Roger von Oech tells you how to discover your creative style. “Much of our educational system is an elaborate game of “guess what the teacher is thinking,” and we come to believe that the best ideas are in someone else’s head rather than our own. Heraclitus reminds us that there are good ideas within ourselves if we are willing to dig deeply enough.” He gets extra points for bringing Heraclitus into this!

Gifter.org wants to collect million wishes and a million bucks. Go give them a hand!

Trusted advisor says drop your new year’s resolutions and make a new year’s gratitude list. “Resolutions often have a component of dissatisfaction with self. For many, it isn’t just dissatisfaction—it’s self-hatred.” This is also what my friend Stephen Shapiro writes about in his excellent book Goal-Free Living and on his equally excellent blog. (thx Lisa Guinn).

How to overcome the Loss of Motivation that Follows a Surge of Productivity. “How many times have you started a new activity (such as a personal project or exercise routine) with a burst of enthusiasm, only to see that initial momentum evaporate?”

Gretchen Rubin has worked on her happiness project for a year now. “Am I happier? Absolutely.” Some great lessons on happiness there.

Boxes and Arrows magazine interviews Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice. “And when you cross a line (and you are probably going to ask me “where’s the line???? and I’m going to say, ???I don’t know; nobody knows???), choice goes from being beneficial to being paralyzing. So one effect of too many choices is that people can’t choose at all.”

A 45 minute video of Richard Dawkins explaining why it pays to be nice. Prisoner’s dilemma, selfish genes and tragedy of the commons are all explained very well. And, oh, that cultured British accent :o)

A nice story about generosity at Southwest Airlines. “The good news (yes, there is some!) about being as forgetful as I can be is that I’ve had the chance to see, and to experience, generosity from complete strangers.”