Did your parents ever force you to participate in an activity you dreaded as a kid? Whether it was music lessons, a team sport, or something else, most of us were required to spend time doing something we didn’t want to do. Many people have false assumptions about success, especially when it comes to their children. They […]
Better Decisions, Starting Now
There’s a common misunderstanding regarding the relationship between reason and emotion. People think that, in forming a worldview or making a decision, you can be motivated either by deep feeling or cold, emotionless rationality. In fact, reason and emotion are intertwined on a neurobiological level. For example, if you think about something terrifying that happened to […]
How to Overcome Stage Fright
Giving a presentation or delivering a talk is an acquired skill. That means anyone can learn it—even you. A good talk requires two components: a speaker and an audience. Both parties need to be engaged for the event to be a success. Speakers who don’t work to engage the audience may come across as self-involved, […]
How to Hit Reset
How can you minimize distractions? By building them into your schedule. The Pomodoro Technique is a time-management method based on the idea that frequent breaks improve mental agility. By breaking down your work into 25-minute chunks, you can procrastinate less and concentrate better. Here’s how the technique works: set a timer for 25 minutes. Work […]
How to Avoid Burnout
With many people still working from home, the line between work and leisure has grown increasingly blurry. But the human brain and body aren’t built to work at full power for long stretches of time. We work much better when we oscillate between effort and rest. “Rest” doesn’t just mean sleep, by the way. Rest […]
When Is Growth a Problem?
The pandemic has been hard on many businesses’ bottom lines. But some lucky companies have grown so much that they had to quickly expand operations. The problem? Colossal growth without financial health can kill your business fast. Growth is only half the equation in running a business. The other half, profit, must be happening at all […]
Is Shame a Silent Epidemic?
Shame is a universal emotion, but no one likes to talk about it. This reluctance keeps us from telling our own stories and prevents us from listening to others share their experiences. One reason shame is so powerful is its ability to make us feel alone. Bad feelings thrive in silence and secrecy. But when […]
How Did Jay-Z Turn Things Around?
When Beyoncé released her album Lemonade in 2016, the world waited to see how Jay-Z would respond. She wrote the album to vent her feelings about her husband’s infidelity, a subject that can be taboo. To many people’s surprise, Jay took full responsibility for his actions. He had evolved into a man who can to express his feelings and take […]
What People Misunderstand about Racism
There is no such thing as someone who is simply “not racist.” But American liberals and progressives often view themselves that way. While these well-meaning people might reject ethnic and cultural racism, they often still hold racist views. If they claim not to see race, for example, or if they believe that government policies should […]
What Is Stephen King’s Secret?
Horror writer Stephen King likes to compare writing to telepathy. When you read a book or watch a movie, you are seeing it through your eyes, but also through the writer’s eyes. It’s a meeting of the minds. King first learned this principle in childhood. One year, as a kid with a terrible ear infection, […]
