Doing What Works

Katie broke a mirror on a Friday the 13th seven years ago and is celebrating the end of a run of supposedly bad luck. Because really, who knows? This edition of Doing What Works examines how we cope with the unknowable.

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Buddy the Elf rides the escalator.

What were the odds you’d be conceived?

How birds see the world.

All the religions of the world seem to agree that dreams are one of the channels through which the gods traditionally speak to mortals.

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

There’s a wood stove in your basement that you want to drag up the stairs and out the door of your house. Is that something you attempt by yourself? We help you with decisions like this in this edition of Doing What Works.

No show notes this time!

You can help keep rats at bay by more carefully rinsing your recyclables, and you can get more ideas for making the world a better place in this edition of Doing What Works!

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The NYC Rat Pack!

How bad for the environment can throwing away one plastic water bottle be?

Financial security. Your person. The bad habit you finally break. In this edition of Doing What Works we wonder what would happen if you finally got what you want, whether you should make peace with not getting it -- and how those two scenarios might be related.

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The quest to catch a flightless bird!

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.

Was Sisyphus at peace with his plight?

When you’re single, things happen to you. When you’re married, things slow to a crawl.

Bewitched aired for eight seasons on ABC.

We grow in connection with others.

You’ll never be sorry you took good care of yourself, so why do you have to force yourself to work out or eat well or even get enough sleep? If it’s because there’s usually something more fun you could be doing instead, why do some of us have to force ourselves to have fun? Questions worth pondering in this edition of Doing What Works.

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Morning Guy wishes Night Guy would have gone to bed at a reasonable hour.

“Rushmore Cave” is our family’s way of saying, “Try it. You’ll like it!”

No swimsuit required!

Do you consider yourself a contrarian? If you do, then we have a show for you! If you don’t, that probably makes you a contrarian -- so we have a show for you, too.

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The Secret was wildly popular. How do you feel about it?

Martha Stewart is wildly successful. Are you happy for her?

Gretchen Rubin thinks enthusiasm is a form of social courage. Do you agree?

Daniel Stern’s character in City Slickers said getting married meant he wasn’t a goofball anymore. Does marriage confer status?

Let me fall if I need to fall. The person I become will catch me.

We grow in connection with others.

Do you recline your seat on an airplane? Do you crack jokes in a cramped elevator? Do you pressure your little girl to kiss Grandpa when she recoils at the thought? We bet you’ll find this edition of Doing What Works relatable!

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The Impossible Institute’s Dan Gregory is the co-author of Selfish, Scared and Stupid.

The latest version of Tour Guide Katie joins us for this encore edition of Doing What Works, and we dare you to find a better example of doing what works.
 
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The 1939 and 1964 New York World’s Fairs captured Katie’s imagination.  


Jane’s Walk!

Your physical possessions. Your financial history. Your digital files of (thousands of?) photos. It’s the spring cleaning encore edition of Doing What Works!
 
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Bob Culbertson plays the Chapman Stick.

Justice, love, even shame. There are themes running through our lives, and in this edition of Doing What Works we show you why they’re worth examining.

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How The War of Art’s Steven Pressfield discovered the themes of his life.

Jonathan Fields: “If you’re tethered to a toxic person, you can’t meditate or journal that away.”