How do therapists personally deal with loneliness? With a heavy heart, I acknowledge it’s a question I’m uniquely and sadly qualified to answer. First, my credentials: I’ve been a psychologist for forty-seven years. I met my wife, Deborah, in 1974 when we were both students in graduate school. A year later, we moved in together. Along the way, we married, had kids—three girls and a
This article was originally published at Authority Magazine. Anger is never a sustainable path to success. Yet, it may be the right fuel you need for that initial thrust to blast you through the gravity of negative resistance. My anger and aggression — my battle to prove my father wrong — brought me to a place where I could finally say, “I’m okay. I’m not
I’m pushing 72; I’ve spent over 40 years as a clinical psychologist, traveling the rocky, existential highways of dilemma, doubt, and despair, interspersed with profound moments of transformation, depth, and forgiveness. I was built for this, or more precisely, I was prepared for this – at 12, I was hypnotically directing my parents toward a blissful marriage, and, at 16, I was an up-and-coming teenage
Dorrie Jacobson is my kind of Premium, an 83-year-old, sexy grandma, model, and Instagram style guru with a take-no-prisoners attitude. Dressed in tight orange pants with matching blouse, stilettos, and nails, and carrying a fiery yellow bag, our Octogenarian style Queen just doesn’t give a s**t. “This business of being age appropriate is ridiculous. Get out there and break the rules.” Yeah, Dorrie! Dorrie, you’re my girl, my
Creating a Premium Mindset Part II Around 5:30 this morning, I was awakened by volcanic disturbances erupting from the region of my lower intestines. “Of course, this must be cancer,” I thought, quickly ruling out the more logical possibility that those annoying rumblings might have more to do with a half pound of sharp cheddar colliding with a somewhat lactose-intolerant, digestive system. But then again, how could it
Who hasn’t heard the expression, “Age is a state of mind?” Part I Come on, is it really? Can I just pick any number younger than I am and say to myself, “I’m not 72, I’m 52,” and bingo, I start producing all sorts of happy and youthful hormones like endorphins, oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin. Wow, wouldn’t that be great? I’d be able to run a mile
Premium: An active, curious, exceptionally young-at-heart person over 60 who is into style, ideas, and cultivates innovation and Personal evolution at all levels. Forgive me, but I have to start with some assumptions about you. I do this despite a stern warning I received as a young army recruit in the summer of 1966 that “assumptions are the mother of all f**k ups.” So, bear with me and let’s
Premium Fitness:“It’s All in the Mind, my Friend. It’s All in the Mind” At 14,000 feet (4250 meters), we’re six climbers from five different countries, clustered around a stove, barely burning yak dung. We’re talking trash, telling tall tales, and whining about the shortage of yak shit – proving that these three words, “misery loves company” contain more practical sense than the sum total of all the inexplicable,
Experience is Everything… Or It’s Nothing I knew a man who accumulated experiences like some people hoard newspapers. At 20, he rode the rails. In his 50’s and early 60’s he lived on a small yacht, struggling to live the life of a free-spirited bohemian. Like a character out of a Hemingway novel, or perhaps like Hemingway himself, he was obsessively searching for a redemptive experience, one
The Art of Premium Parenting, Part 2: Should You Keep Your Mouth Shut and Your Wallet Open? In Part I of Premium Parenting, I promised you I’d suggest possible answers to the thorny issues facing Premium Parents. I’m here to deliver on my promise. However, first, a little patience because I want to begin with a real story that happened to a friend of mine. It’s a great
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