ur mind races. Your palms sweat. The words don't come out of your mouth right, if they come at all. We've all been there at one time or another. And some of us get it worse than others, and more frequently. Social anxiety. Nobody wants to look stupid or be embarrassed. But since it's not like your life is on the line, why is social fear so bad? There's an answer... While it's hard to remember what a broken arm feels like, it's…
ere's no shortage of tips about what brings happiness, but what gives your life meaning? "Meaning in life" is one of those things everybody insists is vitally important -- yet nobody tells you what it really is, and directions to get there never seem to come up on Google Maps. I had to take geometry to graduate high school but knowing what a rhombus is has never helped me. Nobody thought it was important to teach me about meaning. Seriously, my air conditioner came with better instructions…
ve you said any of these recently? I get distracted and procrastinate. I make plans but I don’t follow through on them. I get things done... but not the right things. The problem often comes down to just one word: "reactive." Maybe that wasn't the word you were expecting. But reactivity is a problem people have been contemplating for thousands of years. And, yes, it's a bigger issue now than ever. What is it? What can we do about it? Neuroscience and…
ople have enormous respect for ancient wisdom. They just don't read it. Funny thing is, we're more likely to live happier lives when we visit the classics section than the self-help aisle. So how do we get the skinny on what one group of brilliant dead guys -- The Stoics -- had to say? Well, for that, I called my friend Ryan. Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of The Obstacle is the Way and Ego is the Enemy. His…
u don't want to fight. You don't want to be hassled. You don't want to disappoint them. It's easier to just nod and give them what they want. But later you feel frustrated, trapped and depressed because you're not getting what you need and you spend all your time serving others. Ever felt this way? We all have. For some of us it's compartmentalized: you're a warrior at work but a worrier at home. Or it's the reverse: you rule the…
ere's plenty of good advice on how to be productive. But most of it makes you feel like you need to turn yourself into a machine. You don’t want to be Robby the Robot. Here's the thing: you often don't need help with the doing part. You know what to do. Sit down and finish the damn task. But you don't. Why? Often it's about feelings. What really gets in your way? "It scares me." "I don't feel like it right…
is meditation just another fad that pops up from time to time like bell-bottom jeans? Nope. Research shows it really helps you be healthier, happier and even improves your relationships. From The Mindful Brain: The MBSR program brought the ancient practice of mindfulness to individuals with a wide range of chronic medical conditions from back pain to psoriasis. Kabat-Zinn and colleagues, including his collaborator Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, were ultimately able to demonstrate that…
erybody is talking about mindfulness... but nobody seems to be able to explain clearly what the heck it really is. Ask people and you'll hear, "Umm, be in the moment and SOMETHING SOMETHING SOMETHING, uh, meditation." But is it merely the latest fad? Actually, no. And there isn't some looming deathmatch between mindfulness and neuroscience, between East and West. They're actually on the same page. Research shows mindfulness works. It can help you be happier and help you reduce stress. But nobody's ever explained it…
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