Being clear, effective and influential with others starts with internal clarity and equanimity. Rather than ignoring internal ambivalence, it can be useful to lend an ear to those dissenting inner voices. A recent Life Kit podcast (link at the bottom of this post) explored IFS (Internal Family Systems) therapy, an intervention in which a therapist […]

“Thinking in terms of possibilities sounds simple but it is in fact a complex skill. Possibility thinking requires both imagining what is not there and creating paths to it, so that it can become a reality.” – Constance de Saint Laurent (lecturer in psychology at Maynooth University) and Vlad Glăveanuis (professor of psychology at Dublin City University) in article […]

“The brain is first and foremost a prediction engine. It’s an anticipatory engine. It’s using what it knows about the world, and it’s seeking out to understand the world for itself…what it expects to be happening next.” – Mark Miller, philosopher of cognition and host of the Contemplative Science Podcast — Your brain uses the […]

“In improv, we call it accept and build. So you accept your scene partner’s offer and you build upon it. And the worst thing of all to do is say no, but because no, but doesn’t get you anywhere.” – Dannagal Goldthwaite Young, University of Delaware psychologist — No matter how carefully we control and […]

「チームメートからの言葉は一番ありがたい」前田健太, MLB pitcher “The words from my teammates are the ones I have appreciated most.” – Maeda Kenta, MLB pitcher Maeda made this comment yesterday during the broadcast of game 4 of the National League Championship Series between the Dodgers and the Mets. Maeda was reflecting on how valuable the support he got from his […]

‘The sanctity and preeminence of work lie at the heart of the country’s politics, economics, and social interactions. What might happen if work goes away?’ – Derek Thompson in The Atlantic — Work wakes up our AGENCY, cuing the articulation of PURPOSE(S) that enable us to GROW, CONNECT and CONTRIBUTE to something that feels MEANINGFUL. […]

“Each time I reach out to a friend or family member or each time I respond when someone reaches out to me, I feel more ease and less stress. The experience has taught me that parenting at its best is a team sport.” – Vivek H. Murthy, Surgeon General of the United States of America […]

How would the world change if it was common practice to make “First do no harm” (Primum non nocere) a first principle in all that we do (not just medicine)? It wouldn’t be possible to realize this ideal perfectly since most actions entail mixes of benefits and harms that vary across contexts and stakeholders. Still, […]

The way we use the term “trigger” reflects something odd about the Zeitgeist of the early decades of the 21st century. As it became a common term in popular psychology, “trigger” could have taken on positive, neutral or negative associations. A trigger could have been any cue yielding any automated response. Yet somehow in popular […]

The behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman and the tennis philosopher W. Timothy Gallwey both argue that each of us is divided into two separate systems or selves – one conscious the other automated. While they both acknowledge the positive contributions of the automated self they are less aligned on the contribution of the conscious self, especially […]