Growing up in Nara, Japan, I always loved eating “wagashi,” or traditional Japanese sweets. My favorite was pudding and cakes made with “anko,” which is sweet red bean paste.

But when I moved to the U.S. and became a nutritionist, I couldn’t believe the dessert selections at the grocery stores. They were too rich and sugary for me. So I started making recipes inspired by my childhood.

Now when people ask me how they can get rid of their sweet tooth, I tell them they don’t need to. By being more mindful and making small adjustments, sweet treats can actually be a healthy and even medicinal part of your diet.

Here are some my go-to desserts when I need a sweet fix:

There are two types of Japanese sweet potatoes that I like: “satsumaimo,” which has a purple skin and a pale yellow flesh, and “murasaki imo,” which has purple skin and flesh. You can typically find both at American supermarkets.

Japanese people are crazy about baked sweet potatoes, called “yaki imo.” I bake a medium-sized sweet potato in the oven for about 60 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

You can adjust the cooking time depending on the size. These sweet potatoes are so concentrated in flavor that they don’t need much else to be delicious.

I also make sweet potato wagashi from steamed or baked sweet potatoes, dried fruits, chestnuts, cinnamon, matcha and a bit of sea salt. These ingredients are packed with nutrients!

I’m a huge fan of adzuki paste, or “anko.” You can find it at Asian supermarkets or online. Typically, anko is made with a lot of sugar, so when I make my own, I use alternative natural sweeteners like dates, goji berries, cinnamon or persimmons.

To prepare anko, I soak red beans overnight, drain them, then combine all my ingredients — beans, a 2-inch piece of konbu seaweed, dried fruits, chestnuts, cinnamon and sea salt — in a rice cooker and set it on the brown rice setting.

It can be used in a variety of desserts, including “an-pan,” a soft bread with anko filling, “ohagi,” a rice cake covered with anko, “zenzai,” a sweet adzuki bean soup, and “dorayaki,” an anko-filled pancake.

Adzuki beans are also frequently used medicinally and ritually in Japan. We like adding them in recipes meant to promote health, peace and wealth. They are high in fiber, protein, magnesium, potassium and vitamin B.

The dried fruit aids digestion and overall gut health, and the cinnamon can help boost metabolic and immune function. When it comes to beans as surprising desserts, I’m also a big fan of edamame paste, called “zunda.” It pairs perfectly with tofu mochi, which is made with tofu and rice flour.

Dates are naturally sweet and high in vitamins, nutrients, fiber and magnesium. Dark chocolate provides us with antioxidants that are great for heart health and fighting inflammation. 

The way I prepare it is simple: Just cut down the middle of a dry Medjool date and stuff it with a small piece of dark chocolate and a walnut. That’s it! You can try different combinations of fruits and nuts, too.

Berries are filled with polyphenols, which are antioxidants found in plants that can help defend against inflammation and boost cell health.

I don’t add any sugar to my jam. Depending on the season, I use a handful of frozen or fresh organic berries (usually a combination of raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries) mixed with apple sauce, a slice of organic orange with the peel still on, a little bit of dried goji berries, flaxseed and cinnamon powder. Sometimes I will add a dash of rum for a little kick.

I start with medium heat. After the mixture starts to boil, I immediately reduce it to low heat, then let it simmer for about 40 minutes with the lid on. I’ll occasionally stir it to keep it from burning. Then I turn off the heat and let it sit for about an hour with the lid on.

You can keep it in the fridge for about a week or two. I like serving it with dark chocolate, vegan matcha cake or chia seed pudding. This jam tastes heavenly when spread on a slice of whole wheat bread, too.

I call this my “Que Sera, Sera” pudding. Just like the song, “whatever will be, will be,” so add whatever you want to personalize it. I enjoy this dessert because it is packed with protein, fiber and omega-3 fatty acids.

My go-to recipe:

• 3 tablespoons of chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds 
• 2 cups unsweetened soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup choice of dried fruit — goji, mango, date, apricot or any of your favorites
• 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon, matcha or unsweetened cacao powder
• A handful of frozen or fresh berries or roasted walnuts (as optional toppings)

Put these ingredients in a mason jar, combine well, and place into the refrigerator overnight.

Michiko Tomioka, MBA, RDN is a certified nutritionist and longevity expert. Born and raised Nara, Japan, her approach focuses on a plant-based diet. She has worked in nutritional roles at substance recovery centers, charter schools and food banks. Follow her on Instagram @michian_rd.

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Americans earning a regular salary may have trouble living comfortably in all 50 states.

The median annual wage for individuals was just below $62,000 at the end of 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But it takes a salary of at least $80,829 for a single adult to live comfortably in West Virginia, the most affordable state, according to a recent SmartAsset study.

SmartAsset defines “comfortable” as earning enough to follow the 50/30/20 budget method, which recommends putting 50% of your income toward essentials like rent and food, 30% toward discretionary spending and 20% toward debt repayment and savings. It used the latest estimates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage calculator to estimate individuals’ cost of necessities in each state.

On the other side of the spectrum from West Virginia, residents in Hawaii need to earn a minimum of $124,467 a year to live comfortably, SmartAsset finds. That’s the highest of any state and one of two states — along with Massachusetts — where individuals need to earn at least $120,000 a year to afford a comfortable lifestyle.

Here’s how much money it takes for a single adult to live comfortably in every U.S. state 2025.

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $85,280
• Change from 2024: 1.74%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $100,298
• Change from 2024: 3.65%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $101,587
• Change from 2024: 4.36%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $81,078
• Change from 2024: 2.04%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $119,475
• Change from 2024: 5.12%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $105,955
• Change from 2024: 2.58%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $105,165
• Change from 2024: 4.77%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $97,469
• Change from 2024: 3.54%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $97,386
• Change from 2024: 4.37%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $99,590
• Change from 2024: 2.79%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $124,467
• Change from 2024: 9.48%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $96,429
• Change from 2024: 8.67%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $98,010
• Change from 2024: 3.06%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $86,570
• Change from 2024: 1.81%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $86,902
• Change from 2024: 4.24%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $87,610
• Change from 2024: 3.49%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $83,574
• Change from 2024: 3.56%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $85,322
• Change from 2024: 3.48%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $96,595
• Change from 2024: 5.35%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $108,867
• Change from 2024: 5.78%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $120,141
• Change from 2024: 3.55%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $87,235
• Change from 2024: 3.40%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $91,728
• Change from 2024: 2.80%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $86,320
• Change from 2024: 4.32%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $86,819
• Change from 2024: 3.32%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $92,851
• Change from 2024: 9.57%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $87,318
• Change from 2024: 4.32%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $99,216
• Change from 2024: 6.19%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $103,085
• Change from 2024: 5.09%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $108,992
• Change from 2024: 5.82%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $87,402
• Change from 2024: 4.53%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $114,691
• Change from 2024: 2.64%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $93,766
• Change from 2024: 4.55%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $82,285
• Change from 2024: 2.17%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $84,781
• Change from 2024: 5.05%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $84,282
• Change from 2024: 4.81%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $104,666
• Change from 2024: 3.54%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $95,306
• Change from 2024: 4.37%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $101,338
• Change from 2024: 0.50%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $92,144
• Change from 2024: 4.33%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $82,160
• Change from 2024: 0.87%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $91,478
• Change from 2024: 5.87%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $90,771
• Change from 2024: 4.30%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $99,466
• Change from 2024: 6.17%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $99,632
• Change from 2024: 4.04%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $106,704
• Change from 2024: 6.74%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $109,658
• Change from 2024: 2.97%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $80,829
• Change from 2024: 2.59%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $87,194
• Change from 2024: 3.66%

• Income needed for a single adult, 2025: $87,942
• Change from 2024: 0.33%

While the 50/30/20 budget can be an effective tool to manage your money, it can also be difficult to follow if you have high fixed costs. And though data suggests wage growth nationwide is actually outpacing price inflation, many Americans don’t feel that way.

About 7 in 10 Americans feel stressed about their finances, according to a CNBC/SurveyMonkey online poll conducted in April. Plus, President Donald Trump’s tariffs threaten to push prices up even further.

Boosting your income by switching jobs or getting a side hustle may be easier said than done, but it can help give you some breathing room in your budget, especially if you’ve already cut out as much discretionary spending as you can.

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I’ve always been fascinated by families whose children seem to be on some kind of unusual streak, reaching the top of their career ladders, or, even more interesting to me, blazing trails or following their passions with spectacular results.

What did their parents do differently to empower them? What do researchers really know about what’s effective in giving kids the support they need to succeed? Given that siblings are often so different, what seemed to be helpful across the board?

For my book, “The Family Dynamic: A Journey Into the Mysteries of Sibling Success,” I interviewed dozens of parents of high-achieving children and interviewed well over 100 experts. As a mom of twin boys who are now teenagers, here’s what I found to be the most convincing.

You can provide all the enrichment in the world and encourage your child to excel in school, but if they don’t internalize a sense of possibility, their academic strengths might only take them so far.

I was amazed by the consistency of the outlook of the parents I interviewed, who encouraged their kids to think big, feel hope and stay positive.

Marilyn Holifield, one of three siblings from Tallahassee who became influential civil rights activists, told me that the unspoken motto in her household was, “All things possible.” And Amalia Murguia, who raised seven children in humble circumstances, several of whom became national figures (in philanthropy, civil rights and the federal courts), would also say, “With God’s help, all things are possible.”

One fascinating study showed that parents often don’t know what to say when children say they don’t want to take math and science classes that can be crucial for academic success.

The researchers followed up by providing pamphlets and website links to help parents tailor their motivational approach to their own children. If their child wanted to be professional soccer players, for example, the parents might say, “Oh, when you’re a pro athlete, you need to be able to stay on top of your finances, which can be quite important at that pay scale.” 

Telling kids to focus on something practical won’t inspire them. Instead, parents were to focus on what would make that learning seem valuable to their children, based on their interests. The SAT scores of kids whose parents used this approach (compared to parents randomly assigned to a control) ended up with ACT math and science scores that were 12% higher.

One study that stuck with me found that parents often underestimate how capable their children are — and how much they will learn from trying hard even in every day tasks. 

The experimenters gave 4-year-olds at a children’s museum the opportunity to dress themselves in hockey gear for play, and some parents were reminded that kids can learn from dressing themselves. They sat back and let the child figure out the various straps and how to put on the gear, which they did successfully.

Kids are capable of more than we think — and we know that when parents intervene, it’s demotivating, so we should encourage self-sufficiency, rather than be afraid of the smallest struggles.

Jeannine Groff, the mother of an Olympian, an award-winning novelist and a serial entrepreneurial, showed me how she keeps all the plastic dishes and cups on floor of the bottom cabinet in her kitchen, so her grandchildren can serve themselves.

Learning doesn’t just happen from puzzles and books; it happens in the everyday activities.

Especially since the pandemic, developmental psychologists are making a shift away from research on how to encourage hard work, and towards research on how to foster a love of learning and a deep curiosity.

So many of the parents I wrote about in my book seemed to think that travel was one way to foster that, and some research backs that thinking up. The Emanuels — three famous brothers who have been at the top of the entertainment, political and bioethics fields — said their father believed “it was absolutely necessary for an understanding of the world, and oneself.”

I remember interviewing the parents of one set of incredible siblings for whom travel was so important that they saved all year for one big trip; and they brought two weeks’ worth of homemade snacks so they wouldn’t have to pay for that on the road.

What all of these lessons have in common is that the parents I interviewed brought love and joy to helping their children grow. For the most part, they were there to support their children, but didn’t see themselves as their coaches and critics.

Diane Paulus, the Broadway director, was dancing the American Ballet Theater at a very young age, but her mother’s approach, for me personally, was an inspiring model. Her mother, she said, had a way of “watching without desire.”

Our job is to expose our kids to opportunities, know them well enough to motivate them with love, and then let their own desires provide all the drive they need.

Susan Dominus has worked for The New York Times since 2007, first as a Metro columnist and then as staff writer for The New York Times Magazine. In 2018, she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for its reporting on workplace sexual harassment, and her article about menopause in The New York Times Magazine won a National Magazine Award in 2024. She teaches journalism at Yale University, and her new book, ”The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success,” is out now. Follow her on Instagram @suedominus.

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Poonam Desai is an ER doctor with two decades of experience who studied and recommended daily practices for a long life to her patients well before it became her main focus. 

In 2017, she officially started practicing longevity medicine, teaching patients the tools they need to structure their routines with living long and staying healthy in mind.

For her own health and wellness, Desai, who is also a doctor of osteopathic medicine, practices the habits that she typically suggests.

“Everything I’m doing, I want to optimize it,” she told CNBC Make It in March.

This includes upping her fiber intake: “Every single day I try to get at least 30 to 40 grams of fiber in my diet,” Desai says. The average American eats about half of that amount of fiber, if not less, according to Harvard Health Publishing which places the typical fiber intake at just 10 to 15 grams daily.

Here’s how you can take a page out of the longevity medicine doctor’s book and get more fiber in your daily diet.

There are certain food groups that are rich in fiber, like:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Legumes
• Nuts
• Whole grains

“One of my favorite ways to get fiber into my diet is to put a tablespoon of chia seeds in 30 ounces of water,” Desai says.

Desai also makes large bowls of mixed fruits or vegetables daily to eat more fiber. Most days, she gets a healthy serving of both.

“I have a huge bowl of different fruits almost daily. It could be apples, oranges, kiwi, berries, blueberries, strawberries,” she says. “I pair that with a lot of raw vegetables like raw cauliflower, raw broccoli and cabbage.”

As a vegetarian, Desai often gets healthy amounts of fiber from the plant-based proteins she eats. “I try to do one serving of either lentils or beans per day.”

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Does your life feel OK? Good enough? Or does it make you feel exquisitely alive? Vibrant, hopeful, fulfilled? Excited for the next day, week, and decade?

If it’s the former, you may be living what, in my research and teaching, I’ve come to call a “B+ life,” which is certainly better than a stick in the eye, but can also be more damaging in the long run.

Because when things are “OK” and “good enough,” we rarely make the effort to make the changes to find something better. For instance, an A+ life, filled with authenticity and fulfillment. 

By the way, and to be clear, the “grader” in all this life-rating is not society. It’s not your family or your boss. It’s you.

Hear me out. As a business academic who studies career trajectories, I completely understand that just surviving in this complex economy can sometimes feel like a victory. I also know that life’s many challenges, like the death of a loved one or a struggle with mental illness, can make achieving a “perfect” life unattainable.

But after working with thousands of early and mid-career professionals, as a professor, researcher, and mentor, I know that for many, settling for B+ is not an imperative — but a habit. We get used to living in a suit that’s a size too big or too small, to use an image that for many, feels uncomfortably accurate. 

We tell ourselves, “The dreams I once had were stupid; no one gets what they want.”

Before I list the more concrete signs you’re living a B+ life yourself, a bit of context and background.

I’m a professor and researcher who studies career trajectories. The culmination of my work is a scientifically-validated methodology taught at NYU Stern School of Business in a class called “Becoming You: Crafting the Authentic Life You Want and Need.” On campus and in numerous workshops for the public and within organizations, the Becoming You methodology, and its various components, has been used by more than 10,000 people around the world. 

My method is based on the premise that our purpose in life lies at the intersection of our deeply held values, cognitive and emotional aptitudes, and economically viable interests. Aptitudes and interests are usually self-evident, but unfortunately, very few people actually know their values in specific detail. This information has to be excavated, for lack of a better word, with values testing.

But once it is, we can move away from living by default to living by design. There is no easy hack to it, but the end result is the roadmap from B+ to beyond.

To assess whether you are living a B+ life, consider these five signs:

1. You regularly feel drained, even when your life looks ‘successful’ on paper

Despite hitting external milestones — whether at work or in your personal life — your energy is low and you often feel numb, disengaged, or secretly exhausted. This misalignment can show up in what my values testing instrument, The Values Bridge, calls the “Authenticity Gap,” the measure of how much your outer life doesn’t match your inner truth.

2. Your values show up more in fantasy than in reality

You talk about what matters to you (self-determination, creative self-expression, service, community), but your calendar and choices don’t reflect those priorities. 

3. You feel like you’re performing your life rather than enjoying it

If you’re fully honest with yourself, you would have to admit you are curating your image or chasing validation. Dan Harris, an expert on self-awareness and host of the acclaimed 10% Happier podcast, might frame this as a lack of “mindful presence”; you’re so caught in striving that you’ve lost the ability to just be.

4. You experience recurring friction in key relationships

Conflict, resentment, or emotional distance can show up when you’re suppressing needs, boundaries, or truths about yourself. My research clearly demonstrates that not living authentically has a strong tendency to distort how we connect with others.

5. You fantasize about escape, not evolution

You daydream about quitting, running away, or starting over. This is less about reinvention and more about fleeing a life that feels misfitted to who you actually are.

As I said, for some people a B+ life is more than they ever imagined given their life circumstances. It can indeed be “good enough.”

But for others, more fulfillment and authenticity is a yearning that slowly builds, and along the way, causes increasing discomfort, sometimes ending in the kind of disruption that has us starting again, by our own volition or not.

The antidote is understanding your values in their specific detail, and just as importantly, acknowledging whether you are living them as much as your heart and soul desire. Only then can we break out of our comfort zone, to something that can be even better.

Suzy Welch is an award-winning NYU Stern School of Business professor, acclaimed researcher, popular podcaster, and three-time New York Times best-selling author, most recently with “Becoming You: A Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career,″ which is also a #1 bestseller on Amazon. A graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Business School, Dr. Welch is a frequent guest of the Today Show and an op-ed contributor to the Wall Street Journal. She serves on the boards of public and private companies, and is the Director of the NYU | Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing.

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