Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives
“If you imagine less, less will be what you undoubtedly deserve,” Debbie Millman counseled in one of the best commencement speeches ever given, urging: “Do what you love, and don’t stop until you get what you love. Work as hard as you can, imagine immensities…” Far from Pollyanna platitude, this advice actually reflects what modern psychology knows about how belief systems about our own abilities and potential fuel our behavior and predict our success. Much of that understanding stems from the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, synthesized in her remarkably insightful Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (public library) — an inquiry into the power of our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, and how changing even the simplest of them can have profound impact on nearly every aspect of our lives. One of the most basic beliefs we carry about ourselves, Dweck found in her research, has to do with how we view and inhabit what we consider to be our personality.
A Special Forces Officer Teaches You 5 Secrets To Overcoming Adversity
Life can be really difficult sometimes. We all deal with it. But how do top performers overcome challenges? And what can we learn from them? I figured I’d call an expert. Who knows about overcoming adversity?
Habit Hack: The Science Behind How A Habit Is Formed
“Starting next month, I will run three times a week” “After Christmas, I will only eat ice cream once a week maximum” How many of you have tried to start a new habit and failed? Forming a new habit is not an easy task, yet we all know that in order to improve ourselves, creating a new habit (or breaking a bad one) is crucial and unavoidable. As people who love to learn new ways to “hack” our lives, i believe that we need to break down the mechanic of how a habit is created in order to successfully create a new habit. Charles Duhigg (a Pulifzer-prize winning reporter) wrote a very good book that breaks down the mechanics of habit creation, it is titled “The Power of Habit” (Published in 2012).
How to raise a brilliant child without screwing them up
Where does the drive to succeed come from? And if it results in exceptional achievement (as defined by external norms such as power, status and wealth) does that have to go hand in hand with being a troubled, agonised person? The latest evidence suggests that genes play little part – see box below – and that nurture is critical, whether it be carrot or stick.
How To Be Resilient: 8 Steps To Success When Life Gets Hard
“Stick with it!” “Be resilient!” “Never give up!” I see a lot of stuff about resilience, persistence and grit.
What's the ultimate way to defy depression, disease and early death? Exercise
Are you sitting comfortably? Bad idea. Stand up and walk around the house.
7 Ways to Bounce Back from Life’s Inevitable Setbacks
It’s your choice… To be positive and free or to be imprisoned by your own negativity. To live in the past or to be hopeful about the present. Full disclosure: I set myself a challenge recently, and I’ve been failing at it.
A Princeton psychology professor has posted his CV of failures online
1/35 Heathrow third runway poses ‘serious obstacle’ to fight against climate change - Tuesday October 25 Environmental groups expressed dismay at the Government’s decision to give a third runway at the airport the go-ahead – and Greenpeace vowed to challenge it in the courts. Allowing Heathrow to expand will create “a serious obstacle” to meeting the UK’s commitments on climate change and reducing air pollution, a leading scientist has warned. Reclaim the Power 2/35 Nearly 10,000 people in China apply for one job - Monday October 24 Nearly ten thousands Chinese jobseekers are competing for one position: an officer worker at a political organisation.China's annual civil service recruitment drive began on October 15, with more than 27,000 vacancies on offer in over 120 central departments - drawing about 1.4 million applicants this year.
5 Ways to Stay Mentally Strong When You’re Not Feeling “Good Enough”
Email “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ―Eleanor Roosevelt Do you ever feel like you’re not good enough?
JK Rowling's life advice: ten quotes on the lessons of failure
JK Rowling has some inspirational advice for graduating students – or for anyone in this universe, really. Her new book, Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination, out on 14 April, is her 2008 commencement speech at Harvard University, published by Little, Brown. Proceeds from sales will be donated to Lumos, a charity for disadvantaged children founded by Rowling, and to a financial aid programme at Harvard. Some of her wisdom from that speech, for those of you who weren’t in the Harvard audience, is collected below. Rowling, who came from a family where her imagination was seen as “an amusing personal quirk that would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension”, struggled considerably before becoming one of the world’s most successful authors: seven years after graduating, “I had failed on an epic scale.
Coming Back From a Setback
By Leo Babauta I set myself a challenge recently, and I’ve been failing at it. I decided to only eat bland food, with no variety. The month is only 2/3 over, but I’ve struggled much more than I’d anticipated. It’s such a minor setback, but it’s made me feel a little depressed sometimes, and I’ve wanted to quit more times than I’d like to admit. I didn’t quit, mostly because I thought that sticking with it might help someone else going through a struggle.
