Melissa Balmain
Sometimes a Tragic Tale Can Offer Inspiration…
Have you ever had a book land in your lap at just the right moment? As if the universe is saying, “Here, kid, I saw this and thought of you”? The Opposite of Loneliness was exactly that sort of book for me. It may, I suspect, be that sort for a lot of us. And to think…
A Gratitude Habit to Boost Your Positivity
There’s a blackout while I’m in the basement of my house. At least it didn’t happen when I was cleaning the cats’ litter box, I tell myself. Next morning, I spill coffee all over the kitchen counter. At least it didn’t go in the silverware drawer. Then it’s on to bonking my hip on a table (at…
Talk to Strangers—It’s Good for Your Body and Soul
The other day at a restaurant, my 9-year-old daughter did a magic trick that never fails to amaze me: pulling friendship out of thin air. One moment, she and another girl were at separate outdoor tables with their separate families, eating dinner. The next (abracadabra!) they were racing up and down the grassy canal bank…
How Breaks Can Turn into Breakthroughs
Just in case any children read this column—peeking, as kids inevitably will, at Mom’s or Dad’s seductive copy of SUCCESS—allow me to start with a disclaimer: I in no way endorse playing hooky. It’s a terrible, awful, dangerous idea. Unless you’re a grown-up. My own addiction to hooky began 17 years ago. On deadline with…
8 Reasons Why Walks Are Good for Relationships
Hey, brain researchers—yeah, you with the lab coats and electrodes. Where are all the studies on walking and relationships? On why taking a stroll together is as great for romance, family ties and friendship as it is for muscles and Reebok sales? Not only has my web sleuthing turned up no such studies, but a…
The Leadership Secret to Supercharging Your Team
So you were first in your MBA class and have the smarts of Jeff Bezos and Marissa Mayer combined. If you want the brightest possible future in business, you may still have a few things to learn. “During our school years, there’s this fallacious sense that only how well you do academically is going to…
How Social Media Helps You Be Your Best Self
The day my sink’s water filter exploded and sprayed the kitchen like Old Faithful, I did a little exploding myself. Four-letter words? I yelled them. Spluttering shrieks? I shrieked them. And then, seconds later, I was laughing. What had changed? I’d remembered my audience. Not the two cats who stood blinking nearby (though their baffled…
A Love Poem with Wit
Melissa Balmain doesn't need an invitation. She's walking in. The SUCCESS Contributing Editor has penned a new comic poetry book, Walking in on People, in which she explores the wit in every day life. "Melissa Balmain's poems add to the rhythmic bounce of light verse a darker, more cutting humor," praises former U.S. Poet Laurete Billy…
Beat Boredom: Get Your Game On
Mowing the… yawn. Shopping at the grocery… snore. Whoever you are, wherever you live, chances are there’s at least one task that bores the pants off you. For me, it’s shoveling snow, something we upstate New Yorkers do while the rest of you are frolicking in meadows with bluebirds and puppies (or so we assume).…
Give Family a Taste of Workplace Etiquette
It’s hard to remember how it started. Maybe it was after my husband snapped at me for something tiny, like misplacing my house keys. Or after I snapped at him for something truly heinous, like putting our pasta strainer in the wrong drawer. Either way, a few months ago we acknowledged a sorry truth: We…