• Short of money? Just gamble on some high-stakes game and your problems could be solved overnight. Day-trading, casinos, horse-racing, the easy solutions on offer here are plentiful.
• Lonely or sexually frustrated? Just head to the local drunken singles bar for a night of meaningless sex. Of course, you'll likely feel dissatisfied and cheap tomorrow, but what the heck.
• Bored or miserable? Just pop a pill, hit the bottle or shoot up. This one's based on the illusion that emotions should be as easy to manipulate as a TV remote control.
• Don't like school? Just drop out and start working for real money instead. Take control of your life and who needs an education anyway?

	Emotions are like muscles, you need to work them out
	It’s amazing how much of our lives are controlled by our emotions. In fact, it could be said that pretty much everything we do is in pursuit of some sort of emotional comfort. If you’re hungry, lonely or cold, your emotions are going to let you know by making you feel miserable. This is generally a good thing.
	If investments become cheaper, and you’re a buyer, that’s a good thing
	In the last few years, stock markets around the world have been hammered. Currencies have also fallen to historic lows. People see their portfolios down and are running scared.
	Don't fall into the habit of finding excuses not to take action
	Sometimes it's good not to take action. It's just not called for under some circumstances and can actually make things worse. I've written about this before.
	The best way to influence the behavior of others
	We are all dependent on one another. We need other people and they need us in order to live the best lives we can. But other people are generally outside of our control. So one of the biggest problem anyone faces is how to get others to behave in the way we want them to.
	What to do when you've made a life-shatteringly bad decision
	Let's face it, despite our often high opinions of ourselves, we're all human really. There's not a person on this planet who hasn't made an incredibly stupid decision at some stage that's had life-changing consequences. You'll certainly make such a dumb call yourself some day, as will I and everybody else.
	It's extremely difficult to change people
	Most of us have someone in our life we'd like to change. It might be a lover, a child, a boss, or a neighbor. We try every trick at our disposal to meet that end, but in general we are likely to fail.
	Throw yourself in the deep end
	We're all afraid of things we haven't experienced before. We'd like to take a more responsible job, but we're not sure we can deal with it. We'd like to meet new people, but we're afraid that they won't like us. We'd like to try out a new activity, but we're worried about making a fool out of ourselves.
	If you don't know, say so
	Three of the hardest words for many people to say are: "I don't know". In fact, many of the problems in human history have been caused through our aversion to these words. How come?
	The transition periods are often the most difficult
	Someone I know quite well once discovered that his wife of five years was seeing another man behind his back. He found out when she suddenly announced she was leaving him for her new beau. He was out of town at the time, and when he returned he found most of the furniture in his house missing.
	Six things likely to make you happier in the long-term
	I've previously looked at how to get a short-term "hit" of happiness. Now I'll explore the more important subject of long-term happiness.

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