Tag Archives: psychology

Unwinding Anxiety

Judson Brewer says anxiety is a habit, a learned behavior. In Unwinding Anxiety he presents a helpful framework for dealing with anxiety centered on hacking your brain’s reward system to reduce or eliminate it. Continue reading

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Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes

I’ve been a fan of Sherlock Holmes since I was a teenager. I’ve always admired the great detective’s ability to solve crimes with a combination of keen observation, deductive reasoning and imagination. I also envied his ability to discern someone’s … Continue reading

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The Hidden Habits of Genius

Geniuses are among the most admired people in human history. Geniuses like Albert Einstein, Ludwig van Beethoven, Nikola Tesla, Marie Curie, and Toni Morrison all stand way out there on the extreme edges of achievement in their respective fields. But … Continue reading

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Friends

Ever heard of Robin Dunbar? He’s the guy who famously discovered Dunbar’s Number: 150. Wait, let me clarify that. Robin Dunbar did not discover the number 150. What he did discover is that 150 is roughly the largest number of … Continue reading

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The Scout Mindset

It seems like every few months there’s another book published about how we can think better, think more clearly, think more long term, or just think again. Judging from the level of discourse here in the US, it doesn’t appear … Continue reading

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Think Again

I’m a big fan of Adam Grant’s WorkLife podcast. I even blogged about one of his episodes last year. Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know is his latest book and the first one I’ve read. It’s … Continue reading

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Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

You’ve probably had the experience of being completely absorbed in an activity, totally focused, losing track of time, your body moving effortlessly, your mind clear of all distractions and worries. You were “in the zone.” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this state … Continue reading

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Mindset

Everyone knows there are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who do not. Well Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford, is clearly one of the … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Geography of Thought

The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently … And WhyBy Richard E. NisbettFree Press, New York, 2003 The Geography of Thought got me hooked with an intriguing observation right on page one: Westerners tend to view the … Continue reading

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Book Review: David and Goliath

Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, David and Goliath, is really a collection of stories, variations on the theme of lopsided conflicts, of the weak prevailing against the strong. Apparent strength can mask great weakness, and there are often diminishing returns, even … Continue reading

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