You’re sure to recognize these everyday words and phrases that clutter our emails, meetings, and chats. Sometimes it feels like a day of work conversations could be summarized into a string of what I call “word trash.” “Can we take this offline, circle back, and touch base tomorrow? I have a hard stop at 5, but I want this to stay top of mind.” “How’s everything?” …

3 Word Tips for connecting better (from my new book, Word Wise): 1) Ctrl + F on the word “Just” and delete: A Google executive banned the word “just” from her team’s communications after she realized that striking it from a phrase clarified and strengthened the message. 2) Start requests…

‘Ought once was, of all things, the past tense of owe […] But when you owe, you’re under an obligation,’ says English Professor, John McWorter. Obligation is a synonym of need, and so our word-bowel movements evolve from moral dumps (of should) into need-diarrhea. I was whatsapping a friend and a ‘I have to go to a wedding’ message popped up next to her RBF profile photo. My response: “Ok but you want to go to the wedding so I’m curious about you saying ‘I have to go’ rather than ‘I’m going’.”

How four religions shape up against the five happiness muscles. I was Christened. Not by choice. I’m neither atheist, nor agnostic. I believe we are all tiny fragments of Universal Consciousness and Universal Conscious Creator (UC and UCC. You see, see?) Ego is the opposite. I like the Edging God Out interpretation, or ESO: Edging Soul Out. Each religion is…

How four religions shape up against the five happiness muscles. I was Christened. Not by choice. I’m neither atheist, nor agnostic. I believe we are all tiny fragments of Universal Consciousness and Universal Conscious Creator (UC and UCC. You see, see?) Ego is the opposite. I like the Edging God Out interpretation, or ESO: Edging Soul Out. Each religion is…

Trader Joe’s outscored Whole Foods on all seven measures of employee happiness in a recent survey. — One shopper exits as another arrives at the Trader Joe’s Chelsea store. Photograph: Will Jelbert I live in Chelsea, home of art galleries, gays, a market and pier, the most Chipotles in one neighborhood, and a Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. I am a grocery store whore. As unfaithful to…

(This poem is also available as a parody rap and video here) What seems to be a nonstop stream, Fine dining and living the dream. Correspondence bias, ego plates, we compare but no one relates. Your mind on poses for posting, loses senses, stops noticing. Letch, Letch, Letch the ego, …

(This poem is also available as a parody rap and video here) What seems to be a nonstop stream, Fine dining and living the dream. Correspondence bias, ego plates, we compare but no one relates. Your mind on poses for posting, loses senses, stops noticing. Letch, Letch, Letch the ego, …

Exercising the trust happiness muscle with strangers… Before… Yesterday, as I was dropping off my suit pants to be dry cleaned to get the chewing gum off the ass area — an unwanted addition that came from sitting on a bench at Wynyard train station — I spotted a detox…