Today’s Solutions: January 19, 2025

Lifestyle

Alongside taking care of other people and the planet, make sure you take good care of yourself. The Lifestyle section at the Optimist Daily has solutions for everyday wellbeing on topics like food, beauty, fashion, and the latest trends. Curious about caring for houseplants, eating plant-based, or parenting tips? It’s all in there.

For the first time since 2007,

For the first time since 2007, every EU economy is growing at the same time

Economically speaking, the European Union is performing better than it has in a long while. For the first time since 2007, all 28 of the union’s member economies are growing at the same time, on an annual basis. Unemployment is also at its lowest point across the region since 2009, and the GDP Read More...

4 tips for dealing with negati

4 tips for dealing with negative thinking when the world seems doomed

Whether you’re wringing your hands over the unpredictability of Trump or Brexit, or distracted by anxiety towards your relationship, there’s nothing fun about being plagued by negative thoughts. A recent survey by Harris Poll for the American Psychological Association showed that the divisive Read More...

Massive universal basic income

Massive universal basic income trial set to rollout in Kenya

Despite trials in the 1960s and 1970s in the US, Canada, and India, we still don’t know if universal basic income reduces poverty while enhancing quality of life. In the coming years we may find out as a universal basic income program is set to begin in Kenya. The program, called GiveDirectly, Read More...

Want to help fight legal battl

Want to help fight legal battles? There’s a crowdfunding site for that

When online crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and GoFundMe debuted, people hoping to invent and sell a better bottle opener, those in need of help with medical bills and all sorts of personal would-be fundraisers talked about the concept in grand, world-changing ways. This, they said, was a Read More...

4 inspiring TED talks that wil

4 inspiring TED talks that will help you (finally) spend less time on Facebook

Do you think you spend too much time on Facebook? If you answered yes, you're probably right. The social media giant revealed last year that its 1.8 billion users spend an average 50 minutes on its services (including Instagram). That's more than one sixteenth of your time awake, or one eighth of Read More...

Online gaming as a tool to fin

Online gaming as a tool to finance microloans for Third World entrepreneurs

What if a little bit of every in-app purchase made by online gamers went to help microloans to entrepreneurs in developing countries? PlaySeeds, a new product, is working on making this happen by integrating itself directly into the game environment to encourage gamers already playing the game to Read More...

This new technology could make

This new technology could make globalization work for everyone

There are many good things about globalization. The blending of cultures and races creates a global human family that could live in more harmony and peace with each other and the planet. The challenge is that globalization—as we know it—doesn’t work well enough. There are too many people who Read More...

Survey: The 13 countries with

Survey: The 13 countries with best work-life balance for expats

Achieving a healthy work-life balance is a top priority for most people. And there are some countries that promote a better culture of that than others. A survey by InterNations, the world’s largest network for people who live and work abroad, rated 43 different aspects of life abroad on a scale Read More...

Trump policies unlikely to end

Trump policies unlikely to end sustainable-investing trend

The Trump era could hinder the performance of some mutual funds that focus on sustainable investing in the short term, but it won’t put the brakes on the booming trend of investing based on environmental, governance and social factors. Responsible or sustainable investing, or investing in Read More...

The blockchain’s emergin

The blockchain's emerging role in sustainability

Picture, if you will, a tracking system that discreetly verifies the provenance of products as they move across a supply chain — sending proactive alerts about unexpected detours that could signal potential tampering or environmental conditions that might pose safety issues. Did we mention Read More...