He’s misanthropic, mean-tempered, has a heart that is “two sizes too small” and is a vegetal green; but kids can’t get enough of the Grinch. That’s what pet store The Green Spot discovered when they invited clients to bring their kids (and pets) in to take pictures with the Dr. Seuss character on Small Business Saturday (Nov. 30 in 2019). “It wasn’t until we started doing the event that we realized how much people loved the Grinch,” co-owner Jessica Ellis told INVISION’s sister publication PETS+. The Grinch’s presence and special offers produced sales about 25 percent higher than the typical Saturday, while The Green Spot also got attention from local TV news. Dressing up for Xmas? Go green!

Feeling uninspired at work? Before you do something drastic like trade your business for a timeshare in Bali or resign yourself to a life of drudgery, try keeping a “Good Time Journal,” say Stanford professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, authors of the book Designing Your Life. For three weeks, keep track of your daily activities and keep an eye out for those you enjoy the most. Then try to redesign your current schedule so you do more of what you love and less of what makes you go “Ugh.” Success usually flows from things that make you happy. It may lead to a whole new optical business built around what you love doing most.

The Diderot Effect refers to the way a newly purchased product fails to deliver on the happiness it promised, and instead causes our other possessions to suddenly look timeworn and in need of replacement. It takes its inspiration from an essay by the enlightenment philosopher Denis Diderot in which he laments how a new dressing gown has made his other clothes look like rags and he suddenly feels “discordant.” How to put this psychological weakness into play? In much the same way Ikea or any home goods retailer does: Through suggested add-ons. (“Now that you’re ordering that new dining table, shouldn’t you consider those plates, too?) Is it manipulative? We’d argue not. It’s not your fault a stylish new pair of sunglasses is suddenly making his readers look beaten up and, let’s be honest, when you take a close look, a little shabby. “I was the master of my old dressing gown,” Diderot laments in the end. “But I have become a slave to my new one.”