8 Powerful Things That Will Inspire You To A Better Life
ght ways to inspire yourself to get to the next level in life, with links to the research behind them: To have meaning in your life you need a story. You need to reflect on how things could have been and why they turned out the way they did. Seeing that things had a direction and a purpose provides meaning. Can't figure out what your long term goals are? Imagine your funeral. To make radical changes in your life you…
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Does pride make us selfish?
. Via The Science of Sin: The Psychology of the Seven Deadlies (and Why They Are So Good For You): If the proud are the selfish, conceited, arrogant jerks that some believe them to be, then we would expect pride to be linked with lower volunteerism rates. In fact, the exact opposite was the case: The more pride people took in the work they did for their communities, the more hours of volunteer work they reported doing. Impressively, this was…
1 min read
5 Things You Need To Know About Habits
tips with links to the research that backs them up: You spend 40% of every day on autopilot, just performing habits. The secret to breaking bad habits is to not try to eliminate them but to replace them. You can resist bad habits by avoiding the triggers that make you want to do them. Context is key. The key to new good habits is to do the minimum and be consistent. To make good habits stick, create "if-then" plans…
1 min read
How To Relieve Pain Using Psychology: 10 Tips From Research
me insights on how to relieve pain using psychology, with links to the studies: Clutch some money. Don't curl up in a ball. Sit up straight. Swear. Laugh. Listen to good music. Have a healthy relationship. Look at your body. Don't close your eyes when you get that injection. Look at a photo of a loved one. Better yet, get a massage from a loved one. Try being nice, overall. Pain hurts more if the person hurting you means it and doctors…
1 min read
How To Feel Better About Your Body, Backed By Research
ercise. I know what you're thinking: I knew that answer. Here's the interesting part: exercise improved people's feelings about their body even if they didn't lose weight or achieve noticeable improvements. They just felt better about it: Body weight, shape and body image were assessed in 16 males and 18 females before and after both 6 × 40 mins exercise and 6 × 40 mins reading. Over both conditions, body weight and shape did not change. Various aspects of body…
1 min read
This Is The Quickest Way To Become An Expert Negotiator
nice. We often associate negotiation with being tough or manipulative. While there are certainly situations where that's the case, a great deal of the recent research says we can improve our results by thinking more about making friends than waging war. A great deal of what it takes to influence others, gain their compliance and lead successful negotiations is just good advice on how to be a decent person. Be warm. We value warmth more than competence. Happy people…
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Can teddy bears make you more ethical?
nt people to play nice and not cheat each other? Bring toys. Via Harvard Business Review: The finding: Adults are less likely to cheat and more likely to engage in “pro-social” behaviors when reminders of children, such as teddy bears and crayons, are present. The research: Sreedhari Desai and her research partner Francesca Gino had people play classic psychology games in which the subjects controlled how much money other people earned and could earn more themselves if they lied. Half…
1 min read
How can you figure out what your real long term goals are?
sualize your funeral and consider what you would want friends to describe as your legacy. Via Richard Wiseman's excellent book 59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute: Asking people to spend just a minute imagining a close friend standing up at their funeral and reflecting on their personal and professional legacy helps them to identify their long-term goals and assess the degree to which they are progressing toward making those goals a reality. Join over 200,000 readers. Get a free…
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