It’s easy to stay calm when things are under control. But, sometimes, life happens. A deadline is moved up. Your train is cancelled. Your luggage gets lost. Then, your heartbeat goes faster. You can feel the tension in your muscles. Your breathing accelerates. You’re stressed. Read on for three simple steps to get these unwanted … Read More
At this point, most people are aware of the benefits of physical exercise. It doesn’t mean we actually act on it—$1.8 billion spent on unused gym memberships in the U.S. only—but we do know physical activity is good for us. What about mental exercise? Shouldn’t we train our brains, too? Building mental strength is not … Read More
Yesterday evening, Elon Musk gave the first public presentation about Neuralink, a company he founded in 2017 to build brain-computer interfaces. While most of the research in that field has been focused on restoring functionality lost due to paralysis, Elon targets healthy and able-bodied people. Elon considers that artificial intelligence surpassing human intelligence is not … Read More
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” This is almost an automatic question adults ask when chatting with a kid. Maybe it’s a way to connect through a topic that speaks to us, or because it’s often endearing to hear their answers. But why do we insist so much on kids having … Read More
“I’ve decided to take it a bit easy this year too, and relax more and focus on personal growth rather than career.” This is from an email I received this morning in response to my newsletter, where I mentioned that I wanted to slow down and focus on a few core aspects of my life, … Read More
I work a lot. Between running a company, learning how to code, speaking at events, writing regularly, my days are filled with work. My friends sometimes comment that I work too much. But it doesn’t feel this way. I do work a lot, but not too much. I know, because I have experienced what it’s … Read More
We all possess creativity. However, sometimes, it feels like our muse is gone. We just can’t seem to find an idea worth working on. Making things is hard. Here is a list of books to inspire you and stimulate your imagination. If there’s a good book missing from this list, it’s because I haven’t read … Read More
Update: following the success of this article, I published a literature review that explores the science of personal growth outside the school and work environments, and how makers can use mindframing to manage their personal growth. According to Marty McFly in the classic 1985 movie Back to the Future, “If you put your mind to … Read More
Negative emotions such as stress and anxiety can have an effect on cognitive processes, with many studies showing that inducing negative mood states in individuals leads to a reduction in executive functions (Grant et al, 2001; Hammar & Ardal, 2009). This reduction may be caused by a depletion in limited attention resources in individuals experiencing … Read More
The role of emotions has been debated over the years, with some claiming that they are “bad for our peace of mind” (Skinner, 1948), and others arguing that they are important for our “physical or social survival” (Keltner & Gross, 1999). Emotions can be defined as states induced by the occurrence, termination, or omission of … Read More