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Showing posts with the label Personality

The Ways Your Brain Manages Overload, and How to Improve Them

Information overload is   everywhere , from non-stop news to rat-a-tat email inboxes. At the receiving end of this deluge of verbiage is   thehuman brain — your   brain— metaphorically endowed with a vacuum cleaner that   sucksup information;  a container for   short-termmemory;  a blender for   integratinginformation;  a memory bank for storing   long-term information;  a garbage disposal for   getting rid of information;  and a   recycling machine   extraordinaire. Using each of these functions effectively is critical if one wants to manage information overload ̶ simply using your brain for crossing items off your to-do list is poor use of a very sophisticated machine. Yet few people build the habits and lifestyles that allow for their brains to function at their best. At the core of managing information overload is the ability to know which function to use, and how and when to use it. The six principles below can serve as a guide to the proper brain hygiene for managing infor

10 Horrible Habits That Destroy Your Happiness

Appreciating what we have and building on it is work. Feeling sorry for ourselves and staying stuck is no effort at all. We are all constantly in pursuit of  happiness . Every day we make choices in life that affect how we feel and think about ourselves. We usually believe we are making good decisions that will bring us closer to a state of well-being. We naturally seek to avoid fear and create a comfortable life. The only problem is that sometimes the choices we make actually increase our anxiety and despair. We fall into bad habits that hurt us and destroy our chances of finding lasting contentment. You can stop the negative cycle and begin taking back your happiness by quashing these 10  horrible habits . 1. Constantly comparing yourself with others. The temptation to compare ourselves to others is almost overwhelming. However, constantly comparing ourselves to others will result in dissatisfaction with our own lives. It’s easy to look at someone else and think tha

9 Keys to Staying Mentally Sharp

You can have a youthful brain at any age Learning how to integrate brain, mind, and heart into a harmonious whole has never been more needed. The sheer number of  demands that compete for our limited time, attention and energy  is unprecedented in human history, and it is no wonder that we cannot always manage them with ease. This pressure may partially account for the explosion of chronic health challenges that plague people the world over. And with an aging population, experts expect an  epidemic of age-related brain illnesses  that society will be ill equipped to confront. In the face of these challenges, developing the resilience and vitality to better adapt and thrive in the second half of life has never been more urgent. The second half of life will no doubt be filled with  unavoidable challenges . But there is a clear path through these challenges, a path rooted in brain science, in practices attentive to the physical needs of body and brain, in mindful awareness, in

If You Want Greatness, Take Responsibility

“If you had to pick one quality that someone needs to possess, what would that be?” someone recently asked me.  After I was forced to give just one answer, I said, “If I had to pick just one quality, it would be taking complete and full responsibility for your life.” Yes, there are a plethora of different qualities and habits that must be developed to truly become great, but there is no better starting point than taking complete responsibility for your life. We live in a world where maximum results are expected with minimal effort given. If something goes wrong, it’s someone else’s fault. If you’re not happy financially, it’s the economy’s fault. If you’re not happy in your marriage, it’s your partner's fault. If you’re not being compensated as much as you would like, the company doesn’t pay enough. Any of those sound familiar? Chances are some hit home. It’s human nature to blame circumstances or the next person instead of taking ownership. However, in order to live a

10 Habits That Will Dramatically Improve Your Life

We have to be very careful in choosing our pursuits, because our habits make us. In Hans Christian Andersen’s fable  The Red Shoes , a young girl longs for a pair of pretty red shoes. She ultimately tricks the blind woman who cares for her into buying her a pair. Her love for the red shoes causes her to give them priority over the more important things in her life, and, as often happens in fables, karma is not on her side. The shoes become firmly stuck to her feet and force her to dance non-stop, to the point where she almost dies from exhaustion and starvation. We can scoff at the little girl’s foolishness, but, in real life, we often do the same thing -- we chase after the things that we  think  will make us happy and don’t realize that we’re heading down a dangerous path. One study found that the people who experience the greatest job satisfaction aren’t the ones in the big, fancy offices; they’re the ones who approach their work as a calling, even when that work involv

10 Ways To Spot A Truly Exceptional Employee

A recent international study surveyed more than 500 business leaders and asked them what sets great employees apart. The researchers wanted to know why some people are more successful than others at work, and the answers were surprising; leaders chose “personality” as the leading reason. Notably, 78% of leaders said personality sets great employees apart, more than cultural fit (53%) and even an employee’s skills (39%). “We should take care not to make the intellect our God; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.” –Albert Einstein The problem is, when leaders say ‘personality’ they don’t understand what they’re referring to. Personality consists of a stable set of preferences and tendencies through which we approach the world. Being introverted or extroverted is an example of an important personality trait. Personality traits form at an early age and are fixed by early adulthood. Many important things about you change over the course of your lifetime,