Phillip (Weatherford, OK)'s review of Overachievement: The New Science of Working Less to Accomplish More Dr. Eliot's "Overachievement" is just the thing to read on the eave of one's 50th birthday. For me, the past few months have been a time of reflection about the things I have done and the things I want to accomplish in order to make my 50s the best decade of my life. With the desire to do things I was attracted to this book written by performance (in business, sports, entertainment, etc.) trainer Dr. John Eliot of the neuroscience department of Rice University. Eliot challenges the reader to discover the thing he or she actually loves to do and to invest all of the self into excelling at it. I was happy to see Eliot credit Mihály Csíkszentmihályi with ideas found in the earlier books "Flow" and "Finding Flow". Dr. Among these tools is the distinction between the acting or "Trusting Mindset" and the "Training Mindset". He describes overachievers as exceptional thinkers. The book provides more tools for the reader to move toward a life of overachievement.
Rarity of Quiet | Corned Beef Hashtag It starts at 6 a.m. with the alarms that wake us up. Then the television goes on for the news, because so much has probably changed in the four or five hours that, maybe, I’ve been asleep. The coffee maker gurgles and burps in the background. The toaster pops and the skillet sizzles. The car rumbles to a start, the heater roars as it blows the still cold air through the vents. The traffic of the morning rush is heavy and the other drivers whoosh past me in their vehicles. Turning into the residential area that the school is in and the birds are chirping amid the thrum of cars riding over speed humps. I arrive back at the house, greeted by the barking of the dogs. My evening is spent yelling to be heard over the clanking of pans, the rattle of plates being stacked and unstacked, and the calls of the other cooks; beyond it all is the incessant, maddening, rhythmic throb of the exhaust hood. Finally at home, things are still. The silence rolls in. Like this: Like Loading...
How to Be Happy (Research) While happiness is defined by the individual, I’ve always felt it foolish to declare that nothing can be learned from observing the happiness of others. Examining how to be happy is benefitted from observing the patterns of others, and then taking only what you find useful. Inspiration is the goal, not rigid rules on being happy. I’ve gone over dozens of research papers in the pursuit of learning more about the subject — happiness in work and life is a topic to take seriously, so I’m always on the hunt for inspiration and insight. Below I’ll cover a few of my favorite studies. 1. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. Thoughtful words from C.S. For instance, a variety of research suggests that self-esteem that is bound to external success can be a fickle beast — certain students who tied their self-esteem to their grades experienced small boosts when they received an acceptance letter (grad school), but harsh drops in self-esteem when they were rejected.
How do you find the best mentor for you? Mentors have been essential for me. No matter how many books you read or how much time you spend researching on the web, mentors are still a crucial part of learning in any arena. So how do you find a great one? Daniel Coyle goes through the research in his excellent book The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills and pulls together five points: 1) Avoid Someone Who Reminds You of a Courteous Waiter …one who focuses his efforts on keeping you comfortable and happy, on making things go smoothly, with a minimum of effort… This is a good person to have as your waiter in a restaurant, but a terrible person to have as your teacher, coach, or mentor. 2) Seek Someone Who Scares You a Little Look for someone who: Watches you closely: He is interested in figuring you out— what you want, where you’re coming from, what motivates you. Is honest, sometimes unnervingly so: He will tell you the truth about your performance in clear language. 3) Seek Someone Who Gives Short, Clear Directions
Being More Productive David Allen and Tony Schwartz knew of each other’s work for years, but they’d never met. Allen is a productivity consultant and the author of the best seller Getting Things Done, which outlines the list-driven efficiency system adherents call by its acronym: GTD. Schwartz, the author of the best seller Be Excellent at Anything and a regular HBR blogger, is the CEO of The Energy Project, which helps people and organizations fuel engagement and productivity by drawing on the science of high performance. The two men have consulted for many of the same companies, sometimes giving seminars in the same auditoriums on back-to-back days. Then last summer Allen dropped in on a presentation that Schwartz was giving at a trade show. In the months since, they’ve gotten together several times to talk about their approaches to improving the performance of knowledge workers. HBR: Let’s start with something simple. Allen: I help people and organizations produce more with less input. Schwartz: No.
ohdeardrea: How To Have A Great Life Without Spending A Lot Of Money + Saving Some Too I'd like to think I might be an expert in this category, but I'm not sure what gives anyone expert status on these things. I mean, I'm not a financial or money expert of any sort. In reality, I don't like to talk about money--- so this really is not a post on how to get rich in money, but how we live our good (great) life. We're a middle class family with two incomes. We're not rich. Don't buy disposable products. Don't buy cheap crap. Invest in expensive things (sometimes). Invest in classic things (always) I have four, six, and eight+ year old pairs of shoes that still look good--- and not because they've been sitting in a closet--because believe me they've been danced in, ran in, partied in, played in, etc. Buy some things second hand.I wrote about this before. Buy a house. You don't need a big one (a house that is). If you don't have money, don't spend it. Make stuff. Eat leftovers + meal plan. Don't buy processed foods. Drink water. Love your home. Plant a garden. Don't rush.
Handbook for Life: 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity By Leo Babauta This is something I’ve been wanting to write for some time — a Handbook for Life. Now, is there any handbook that can be a guide to every single person? Of course not. This is just a list of tips that I think will help many people in life — some of them common-sense tips that we often forget about. Consider this guide a reminder. It’ll also become apparent from the links in this handbook that I’ve written about this stuff before. How to use this handbook This handbook is not meant to be a step-by-step guide, nor should you adopt all the tips below. Pick and choose the tips that will be most useful to you. 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity Try rising early. 6 Ways to Get Me to Email You Back
The Power of Small Wins Artwork: Xavier Veilhan, The Big Mobile, 2004, metallic structure, 25 spheres in PVC with diameters from 29.5" to 137.8", Exhibition View, 3rd Biennial of Contemporary Art of Valencia What is the best way to drive innovative work inside organizations? Important clues hide in the stories of world-renowned creators. The Double Helix, James Watson’s 1968 memoir about discovering the structure of DNA, describes the roller coaster of emotions he and Francis Crick experienced through the progress and setbacks of the work that eventually earned them the Nobel Prize. Throughout these episodes, Watson and Crick’s progress—or lack thereof—ruled their reactions. Of all the things that can boost inner work life, the most important is making progress in meaningful work. The power of progress is fundamental to human nature, but few managers understand it or know how to leverage progress to boost motivation.
The High Cost Of Acting Happy List of English-language idioms This is a list of notable idioms in the English language. An idiom is a common word or phrase with a culturally understood meaning that differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest. For example, an English speaker would understand the phrase "kick the bucket" to mean "to die" – and also to actually kick a bucket. Furthermore, they would understand when each meaning is being used in context. Visit Wiktionary's Category for over eight thousand idioms. See also[edit] References[edit] Jump up ^ "A bitter pill". Notes[edit] Jump up ^ Originally a hunting term.Jump up ^ Originally a British slang term for a quadruple amputee during World War I.Jump up ^ Originating with the English writer Francis Quarles who wrote:"Wee spend our mid-day sweat, or mid-night oyle;Wee tyre the night in thought; the day in toyle."
How to network They say networking is vital but nobody explains how to network How to network is the real question. But first, in case you’re a doubter, some quick proof that networking is essential: Research shows networking is essential to staying employed, salary growth and job satisfaction.It makes you more likely to get a job. Via Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference: In his classic 1974 study Getting a Job, Granovetter…found that 56 percent of those he talked to found their job through a personal connection. More likely to be successful in a job. Via The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work: MIT researchers…found that the more socially connected the IBM employees were, the better they performed. And more likely to be creative on the job. Via Imagine: How Creativity Works: So why aren’t there any good resources on the nitty gritty of how to network? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5) Just be a friend Tags:
Spotlight Intro: A Productivity Guidebook Artwork: Xavier Veilhan, The Mobile, 2009, composite material, stainless steel, paint, motor, 10 x 10 x 10 m, Exhibition view, Veilhan Versailles Keys to enhancing your knowledge workers’ performance, effectiveness, and satisfaction The Power of Small Wins by Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer Being More Productive an interview with David Allen and Tony Schwartz by Daniel McGinn The Case for Executive Assistants by Melba J. About the Spotlight Artist Each month we illustrate our Spotlight package with a series of works from an accomplished artist. This month the Spotlight artist is Xavier Veilhan, whose work focuses on his interest in mechanical systems and technical progress, including reconstructions, by hand, of an original Ford Model T, bicycles, a motor scooter, and a Swiss cuckoo clock. View more of the artist’s work at veilhan.net.
18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently This list has been expanded into the new book, “Wired to Create: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind,” by Carolyn Gregoire and Scott Barry Kaufman. Creativity works in mysterious and often paradoxical ways. Creative thinking is a stable, defining characteristic in some personalities, but it may also change based on situation and context. Neuroscience paints a complicated picture of creativity. And psychologically speaking, creative personality types are difficult to pin down, largely because they’re complex, paradoxical and tend to avoid habit or routine. “It’s actually hard for creative people to know themselves because the creative self is more complex than the non-creative self,” Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at New York University who has spent years researching creativity, told The Huffington Post. While there’s no “typical” creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviors of highly creative people. They daydream. They observe everything.