3 Things The Greatest Generals Of History Can Teach You About Strategy
Don't do what your enemy is prepared for. Frontal assaults against prepared defenses are stupid. Via How Great Generals Win: From the beginning of organized warfare, frontal attacks against prepared defenses have usually failed, a fact written large in military history for all generals to see... great generals strike where they are least expected against opposition that is weak and disorganized. Almost all successful attacks have hit enemies from the rear, from the flank, or anywhere it is not…
3 minutes
Science Says These Two Techniques Will Keep You Cool Under Pressure
ppressing emotions can backfire: Via Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long: Gross found that people who tried to suppress a negative emotional experience failed to do so. While they thought they looked fine outwardly, inwardly their limbic system was just as aroused as without suppression, and in some cases, even more aroused. Kevin Ochsner, at Columbia, repeated these findings using an fMRI. Trying not to feel something doesn’t work, and…
2 minutes
What’s worse: physical pain or social pain?
st of us fear a broken arm far more than a moment of embarrassment or rejection. In his book, Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long, David Brock makes an excellent point: We feel physical pain once and then it ends. We are able to feel relive emotional pain all over again years later. That hurt can stay with us much longer, maybe never abating. People who experience events like this…
2 minutes
The Secret To Eliminating Stress, According To Research
is often said, stress isn't about what happens to us, it's how we react to it. This is very true. We don't feel as stressed when we feel in control. Again, the emphasis is on feel. Even illusory feelings of control can eliminate stress. (This is the secret to why idiots and crazy people may feel far less stress than those who see a situation clearly.) Anything that increases your perception of control over a situation -- whether it…
3 minutes
Research Says You Can Beat Your Cravings With These Two Words
en deciding whether to eat something that isn't necessarily nutritious, use the words "I don't" instead of "I can't." You're 8x more likely to be successful. Via LA Times: ...try a reframing exercise that seems to work for all sorts of yearnings. It's actually pretty easy: When deciding whether to eat something that isn't necessarily nutritious, use the words "I don't" instead of "I can't." What's the difference? "With 'I don't' you're choosing words that signal empowerment and determination rather…
1 min read
10 Things Your Hair Says About You, According To Research
ientific research has shown that: We can't be sure if blondes have more fun but they do make more money, raise more money and gentlemen do prefer them. Being well-groomed is correlated with better grades. Good grooming is associated with higher wages for men but not women. And if you're ugly and underpaid, guys, definitely shave. Women who remove their pubic hair have better sexual function. A number of factors go in to whether a girl is attracted to men…
1 min read
Are future creative geniuses unpopular in high school?
s. The deliberate practice that will one day make them famous alienates them from their peers in adolescence. Via Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking: ...the single-minded focus on what would turn out to be a lifelong passion, is typical for highly creative people. According to the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who between 1990 and 1995 studied the lives of ninety-one exceptionally creative people in the arts, sciences, business, and government, many of his subjects were on the social…
1 min read
10 things that can help you predict who will win Olympic gold:
love underdogs but being an underdog doesn't make you more motivated. In fact, the favorites try 30% harder when facing underdogs because they're afraid of being humiliated. The country's culture matters. Teams from more collectivist cultures perform better. Do you know a fair amount about the sport you're watching? Then don't think too hard when making your prediction. Attractive athletes might be more likely to win. "The teams that touched the most cooperated the most, and won the most."…
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