12 Quotes to Start 2024 on a Positive Note
Peter Smith has picked a dozen of his favorite expressions to help readers start the new year off right.

I hope you’ll find something to help you focus on the tasks at hand this year, and maybe even find a book or two here you might like to explore!
1. “When it comes to your experiences and perceptions, you’re much more in the driver’s seat than you might think. You predict, construct, and act. You are an architect of your experiences.” — Lisa Feldman Barrett, “How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain”
2. “Positive emotions might have evolved to give our ancient ancestors a survival advantage, but to experience them still enhances our lives today.” — Leonard Mlodinow, “Emotional: How Feelings Shape Our Thinking”
3. “Salespeople who truly believe in their product will influence customers in their favor. The unconscious expression of belief by sales personnel is a powerful cue that customers process both consciously and unconsciously.” — Gerald Zaltman, “How Customers Think: Essential Insights Into the Mind of the Market”
4. “Advice from every quarter, ancient and contemporary, backs up the observation that to change our feelings, we should change our actions.” — Gretchen Rubin, “The Happiness Project”
5. “Your mind, when focused on appreciation, has an unparalleled power to trigger physical and emotional healing.” — Dan Baker and Cameron Stauth, “What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better”
6. “Decades of work from multiple different subfields within psychology all point towards the conclusion that regularly resting your brain improves the quality of your work. When you work, work hard. When you’re done, be done.” — Cal Newport, “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World”
7. “Develop the habit of letting small things happen. If you don’t, you’ll never find time for the life-changing big things.” — Tim Ferriss
8. “We all say we want to achieve things, but we don’t really want to achieve them unless we are willing to take the necessary steps to achieve what we say we want.” — Jeff Haden, “The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win”
9. “Being busy is not an accomplishment.” — Morten Hansen, “Great At Work”
10. “Grit has two components: passion and perseverance.” — Angela Duckworth, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance”
11. “High dominance or ego-driven people may passionately believe that you should have product and feel compelled to sell it to you, no matter how much you resist. This may sound pushy, but if blended with empathy, this person will close with perfection.” — Chet Holmes, “The Ultimate Sales Machine”
12. “Risk taking is integral to learning. You have to push your boundaries and take a few risks if you want to improve at a given task.” — Kayt Sukel, “The Art of Risk: The New Science of Courage, Caution, & Chance”
Thanks for reading my columns.
Here’s to a healthy and happy year ahead!
The Latest

The National Retail Federation expects retail sales growth to return to pre-pandemic levels as consumers continue to face inflation.

The 4-carat, old mine brilliant-cut diamond engagement ring was co-designed by Willis and New York City-based brand Karina Noel.

Rio Tinto unearthed the diamond at its Diavik mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Bench jewelers spend years honing their skills, Jewelers of America’s Certification validates their talents.

The multisensory experience, open April 8-13, will feature the brand’s silver creations among dream-like scenes of natural landscapes.


The virtual event will take place April 7 at 3 p.m.

The pieces in “Animali Tarallo” portray animals from stingrays to elephants through portraits and interpretations of their patterns.

Natural diamonds mean more than lab-grown, but when every cut is ideal, they all look the same. Customers want more—Facets of Fire delivers.

Parent company Saks Global said the iconic location will be open through the holiday season as it decides what to do with the space.

Ronald Winston, son of Harry Winston, donated the diamonds to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

The educational event will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, this May.

The independent jeweler first opened its doors in 1888.

The layoffs come amid the TV shopping channel’s efforts to restructure and focus on live shopping through social media.

The debut event will take place in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood this fall.

The roundtable will take place May 17 ahead of the trade show’s welcome dinner.

The “Peanuts x Monica Rich Kosann” collection features the comic strip’s classic vocabulary across 10 bracelet designs.

Three industry experts dive into the complexities of the material often marketed as an “ethical” alternative for metal in jewelry.

Diamonds are not only one of the most prominent gemstones, but the birthstone for those born in April.

The Utah-based company known for making wedding bands has acquired Doubloon Golf.

The longtime luxury executive led one of LVMH’s watch brands, TAG Heuer, for 12 years before taking over Bulgari in 2013.

Authorities said the robbers fled with jewelry and 70 Rolex watches, later taking pictures of themselves posing with big stacks of cash.

Lotus Gemology founder Richard W. Hughes has translated Heinrich Fischer’s 1880 book “Nephrit und Jadeit” from its original German.

The ring's design features contrasting lines influenced by work from architecture-inspired photographer Nikola Olic.

The Conference Board’s index fell as consumers continued to worry about the impact of tariffs, the labor market, and the price of eggs.

However, two medieval jewels surpassed estimates at Noonans Mayfair’s recent jewelry auction in London.

The Oscar-nominated actor debuted in the campaign for the new “Top Time B31” collection, which introduced Breitling’s Caliber B31.

The Congress is scheduled to take place May 19-22 in Brasilia, Brazil.