How to Press the Reset Button On Your Life | zen habits Article by Zen Habits contributor Jonathan Mead, follow him on twitter. We all get stuck in ruts from time to time. We get off track and lose sight of the life we meant to live. I know I’m probably not the only one who has wished that I could find a reset button for life. While we can’t exactly travel back in time (flux capacitor or not), there’s certain ways we can “reboot” our lives. With the New Year right around the corner, it’s a perfect time to get a fresh start on an area of your life you’ve been meaning to overhaul. The New Year is an exciting time. The problem is a lot of the time we get super excited about these new goals, but we lose focus. The most important thing we need to keep in mind is not necessarily being disciplined, but setting the right type of goals. So there first step is to set aspirations that come from your heart and what you value most. NOTE: Read the notice at the bottom of this post for info about The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge! Health: Simplicity:
10 Simple Postures That Boost Performance Psychological research suggests simple actions can project power, persuade others, increase empathy, boost cognitive performance and more… We tend to think of body language as something that expresses our internal states to the outside world. But it also works the other way around: the position of our body also influences our mind. As the following psychological research shows, how we move can drive both thoughts and feelings and this can boost performance. 1. If you want to feel more powerful then adopt a powerful posture. 2. Tensing up your muscles can help increase your willpower. 3. If you’re stuck on a problem which needs persistence then try crossing your arms. 4. If crossing your arms doesn’t work then try lying down. 5. While you’re lying down, why not have a nap? Brooks & Lack (2005) compared 5, 10, 20 and 30 minute naps to find the best length. 6. The way people’s hands cut through the air while they talk is fascinating. 7. 8. 9. 10. Embodied cognition Image credit: Hector
How to Commit to a Goal Psychological experiments demonstrate the power of a simple technique for committing to goals. Here’s a brief story about why we all sometimes get distracted from the most important goals in our lives. Perhaps you recognise it? You are thinking about changing your job because your boss is a pain and you’re stagnating. As the weeks pass you think about how good it would feel to work for an organisation that really valued you. You think this might be a good goal to commit to but… Work is busy at the moment, the money is OK and your home-life is also packed. Apart from anything else you’ve been thinking about learning a musical instrument. A few months pass. Unfortunately everyday life intervenes again and you do little more than search online for the price of electric pianos. After six months you come back full circle to changing your job, still without having made a real start towards any of these goals. One major reason we don’t achieve our life’s goals is a lack of commitment.
The 10 Rules of Change Self-change is tough, but it's not impossible, nor does it have to be traumatic , according to change expert Stan Goldberg, Ph.D. Here, he lays out the 10 principles he deems necessary for successful change. My mother died on Christmas day of a massive heart attack. Like my mother, many of us want to change but simply don't know how to do it. All Behaviors Are Complex Research by psychologist James O. : Break down the behavior Almost all behaviors can be broken down. He wanted to be on time for work, so he wrote down what that would entail: waking up, showering, dressing, preparing breakfast, eating, driving, parking and buying coffee—all before 9 a.m. Change Is Frightening We resist change, but fear of the unknown can result in clinging to status quo behaviors—no matter how bad they are. : Examine the consequences Compare all possible consequences of both your status quo and desired behaviors. If he didn't become more punctual, the next thing he'd be late for is the unemployment office.
The Dangers of Charismatic Leaders « Workplace Psychology In a post called, “Lend Me Your Wallets:” Research on the Link Between Charismatic CEOs and Stock Price, Featuring Steve Jobs, Professor Robert Sutton asked his readers about the virtues and dangers of charismatic leaders. Because my response would have been too lengthy to fit in the comment section of his Work Matters blog, I decided instead to post about charismatic leadership here on my WorkplacePsychology.Net blog and then link it as a comment to Dr. Sutton’s post. According to Professor Gary Yukl (2010), charismatic leaders are self-confident and possess a strong conviction in his/her own beliefs and ideals. On the flip side, Dr. (1) Excessive confidence and optimism blind the leader to real dangers. For instance, as a charismatic leader, I don’t think Steve Jobs (Apple’s founder and current CEO, but was one time fired from Apple) ever saw himself being forced out of the company he founded. (2) Dependence on the leader inhibits development of competent successors. References Like this:
Your Music, Your Personality Just as a glimpse inside a bedroom or office provides clues about someone's character, so too can a peek at his music collection. The question "What kind of music do you like?" is so revealing, it is the number one topic of conversation among young adults who are getting to know each other, according to psychologists Jason Rentfrow of the University of Cambridge in the U.K., and Sam Gosling at the University of Texas at Austin. Knowing whether a person prefers John Coltrane to Mariah Carey, or Puccini to Prince allows for remarkably accurate personality predictions, their research has found. What do your tunes say about you? PT faces the music. Get Into Their Groove Strangers can accurately assess another person's level of creativity, open-mindedness and extroversion after listening to his or her top 10 favorite songs. Smart Sounds Fans of jazz, classical and other "complex" music typically have above-average IQ scores. Easy Listeners Drama Queens Parental Advisory Boom Town Brain Invasion
What motivates us? @Blueluck: Very true - I've seen other countries where people leave their family in another country to go find work, and then to manual labor for extremely cheap just to be able to send it all home to their family. I guess that could be interpreted as their purpose, but the work is not purposeful in and of itself. I guess "pay enough to take money off the table" covers that, so we're only talking about how to motivate people after they're at the comfortable level most Americans that read this blog are at. Interesting results in India, though. I believe there is a threshold that once you're paid a certain amount, you feel on top of things like you deserve it, so you don't work hard to move up further. If you take money completely off the table, or put the carrot completely away, there's not much to work for anymore. I think that's one reason government employees aren't known for super service. @Blueluck: Its completely subjective, is the answer.
Workplace Psychology Mistakes Introverts Make We are all so very wonderful and yet--I'm sorry, but it must be said--we are not perfect. This blog has focused mostly on staking out turf in our culture for introverts , but now it's time to consider some things related to our introversion that might be interfering with our relationships and accomplishments. Many or most of us have probably made some of these mistakes at one time or another. Sure, some people need more social interaction than others, but we all need some. Yes, we hate the phone, and it's OK to ask that people respect and honor this. OK, if someone obstinately refuses any other form of communication and insists on frequent time-sucking phone calls, then you get some leeway to make your point. As much as we prefer deep conversation, plunging straight into your worldview over the onion dip at a party can be off-putting to others. Ah, the dreaded babble. If you suddenly realize you've careened into a long monologue, take a breath and look around.
Tips For A Better Life - Ham and Heroin Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Sleep for 7 hours. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy. Play more games. Read more books than you did the previous year.