1: You and your friends are at a karaoke bar on a Friday night.
The moment has arrived. It’s your turn to hit the stage and grab the mic.
Picture yourself saying, “I’m excited.”
Will you sing better if instead you say “I’m nervous”?
2: “Many people would probably say no, because we presume that singing ability is a stable skill, dependent on factors like experience, interest, and practice,” Daniel … continue reading
1: Darlene worked as a nurse in a neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, near Dayton, Ohio.
One day as she walked past an incubator, she sensed something was wrong.
“All of the machines hooked up to the child showed that her vitals were within normal ranges,” Charles Duhigg writes in Smarter Faster Better.
The nurse caring for the baby didn’t seem worried.
But to Darlene, something seemed off.… continue reading
1: Tynan thought mindfulness and meditation were “too wishy-washy and time consuming,” he writes in Superhuman by Habit.
When he tried meditating, he found it hard to keep his attention on his breath. His mind kept wandering, which left him frustrated and ready to give up.
But then he discovered something that completely changed how he saw meditation.
“If meditation were easy, it would not be as beneficial,” he writes. … continue reading
1: “Shelley was speechless,” says Mike Oppedahl, the managing partner at GiANT Worldwide.
He had just introduced the 5 Gears tool, which we’ve been exploring this week in RiseWithDrew.
“Shelley is a rock star,” he says in Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram’s book The 5 Gears: How to Be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time.
She’s “like a cruise missile as it pertains to … continue reading
1: How long do you have someone’s attention at the beginning of a meeting?
About 10 minutes.
That’s it, Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.
“You naturally have someone’s attention for about 10 minutes before that person loses focus on your message,” says John Medina, author of the brilliant book Brain Rules and the director of the Brain Center … continue reading
1: Imagine a beautiful summer morning on Lake Erie.
“The sun’s out, but there’s just enough breeze to keep you comfortable. It’s not too hot and not too cold,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their powerful book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.
Erik is lying in a hammock right by the beach. He’s reading a good book. On the table next to him is a cold … continue reading
Author Oliver Burkeman and his family recently moved from Brooklyn to the North York Moors in northern England.
“Which means that very often in the early mornings, carrying a flask of hot coffee, I get to stroll along a lane with spectacular views across a valley to the heather-topped ridge beyond,” he writes in Meditations for Mortals.
“In winter, the pink light of sunrise pours itself slowly over fields … continue reading
1: We’re all likely familiar with the “marshmallow experiments.”
“Social psychologist Walter Mischel and his colleagues presented children with a single marshmallow and offered them a choice: They could eat it, or wait alone in the room with it for ten minutes, in which case they’d get one more,” Oliver Burkeman writes in Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts… continue reading
1: “Suppose it’s 4.10 pm, on a day when it’s not my turn for school pickup,” Oliver Burkeman writes in Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts.
“I’m focusing hard in my office at home,” Oliver notes, “when my son bursts in, to tell me excitedly of his preparations for the school play.”
Here is one of those moments of wonderful … continue reading
1: Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.
That’s the reality of the life we know.
“If there’s anything we pick up from reading the four Gospels,” however, John Mark Comer writes in The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, “it’s that Jesus was rarely in a hurry.”
“Can you imagine a stressed-out Jesus?” he asks. “Snapping at Mary Magdalene after a long day, ‘I can’t believe you dropped the hummus.’ Sighing, and saying to … continue reading
