Harvard professor Francesca Gino explains how to be a better person
Francesca Gino For this interview I spoke with Francesca Gino. She's a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How We Can Stick to the Plan. We discussed being a better person, giving good gifts, smart decision making, the power of introverted leaders and how rituals can improve our lives. ———–——— Reminders are the secret to being a better person Francesca Gino: Even good people can end up doing the wrong thing. We…
5 minutes
How to easily increase willpower and improve self-control:
at's it take to increase willpower? Roy F. Baumeister is the Frances Eppes Professor of Psychology at Florida State University and author of the New York Times bestseller Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. I spoke with him about how self-control works, what makes New Year's resolutions succeed and how to increase willpower. My conversation with Roy was over an hour long, so for brevity’s sake I’m only going to post edited highlights here. If you want the extended interview…
6 minutes
What should you do with your life?
uldn’t it be so much easier if you got a letter in the mail when you were seventeen, signed by someone who had a direct pipeline to Ultimate Meaning, telling you exactly who you are and what your true destiny is? Then you could carry this letter around in your pocket, and when you got confused or distracted and suddenly melted down, you’d reach for your wallet and grab the letter and read it again and go, “Oh, right.” That's…
6 minutes
This is how you should commit suicide
his book This Is How, Augusten Burroughs makes an important distinction between suicide and ending your life. Via This Is How: I realized suicide was the last thing I wanted to do. It was actually the opposite of what I desired. Suicide would not accomplish any of my goals: 1. Punishment of those who made me miserable 2. The infliction of lifelong guilt and remorse in everybody who had ever met me 3. Idolization by other suicidal teenagers 4. Something named…
2 minutes
What can you learn about happiness from the unhappiest place on Earth?
ic Weiner traveled all over the world -- from the most joy-filled countries to the unhappiest place on Earth -- for his book The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World. His first stop is to check out the World Database of Happiness in the Netherlands where he reviews studies on well-being. He sums up the research pretty quickly and pretty well. Via The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the…
6 minutes
Does reading the news make you unhappy — without you even realizing it?
uld news make you unhappy? The news is always extreme stories about violence, sex, tragedy -- and always has been. There's a good article and some recent research that gives us more insight. So how can news make you unhappy? Rolf Dobelli, author of The Art of Thinking Clearly has a long article in The Guardian which makes a compelling argument that the news brings us down. Highlights: News leads us to walk around with the completely wrong risk map…
3 minutes
Laws of subtraction: Should you do less to get more out of life?
fe is so busy these days. In an effort to slow it down it seems we only end up adding more. Is less what we really need? If so, how do you even start down that road? Matthew May explores this in his book The Laws of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess Everything pulling from the work of many experienced contributors. What are the Six Laws of Subtraction? Here are May's six rules, and I've highlighted research…
4 minutes
Good old days: What can the modern world learn from older societies?
e good old days. Despite all the undeniable benefits recent centuries have brought, you may have a nagging feeling that we've lost something in the process. Jared Diamond (author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning must-read Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies) has a new book to reassure you you're not crazy. The World Until Yesterday answers the question "What can we learn from traditional societies?" looking at diet, family, child-rearing, religion, violence and more. What made the good old…
4 minutes
