A Baggage Handler: A short-short story

Boring Man: A short-short story

After the Ball Dropped: A short-short story

A Rose's Life: A short-short story

All Planned Out: A short-short story

Burn: A short-short story

Old Money: A short-short story

Orchestrators: Magicians behind the music

Christmas Lyrics Worth a Moment

Who Can You Trust? A short-short story

Baseball Reinvented

The Making of a Forest: A short-short story for the holidays

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer played many ways plus 4 of my not-sappy C...

Scrooge on Dec. 26: A short-short story

The Newscast Reinvented

A Better Approach to Learning to Play the Piano

Hiring Reinvented

A Low-Key Way to Do New Year's Eve

Departing Neighbors: A short-short story

Between Christmas and the New Year: A short-short story

On Thinking

The Joy of Revising

A Tweetstorm Between Putin and a Peacenik (revised)

Holiday Musings

An Envelope Stuffer: A short-short story

Nothing to Do: A short-short story

Merit: A short-short story

Runthrough for my Christmas Piano Concert, 12/17/22

The Conversation I Wish I Had Had With My Dad

Dog Stolen. Reward.

I'm Committing Suicide in the Most Painful Way: A short-short story

Do You Need a Coach, Really?

12 Wonderful Gifts for $10 each

I Wish I Had Never Gone to School

My OTHER Just-Published Book, Soloists: Introverts and Outsiders Facing a Dilemma is now FREE

My OTHER just-published, illustrated book, Soloists: 126 Short-short stories of introverts & outsiders facing a dilemma is temporarily, on Kindle, FREE. The print version is just $9. I'd welcome your honest review of it on Amazon, even if to trash it: https://amzn.to/3WfKyk0

My just published book, Baby Steps: doable Ideas for a better life is temporarily, in Kindle-version, FREE. I am confident you'll find it inordinately helpful, but would welcome your honest review of it on Amazon, even if it's to trash it: https://amzn.to/3Wc4mof

It's My Car and I'll Cry if I Want To: An essay in FAVOR of car ownership

The Church Caretaker and His Mom's Headstone: A short-short story

Payback: A short-short story

A Gen Z Son Fights His Millennial Dad

America's Little Empress

"It's Not My Job to Make You Coffee:" a short-short story

What Worries Me and Should Worry You but Probably Doesn't

My Dog Trained Me

A Widower: A short-short story

An Arguer: A short-short story

An Ambivalent Executive

A Cheery Chemo Nurse: A short-short story

A School Bus Driver: A short-short story

A Perfectionist Conductor: A short-short story

The Hillcrest Widow's Club

A Grumpy Gardener: A short-short story

An Atheist Pew Salesman: A short-short story

A Burned-Out Teacher: A short-short story

The Toilet Cleaners' Union

An Old Wolf Talks to Us

Prince Charming: A short-short fairy tale

My new book was published today: Baby Steps: Doable ideas to improve your life

My new book was just published today: Baby Steps: Doable Ideas for Improving Your Life. It's available at THIS Amazon.com page.

More Effective Altruism

Musings on Education, Climate Change, Effective Altruism, Screwing Up, I...

Facing Our Irrelevance

A parody of the challenges of having an office holiday party in today's ...

7 Unpopular Ideas About Work

Is Ronald Reagan Overrated or Underrated?

How Do Life. Marty Nemko in Conversation with Autodesk's Ex-CEO Carl Bass

Confronting Our Limitations

Pros and Cons Regarding 9 Controversial Issues

Dealing with Death

Dealing with Feeling Irrelevant

Inside the Mind of a Pianist Giving a Concert

Thanksgiving Reinvented

The End of Work, The End of the World?

When Humans Can't Stop Computers

Curate Everything: Key to a good life

Just When You Feel Safest: A short-short story

An Outsider's Advice to Outsiders

7 Songs, 3 Books, 2 Movies, and One Art Print I'd take if I Were to Spen...

Should You Marry?

I Am Sponsoring an Essay Contest. Want to enter?

Choosing a Career: Advice re tech, liberal arts grads, self-employment, ...

My Life's Favorite Moment: A short-short story

Looking for Eyeballs: A short-short story

Select, Don't Elect: A better way to choose our political leaders

My Predictions

A Rational Approach to Life

An Inside Look at Writers and Writing

Big Balls: A short story

"Should I Kill Him?" A short-short story from my book, Soloists

"A Terrible Two?" A short-short story

94 and Searching: A short-short story

"Stars and Stripes Forever:" A short-short story from my book, Soloists

"Sam's Last Concert:" A short-short story from my book, Soloists

Tits Tommy: A short-short story from my book, Soloists

"In Tune:" A story from my book, Soloists

A Lazy Career Coach: A short story

"I Am Going to Have the Baby: A short-short story from my book, Soloists

ET Meets Cinderella's Stepmother

Turning Down Harvard: A short-short story from my book Soloists

A Hypochondriac: A short-short story from the book, Soloists

"Wonder Woman": A short-short story from my book Soloists

"I Look Older Than I Am" A short-short story from my collection, Soloists

Advice for Bored or Overwhelmed College and Graduate Students

Black Then Red: A short-short story

Advice for Overwhelmed People in Mid-Career

Advice I'd Give to a 6- to 10-Year-Old

Advice I'd Give to an Old Person

Advice I'd Give to a Young Person

How to Interview a Friend or Relative

Questions My Career Counseling Clients Ask

At Halloween, should you share gory fairy tales and nursery rhymes with ...

The Hope Giver: A short-short story.

11 Two-Minute Scary Stories for Adults at Halloween (realistic situation...

Music and Lyrics of Love and Life

The Arc: A powerful tool for compelling talks, writing, or music

What's Important and Not Important in Your Child's Education

All I Want to Tell You About Gardening

All I Think You Need to Know About Dogs

Everyday Miracles

Musings on intelligence, mentors, high school football, procrastination,...

My musings on diet, career, beauty, AI, utilitarianism, and more

A Master List of Possible Cures for Procrastination

Equal Justice, They Said

On 12 Bird Sayings

REBT/CBT doesn't work for all with Dr Marty Nemko

My Favorite Ideas on Communicating Effectively

On People-Watching

My Answers to Common Career Questions

Riffs on My Favorite Tweets

My Best Ideas....Inspired by listening to Lex Fridman

My 11 Favorite Short-Short Stories from My New Book, Soloists

Stars and Stripes Forever: A short-short story

Peace, Brother: A short-short story

A Telemarketer with a Soul: A short-short story

Sensitivity Training: A short-short story

In Tune: A short-short story

"Sub! Sub! Sub!" : A short-short story

"I Look Older Than I Am": A short-short story

A Tough Professor: A short-short story

"If I Want Advice, I'll Ask For It": A short-short story

An Orderly Life

Displacement: A short-short story

The Studious One: A short-short story

Autumn Leaves: Theme and Variations

Coupling: A short-short story

Mother Teresa's "Do it Anyway" and why that's especially relevant today

On Staring at an Autumn Leaf

Making This Your Child's Best School Year Yet

Was This Labor Day a Time to Raise a Bottle of Beer or Flute of Champagne?

My Predictions about the Future of Work and of Relationships

Kamal: A short-short story

A Follower: A short-short story

Spurts: A short-short story

It Only Takes a Moment: A short-short story

Unfit: A short-short story written and read for you by Marty Nemko

The History of Music in 12 Minutes

You Don't Want to Know: A short-short story

Suggestions for People Who are Retired and Bored

Ideas for Teachers Who Want a New Career

Options I Offered a Physician and a Lawyer Who Wanted to Change Careers

Suggestions I Gave to 3 People Who Desperately Wanted to Change Career

My thoughts on leadership, remote work, and career lessons from my own l...

A Culture of Impulsivity: A short-short story written and read to you by...

How I deal with money

My Thoughts on Relationships: Familial, Platonic, Romantic

My approach to my mental and physical health

How I Decide Who and What to Give Money to

Straight talk, perhaps bold talk about education

"Community Property": A short-story story written and read for you by Ma...

The Most Helpful Commencement Speech I Have Ever Read

A speech from American Psycho indicting the veneers we put on for the world

The "I'm Mad as Hell" speech from the film, Network

The ultimate anti-capitalist movie scene: Always Be Closing from GlenGar...

A monologue from The Devil Wears Prada: an indictment of the fashion ind...

The most touching speech in a movie ever?

On Writing

An easy way to tell stories compellingly.

My secret weapon for remembering stuff: A tip from my new mini-book Jere...

Tailor and accessorize your job to fit. That's a tip from my new mini-bo...

How to land a job before you run out of gas: A tip from my new book, Jer...

Is status an enemy of your contentment? That's a tip from my new book, J...

Practical, doable tips for time-management and procrastination

Do what you love and you well may starve

I Reveal My Just Published and I Believe Particularly Helpful Book: Jere...

Birth, Life, and Death: Watercolors and music

This may be my favorite project ever. Please enjoy.

My new booklet is out: Soloists: 42 short-short stories about people who try to make it on their own.

My new book is out: Soloists: 42 short-short stories about people who try to make it on their own. Each can be read in 1 to 3 min. 

 

Through Sunday, the e-book is free. 

 

 I'd welcome an honest review of it on Amazon. I hope you enjoy it. 

 

The link: https://amzn.to/3NtoHAU

My First Commandment: Be happy now

Yes, "Be happy now" sounds cliched or unrealistic, but I make the case in my Medium.com article today.

Nuanced Words for "Worried:" Toward expressing what you mean to convey

You're worried. What word do you want to use to convey it? Perhaps one of these more nuanced variants of "worry" in my Psychology Today article today will accurately express it.

Ideas for a Better Bucket List

Many people's bucket lists are conventional: perhaps going on safari and eating at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Especially if you're psychologically attuned, you might prefer one or more of those I offer in my Psychology Today article today.

Nuanced Words for "Happy" and "Sad:" Conveying the feeling you want to express.

We're more likely to be understood when we use nuance in our language. Previous installments in this series offered nuanced words for “love” and “anger.” My Psychology Today article today offers some for "happy" and "sad."

11 Nuanced Words for "Anger:" Using language to convey the feeling you want to express.

If you’re going to express anger, it should reflect the nuance of your feeling. Sometimes, “angry” doesn’t quite do it.

My Psychology Today article today offers 11 more nuanced words for “angry.” See if one or more belongs in your verbal or written toolkit.

In Search of Simpler Times: How to make modern life less frenzied

Today, when you ask someone, “How are you?” you may hear a perfunctory "fine." But you may well hear: "Hangin' in." "Tired." “Slammed.” "Overwhelmed." Indeed, like many of my clients and friends, I find our modern times challenging.

In the supermarket, I saw a can of Simpler Times beer and thought, “Hmm, that's appealing.” My Psychology Today article today offers some thoughts on how to create a simpler time for ourselves in today’s far-from simple world.

Preventing Partnerships From Deteriorating: Romantic, business, exercise, tutoring, co-authoring

The partnership highway is littered with roadkill, not just romantic partners and business partners, but virtually any sort of partnership. After all, at the beginning, it’s easy to see the synergies, but individuals’ differences soon emerge, often causing conflict.

How can you boost the chances of your synergies outweighing the conflicts?  My Psychology Today article today offers some advice.

8 When You Don’t Feel Like Doing It

As we enter tax season, we may avoid hairy but necessary activities. Of course, that’s not limited to taxes. It's anything you'd find unpleasant, or the technical term, yucky.

Whatever you’re tempted to procrastinate about, one of more of the eight tools I offer in my Psychology Today article today should help.

It's Not Too Early to Plan Your Legacy

Even if you're young, drafting your legacy can help you live the life you aspire to. My Psychology Today article today makes the case and lists 14 possible legacy aspirations. 

"My Pathetic Little Life:" A case study and questions that may help

Many people fear that their life will never be what they had hoped when they were younger. My Psychology Today article today presents a composite case study, and then I ask questions that may help.

Succeeding Solo: A short guide for people who do better on their own.

Much self-help advice assumes that homo sapiens is a social animal. Under-considered are people who prefer to go largely solo. My Psychology Today article today attempts a bit of remedy.

Living With Doubt: Making Peace with Uncertainty

Certitude is comforting but elusive, and doubt can provoke anxiety. Consider this composite based on my clients, friends, and me.

I worry…about almost everything. Did I buy the right thing? Was I too tough or too nice? How hard should I work? How hard should I play? How much should I trust that person, even my wife?! Help!

My Psychology Today article today asks questions and offers suggestions for people plagued with doubt

How to Become More Productive

I was interviewed last week and, off the air, the host asked, "How the hell are you so productive?" My Psychology Today article today paraphrases my answer.

The Case for Laziness

Yesterday, my post was How to Become More Productive. As a counterpoint, my Psychology Today article today makes the case for laziness, although I do ask a few doubting-Thomas questions.

Making the Most of Gratitude, Acceptance, and Striving

The life well-led may reduce to balancing gratitude, acceptance, and striving.

Gratitude is important because there’s much to be grateful for that's easily forgotten. Acceptance is important because much is resistant to change. Striving is important because we should be growing and achieving.

To encourage your balancing that triad, list things that you should feel grateful for, are wise to accept, and should strive for.

To prompt your thinking, My Psychology Today article today offers some examples. They're derived from my clients, friends, and me.

What Are You Looking Forward To? 29 things that could bring you out of the dump

Especially if you’re down in the dumps, you’d probably welcome something to pull you up. One thing that my clients have found helpful is rather simple: Just think of something you're looking forward to. Or if you can't think of anything, think of something you could do that you'd look forward to.

To illustrate and to trigger your thinking, my Psychology Today article today offers 29 possibilities.

My new book, Dialogues to Grow From has just been published

Quotes are a fast way to acquire life lessons and to deepen your understanding of how the world really works. But reading lists of quotes an be boring. 

So, in my new slim book Dialogues to Grow From, I stitch together quotes from 21 pairs e.g., Bill & Hillary, Victor Davis Hanson & St. Matthew. even Woody Allen, Wanda Sykes, and Joan Rivers. 

Until Thurs, the Kindle/e-book is free: https://amzn.to/3gFgprz Of course, it's not required but I'd welcome an honest review of it on Amazon.com

The Importance of Asking Why: It helps you understand another person...and maybe yourself

My Psychology Today article today offers "why" questions that can help you understand yourself better and, if you're trying to understand another person, give wordings that reduce the chances that you'll be perceived as invasive.

After each question, I offer a few possible answers that are drawn from my clients, friends, and me. Those answers demonstrate how helpful such questions can be.

Should You Be More Competitive or Less?

A case can be made for being more competitive and less so. My Psychology Today article today asks questions to help you decide what's right for you.

 

8 Words of Love: Useful ways to express your feelings

Whether it's in your Valentine’s Day card or otherwise, you of course want to express your love as you mean to. My Psychology Today article today may help.

 

If Your World is Getting Smaller, Is That OK? A case study and four questions to help you decide.

It seems that more of my clients are choosing to shrink their world. My Psychology Today article today offers a case study. It then asks questions to help you decide if you want to keep your world small, and offers suggestions in case you want to take baby steps to interacting more.

Look in the Mirror: A tool for self-discovery and a motivator for change

We all look in the mirror: Good hair day? Another wrinkle? To give yourself a pep talk?

But there’s more to be seen in the mirror, and that can be enlightening and/or scary.

Dare to take a look, a good long look?  My Psychology Today article today suggests things to look for, not just in appearance but as a window into who you are, and some ideas if you'd like to change

Why It’s Hard to Be Open-Minded: And three suggestions if you want to change.

Most people claim to be open-minded or at least aspire to be, but it’s not so easy. How open are we really to core views other than our own? A few examples: liberal vs conservative, religious vs atheist, or if you’re in psychology, psychodynamic versus cognitive-behavioral therapy.

And some people don’t want to be more open-minded, perhaps because they enjoy the certitude of their "rectitude," or because they feel they've sufficiently considered an issue and don’t want to spend more time on it.

But if you might want to become more open-minded, My Psychology Today article today may help.

Work as a Way to Heal: Finding well-suited work and the motivation to pursue it.

Work is almost the best way to pull oneself out of the depths— Eleanor Roosevelt

Many more people find that well-suited work not only brings in money and provides meaning, it can be healing. My Psychology Today article today offers relatively easy ways to find well-suited work and to find the motivation to pursue it.

Succeeding in Your First Professional Job

In this installment of The Quests series, my Psychology Today article today begins with a first-person report from "Jeremy," a composite of my clients' experiences. It embeds four important practices, and after "Jeremy's" report, I call them out.

The Power of Rehearsing: How to use rehearsal in preparing for a meeting, date, doctor’s appointment, etc

We think of rehearsing for a performance, job interview, or wedding toast, but it can be helpful in other situations. I discuss in my Psychology Today article today.

The Power of a Pause: The surprising number of situations in which it's helpful

Taking an extra moment—so easy, so transient. How much difference could it make?

Well, taking just an extra second can often make quite a difference in many situations, from conversation to negotiation, eating to flirting. 

That's my Psychology Today article today.

Finding and Maintaining Diet Discipline

The previous installments in The Quests series are “Finding a Good Job,” “Finding and Deepening a Relationship,” and “Finding a Good Place to Live.”

My Psychology Today article today turns to finding and keeping diet discipline: consistently not consuming more calories than we think wise.

Finding and Growing Money

The previous installments in this The Quests series are on finding a good job, relationship, peace of mind, place to live, and diet discipline.

In my Psychology Today article today, we turn to money: how to get it, how to grow it.

Finding a Good Place to Live

This is the fourth installment in The Quests series. The previous ones are Landing a Good Job, Finding and Deepening a Relationship, and Finding Peace of Mind.

In my Psychology Today article today, we turn to finding a good place to live. As the previous installments did, this one begins with a composite first-person report from “Jeremy” based on my clients’ and friends’ experiences. Then, I call out the embedded principles and practices.

Finding Peace of Mind

This is the third installment in a Psychology Today series, The Quests: The first was on finding a good job. The second was on finding and deepening a relationship.

Today, I turn to the quest for peace of mind.

Finding and Deepening a Long-Term Relationship

This is the second installment in a series, The Quests: The first was on finding a good job. 

My Psychology Today article today turns to the quest for a good long-term relationship.

Finding a Good Job: A composite case study that embeds eight key principles and practices

My Psychology Today article today offers a first-person report that's a composite of my clients' experiences that embeds eight key principles, practical and psychological, for landing a good job. After, I call those out.

Mutual Respect: Why it's key to the good relationship, and how to build yours

Mutual respect, obviously key to a relationship is often forgotten. My Psychology Today article today makes clear why it's so central and how to increase you and your partner's mutual respect.

Beware the Temptation to Indoctrinate Your Children

We care so much about our children that we want to give them our very best. That can include trying to inculcate our most deeply held beliefs. But that can poorly serve them. My Psychology Today article today explains why and how to educate rather than inculcate, so they become better and more independent thinkers.

The Wisdom Project: Yes-ands and yes-buts to 13 luminaries' quotations

I reviewed literally thousands of quotes and identified 17 that are particularly potent for living wisely. My Medium.com article today lists them plus my yes-ands and yes-buts.

Pursue Excellence Not for External Reward But for Its Own Sake

My Psychology Today article today makes the case that most people should strive for excellence but do so not mainly in hopes of getting rewards but for its own sake. The article goes only to explain how to become more excellent, at least in one domain.

Remote Work: Version 2.0

Some fresh ideas on working at home. That's my Medium.com article today: https://medium.com/@mnemko/the-wisdom-project-4af09ec768f0

Suggestions for the Worried Gen Z'er

My Psychology Today article today addresses common worries of Generation Z, people ready to start out in adulthood.

How to Avoid Irrationally Low or High Risk Tolerance

Financial advisors and apps ask clients to rate their risk tolerance, usually accept the answer, and find appropriate investments.

But why might someone's risk tolerance might be irrationally high or low. To become more rational, My Psychology Today article today offers 11 causes of and suggestions for irrationally high or low risk tolerance.

How to Reduce Social Anxiety

Everyone gets nervous in some social situations, perhaps a first date, an important meeting, or giving a presentation. But when the fear extends to avoiding or being too quiet with other people and it’s lasted for months or longer, it’s often termed social anxiety disorder or social phobia disorder.

But "social anxiety” is like a headache: The cure depends on the cause.  I offer some cause-specific suggestions in my Psychology Today article today.

8 Ways to Become a Better Thinker

Thinking ability is the holy grail for improving your professional and personal life. My Psychology Today article today offers eight practical ways to improve yours.

The Wisdom Project: Yes-ands and yes-buts in response to 13 luminaries' advice.

As I reflect on what writing has most helped my clients, friends, and me, I’ve become enamored of the short form. The quotation may be the shortest incarnation of wisdom.

So I reviewed literally thousands of quotations from respected luminaries to identify not-obvious but helpful quotes

My Psychology Today article today offers 17 quotes of particular value, adding my yes-ands and yes-buts.

Advice for the Worried Teenager

My Psychology Today article today offers advice for the teen worried about college, relationship, career, and money. 

How Well Does Your Love Life Match Iconic Love Song Lyrics?

My Psychology Today article today presents iconic lyrics from love songs can encourage you to reflect on your love life. Within each of four categories of lyrics, I offer some less poetic thoughts and questions about love life.

"They Say I'm Too Intense:" Suggestions that don't require a personality transplant

A client today is at risk of getting fired because despite being competent at his job, his boss said that she and others find him too intense. We developed a number of suggestions that he's enthusiastic about and may be of help to you. I describe them in my Psychology Today article today.