Selfishness: The Cure to Your Philosophical Hangover Editor’s Note: This article is written by the brilliant, amazing, and selfless Marina Tsipenyuk. Those who have ever valued liberty for its own sake believed that to be free to choose, and not to be chosen for, is an unalienable ingredient in what makes human beings human. ~Isaiah Berlin Though I generally procrastinate when it comes to reading long fictions, last summer, and due to a twentieth century Russian literature class that I have taken this Fall, I have been inundated with countless philosophies. I was astounded by so many of the recent novels that I have read, ranging from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead and Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, to pieces in the style of Socialist Realism and those opposing it. The problem is not vested in finding the ultimate philosophical answer to how everything works. This is something we may wonder from time to time along with the notions of love, interconnection, and social responsibility. Selfishness vs Selflessness Where do we fit in?
How to think faster, better on your feet Five Rules For Life gina trapani is a tech writer and web developer; she is the founding editor of lifehacker.com and authored a book based on the website - upgrade your life: the lifehacker guide to working smarter, faster, better. read more from gina on her new blog, smarterware. Here are Gina's "Five Rules For Life": 1.) "Be the change you want to see in the world."Mahatma Gandhi's famous edict is especially relevant in the U.S. right now, as President Obama kicks off a new era of change. What change do you want to see? 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) Gina currently resides in San Diego, California.
How David Beats Goliath When Vivek Ranadivé decided to coach his daughter Anjali’s basketball team, he settled on two principles. The first was that he would never raise his voice. This was National Junior Basketball—the Little League of basketball. The team was made up mostly of twelve-year-olds, and twelve-year-olds, he knew from experience, did not respond well to shouting. He would conduct business on the basketball court, he decided, the same way he conducted business at his software firm. The second principle was more important. Ranadivé looked at his girls. David’s victory over Goliath, in the Biblical account, is held to be an anomaly. In the Biblical story of David and Goliath, David initially put on a coat of mail and a brass helmet and girded himself with a sword: he prepared to wage a conventional battle of swords against Goliath. Consider the way T. But when Lawrence looked at his ragtag band of Bedouin fighters he realized that a direct attack on Medina would never succeed. That was it!
Power of Language - I’m Sorry, I Don’t Know, I Can’t Photo by Vanessa Paxton I find myself blurting out I don’t know as an instant answer to questions I don’t have immediate answers for. Lately, I’ve been noting how these simple words made me feel, and I’m starting to take notice that on some level, these casual words are effecting my emotions and self-esteem. Saying I don’t know, I’m sorry, I can’t and “I don’t want to but have to” are slowly changing my mindset. Through my observations, I’ve noticed how common it is to use these popular phrases without giving them a second thought. Do you find yourself saying the words I’m sorry or I don’t know often? Let’s have a closer look at each one and notice their effect in our internal mental space. Before diving in, let’s point out a few things about our unconscious mind. Our Hidden Gold Mine: The Unconscious Mind We function as a result of the beautiful harmony between our conscious and unconscious mind. In summary, what we say gets noted by our unconscious mind, all the time. Okay, let’s dive in!
5 lasting rules for negotiating anything I recently had dinner with a friend of mine, a physician-turned-businessperson-turned-founder. We were discussing the virtues of transferable skills, and I asked him what management tools he brings to entrepreneurship from his earlier career in medicine. He pondered a bit before confessing that radiology skills don’t, in fact, translate so easily. Turns out he was referring to one of the original publications to come out of the famed Harvard Negotiation Project, a seminal workshop that was started in 1979 with a mission to improve dispute and conflict resolution. I picked it up. 1. 2. 4. Tackle Any Issue With a List of 100 The List of 100 is a powerful technique you can use to generate ideas, clarify your thoughts, uncover hidden problems or get solutions to any specific questions you’re interested in. The technique is very simple in principle: state your issue or question in the top of a blank sheet of paper and come up with a list of one hundred answers or solutions about it. “100 Ways to Generate Income”, “100 Ways to be More Creative” or “100 Ways to Improve my Relationships” are some examples. “One hundred entries? Isn’t that way too many?” Bear with me: it’s exactly this exaggeration that makes the technique powerful. When starting your list you may believe that there’s no way to get it done. Unlike the related Idea Quota tool — whose primary goal is to acquire the habit of coming up with ideas — the goal of a List of 100 is to take your mind by surprise. Ground Rules There are only two simple principles to keep in mind when making Lists of 100: 1. 2. The Dynamics of Making Lists of 100 1. 2. 3.
10 Ways to Instantly Build Self Confidence Self confidence is the difference between feeling unstoppable and feeling scared out of your wits. Your perception of yourself has an enormous impact on how others perceive you. Perception is reality — the more self confidence you have, the more likely it is you’ll succeed. Although many of the factors affecting self confidence are beyond your control, there are a number of things you can consciously do to build self confidence. By using these 10 strategies you can get the mental edge you need to reach your potential. 1. Although clothes don’t make the man, they certainly affect the way he feels about himself. This doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot on clothes. 2. One of the easiest ways to tell how a person feels about herself is to examine her walk. 3. Similarly, the way a person carries herself tells a story. 4. One of the best ways to build confidence is listening to a motivational speech. 5. When you focus too much on what you want, the mind creates reasons why you can’t have it.
FLOW: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE (Steps Toward Enhancing the Quality of Life) One must particularly achieve control over instinctive drives to achieve a healthy independence of society, for as long as we respond predictably to what feels good and what feels bad, it is easy for others to exploit our preferences for their own ends. The knowledge - or wisdom - one needs for emancipating consciousness is not cumulative. Pleasure by itself does not bring happiness. Eight Components of Enjoyment 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. When experience is intrinsically rewarding, one’s life is justified in the present, instead of one being held hostage to a hypothetical future, but we must constantly re-evaluate what we do, lest habits and past ‘wisdom’ blind us to new possibilities. Commencement of learning something is a flow situation – everything is new and flow absorption is present as one struggles to master the skill. Effects of Family on Autotelic (Self-contained Goal)Experience Three Steps in the Transformation: 1. 2. 3. A. B. C. D.
how to be interesting - Russel Davies While I was at the U of O I kept going on about how the core skill of any future creative business person will be 'being interesting'. People will employ and want to work with (and want to be with) interesting people. And since I’d spent quite a lot of time telling them all the things they should stop doing I’d thought I’d try and teach something useful. Since I don't actually know anything useful I had to make something up. I’ve based it on two assumptions: The way to be interesting is to be interested. Interesting people are good at sharing. The marvelous thing about tinterweb is that it’s got great tools for being interested and great tools for sharing. It's sort of didactic, bossy even, but it's supposed to be instructional, rules you can follow. 1. You should carry a camera with you. Posting it to flickr (or other photosharing sites) means that you’re sharing it. 2. This is pretty easy. 3. I’ve talked about this before. 4. Interesting people are interested in all sorts of things.