On April 16, 2007, Sunita “Suni” Williams ran the Boston Marathon. But she wasn’t in Boston. She wasn’t even in the United States.

Inside the International Space Station, more than 250 miles above sea level, the NASA astronaut became the first person to run a marathon in space.

Williams, now 59, found her endurance tested again in June 2024 after the Boeing capsule that brought her to the International Space Station malfunctioned. Her expected eight-day trip with fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore lasted nine months. The pair splashed down safely in Florida on Tuesday evening, and traveled to Houston that night.

While in space, astronauts must exercise two hours per day, every day, according to a NASA pamphlet, as zero-gravity conditions can cause “bone and muscle deterioration” over time. Williams worked out first thing as part of her morning routine — waking up at 5:30 a.m. GMT and “running, cycling, and weightlifting” until 7:30 a.m., according to ESPN. (NASA did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It’s request for comment on the amount of control Williams had over her schedule.)

Wilmore and Williams will now have to spend 45 days re-acclimatizing to Earth’s gravity, NPR reports. Their new routines will include a “personalized recovery program” of two hours per day that they spend exercising with personal trainers.

In uncertain and potentially challenging situations, such as the one faced by Williams and Wilmore, maintaining structure can help.

“Routines provide us with a sense of stability,” the Ontario Psychological Association says. “This element of routine can be particularly powerful as something to lean on during times of stress or uncertainty.”

Exercise specifically can be a cornerstone of a healthy routine, contributing both mental and physical health benefits, studies indicate.

“There’s some research that suggests that rhythm can help center people and calm them down,” Joel Dvoskin told CNBC Make It in 2023, when he was a psychologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

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Working out in the morning can also help people who want to make sure they follow through on their workout plans, especially those who, unlike astronauts, are not required to exercise daily. There are usually far fewer potential scheduling conflicts before the day properly begins.

“Exercising first thing in the morning ensures that you’ll have the time for it,” organizational psychologist Travis Bradberry wrote in 2017.

But most important is the fact you are exercising at all.

“For most of us who want to exercise for general health effects, the best time is the time that works best for your lifestyle and allows you to perform it regularly,” cardiologist Erik Van Iterson told the Cleveland Clinic’s website last year.

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A lot of parents tell their children that can achieve anything if they work hard and apply themselves. But that doesn’t account for luck, which is a huge factor that many highly successful people have said they owe their careers to, points out Anthony Mackie, star of the 2025 movie “Captain America: Brave New World.”

“We are lying to our kids,” Mackie, 46, said in a recent interview with The Pivot Podcast. “We tell [them] … if they do right and they make the good grades and they go to the programs, they will become successful. ‘If you work hard enough, your work will [pay off].’ And that’s not true.”

In many cases, “success is given [and] not earned,” Mackie continued.

Mackie had been an actor for over 10 years before landing the role that many consider his big break, as Sam Wilson in 2014′s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” he said. After graduating from the prestigious Juilliard School in 2001, he performed in both on- and Off-Broadway productions and in Academy award-winning films, like 2008′s “The Hurt Locker.” However, the New Orleans native struggled to break out in Hollywood’s highly competitive landscape.

Mackie estimates he “put in 10,750 hours of training” before landing that life-changing job. He was proactive, too: He wrote letters to executives at Disney’s Marvel Studios over a decade ago in the hopes of landing a role in one of the studio’s popular superhero films, he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023.

While the letters didn’t result in any roles right away, Mackie eventually landed a meeting with directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. They offered him a part in an upcoming film, though they couldn’t share many details: ”[They said], ‘We can’t say what character you’re playing or who else is going to be in it. Would you do it?’” Mackie said.

The actor agreed because he liked the directors and believed joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up, he said. Fortunately for Mackie, the role of Sam Wilson proved popular enough to grow from a small character into a headliner.

Mackie is far from the only successful person to recognize the power of luck. You can be the smartest and most deserving person in the room, the billionaire and Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger told students at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business in 2018, but there are no guarantees: “There’s also a factor of luck that comes into this thing.”

He added: “I did not intend to get rich. I wanted to get independent. I just overshot.”

Similarly, in 2023, Mark Cuban told GQ that any billionaire who says they could definitely start over from scratch is “lying their a– off.” That’s because a person also needs “luck” and good “timing” to run a highly lucrative company, particularly in the fast-moving tech industry.

If he’d been born three years earlier, he likely wouldn’t have the status that he has today, Cuban added.

Put simply, being in the right place at the right time, and having connections, can be as important as having the skills and experience.

People who benefit from luck the most have a few traits in common, according to Richard Wiseman, author of “The Luck Factor” and a psychology professor at the University of Hertfordshire.

1. They’re optimistic. Even when they find themselves in bleak circumstances, “lucky” people recognize that things “could have been far worse,” Wiseman wrote for CNBC Make It in 2022.
2. They always jump at new opportunities. Lucky people display an openness and adaptability that puts them in situations to network and make new connections, according to Wiseman.
3. They listen to their intuition. Too much time spent pondering can lead to “indecision,” he added, writing that lucky people tend to “make quick decisions …. By trusting their gut, they’re more likely to take action and expose themselves to new opportunities.”
4. They recover quickly from setbacks. This allows lucky people to remain positive when things don’t go how they’d hoped and “increases the likelihood of them continuing to live a lucky life,” according to Wiseman.

Embodying these four traits can help put you in a better position to make your goals a reality, he added.

The second and third traits in particular helped Mackie, who, in 2025, became a new face of the “Captain America” franchise, once led by former co-star Chris Evans.

“When you’re given a huge opportunity like that, you have to take into consideration that you might fail,” Mackie said. At first he was afraid, but he didn’t let that stop him. He had a network of mentors and supporters who could help, he realized: “I had to lean on those teachers and the people around me who got me to that point.”

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Taiwan is the happiest place in Asia, according to the 2025 World Happiness Report, published Thursday.

Of the 147 places around the world that were ranked this year, it took the 27th spot, moving up from 31st last year, and dethroning Singapore’s top position on the list. Taiwan is a democratically self-ruled island that Beijing considers part of its territory. 

Topping the global happiness list this year is once again the Nordic countries, with Finland leading in first place for the eighth year in a row, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and the Netherlands.

The World Happiness Report is a joint effort by some of the world’s leading experts and researchers in well-being science. The happiness ranking is powered by data from the Gallup World Poll which measured individuals’ self-assessed life evaluations, averaged over a three-year period from 2022 to 2024.

Experts also analyzed data across six key factors:

• Gross domestic product per capita
• Social support
• Healthy life expectancy
• Freedom
• Generosity
• Corruption

While the happiness ranking is based on the respondents’ subjective ratings on their own quality of life, the six variables can help provide deeper insight and explain differences across nations, according to the report.

Here are the happiest places in Asia, according to the 2025 World Happiness Report:

1. Taiwan
2. Singapore
3. Vietnam
4. Thailand
5. Japan
6. Philippines
7. Republic of Korea
8. Malaysia
9. China
10. Mongolia

“This year’s report pushes us to look beyond traditional determinants like health and wealth. It turns out that sharing meals and trusting others are even stronger predictors of wellbeing than expected,” said Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University and editor of the 2025 World Happiness Report.

Based on Gallup’s data, the report found that the impact of meal-sharing on subjective well-being is “on par with the influence of income and unemployment,” and those who share more meals with others report “significantly higher” levels of life satisfaction.

Notably, “Taiwanese people report having a high number of shared meals,” De Neve told CNBC Make It.

“They report that 5.5 dinners out of 7 are shared with others, and that 4.7 lunches are shared with others. [That’s] a total of 10.1 shared meals out of 14, which puts them in 8th position globally out of 142 countries in the sample,” said De Neve.

In contrast, other places in South and East Asia reported relatively low levels of meal sharing, according to the report.

“Past research has found that dining alone is on the rise in East Asian countries, most notably in Japan and the Republic of Korea. Two of the most commonly cited explanations are the rise of single-person households and demographic aging,” according to the report.

However, differences in how survey items were interpreted across regions may also play a role. “There are some indications that East and South Asian respondents may be less likely to consider family members or other members of their household as ‘someone you know,’” according to the report.

“In this era of social isolation and political polarization we need to find ways to bring people around the table again — doing so is critical for our individual and collective wellbeing,” said De Neve.

Another big gainer this year is Vietnam. The country has seen strong upward movement in the global happiness ranking, going from 54th place in 2024 to 46th this year. Within the past five years, the Southeast Asian country has jumped almost 40 places from 83rd in 2020.

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We’ve all done it. You’re in a meeting, on a date or even texting a friend, and two words slip into the conversation: “I think we should go with option A.” “I think we should see this movie.” “I think we should leave at 7.”

While “I think” can be harmless sprinkled in here and there, if you use it too often and in the wrong context, it can weaken your message, diminish your presence and undermine your confidence. 

“I think” is an example of minimizing language: words and phrases that soften your statements and make you seem less sure of yourself. Other common minimizing language includes “just,” “sorry” and “maybe.” 

While these words may seem polite, they can dilute your credibility and make your ideas easier to dismiss, especially in a professional context.

Instead of “I think,” swap in “I recommend.” Compare these two statements:

• “I think we should move the deadline.”
• “I recommend moving the deadline.”

The first feels hesitant, while the second feels authoritative and action-oriented. Even if the message you want to convey is exactly the same, your words carry more weight when framed as a recommendation rather than what can be interpreted as a passing thought.

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Here are a few examples of this swap in action at work and in life: 

• Instead of: “I think we should go with the second proposal.“
  Try: “I recommend we go with the second proposal.”
• Instead of: “I think we should prioritize this project.“
  Try: “I recommend prioritizing this project.”
• Instead of: “I think you should try this restaurant.“
  Try: “I recommend trying this restaurant.”
• Instead of:  “I think you should change your reservation.“
  Try: “I recommend changing your reservation.”

The shift is subtle but powerful. Saying “I recommend” instead of “I think” makes you sound more confident and decisive, gives you more influence, and ensures you’re seen as someone whose opinion matters.

There are times when it feels like you really should use “I think.” Perhaps you’re not confident in your recommendation, or you purposefully want to soften your message.

While it’s certainly a path you can take, you can still use “I recommend” in these situations — with a twist.

Preface your recommendation with an indication of what you’re drawing on to give it. For example:

• “Based on what I’ve seen, I recommend…”
• “Looking at the data, I’d recommend…”
• “From my experience, I’d recommend…”

This keeps your statement strong while acknowledging some uncertainty and leaving room for further discussion.

Any time you try to disrupt a pattern that’s deeply ingrained in your everyday conversations, it takes practice. Here are a few strategies you can try to break this particular communication habit:

1. Listen for it. Start noticing how often you say “I think,” and in what contexts it tends to pop up. It may surprise you how many times a day you use this phrase. 
2. Enlist help. Ask friends or peers to call it out when they hear it to help keep you accountable.
3. Pause before you speak. Speaking more slowly and adding pauses is already helpful when trying to appear more authoritative and confident. Now, you can also catch yourself when you’re about to say “I think” and give yourself enough time to swap it out.
4. Observe your writing. “I think” often creeps into our written communication too, especially quick messages over Slack or Teams. Take a second pass at your writing before hitting send to make sure you’re keeping things concise and using strong phrases like “I recommend.”

Confident communication isn’t just about what you say, it’s about how you say it. By swapping “I think” for “I recommend,” you’ll sound more authoritative at work — and come across as more self-assured in everyday life.

Lorraine K. Lee is an award-winning keynote speaker and CEO of RISE Learning Solutions. She’s also the best-selling author of “Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influencer, and Catapult Your Career,” which was named a must-read by the Next Big Idea Club. She teaches popular courses with LinkedIn Learning and Stanford Continuing Studies. Past clients include Zoom, Cisco, LinkedIn, ASICS, McKinsey & Company, and many others.

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For the eighth year in a row, Finland has taken the No. 1 spot on the World Happiness Report’s list of the happiest countries. Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden also made the top 10.

The Nordic countries dominating this list shouldn’t come as a surprise, says Ilana Ron Levey, managing director at Gallup. There is stability in countries that provide for their residents.

“Finland is an extraordinary outlier and I think the world is really focused on understanding what is unique about Finland,” she says. She cites “a belief in others,” optimism for the future, trust in institutions, and support from friends and family as reasons why Finnish people are happier than most.

“I think another important point about Finland is that there is less well-being inequality within the country as compared to a country like the United States,” Ron Levey says. “In Finland, there’s more of a consensus about feeling good about your life.”

The World Happiness Report ranked countries according to self-assessed life evaluations averaged over 2022-2024 and answers to the Cantril ladder question in the Gallup World Poll. It asks respondents to think of a ladder with the best possible life for them being a 10 and the worst being a zero. They are then asked to rate their current lives on that scale.

The Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, which publishes the report, says that in addition to the Cantril ladder question, the report also considers the following six variables in the more than 130 countries ranked in the report:

1. GDP per capita
2. Social Support
3. Healthy life expectancy
4. Freedom
5. Generosity
6. Freedom of corruption

Ron Levey thinks there is one other thing other countries can learn from Finland: the importance of benevolent acts.

“Good deeds also boost the happiness of the giver, and it’s not just about the recipient,” she says.

The United States failed to make the top 10 list, and actually fell from the No. 23 spot last year to No. 24.

Ron Levey attributes that fall partially to young people under the age of 30 who are feeling worse about their lives than they used to.

“They’re feeling less supported by friends and family, less free to make life choices and less optimistic about their living standards,” she says.

The report found that Americans are spending more and more time dining alone. In 2023, roughly 1 in 4 Americans reported eating all their meals alone the previous day, an increase of 53% since 2003.

“Dining alone has become more prevalent for every age group, but especially for young people,” the report states.

Ron Levey notes that while, at first glance, sharing meals might seem a bit niche, the report has found that people who eat frequently with each other are a lot happier.

“Happiness is so much more about trust, social connections, relationships and all these different dimensions and not just GDP or higher salaries,” she says. “What really distinguishes the happiest countries are trusting strong relationships, optimism for the future, acts of generosity and just fundamentally believing in others goodwill.”

Costa Rica and Mexico both ranked in the top 10 for the first time, which Ron Levey says shows that you don’t need to be one of the world’s wealthiest countries to make people happy.

“High life evaluation is possible when basic economic needs are being met,” she says. “One message for all countries is that wealth is insufficient for your population to feel happy about their lives and to have strong life evaluation.”

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden
5. Netherlands
6. Costa Rica
7. Norway
8. Israel
9. Luxembourg
10. Mexico

Denmark is the No. 2 happiest country in the world for 2025. It has been in the top 10 in the World Happiness Report for over a decade.

Like Finland and the other Nordic countries on the list, people in Denmark are happy because the country offers a social safety net, social connections. Also, young people feel good about their lives in these places.

“They have high marks for benevolence and believe in the fundamental goodwill of others,” Ron Levey says.

Though people in Denmark pay some of the world’s highest taxes — up to half of their income — it is balanced out by the fact that most healthcare in the country is free, childcare is subsidized, university students pay no tuition and receive grants to help cover expenses while studying. Also, the elderly receive pensions and are provided with care helpers.

According to the OECD Better Life Index, the Nordic country outperforms the average in jobs, education, health, environmental quality, social connections, civic engagement and life satisfaction. Denmark is a founding member of the OECD and NATO.

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