According to the Nielson Company, Americans watch an average of five hours of television each day. If that’s too much screen time for your family, consider cutting back. Or turn off the tube permanently and spend those hours together. That’s exactly what one man and his family did about 15 years ago. When he and his wife decided to give up what he called “the national pacifier,” he said it was one of the most...

There’s no such thing as not having time. When we say “I don’t have time,” what we’re really saying is that we don’t choose to make certain things a priority right now, or, there’s something else we’d rather be doing. Think about all the demands on your schedule and take a look at the things you spend the most time on. The truth is we make time for the things we want to make time for.  But that isn’t always...

A pen and paper.  I know what you’re thinking, “Doesn’t he mean a mop and broom?”  Nope, you heard right.  I want you to take ten or fifteen minutes and think about the attitudes and habits you want to sweep out of your life.  Is smoking dirtying your lungs?  Do you need to wash away a family grudge?  Or is negative thinking cluttering your mind?  Whatever you need to change, write it down and commit to getting...

The list of "I wants" can go on and on. For kids it's, "I want that video game." "I want that scooter." For us, it's, "I want that car." "I want that couch." No matter what we have, there's always more. Henry David Thoreau said, "We make ourselves rich by making our wants few." Most of us already have what we need… it's just a matter of controlling what we want. So, the next time someone in your family wants to...

Fall "sweeps" month begins today, and that means TV shows will resort to more sensational programming to boost their ratings and advertising dollars. So be prepared for even more sex, violence and vulgar language than usual for the next 30 days. While there isn't much you can do about what's on TV, there's a lot you can do about how much you'll allow into your home. Why not consider skipping TV for awhile, and...

I'm not talking about the turkey and dressing sitting in your fridge—left over from Thanksgiving. I'm talking about your time. You do the math. Right now, think about all of the things that go into your day . . . rushing to get ready in the morning, going to work, cleaning the house, cooking dinner, chores in the evening, watching TV. Now, add up how much time you really spend interacting with your kids. What's...

Let's face it—we live in a world of instant gratification. We want it all, and we want it now. We're a nation of express lanes, fast food, texts and tweets. But it's a problem when we impose those same expectations on people. We want instant acceptance from our peers, instant response from our colleagues, instant help from our spouse—regardless of the circumstances. And when we don't get the immediate response we...