Scientific American Article – The Power Of Introverts: A Manifesto For Quiet Brilliance

By Gareth Cook

Do you enjoy having time to yourself, but always feel a little guilty about it? Then Susan Cain’s “Quiet : The Power of Introverts” is for you. It’s part book, part manifesto. We live in a nation that values its extroverts – the outgoing, the lovers of crowds – but not the quiet types who change the world. She recently answered questions from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook.

Cook: This may be a stupid question, but how do you define an introvert? How can somebody tell whether they are truly introverted or extroverted? 

Cain: Not a stupid question at all! Introverts prefer quiet, minimally stimulating environments, while extroverts need higher levels of stimulation to feel their best. Stimulation comes in all forms – social stimulation, but also lights, noise, and so on. Introverts even salivate more than extroverts do if you place a drop of lemon juice on their tongues! So an introvert is more likely to enjoy a quiet glass of wine with a close friend than a loud, raucous party full of strangers.

It’s also important to understand that introversion is different from shyness. Shyness is the fear of negative judgment, while introversion is simply the preference for less stimulation. Shyness is inherently uncomfortable; introversion is not. The traits do overlap, though psychologists debate to what degree.

Cook: You argue that our culture has an extroversion bias. Can you explain what you mean?

Cain: In our society, the ideal self is bold, gregarious, and comfortable in the spotlight. We like to think that we value individuality, but mostly we admire the type of individual who’s comfortable “putting himself out there.” Our schools, workplaces, and religious institutions are designed for extroverts. Introverts are to extroverts what American women were to men in the 1950s — second-class citizens with gigantic amounts of untapped talent.

In my book, I travel the country – from a Tony Robbins seminar to Harvard Business School to Rick Warren’s powerful Saddleback Church – shining a light on the bias against introversion. One of the most poignant moments was when an evangelical pastor I met at Saddleback confided his shame that “God is not pleased” with him because he likes spending time alone.

Cook: How does this cultural inclination affect introverts?

Cain: Many introverts feel there’s something wrong with them, and try to pass as extroverts. But whenever you try to pass as something you’re not, you lose a part of yourself along the way. You especially lose a sense of how to spend your time. Introverts are constantly going to parties and such when they’d really prefer to be home reading, studying, inventing, meditating, designing, thinking, cooking…or any number of other quiet and worthwhile activities.

According to the latest research, one third to one half of us are introverts – that’s one out of every two or three people you know. But you’d never guess that, right? That’s because introverts learn from an early age to act like pretend-extroverts.

Cook: Is this just a problem for introverts, or do you feel it hurts the country as a whole?

Cain: It’s never a good idea to organize society in a way that depletes the energy of half the population. We discovered this with women decades ago, and now it’s time to realize it with introverts.

This also leads to a lot of wrongheaded notions that affect introverts and extroverts alike. Here’s just one example: Most schools and workplaces now organize workers and students into groups, believing that creativity and productivity comes from a gregarious place. This is nonsense, of course. From Darwin to Picasso to Dr. Seuss, our greatest thinkers have often worked in solitude, and in my book I examine lots of research on the pitfalls of groupwork.

Cook: Tell me more about these “pitfalls of groupwork.”

Cain: When you’re working in a group, it’s hard to know what you truly think. We’re such social animals  that we instinctively mimic others’ opinions, often without realizing we’re doing it. And when we do disagree consciously, we pay a psychic price. The Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns found that people who dissent from group wisdom show heightened activation in the amygdala, a small organ in the brain associated with the sting of social rejection. Berns calls this the “pain of independence.”

Take the example of brainstorming sessions, which have been wildly popular in corporate America since the 1950s, when they were pioneered by a charismatic ad executive named Alex Osborn. Forty years of research shows that brainstorming in groups is a terrible way to produce creative ideas. The organizational psychologist Adrian Furnham puts it pretty bluntly: The “evidence from science suggests that business people must be insane to use brainstorming groups. If you have talented and motivated people, they should be encouraged to work alone when creativity or efficiency is the highest priority.”

This is not to say that we should abolish groupwork. But we should use it a lot more judiciously than we do today.

Cook: What are some of the other misconceptions about introverts and extroverts?

Cain: One big one is the notion that introverts can’t be good leaders. According to groundbreaking new research by Adam Grant, a management professor at Wharton, introverted leaders sometimes deliver better outcomes than extroverts do. Introverts are more likely to let talented employees run with their ideas, rather than trying to put their own stamp on things. And they tend to be motivated not by ego or a desire for the spotlight, but by dedication to their larger goal. The ranks of transformative leaders in history illustrate this: Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Rosa Parks were all introverts, and so are many of today’s business leaders, from Douglas Conant of Campbell Soup to Larry Page at Google.

Cook: Is there any relationship between introversion and creativity?

Cain: Yes. An interesting line of research by the psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Gregory Feist suggests that the most creative people in many fields are usually introverts. This is probably because introverts are comfortable spending time alone, and solitude is a crucial (and underrated) ingredient for creativity.

Cook: Can you give some other examples of surprising introversion research?

Cain: The most surprising and fascinating thing I learned is that there are “introverts” and “extroverts” throughout the animal kingdom – all the way down to the level of fruit flies! Evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson speculates that the two types evolved to use very different survival strategies. Animal “introverts” stick to the sidelines and survive when predators come calling. Animal “extroverts” roam and explore, so they do better when food is scarce. The same is true (analogously speaking) of humans.

Cook: Are you an introvert?

Cain: Yes. People sometimes seem surprised when I say this, because I’m a pretty friendly person. This is one of the greatest misconceptions about introversion. We are not anti-social; we’re differently social. I can’t live without my family and close friends, but I also crave solitude. I feel incredibly lucky that my work as a writer affords me hours a day alone with my laptop. I also have a lot of other introvert characteristics, like thinking before I speak, disliking conflict, and concentrating easily.

Introversion has its annoying qualities, too, of course. For example, I’ve never given a speech without being terrified first, even though I’ve given many. (Some introverts are perfectly comfortable with public speaking, but stage fright afflicts us in disproportionate numbers.)

But I also believe that introversion is my greatest strength. I have such a strong inner life that I’m never bored and only occasionally lonely. No matter what mayhem is happening around me, I know I can always turn inward.

In our culture, snails are not considered valiant animals – we are constantly exhorting people to “come out of their shells” – but there’s a lot to be said for taking your home with you wherever you go.

From:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/the-power-of-introverts-a_n_1229320.html?ref=healthy-living

VUMA Portal – a good resource for college students

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.vuma.ac.za/

 

Smile. Another random act of creativity.

63 Ways to Become More Confident

From: http://theconfidenceguyonline.com/2009/08/63-ways-confident/

Confidence is a tool you can use in your everyday life to do all kinds of cool stuff, not least to stop fighting with yourself and freely plug into the things that matter to you.

Here are 63 things YOU can do to be more confident.  Pick a couple that jump out, give them a shot and let me know what happens.

1. Sign up for that evening class and enjoy it.
2. Ask your partner or best friend what you can do for them today.
3. Hit the gym.  The physiological effects will leave you feeling great.
4. Go to a networking event and focus on how you can be helpful rather than being nervous.
5. Get crystal clear on the things that truly matter to you.  If they’re not in your life, you need to bring them in.
6. Write a list of the things you’re tolerating in your life, then write down how you can remove, minimize or diminish each one.
7. Look at a great win or success you’ve experienced and give yourself credit for your part in it.
8. Next time you’re at a social event, don’t just stick with the people you know – have a conversation with someone you don’t know and you never know what – or who – you’ll discover.
9. Next time you talk yourself out of doing something, say ‘What the Hell’ and go do it anyway.
10. Do one thing each day that makes you smile (inside or out).
11. Learn the 7 biggest confidence mistakes, and then fix ‘em.
12. Ask out that girl or guy you fancy the pants off (only if you’re single, don’t want to get you into trouble).
13. You have to keep your mind well fed, so write a list of 20 things that keeps your mind feeling nourished and make sure you’re giving them room.
14. Stop squeezing yourself into boxes based on what you think people expect you to act like.
15. Catch yourself every single time you tell yourself that you can’t have, won’t get or aren’t good enough to get what you want.
16. Take yourself off auto-pilot – make deliberate decisions on what really matters to you.
17. Next time you come up against a risk or a challenge, listen to yourself and see how that dialog can be improved.
18. Scared of looking silly? You and everyone else.  It’s no biggie so don’t let it stop you.  Say it with me – “It just doesn’t matter.”
19. Don’t think for a second that you can’t be confident.  There are already loads of things you do with true self-confidence, you just have to notice them and get familiar with how it feels.
20. Listen to your doubts – they’re there to let you know what you need to prepare for.  Use them to your benefit as you move forwards.
21. Think of a time when it felt like a whole bank of switches in your head flicked to the on position.  What were you doing and what’s the reason it felt so great?
22. You’ve got a whole bunch of out-dated rules that determine what you do or don’t do.  Tear up your rule book and notice how free you are to make great decisions.
23. Sweep aside the roles and labels you slip into without thinking, and just be you instead.
24. Look at how you’re using the 5 Principles of Self-Confidence in your life.
25. If there’s someone in your life who puts you down or makes you feel small, you owe it to yourself to let them know that you expect something different from now on.
26. Flirt.  It’s a harmless way to play around with connecting with people and having fun.
27. Reveal a little bit of the real you in a relationship that might feel like it’s in a rut.
28. Notice and welcome all of your experiences – the good stuff as well as the bad stuff.
29. Always recognise that you’re more than a match for any situation you might find yourself in, no matter how tough the going gets.
30. Don’t get swept up in the drama of what’s happening right now, look for more useful ways of engaging with what happens in your life.
31. Don’t automatically give in to the instant pay-off – it often means you’re selling yourself short.
32. When you feel like stamping your foot and yelling “I deserve better than this!”, take a step back and say “I can BE better than this.”
33. Confidence sometimes means admitting you’re wrong – always be ready to hold your hand up and change your mind.
34. Trust your instincts.  They know what they’re talking about.
35. Fear is a way of letting you know that you’re about to stretch yourself and grow your confidence.  Use it to take yourself forwards rather than run away.
36. Imagine you’re visited by a successful, confident, attractive and vibrant version of you from the future, and listen to what they want to tell you.
37. Don’t feel like you have to do everything yourself – sometimes the most confident thing to do is ask for help.
38. Take a chance on something tomorrow.  Anything, big or small, just take a chance.
39. You need to be around people who make you feel like YOU, so spend more time with the people who support and encourage you and less with those who undermine you.
40. Stop struggling against the things you don’t like in your life – create an environment around you that flows and allows you to be you.
41. No man’s an island, and you need to participate in the world you around to feel confident.
42. Do something bold in the face of your challenges and fears.
43. Work on developing the skills you need to win at the things that matter to you.
44. The body is a mirror for the mind, so shifting your body into a confident state can have surprising results.
45. Don’t get disheartened or demotivated when you get to 90% with something you’re working on – push through and you’ll see that the last 10% is where the magic happens.
46. Keep comparing yourself to others?  Stop it, don’t try to validate yourself through comparison – you’re just peachy as you are.
47. Put your head above the parapet at work and speak up if there’s something you think could be improved or if you have an idea you think has legs.
48. If there’s something you’ve been struggling to understand for a while, stop trying to understand it.  Accept it just as it is, fully and wholly.
49. Shy with new people?  Not a problem, that’s allowed.  Just don’t overthink it, start beating yourself up or thinking you’re less than because you’re shy – the more you think like that the worse it gets.
50. Your environment directly impacts your self-perception, so if you’re surrounded by clutter, paperwork and rubbish put a morning aside to clean up your stuff and get organised.
51. Write yourself a daisy list and start making things happen.
52. Don’t make your happiness or self-worth dependent on being in a relationship or being validated by someone else.  Find your inherent value first, and your relationships and confidence will be immeasurably better.
53. Your strengths can be used to overcome any of your weaknesses.  Don’t let them undermine your confidence.
54. The longer you leave that big thing on your to-do list the more it’ll drain you and the bigger it’ll seem – get it done and free yourself up.
55. What golden threads, themes, patterns and passions have always been in your life?  If those things aren’t present in your life right now, you need to shift your priorities.
56. Your body image does matter, because if you have a bad relationship with your body you won’t be feeling confident in yourself.  Get trim if you need to, just make sure you get along with your body.
57. Get the Truly Confident Living Home Study Course and dive right in.
58. Try a new path.  The well-trodden paths of your life can easily turn from familiarity to apathy and disconnection.  A new path wakes you up.
59. Don’t say “Yes” to taking on a task simply because you don’t want to rock the boat – you can politely decline requests you can’t meet and don’t need to create an excuse for it.
60. Look at the people you respect who seem confident – don’t copy them, but identify what do they do differently that conveys confidence and what you can learn from it.
61. Make a plan to do something, then follow through.  Achievement gives you important self-reinforcement.
62. When you feel yourself focusing inwards and becoming paralyzed with doubt or fear, switch to focusing outwards at what you can engage and interact with.
63. Still beating yourself up for failing or screwing up? It no barrel of laughs, so it’s much better to recognize that everything, whether it turns out or not, is practice in living a rich life.

 

Something beautiful.

And, if you are in NYC between today and  December 31st you can catch the performance at Joyce Theater.

Corny – yes. Good message – yes.

Beware of online filter bubbles – a different kind of censorship?

14 Habits of STress-Free Living by the President of the Naked Truth University

Habits of Stress-Free Living for Students

By Joe DePalma

You’re not alone! Just about every student in your school is stressed-out in one way or another. But no one has to stay that way. Adopt these “Habits of Stress-Free Living” and become happier and healthier right now!

Habit #0 – “Law of 21″
If you keep up with a new mindset and take action on it for 21 days in a row it will begin to become a habit. That’s right-if you exercise, read, get up a little early, take vitamins, drink water, etc. for 21 straight days, your body and mind will become so accustomed to that behavior it will begin to accept it as a natural habit. That is when relaxing can become as easy as breathing.

Habit #1 – “Re-learn to Breath”
Somewhere along the path in the stress jungle of higher education, some students forget how to breathe properly. Most students don’t even realize that they generally take short, quick, shallow breaths until they are so low on air they gasp in an overflow of oxygen. Taking shallow breaths prevents your brain from getting all of the oxygen it requires, thus forcing it to work on minimal fuel until the inevitable gush of gasped air comes rushing through.

To get your body and mind out of the stress jungle and back into balance, you must practice these four steps of quiet and focused deep breathing:

1. In a calm place close your eyes, push all the air in your lugs and out through your mouth. Then focus on fully inhaling through your nose, expanding your belly first and then filling your lungs completely, with your shoulders pushed back, and your chest pressed out.
2. As you come to the end of your inhale with your eyes still closed, pause for about three seconds and feel the fullness of the oxygen in your body.
3. Don’t “huff-out” the exhale! Gently exhale the air in your lungs through your mouth, which should be in a relaxed jaw “hoooooo” position in a controlled manor, and keep exhaling until you feel your stomach press all the way in and then gently open your eyes.
4. Repeat this process 3-4 times. If you feel light headed, stop. This deep-breathing technique will help you to regain your mind/body balance in most any stressful time or situation.

Habit #2 – “Life isn’t fair…so stop being surprised when it’s not”
It doesn’t matter how privileged, lucky or fortunate someone else may seem. Everyone pays their “worldly” dues in their own way. It may be hard at times to be able to see past the glaring physical, intellectual or economical advantages that some students possess. However, to keep your stress level down keep in mind that every seemingly “charmed” person whom you encounter will eventually have to pay up a lump some of “life dues.” Nobody gets away clean! Life isn’t fair. Get over it.

Habit #3 – “Get off the radar”
Every so often, intentionally get off your “Life Radar” by leaving your cell phone, laptop computer, planner/PDA, book bag, watch, etc. in your room while you go to a park, see a movie alone, walk through a museum, visit a bookstore, or catch a sporting event by yourself. Also don’t tell anyone where you’re going or how long you’ll be gone. Just go and be by yourself with no distractions, no to-do lists and no time limits. Leaving the radar for a while will rejuvenate you and allow you to re-connect with the big picture even if you don’t realize that you have lost your connection.

Habit #4 – “Choose your battles wisely”
Don’t fight the world. You’ll never win. You’ll never please or beat everyone. Take frustrating events as they come and then decide which ones are worth your precious time and energy. Realize that your time and energy are the most valuable assets that you own. Do you really want to give them away to just any jerk you encounter or any annoying occurrence that pops up? Don’t interpret letting a “battle” go without a fight as weakness. It is not weakness but rather strength. How truly strong and smart is the one who spends his time yelling and pushing against every force of life, just to eventually turn around and notice how incredibly far behind he’s fallen? Fallen to the person who simply walked past the battle to begin with. Let it go.

Habit #5 – “Stop calling 911 on your life”
Your life isn’t an emergency. No matter how many responsibilities you have, or how many tasks you have left to do, if you were to die in your sleep tonight, life would go on without you for everyone else. You and your endeavors are not critical to anyone but you. So ease up on yourself. Remember the age-old advice that in 100 years there will be an entirely new set of people on this plant. So why care yourself to death about what you’re doing now? In a mere 100 years even the greatest achievements of today will just be second-hand information to a whole new crop of people.

Habit #6 – “Choose kindness over self-righteousness”
You can spend your entire life insisting your opinion is the right one, but nobody will like you. The more you push your need to be right, is equal to the level of compassion other people won’t have for you. Your opinion on a given issue is simply one of many differing opinions. Your opinion on a given issue is not right, and it is not wrong – it’s simply yours. Just like everyone else’s opinion is neither right nor wrong, it’s an opinion. If you do not accept other people have opinions beside your own, you will be unhappy, stressed-out and lonely!

Habit #7 – “You don’t have to clean up someone else’s mess”
Learning to say “no” to other people’s problems is vital to reducing your stress. You don’t have to catch someone else’s ball of problems when they throw it at you. You have a life of your own with tasks and hardships to deal with. It is okay to help a friend with a problem; just be aware of when you’re making their problem, your problem. It is possible to aid someone without taking on the problem yourself. What good are two people with one problem? Wouldn’t it be better to have one person with a problem, and then someone else with a clear head who can lend some logical support?

Habit #8 – “More is not better”
No matter how hard you work to acquire possessions, status and experiences, you will always have more than some, but not as much as others. It’s a race you will never win. If you truly want to be happy and stress-free, the secret is to have access to life’s extras, not own them. You’ll notice that once you begin to collect or acquire “extra things,” you are now responsible for them; and with responsibly comes stress. So, the less “extras” you own, is equal to the fewer things you are responsible for, which is directly related to the level of stress in your life. TRANSLATION: The less “extras” you own, the more time, energy and resources you’ll have to enjoy more.

Habit #9 – “It’s all right to ask for assistance”
Don’t beg for help! Instead, ask for assistance. You’ll notice that people are more receptive and willing to assist others who explain their situation and ask for assistance, verses those who scream, “I need,” “Give me,” or “Help me now!” Build a mental team of helpers who you can turn to for assistance in times of heavy stress. This team can be comprised of family members, friends who you have frequent contact with, friendly professors, and even an old high school coach, counselor or teacher whom you have a continuing relationship with.

Habit #10 – “Give yourself 10 minutes”
Take ten minutes for yourself every day to keep your stress level down. During this time, do not focus or direct your thoughts to any one specific thing. Simply turn everything in the room off, lie down on the floor, close your eyes, remove your shoes and then stretch yourself out and make your body as long as possible. Concentrate only on quieting your mind. Imagine you are lying on a beautiful, warm beach. Now picture that the thoughts in your head are in the form of butterflies, and as they come to you, you just let them fly right by. Once you do this they will come at you faster and faster, but as you continue to let them fly by, the butterflies will begin slowing down rapidly. It’s also okay if you fall asleep. Just keep letting those butterflies fly right past you every time you “give yourself 10 minutes.”

Habit #11 – “Give gratitude and it will come back”
Have faith that when you give gratitude, compliments and express generously that it will come back to you in one way or another. Simply say thanks when nobody else does, give praise when no one seems to notice, or spend a little extra of your time or money with someone or something that really needs some special attention. Realize that spreading gratitude isn’t a give-and-take experience. All you do is give, and understand that your life is better and less stressful for it in many ways that you’ll probably never notice.

Habit #12 – “Express yourself”
Once you get bogged down in obligations and stop finding time and ways to express yourself, that is when stress creeps in. No matter how busy you are, you must always leave time to be creative. Write poems, songs, books or articles; play sports or instruments; paint, sculpt, dance, sing. Whatever you do to express yourself and display your talents, never stop doing it. If you stop doing what you love to do you’ll be inviting double stress into your life. You’ll now have the stress of doing all your tasks, along with the stress of not being able to express yourself. Kill the double stress and make time to express yourself. You’ll be happier and more likely to complete your other tasks when you make time to do what you love to do.

Habit #13 – “Get organized”
Disorganization is one of the leading causes of stress for college students. Organize your papers, assignments and schedule into one notebook, binder or planner. Have everything you need to complete all of your tasks in one neatly arranged place. Keep only what you absolutely need. Clutter equals stress, and it kills college careers! Throw it out. If it’s very important, someone else will have it for you to make a copy of. Take neat notes and keep all of the information for a particular class separate from all of your other school materials. Also, do most of your homework, papers, and studying in the same place. Find a quite, clean, distraction-free area and make it your organized concentration place.

Habit #14 – “This too shall pass”
No matter how stressed-out you are at any given time, repeat to yourself, “This too shall pass.” Just like any bad rain storm, blizzard, or tornado, your bad relationship break-ups, very hard exams or lengthy public speaking presentations will have a beginning, middle and end. No matter how bad or stressful a situation you’re in, it will pass and your life will be back to normal and even better very soon-because now you’ll have the knowledge and experience of enduring that stressful situation to aid you when the next unpleasant situation comes around.

Joe DePalma is the President of ReadySetRise.com – “Your Quick Stop For Inspiration & Self Help.” Please visit Ready Set Rise [http://www.readysetrise.com/] today for the easiest and totally FREE self improvement resource on the Internet. All content is under copyright of Joe DePalma and Ready Set Rise LLC.

New Beloit College Mindset List

http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2015/

The Mindset List for the Class of 2015

Andre the Giant, River Phoenix, Frank Zappa, Arthur Ashe and the Commodore 64 have always been dead.

Their classmates could include Taylor Momsen, Angus Jones, Howard Stern’s daughter Ashley, and the Dilley Sextuplets.

1. There has always been an Internet ramp onto the information highway.
2. Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents.
3. States and Velcro parents have always been requiring that they wear their bike helmets.
4. The only significant labor disputes in their lifetimes have been in major league sports.
5. There have always been at least two women on the Supreme Court, and women have always commanded U.S. Navy ships.
6. They “swipe” cards, not merchandise.
7. As they’ve grown up on websites and cell phones, adult experts have constantly fretted about their alleged deficits of empathy and concentration.
8. Their school’s “blackboards” have always been getting smarter.
9. “Don’t touch that dial!”….what dial?
10. American tax forms have always been available in Spanish.
11. More Americans have always traveled to Latin America than to Europe.
12. Amazon has never been just a river in South America.
13. Refer to LBJ, and they might assume you’re talking about LeBron James.
14. All their lives, Whitney Houston has always been declaring “I Will Always Love You.”
15. O.J. Simpson has always been looking for the killers of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
16. Women have never been too old to have children.
17. Japan has always been importing rice.
18. Jim Carrey has always been bigger than a pet detective.
19. We have never asked, and they have never had to tell.
20. Life has always been like a box of chocolates.
21. They’ve always gone to school with Mohammed and Jesus.
22. John Wayne Bobbitt has always slept with one eye open.
23. There has never been an official Communist Party in Russia.
24. “Yadda, yadda, yadda” has always come in handy to make long stories short.
25. Video games have always had ratings.
26. Chicken soup has always been soul food.
27. The Rocky Horror Picture Show has always been available on TV.
28. Jimmy Carter has always been a smiling elderly man who shows up on TV to promote fair elections and disaster relief.
29. Arnold Palmer has always been a drink.
30. Dial-up is soooooooooo last century!
31. Women have always been kissing women on television.
32. Their older siblings have told them about the days when Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera were Mouseketeers.
33. Faux Christmas trees have always outsold real ones.
34. They’ve always been able to dismiss boring old ideas with “been there, done that, gotten the T-shirt.”
35. The bloody conflict between the government and a religious cult has always made Waco sound a little whacko.
36. Unlike their older siblings, they spent bedtime on their backs until they learned to roll over.
37. Music has always been available via free downloads.
38. Grown-ups have always been arguing about health care policy.
39. Moderate amounts of red wine and baby aspirin have always been thought good for the heart.
40. Sears has never sold anything out of a Big Book that could also serve as a doorstop.
41. The United States has always been shedding fur.
42. Electric cars have always been humming in relative silence on the road.
43. No longer known for just gambling and quickie divorces, Nevada has always been one of the fastest growing states in the Union.
44. They’re the first generation to grow up hearing about the dangerous overuse of antibiotics.
45. They pressured their parents to take them to Taco Bell or Burger King to get free pogs.
46. Russian courts have always had juries.
47. No state has ever failed to observe Martin Luther King Day.
48. While they’ve been playing outside, their parents have always worried about nasty new bugs borne by birds and mosquitoes.
49. Public schools have always made space available for advertising.
50. Some of them have been inspired to actually cook by watching the Food Channel.
51. Fidel Castro’s daughter and granddaughter have always lived in the United States.
52. Their parents have always been able to create a will and other legal documents online.
53. Charter schools have always been an alternative.
54. They’ve grown up with George Stephanopoulos as the Dick Clark of political analysts.
55. New kids have always been known as NKOTB.
56. They’ve always wanted to be like Shaq or Kobe: Michael Who?
57. They’ve often broken up with their significant others via texting, Facebook, or MySpace.
58. Their parents sort of remember Woolworths as this store that used to be downtown.
59. Kim Jong-il has always been bluffing, but the West has always had to take him seriously.
60. Frasier, Sam, Woody and Rebecca have never Cheerfully frequented a bar in Boston during primetime.
61. Major League Baseball has never had fewer than three divisions and never lacked a wild card entry in the playoffs.
62. Nurses have always been in short supply.
63. They won’t go near a retailer that lacks a website.
64. Altar girls have never been a big deal.
65. When they were 3, their parents may have battled other parents in toy stores to buy them a Tickle Me Elmo while they lasted.
66. It seems the United States has always been looking for an acceptable means of capital execution.
67. Folks in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have always been able to energize with Pepsi Cola.
68. Andy Warhol is a museum in Pittsburgh.
69. They’ve grown up hearing about suspiciously vanishing frogs.
70. They’ve always had the privilege of talking with a chatterbot.
71. Refugees and prisoners have always been housed by the U.S. government at Guantanamo.
72. Women have always been Venusians; men, Martians.
73. McDonalds coffee has always been just a little too hot to handle.
74. “PC” has come to mean Personal Computer, not Political Correctness.
75. The New York Times and the Boston Globe have never been rival newspapers.

Copyright© 2011 Beloit College
Mindset List is a registered trademark

 

New Semester and you can start with a strategy to keep you on the right track – “Don’t Break the Chain” – compliments of Jerry Seinfield.

Jerry Seinfeld’s Productivity Secret

Editor: When software developer Brad Isaac told us he had productivity advice from Jerry Seinfeld, we couldn’t turn down the chance to hear more. Read on for the whole story from Brad.

Years ago when Seinfeld was a new television show, Jerry Seinfeld was still a touring comic. At the time, I was hanging around clubs doing open mic nights and trying to learn the ropes. One night I was in the club where Seinfeld was working, and before he went on stage, I saw my chance. I had to ask Seinfeld if he had any tips for a young comic. What he told me was something that would benefit me a lifetime…

He said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day. But his advice was better than that. He had a gem of a leverage technique he used on himself and you can use it to motivate yourself—even when you don’t feel like it.

He revealed a unique calendar system he uses to pressure himself to write. Here’s how it works.

He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker.

He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. “After a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.”

“Don’t break the chain,” he said again for emphasis.

Over the years I’ve used his technique in many different areas. I’ve used it for exercise, to learn programming, to learn network administration, to build successful websites and build successful businesses.

It works because it isn’t the one-shot pushes that get us where we want to go, it is the consistent daily action that builds extraordinary outcomes. You may have heard “inch by inch anything’s a cinch.” Inch by inch does work if you can move an inch every day.

Daily action builds habits. It gives you practice and will make you an expert in a short time. If you don’t break the chain, you’ll start to spot opportunities you otherwise wouldn’t. Small improvements accumulate into large improvements rapidly because daily action provides “compounding interest.”

Skipping one day makes it easier to skip the next.

I’ve often said I’d rather have someone who will take action—even if small—every day as opposed to someone who swings hard once or twice a week. Seinfeld understands that daily action yields greater benefits than sitting down and trying to knock out 1000 jokes in one day.

Think for a moment about what action would make the most profound impact on your life if you worked it every day. That is the action I recommend you put on your Seinfeld calendar. Start today and earn your big red X. And from here on out…

Don’t break the chain!

Brad Isaac is a lead software programmer and blogger. You can read his motivational strategies every day on his goal setting blog, Achieve-IT!

 

http://lifehacker.com/software/motivation/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret-281626.php

Mad World

Mad World
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Mad World

Giggle like you used to know how! It’s good for you!

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in relationships – warning signs that your relationship is in trouble

Ever wonder if your relationship is healthy?  Most of us need to ask ourselves this from time to time and most of will conclude “yes, but…” –   “Yes but we could argue less”, ” Yes, but I could try and compromise more often”, and so on.  There are some patterns of communication that are more clearly red flags that mean your relationship is not healthy and not good for you and your significant other.  Take a look:

If you think your relationship might be challenged by one of the Four Horsemen, you might consider talking to one of the personal counselors at Broome Community College to talk about it and see what might help.

Math Anxiety got you tied up in knots? Start thinking about how you can gain confidence and hope.

 

photo by cohdrankenmath

 

The following links are all have to do with math anxiety

http://www.mathacademy.com/pr/minitext/anxiety/ – A great site that talks about the social causes and  educational context of math anxiety, math myths and strategies for deal with math anxiety. I include an excerpt that I believe is particularly relevant to figuring out how to deal with this anxiety:

“Begin by understanding that your feelings of math anxiety are not uncommon, and that they definitely do not indicate that there is anything wrong with you or inferior about your ability to learn math. For some this can be hard to accept, but it is worth trying to accept – since after all it happens to be true. This can be made easier by exploring your own “math-history.” Think back across your career as a math student, and identify those experiences which have contributed most to your feelings of frustration about math. For some this will be a memory of a humiliating experience in school, such as being made to stand at the blackboard and embarrassed in front of one’s peers. For others it may involve interaction with a parent. Whatever the principle episodes are, recall them as vividly as you are able to. Then, write them down. This is important. After you have written the episode on a sheet(s) of paper, write down your reaction to the episode, both at the time and how it makes you feel to recall it now. (Do this for each episode if there is more than one.)
After you have completed this exercise, take a fresh sheet of paper and try to sum up in a few words what your feelings about math are at this point in your life, together with the reason or reasons you wish to succeed at math. This too is important. Not until after we lay out for ourselves in a conscious and deliberate way what our feelings and desires are towards mathematics, will it become possible to take possession of our feelings of math anxiety and become free to implement strategies for coping with those feelings.
At this point it can be enormously helpful to share your memories, feelings, and goals with others.”

http://www.math.com/students/advice/anxiety.html – a lot less wordy, straight forward and like listening to a kindly coach but good common sense.

Thank you HIS 100-09, HIS 100-05, HIS 100-06 Students for your generosity!

Matt Brennen’s classes contributed a huge amount of food for our student Food for Thought Pantry and we are very grateful for their generosity and community spirit.  Since September we have filled 79 requests for groceries.  Thanks to Matt for thinking of us,  Carolyn and Katie, our work study students who inventoried all the donations, and to our secretary Laura Maurer and Holly Yacaginsky from our EOP office who helped carry the bags and bags of food.

fuzzy food foto

Laugh! It’s good for You!

Laugh! It’s good for You!
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Laugh! It’s good for You!

Aww.

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2010. That’s about 3 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 29 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 55 posts. There were 58 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 75mb. That’s about 1 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was September 2nd with 35 views. The most popular post that day was 1st Annual Lucy Booth makes money for Food for Thought Pantry and provides students with information about Counseling Services.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were sunybroome.edu, digg.com, mycrazyreader.info, student-loan-consilidation.com, and on9tvseries.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for scary things, bystander, scary man, pictures of scary things, and siluet.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

1st Annual Lucy Booth makes money for Food for Thought Pantry and provides students with information about Counseling Services September 2010
1 comment

2

Halloween and time to talk about scary things like… counseling. But first a word about e-Couch and Social Anxiety. October 2009
1 comment

3

Bystander Culture – think Kitty Genovese. Think Virginia Tech. Think What You Can Do to Create. August 2010

4

Lots of great information on study habits, test anxiety and test taking strategies for YOU! April 2010

5

“A Portrait of ‘Generation Next’” by Pew Research Center March 2010
1 comment