all want to get to the gym, be more productive, be kinder to our loved ones... and then we don’t do it. Why? Well, building solid personal habits can be hard. In fact, research shows it takes an average of 66 days to build a new good habit. From Oliver Burkeman’s Help! How to be slightly happier and get a bit more done: On average, her subjects, who were trying to learn new habits such as eating fruit daily or going jogging,…
uldn't it be nice to know how to tell if someone is lying? We're going to see what the research has to say on detecting lies, avoiding deception and more. And this is the industrial strength package. We'll look at how to avoid being deceived by the pros in this arena: con artists. To get the real answers, I called an expert. Maria Konnikova is a contributing writer at The New Yorker. Her wonderful new book is The Confidence Game. Maria has insights from research on how…
'd all like to know how to get more energy when life throws curve balls at us. These ideas from psychology research can help you keep going and overcome a terminal case of I-don't-feel-like-it. Let's get started... 1) Do The "Obvious Trio" Yeah, yeah, I said this would be "new" secrets but we have to get these three obvious ones out of the way now. Everybody says you should get more sleep, exercise and eat better. And, of course, they're right. But…
u don't belong here. You're not good enough. You got lucky. They're going to realize you aren't that smart. Ever heard this voice in your head? You're far from alone. It's called "impostor syndrome." More than 70% of successful people have felt it at one point. Via The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It: In a study of successful people by psychologist Gail Matthews, a…
ow what's really interesting? Learning how Navy SEALs build mental toughness to handle deadly situations. Know what else is really interesting? Learning how Olympic athletes deal with the pressure of competition when the entire world is watching. Know what's the most interesting of all? When you find out they do a lot of the same things. "Mental Links To Excellence" is a research study of what Olympians do to prepare for their big day. And so much of it lines up with what I learned researching…
ver had a run of bad luck? It feels like the world is actively conspiring against you. Ever wonder if you can improve your luck? And I don't mean with voodoo or magic crystals. Turns out somebody has done scientific research on luck. So I gave him a call. Richard Wiseman…
er have trouble getting to sleep? Or staying asleep? Or you get plenty of shut-eye but you're not refreshed? Everyone wants to get better sleep. But sleep trouble is incredibly common. And feeling tired the next day isn't the half of it. By not getting enough sleep you're reducing your IQ. Via Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School: Take an A student used to scoring in the top 10 percent of virtually anything she does.…
ar is... really scary, actually. Research shows being afraid you're going to lose your job can be worse than actually losing your job: “…perceived job insecurity ranks as one of the most important factors in employees’ well-being and can be even more harmful than actual job loss with subsequent unemployment.” In a number of surveys, fear of speaking in public ranks higher than fear of death. Jerry Seinfeld interpreted this as meaning that at a funeral, more people would rather be in the…
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