This question can predict whether you will be alive and happy at age 80
s there someone in your life whom you would feel comfortable phoning at four in the morning to tell your troubles to?" Via Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being: Is there someone in your life whom you would feel comfortable phoning at four in the morning to tell your troubles to? If your answer is yes, you will likely live longer than someone whose answer is no. For George Vaillant, the Harvard psychiatrist who discovered this fact,…
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Can you turn stress into excitement?
ny studies have shown we easily confuse our feelings: Ariely thinks it might have something to do with "misattribution of emotions": "Sometimes we have an emotion and we don't know where it's coming from, so we kind of stick it on something that seems sensible." The rush from a Red Bull and a roller coaster can make us believe we're in love with the person next to us. We can even fall in love with someone trying to kill us…
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Here’s The Secret To Persistence, According To Research
en challenged, focus on "getting better" -- not doing well or looking good. Get-better goals increase motivation, make tasks more interesting and replenish energy. This effect even carries over to subsequent tasks. Via Nine Things Successful People Do Differently: Get-better goals, on the other hand, are practically bulletproof. When we think about what we are doing in terms of learning and mastering, accepting that we may make some mistakes along the way, we stay motivated despite the setbacks that might…
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4 Secrets To Becoming Luckier, According To Research
open to more opportunities, interact with a large network of people, break routines and keep a relaxed attitude toward life. Via Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries: ...lucky people pay more attention to what’s going on around them than unlucky people. It’s more nuanced than that. Here’s where being open to meeting, interacting with, and learning from different types of people comes in. Wiseman found that lucky people tend to be open to opportunities (or insights)…
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Here’s The Best Time To Do Anything:
a Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon: A Guide to the Best Time to Buy This, Do That and Go There": Best time to have surgery: Morning (4x less likely to have complications in the morning than between 3-4PM) Best time to get a human being on the phone when calling a company's customer service line: As early as possible (lowest call volume) Best day of the week to eat dinner out: Tuesday (freshest food, no crowds) Best…
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Psychotherapists Say This Is The Key To Happiness
e story you tell yourself about your life. When your vision of your life story is inadequate, depression can result. Psychotherapists actually help "rewrite" that story and this process is as, if not more, effective than medication. Via The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human: According to the psychologist Michele Crossley, depression frequently stems from an “incoherent story,” an “inadequate narrative account of oneself,” or “a life story gone awry.” Psychotherapy helps unhappy people set their life stories straight;…
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Here’s Why Stupid People Don’t Realize They’re Stupid
know how skilled you are at something, you need to watch yourself, watch others and compare. If you don't have the experience (or the mental firepower) to do this effectively, your judgements won't be accurate. To oversimplify it a tad -- stupid people may be too stupid to realize they're stupid: Successful negotiation of everyday life would seem to require people to possess insight about deficiencies in their intellectual and social skills. However, people tend to be blissfully unaware of their…
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The Simple Thing That Can Dramatically Improve Your Life
end more time outdoors. Nature has a myriad of incredible positive effects that have demonstrated by research: Being out in nature reduces stress. Nature walks or even looking at pictures of nature improves memory. Flowers increase romantic feelings. Nature can even make you a better person. Can't be bothered to step outside? Even a potted plant has been shown to improve attention span and increase creativity in an office environment. You might be inclined to discount this. I know that…
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