“I’ve decided to take it easy at work this year and focus on myself.” I’ve recently been hearing variations of this sentence over and over again. Magazines are publishing stories about “the end of ambition” and how more people are taking extended sabbaticals. It seems like we need to make a constant choice between our … Read More
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Adults often as this question when chatting with a kid. Maybe it’s because the answer is often endearing (an astronaut!) or surprising (a YouTuber!), or because it’s a way to connect through a topic that speaks to us—work. We keep doing this to each other … Read More
When I was younger, I badly wanted to live in Japan. Japan is a country with very strict immigration laws, but my university had an exchange program where you could go spend a semester and study in another country. There was only one problem: the Japanese university they had a partnership with was one of … Read More
Our culture loves experts. Whether it’s athletes, chefs, or musicians, some of the biggest celebrities are considered masters of their craft, and we admire the long hours they put into practicing over and over again the same skills so they could become second nature. In 2008, Malcolm Gladwell published his popular book Outliers, exploring why … Read More
It’s common to see progress as linear. When thinking about success, many people imagine a ladder or stairs going up. To progress, you need to climb each step one by one and get closer to the top. But that’s not the only model you can apply to visualize personal growth. In a linear model of … Read More
While we try our best to be supportive of our loved ones, many of us struggle with self-compassion. We are often too harsh with ourselves, turning blame inwards and replaying the mistakes we have made on a loop. However, punishing ourselves for our failures and being too tough on ourselves may actually hinder our performance, … Read More
We live in a world obsessed with outcomes. At school, we’re encouraged to climb an artificial leaderboard that reflects our test scores. At work, performance is based on reaching specific targets, sometimes known as OKRs for “Objectives and Key Results.” In this goal-based society, success is defined by how our peers evaluate our track record. … Read More
Once upon a time, an organization could take on a young, new employee, and know that with slow and steady development, that individual would loyally climb the career ladder, remaining with them until retirement age. Nowadays, the concept of a career for life has become outdated. Our professional lives are becoming increasingly squiggly, with a … Read More
“Better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos,” says an old Chinese proverb. Ha, the lure of immutability! We do, indeed, instinctively dread chaos as a threat to our stability; we fear the unpredictable risk and uncomfortable change it brings about, and we try hard to maintain … Read More
Social comparison begins in childhood. As children, we look at other children’s toys, parents, and houses, and compare them to our own. In adulthood, social comparison is perfectly normal as well. However, systematically comparing ourselves to others can make us feel less capable. To avoid comparison anxiety, it’s helpful to be aware of how assessing … Read More