I always cry at least once when on a long-haul flight. It happens to me even when the movie I’m watching is not particularly sad. And apparently, I’m not the only one experiencing this strange phenomenon. As someone who travels quite a lot, I became curious about the science behind why we cry more easily … Read More
FOMO, or fear of missing out, is a term that has become common in everyday language and has permeated most corners of our popular culture. I wrote a long article about the phenomenon and its alternative, JOMO—the joy of missing out. But the author who coined the term FOMO, Patrick J. McGinnis, recently warned people … Read More
Most of us have goals we want to accomplish. Some are bigger, some are smaller. Sometimes it feels easy to get the work done, and sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated and we procrastinate. Fundamentally motivation is the desire to act and move towards a specific goal. It often explains why humans act—or don’t—in a … Read More
Everyone has heard about absenteeism, a pattern of absence from an obligation, usually at work, which is often a sign of low morale. Much has been written about the cost of absenteeism, with some journalists calling it The Bottom-Line Killer. For entrepreneurs who don’t have a boss tracking their work hours, absenteeism may simply mean … Read More
In my article about neuromyths, I debunked the commonly-held belief that IQ tests results only represent your ability to take IQ tests. In reality—and despite their flaws—IQ tests are predictive of many things. And, in particular, IQ tests can help predict your chances of dying. In a cohort study conducted in 2009 with almost a … Read More
Fake news has become a hot topic. But the deliberate disinformation of the general public via traditional outlets or social media goes beyond the news: there is also an alarming rise in “fake science.” The brain and the mind feel extremely familiar. We do spend lots of our time inside our heads. That’s why it’s … Read More
We had our first mental gym session at Backed VC yesterday with a small group of founders. It was all about mindful productivity, mental well-being, and achieving our goals. As you know, I’m a big proponent of writing, whether for mental wellness, learning, creativity or personal growth. It’s such a powerful and accessible skill everyone … Read More
The environment around us shapes us as individuals. Environmental psychology focuses on the interplay between people and their surroundings: how our environment affects our behaviour, our performance, and our well-being. While environmental psychology is used in many fields such as interior design, architecture, retail, education and more, I want to briefly explore its implications applied … Read More
The news and opinion website Vox just released a new mini-series on Netflix. It’s five 20-minute episodes, all about how the mind works. In typical Vox style, The Mind, Explained mixes cultural narratives, philosophy, and light science to ask interesting questions. I spent the evening watching these and wanted to share my notes. Overall, this … Read More
Update: following the success of the mindframing 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. Writing is wonderful. Thanks to the generation effect, it helps you better remember what you read—even if it’s … Read More