2020 has driven home the lesson that life is full of circumstances that are beyond our control. But we can always control the attitude we take towards our circumstances. In You Can Win, self-help author Shiv Khera argues that attitude is an important element of finding success. Your mindset is a powerful tool that shapes how […]
How to Break Free
Glennon Doyle was tired of trying to pretend that she was the person who others wanted her to be. She didn’t want to reconcile with the husband who had cheated on her. She didn’t want to follow her marriage counselor’s advice. She didn’t want to write the memoir that her readers were expecting. So finally, […]
Don’t Work Hard. Work Smart.
Most work is about quality over quantity. If you’re working long hours every day, every week, you might not be working intelligently enough. Underearners often think they’ll never make high wages because it would require a superhuman amount of hard work. But the real secret to success is to be a high earner while setting […]
What Are the Molecules of Emotion?
You know that the mind and the body are deeply connected. But did you realize that the way we feel—our emotions—aren’t necessarily dictated by the mind? For a long time, scientists believed that the brain was the control center for human emotions. But then they learned that emotions are also conveyed through informational substances like […]
How to Endure Anything
Acceptance means letting go of trying to control thoughts and feelings. People often believe that they can create the life they want only when they have overcome a psychological hindrance, like fear or depression. They’re wrong—and this false expectation might be holding them back. As counterintuitive as it might sound, psychological pain should be embraced, […]
Give Your Brain a Boost
Need a quick mood booster? Research shows that people are happiest when they’re surrounded by living plants and verdant colors. Spending time in nature activates positive pathways in your brain, rather than allowing it to focus on upsetting experiences. Outdoor exercise increases creativity, provides stress relief, and restores energy. Going outside for small amounts of […]
How to Handle Feedback
We need other people’s feedback to make ourselves (and our organizations) better. But what many people fail to realize is that collecting feedback is only one step in a longer process of self-improvement. The next two steps in the feedback loop, processing and responding, are must not be forgotten. Feedback needs to be heard, yes; […]
Do You Have a Motive?
People are motivated by many kinds of desires. To sell something, first you need to get to know your audience—especially what motivates them. Understanding the psychology of motivation is the key to the art of persuasion. People are much more apt to buy into ideas and personalities than they are to buy products or plans. […]
Control the Wheel of Fortune
Napoleon Hill was one of the first celebrity self-help authors. His quintessentially American philosophy of self-reliance set a standard that continues to dominate the field today, some 50 years after his death. One of Hill’s core beliefs was that thoughts of success eventually lead to that success. The inverse is also true, in that fear […]
Stop Obsessing Over Your Mistakes
Have you found yourself staring at your own image during a Zoom call, worried about how silly or tired you look? Self-consciousness is part of human nature, but most of the time it doesn’t serve us well. Giving a presentation can make us hyper-aware of every mistake or near-mistake, for example. Letting yourself feel embarrassed […]