Psychology
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Have an exaggerated sense of curiosity
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1 min read
We’re all fake artists, winging it to chase our dreams while simultaneously masking our vulnerabilities. It isn’t a thorny question of attribution. We all steal ideas from each other and recast them as our own. But having an exaggerated sense of curiosity pays off. The cash value of policing thoughts means that we can better sew…
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Finding your escape zone
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1 min read
The psychological costs of living in your own head will almost surely eat away at you. The same way a dog disappears for a half hour to chew on a bone, we too need an unbridled escape to break up the everydayness. Reading books or listening to music help trigger a much-needed emotional release. So…
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Do we have to be sad to be creative?
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2 min read
According to a recent study, you are more likely to be creative when you are sad. The researcher examined the personal letters of three artists — Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Liszt — which revealed a link between their melancholy and peak creativity. Whether it was financial troubles or death of loved ones,…
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Making peace with fear
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1 min read
We can make peace with the anxiety of anticipation. But it’s the hope that kills. What we need to gauge the nerves is mental preparation. One way of accomplishing this is through fear-setting, which requires that we envision the worst outcome. By going toward the fear, we undermine its strength and power our resolve. The…
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Thinking without thinking 🤔
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1 min read
Work is the practice of gathering string. But it is the empty mind that weaves experience, knowledge, and ideas altogether. The apple may have hit Newton’s head, but his insights into gravity were brewing all along. There is no such thing as Eureka, just the gradual harmonization of distilled moments that become apparent when we least expect…
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Pursue the irrational mind to get what you want
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1 min read
You have to be a little irrational to get what you want. If you’re too practical, you may curb your chances from the start. The whole point is to at least give the moon at least a shot, not because you’ll achieve exactly to your wishes but because you’ll be motivated to keep pushing forward.…
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The journey is the reward
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1 min read
In search of wider meanings, we are left no choice but to chase the person we wish we were. Not surprisingly, it is within that hunt we get exposed to all of our fears and anxieties. But the journey is non-negotiable. The reward for following our ideals are the small actions along the way that…
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What does it mean to be me?
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1 min read
Sociologist Erving Goffman believed that all human interaction was a theatrical performance. In his most famous book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman called his analysis the study of “Dramaturgy.” Dramaturgical analysis is the idea that we present an edited version of our selves when we meet others in person. All the internet’s a…
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A museum of self
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1 min read
The Metropolitan Museum only showcases ten percent of its owned pieces at any given time. The rest of the art is stored somewhere else waiting to be picked and featured. “A physical museum is itself a sort of data set — an aggregation of the micro in order to glimpse the macro.” We all have…
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Are you an egg person or an onion person?
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2 min read
Introverts are egg people. They’re not hiding anything (per say), they are mostly reserved. And once they start to get comfortable, they are as open and talkative as anybody else. “Don’t think of introversion as something that needs to be cured,” writes Susan Cain in her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World…
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How to unthink
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2 min read
Knowledge can be a hindrance. The more we know, the more likely we’re to hesitate in times of execution. So the overthinking basketball player misses a wide-open layup, the tennis player misses an easy return, or the painter or writer can’t seem to get their inspiration to convert on a blank canvas. We trip over…