, 2022
Do you ever feel like you’re going through life on autopilot? Most of us have, but life doesn’t have to be that way. Join Craig as he describes what is mindfulness, an active conscious process where you’re more open to the p…
Living a Life of Purpose
Feb. 2, 2022
The theme music for Live Well and Flourish was written by Hazel Crossler, hazel.crossler@gmail.com.
The Pillars of Self-Leadership
Jan. 19, 2022
Do you want to take control of your life? Do you want to live a more meaningful life? If so, this episode of Live Well & Flourish is worth your time. In this episode, Craig discusses an approach to self-leadership he develop…
Benjamin Franklin's Method of Self-Improvement
Jan. 5, 2022
Whether you realize it or not, who you are is under your control. You get to decide the sort of person you are and the virtues you exhibit. In this episode, I discuss Benjamin Franklin's "... bold and arduous project of arri…
Grief and gratitude
Dec. 8, 2021
Grief comes from loss. But gratitude should accompany grief. Listen as Craig reflects on the puzzling relationship between grief and gratitude, and how a deeper understanding of how they interact can help you deal with grief…
Pleasure and Utility
Nov. 24, 2021
We often hear of utility, usually as it relates to economics or usefulness. But there is a different view of utility, one that focuses on pleasure. In this episode, Andrea and Craig discuss this view of utility as pleasure, …
Overcoming Negativity Bias
Nov. 10, 2021
Humans are hardwired to pay more attention to negative events than positive events. This proclivity is known as the negativity bias. Thankfully, a large number of good events can overcome the effects of a small number of ba…
How #Caturday helps us flourish
Oct. 27, 2021
Craig’s favorite day of the week is Saturday, not just because it’s recording day, but also because it’s #Caturday! (It really is a thing.) Fun, seemingly silly activities like posting or viewing cat pictures (or dog pics, o…
Outrunning Depression with Nita Sweeney
Sept. 29, 2021
Andrea and Craig welcome Nita Sweeney, an author, distance runner, writer and meditator who shares her tale of overcoming depression and anxiety through long distance running with her dog Morgan. She details the first basic …