10 Life Lessons You Can Learn From The Smartest Older People
ve posted before about research into the most important life lessons we can learn from older people, taken from Karl Pillemer's excellent book, 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans. Here's another take on the same subject: Before the 50th reunion of Harvard Business School's class of 1963 they asked them what lessons they would pass on to younger people. This isn't firm scientific research -- but we ignore it at our peril. We can learn much about life…
5 minutes
How To Be More Confident: 5 Research Backed Methods
one doubts the value of confidence. In fact, research shows people often prefer confidence over actual expertise. G. Richard Shell teaches at the Wharton School and his book Springboard: Launching Your Personal Search for Success has a great chapter on how to be more confident. Here's what you need to know. Surround Yourself With People Who Believe in You I've posted a lot about how the power of context can improve behavior. And people are a part of that. When you're told you're…
4 minutes
Is It Possible To Live Forever? How To Live A Long, Healthy Life
is it possible to live forever? The person with the longest confirmed lifespan is Jeanne Clement. She lived to be 122 and died in 1997. Imagining living that long almost makes your head hurt. This lady met Vincent Van Gogh. In person. For real. And was around to see the internet too. Imagine your retirement age and middle age being the same thing. She was still riding her bicycle everywhere until 100. Lived on her own until 110. And there's pretty…
8 minutes
The 4 Scientific Ways To Become Luckier
sounds crazy at first: How can you possibly become luckier? But it turns out luck isn't chance and magic. There's a science behind it. Richard Wiseman studied very lucky people to figure out what they had in common. In his book, Luck Factor, he explains the four principles you can use to increase luck in your life. 1) Maximize Opportunities It makes intuitive sense: if you lock yourself in your house, how many exciting, serendipitous things are going to happen…
3 minutes
8 Things Movies Can Teach You About Human Nature
studying what makes a great story you can learn a lot about human nature. Stories aren't just distractions -- our brains are wired for story and studies show they are a fundamental part of the way we perceive the world. Stories are how we form meaning in our lives and they are vital to everything from career to family to happiness. UCLA Film School professor Howard Suber's book The Power of Film is meant to teach cinematic storytelling -- but also conveys deep…
5 minutes
Success In Life: How Do You Measure It?
your life was a board game, how would you score it? Remember the Game of Life? It's one of the most popular board games ever. You won if you ended the game with the most money. Here's the interesting thing you probably don't know: The game wasn't always about money. The original version was about vice, virtue and happiness. But when it was re-released in 1960 it was about cash. When Milton Bradley (the man) first created it, he saw…
4 minutes
4 Things Astronauts Can Teach You About A Good Night’s Sleep
o knows about sleep? Astronauts. They have to. Their bodies are cut off from many of the normal external cues that remind us what time it is. But actually, it's even worse than that. In orbit they can experience a dozen sunrises and sunsets a day which makes their circadian rhythm go completely haywire. When you're in a tin can floating through the cold darkness of outer space, being off your game due to lousy sleep can have very bad results.…
5 minutes
Knowing Yourself: 3 Keys To Leveraging Ancient Wisdom
now Thyself" The Oracle at Delphi said "Know thyself." And that is deep and profound. It's also a pain in the ass because as with every cliche, the difficulty is in the execution and nobody ever bothers to tell you how to do it properly. I guess they're too busy brainstorming new fortune cookie wisdom while we sit around thinking they're smart for coming up with it and we're dumb for not being able to follow through. Knowing yourself is…
4 minutes
