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.”

Every time I sit down to write I think, “I’ve got nothing.” The same with the show: “There’s nothing left to cover.” Katie knows I power through anyway -- she helps! -- and we share how in this edition of Doing What Works.

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Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act might help you trust what you already know.

Steven Pressfield might help you defeat Resistance, but the struggle will be daily.

The Rookie might help you remember it isn’t too late.

Anne Lamott might inspire you to see the value in not-at-all-perfect first drafts.

When someone who self-identifies as frugal offers to buy you a sixteen-dollar pretzel, wouldn’t you be touched? Katie was, but she was also sad. That was nine years ago, she’s still sad, and this edition of Doing What Works is a study in wistful.

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What is a weird kind of sad?

Are you ready for kindergarten?