Lucinda Atwood – Serious about happiness

It's Simple

You deserve happiness

It's Simple

You deserve happiness

You can start being happier today. You don’t need fame, fortune, or a thigh gap—you can be happy just the way you are. Simple strategies and practices will help you increase your happiness.

And then if you still want fame, fortune or a thigh gap, you’re more likely to succeed. Research shows that happiness leads to success, not the other way around.

Current research also shows that:

Being happy improves your career. You’re more likely to get the job, get promoted and be seen as a leader.
Being happy helps others become happier, which helps the people around them become happier. It’s a positive cycle that decreases violence.
Happiness is not related to wealth or status. A year after their life-changing event, guess who’s happier—quadriplegics or lottery winners? (Hint: it’s not the lottery winners.)

I teach people how to be happy. Here you’ll find articles, podcasts and lessons based on practical experience and backed by research.

So take a look around. I hope what you find makes you happy.

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Shame Waves: Surfing to Success

Habits & Practices

Shame Waves: Surfing to Success

Habits & Practices

You just gave the best performance ever. You were calm, confident and engaging. The audience loved you! But then you sit down. Flooded with adrenaline, your brain works quickly, evaluating your performance—your dreadful, awful performance. In high resolution, your brain replays the errors, the omissions, the failures. Moments ago you were proud, now you’re embarrassed. […]

How to answer unexpected questions (sounding smart and confident)

Communication Skills

How to answer unexpected questions (sounding smart and confident)

Communication Skills

Have you ever wondered how to give strong, confident answers to unexpected questions? Speaking without preparation is called impromptu speaking. We do it in conversations, meetings and interviews. If you don’t know what to say, impromptu speaking can be scary, and an opportunity to embarrass yourself. But don’t panic! Just use the BRAC method to […]

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Public Speaking Basics: Building confidence and competence

Communication Skills

Public Speaking Basics: Building confidence and competence

Communication Skills

Most of us fear public speaking more than we fear death. Which is ironic because it’s an easy-to-learn skill that can greatly improve your life. Strong speaking skills will enhance your career, education and relationships — almost every aspect of your life. So why do many people never learn? Because they don’t know where to […]

What’s more important than goals? Enjoying the pursuit.

What’s more important than goals? Enjoying the pursuit.

In my work I meet a lot of people in transit—people on their way to becoming the best version of themselves. Whether it’s a new career or advancing within one, my clients have goals. Now, you know and I know all the stuff about goals. They’ve gotta be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed-upon, Realistic and Timebound). […]

Saying No: A beginner’s guide

Communication Skills

Saying No: A beginner’s guide

Communication Skills

No, non, nada, nyet—how we say no in different languages. Nein is the German word for no. Nein sounds the same as the English word nine, which means one less than 10. According to researchers, nine is also the number of times kids expect to ask their parents for something before getting it. Nine. Can […]

Casual Negativity or Mindful Positivity

Communication Skills, Happiness

Casual Negativity or Mindful Positivity

Communication Skills, Happiness

A young friend introduced me to this simple group game last Saturday. We passed slips of paper around in a circle; one was marked with an L, and the rest with Ws. In this game, players don’t know what’s on their card. After the cards have gone once around the circle, everyone flips over their […]

Self-Control: The secret to successful speaking & listening

Communication Skills

Self-Control: The secret to successful speaking & listening

Communication Skills

Technology allows us to communicate faster, more frequently, and to a wider audience. But who’s listening? The more we communicate, the harder it is to listen well—to focus on one person and their words. This is where self-control comes in. Being able to pause yourself and focus on the speaker and improves your understanding but […]

Personal Anecdotes: 6 Pro Tips

Communication Skills

Personal Anecdotes: 6 Pro Tips

Communication Skills

I was the wittiest teacher in town until that day. Mid-joke, I suddenly realized that my students laugh because I control their grades. Damn. I shut my mouth and got serious about my job. Which isn’t to say I’m solemn now—keeping things light helps learning, and personal anecdotes add depth to speeches. But my job is to […]

Teenagers: 15 Tips for Peaceful Communication

Communication Skills

Teenagers: 15 Tips for Peaceful Communication

Communication Skills

Sometimes it seems that all teens do is communicate—texting, instagramming, facetiming. But when adults try to talk to teens, both sides often end up frustrated, annoyed or bewildered. How can we bridge this gap? First, Understand your Audience Consider what it is to be teenaged. Teens are in transition between childhood and adulthood. They look […]

Kids and Swearing: How to get the little ones to stop talking sh*t

Communication Skills

Kids and Swearing: How to get the little ones to stop talking sh*t

Communication Skills

Ahh the power of words: to inspire, teach and offend. Nothing beats the precision of a well-placed profanity, but swearing is like hot sauce—a little goes a long way. I hate hearing kids curse. Although it’s a natural part of their development, swearing is a harsh reminder of lost innocence, especially when it’s your own kid. I […]

Empathy Self Test

Empathy Self Test

Empathy: identifying with someone else’s feelings or emotions. Empathy is a cornerstone of relationships. When we speak and listen with empathy others feel heard and respected, relationships improve, and we positively influence others. Self-test: Do you speak and listen with empathy? When talking: Do your words add to your listener’s life—are you giving them a gift, or […]

Conversation Skills: Are you sharing or monopolizing?

Communication Skills, Happiness

Conversation Skills: Are you sharing or monopolizing?

Communication Skills, Happiness

Sitting in a coffee shop listening to two women talk over each other, I am reminded of that apt analogy of two TVs, both turned on and facing each other. Lots of words but little communication. We’re all guilty sometimes of talking at rather than to our listener; of delivering monologues instead of mutually exploring […]

Complaining: Committed vs Uncommitted

Communication Skills, Happiness

Complaining: Committed vs Uncommitted

Communication Skills, Happiness

Committed complaining: have you heard of it? The idea is that we complain in two ways: committed or uncommitted to fixing the problem. Sometimes we’re just grousing: I’m cold, my office is cold, I hate working here, my boss is a nightmare… Uncommitted complaining begins and ends with the complaint. You don’t like something but […]

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Beyond No! Communicating with Toddlers

Communication Skills

Beyond No! Communicating with Toddlers

Communication Skills

Communicating with two-year-olds can be frustrating. They’re passionate, stubborn and likely to bite. But it doesn’t have to be this way—spending time with toddlers can be fun! Yes, really. Toddlers are amazing—they’re still connected to their magic, and look at the world in a way we’ve forgotten. They have lots to say and can be […]

Are You an Interrupting Cow? How to be a better listener, and more popular too

Communication Skills

Are You an Interrupting Cow? How to be a better listener, and more popular too

Communication Skills

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Interrupting Cow. Interrupting Cow wh– Moo! Are you an interrupting cow? How often do you allow a pause after someone’s finished speaking? Be honest, how often do you let people finish speaking? Interrupting is such a deeply ingrained habit for some that we don’t even notice when we do it. Kicking that habit […]

About

Hi! I’m Lucinda, a master teacher who’s serious about happiness.

My background includes several careers, many employers and constant creativity. But no matter what I did, I always taught. I love teaching! And I’m good at it. Over 30 years I’ve taught at universities, colleges, private schools, workplaces and community centers. I’ve taught athletes, teachers, businesspeople, immigrants, designers, first responders, seniors, babies and stroke survivors.

I’ve had lots of experience and met many people. But only a few were truly happy. The happy people I met didn’t have much in common—some were rich, some were poor, some had great health, some were sick. But they all shared one thing: a commitment to happiness.

Current research matches my experience. It shows that happiness is an attitude, not a goal. It’s a way of going through life, a choice we make every day. Happiness does not come from achievements or money—it’s independent of health, wealth or status.

I taught myself to be happy. It took years, lots of research and tons of work. And now that I’m truly happy, I want to share this gift.

So I started teaching people how to be happy. Now I want to teach you.

Like throwing a pebble in an ocean, these actions expand. If you learn how to be happy you’ll influence the people around you, and they can learn how to be happier. Then they’ll influence the people around them. And so on.

Together we can create an ocean of joy that contributes to world peace. And have a great time doing it.

All contents of this site copyright Lucinda Atwood