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7 stupid thinking errors you probably make. The brain isn’t a flawless piece of machinery. Although it is powerful and comes in an easy to carry container, it has it’s weaknesses. A field in psychology which studies these errors, known as biases. Although you can’t upgrade your mental hardware, noticing these biases can clue you into possible mistakes.How Bias Hurts You If you were in a canoe, you’d probably want to know about any holes in the boat before you start paddling. Biases can be holes in your reasoning abilities and they can impair your decision making.

Simply noticing these holes isn’t enough; a canoe will fill with water whether you are aware of a hole or not. Biases hurt you in a number of areas: Decision making. Here are some common thinking errors:1) Confirmation Bias The confirmation bias is a tendency to seek information to prove, rather than disprove our theories. Consider a study conducted by Peter Cathcart Wason.

This is the tendency to see patterns where none actually exist.

Polyphasic sleep

How To Train Yourself To Be In The Mood You Want. Dec 27, 2010 When you have major changes going on in your life, or you’re just frustrated about where you are, it’s easy to get trapped in a cycle of depression, bad moods and frustration. I know, I’ve been there … and when I’m not careful, I still get there more than I want to. But when I’ve had a particularly hard time, I hit these moments where I’m in a foul mood, or I’m just feeling paralyzed, and I’m just stuck. Sometimes I just stew in that and stay there, but sometimes I actually get intelligent and pull my way out of it. I’m going to outline the framework that I’ve been using successfully to really get myself resourceful and motivated (and in a better mood) when I’m feeling stuck. Hopefully it will help you, too, and if you do I truly hope you’ll share it with others. First Up: Using A Framework to Escape From Paralyzing Emotions When we feel bad, it’s hard to “feel good” again.

A: AGREE With Yourself That You Don’t Want To Be In This Mood Right Now. You want out of this emotion? 50 Life Secrets and Tips. Memorize something everyday.Not only will this leave your brain sharp and your memory functioning, you will also have a huge library of quotes to bust out at any moment. Poetry, sayings and philosophies are your best options.Constantly try to reduce your attachment to possessions.Those who are heavy-set with material desires will have a lot of trouble when their things are taken away from them or lost.

Possessions do end up owning you, not the other way around. Become a person of minimal needs and you will be much more content.Develop an endless curiosity about this world.Become an explorer and view the world as your jungle. Stop and observe all of the little things as completely unique events. Read “Zen and the Art of Happiness” by Chris Prentiss.This book will give you the knowledge and instruction to be happy at all times regardless of the circumstances.

8 Ways to be UBER Charismatic. What did JFK, Marilyn Monroe and Hitler all have in common? They were all renowned charismatics that lit up every room they entered. You’ve most likely met one of these kinds before. The guy/girl at the party. They possess some strange quality that causes them to be liked by everyone and constantly at the center of attention. Robert Greene studied these people and detailed the methods one can use to become a charismatic in his book “The Art of Seduction.” Purpose Pick a cause, a goal, a vision and live it. Mystery Become mysterious (like Bruce Wayne) by being unpredictable. Saintliness Think Gandhi. Eloquence Speak slowly and hypnotically, with random pauses if needed. Theatricality Be larger than life. Danger/Spontaneity Radiate dangerous, rebellious sexuality.

Vulnerability Have a soft side and love your followers. Magnetism Develop a piercing gaze. DO NOT COMMENT. 42 Practical Ways To Improve Yourself. Are you someone who likes to grow? Do you constantly seek to improve yourself and become better? If you do, then we have something in common. I’m very passionate about personal growth. It was just 4 years ago when I discovered my passion for growing and helping others grow. At that time, I was 22 and in my final year of university. As I thought about the meaning of life, I realized there was nothing more meaningful than to pursue a life of development and betterment.

It is through improving ourselves that we get the most out of life. SEE ALSO: How to Better Yourself One Day at a Time After 1.5 years of actively pursuing growth and helping others to grow through my personal development blog, I realize there is never an end to the journey of self improvement. As a passionate advocate of growth, I’m continuously looking for ways to self-improve. Read a book every day. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this article or anything about personal growth. Image © kevindooley. 27 lessons I’ve learned in 27 years | Dreamin' the Life.

28 Dignified Ways to Impress Everyone Around You. Post written by: Marc Chernoff Email Far more often than any of us like to admit, our actions are driven by an inner desire to impress other people. This desire is often reflected in the brand name products we use, the bars and restaurants we frequent, the houses and cars we buy and the careers we choose. But are name brand products, fancy bars, houses and cars really that impressive? What about a person who holds an elite position in a career field they dislike? Some of these things might capture our attention for a minute or two, but they won’t hold it for long. Why? Consider the following questions: He drives a Porsche, but can he truly afford the car payment?

You get the idea. Now take a moment and imagine a person who loves what he does for a living, smiles frequently and bleeds passion in every breath he takes. Here are 28 dignified ways to impress everyone around you. We make a living by what we get. Be authentic. Photo by: Khalid. How To Steal Like An Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me) - Austin Kleon. Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 Buy the book: Amazon | B&N | More… Here’s what a few folks have said about it: “Brilliant and real and true.” —Rosanne Cash“Filled with well-formed advice that applies to nearly any kind of work.”

—Lifehacker.com“Immersing yourself in Steal Like An Artist is as fine an investment in the life of your mind as you can hope to make.” —The Atlantic Read an excerpt below… Tags: steal like an artist. 25 Acronyms You Never Stopped To Figure Out: Pics, Videos, Links, News. Don’t Die With Your Music Still In You.

What if you currently live a very comfortable lifestyle and you have a lot of assets? How can you justify running off to do what truly makes you happy if it might put all your current assets at risk? Here’s my take on this…. To abandon a comfortable lifestyle that isn’t deeply fulfilling is to abandon nothing. There’s nothing of real substance there to protect. An income, a car, a house, or a lifestyle are not worth protecting if the cost of such protection is your own fulfillment and happiness.

People who achieve some of the external trappings of success without internal fulfillment are only living an illusion when they tell themselves they have something of value to protect. I currently have some material stuff in my life. After all, why are we here? And here’s the worst part. So what is the point of a life dedicated to the acquisition and protection of stuff? So what have you got to lose? So what kind of life is that — one that’s dedicated to the guarding of dust? Site Build It! 30 Habits that Will Change your Life.

Developing good habits is the basic of personal development and growth. Everything we do is the result of a habit that was previously taught to us. Unfortunately, not all the habits that we have are good, that’s why we are constantly trying to improve. The following is a list of 30 practical habits that can make a huge difference in your life. You should treat this list as a reference, and implement just one habit per month. This way you will have the time to fully absorb each of them, while still seeing significant improvements each month.

Health habits Exercise 30 minutes every day. Productivity habits Use an inbox system. Personal Development habits Read 1 book per week. Career habits Start a blog. What do you think? Update: A reader put together a downloadable copy of all these habits. The 21 Day Challenge Everyone Should Take. I'm on day 14 of a 21-day challenge that I semi-invented and so far I have to admit the results have been nothing short of amazing. Now, when I say that I semi-invented it, that is purely because I took the idea from the excellent book 'Psycho Cybernetics' and put it in a format that everyone can follow, myself included. I'm not exaggerating when I say this challenge can literally help with any aspect of your life that you would like to improve. Before I go into more detail on how you can follow along, I need to talk a little about our 'self image' and why it is very important.

Understanding the Self Image In the mid 20th Century, Maxwell Maltz who was a plastic surgeon, wrote a book called Psycho Cybernetics that has now sold millions of copies and been updated for modern times. It was this book that led me to write the post 'How to Improve at Anything' and it is probably the greatest book I have ever read. The 21 Day Challenge Let's look at the 4 parts of this challenge… The 4 Parts 1. 2. 20 Ways To Simplify Your Life in 15 Minutes. “In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.” ~Henry Wadsworth We spend too much, own too much, and want too much — it’s the human condition — and as long as we aren’t aware of it we’ll be a slave to the cycle. Being the ingenious little critters that we are, we’re able to learn, and adapt pretty well.

In other words, all hope is not lost, we still have a chance. The truth is that many of us are overworked, sleep deprived, and generally not content with our lives. If we were content, would we be wanting more money, more stuff, more, more more? There is a way out of this cycle, which involves decluttering, simplifying, and concentrating on what’s important. “As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.” Do nothing. “Simply the thing that I am shall make me live.” Pick most important things. Visit nature. Photo by Okko Pyykkö. 10 Instant Emotional Fitness Tools. When things get out of control and you momentarily lose your emotional balance, there are any number of little things you can do to regain it. Here are ten tools to help get you started. 1. Wash your hands and face and brush your teeth. It cools and cleans the parts of your body that you use most frequently, which is relaxing, and gives you that "fresh start" feeling. 2.

Put on clean socks and some shoes that you haven't worn in a few days. Shoes take a day or two to release any moisture they have absorbed, and this is a very easy way to put a little pep back into your step. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. None of these tasks has to be uncomfortable or take you much time. Dr. The Art of Meditation / Stop Being a Zombie! A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts. So he loses touch with reality, and lives in a world of illusion – Alan Watts Tweet This Have you ever driven your car or bicycle and suddenly you wake up somewhere down the road and can’t remember how you got there?

What happened in those few minutes? When you put some effort in it you probably remember some of the thoughts you had. And when you are honest about it, it was probably a fantasy. You either remembered the past, stuff you should have done but didn’t. Or you were fantasizing about the future, stuff that might never happen. And so did I when I first started meditating. So before I continue I’d like everyone to experience this to understand what I’m talking about. Did you do the two minutes? There’s a lot been written on meditation, and to be honest, I ain’t got anything new or groundbreaking stuff to tell. What is Meditation? Meditation is the act of training the mind. Why Meditate? How to Meditate? Simple methods to overcome procrastination - Life Literacy Labs. Need a Reboot? 20 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Every Sunday. Post written by: Marc Chernoff Email At the cusp of new beginnings many of us take time to reflect on our lives by looking back over the past and ahead into the future.

We ponder the successes, failures and standout events that are slowly scripting our life’s story. This process of self reflection helps maintain a conscious awareness of where we’ve been and where we intend to go. It is pertinent to the organization and preservation of our dreams, goals and desires. If you would like to maximize the benefits of self reflection , I have 20 questions for you. What did I learn last week? Take 30 minutes every Sunday and give yourself the gift of self reflection. And check out these books for more thought-provoking questions: Photo by: Cesar R. If you enjoyed this article, check out our new best-selling book. And get inspiring life tips and quotes in your inbox (it's free)... 10 Simple Truths Smart People Forget.

Email Some of the smartest people I know continuously struggle to get ahead because they forget to address a few simple truths that collectively govern our potential to make progress. So here’s a quick reminder: #1 – Education and intelligence accomplish nothing without action. It doesn’t matter if you have a genius IQ and a PhD in Quantum Physics, you can’t change anything or make any sort of real-world progress without taking action. There’s a huge difference between knowing how to do something and actually doing it. . #2 – Happiness and success are two different things. I know an extremely savvy businesswoman who made almost a million dollars online last year. I also know a surfer who surfs almost all day, every day on the beach in front of our condo complex in San Diego. “What will make me happy?” #3 – Everyone runs their own business. No matter how you make a living or who you think you work for, you only work for one person, yourself.

Is a good read on this topic. And that’s okay. The 21 Day Challenge Everyone Should Take.