There are takers, matchers, and givers. Takers are people who are always out for their own gain. Matchers like to evenly match their giving and taking. Givers just give. How do you think they compare?According to Adam Grant, in his book Give and Take, the least successful are givers. Studies in the fields of engineering, medicine, […]
Double the Value of your Holiday!
We normally think of mindfulness as an antidote to the difficult things in life. But it’s also relevant when things are going well, for example on holiday. You see, our minds are wandering about 47% of the time. We pay good money to go away and get the finest experiences – the place, the weather, the food, and […]
How Mindfulness Boosts Resilience
Faced with pressure, challenge and change, people’s stress response can easily kick in, making them rigid, inflexible and irritable. Sustained over time, the result is anxiety, depression and burnout. This is a growing issue for us in the modern world: in the UK, for example, more than 50% of sick-days are now due to such illnesses. […]
Like some more Happiness?
Where does happiness come from? According to one study (Lyubomirksy, Sheldon and Schkade), it’s 50% genetic, 10% due to circumstance and 40% due to how we respond to circumstance. You obviously can’t do much about the 50% genetic component – although if other people seem happier, it may help to accept that they may just have better “happiness […]
Don’t Forget to Thank Your Mind
I was just out for a walk on the common. I’ve been working hard all week on a big project, and I’ve still got lots more to do. I was rather hoping to enjoy the sunset. But my mind had other ideas – it kept on thinking about the project. I kept saying “no” to those […]
The “Negativity Bias” – and how to overcome it
Human brains have a built in “negativity bias” – the brain pays more attention to bad news than good news. How come? Well, it’s a brilliant mechanism for survival situations. Think of it like this – if the good news is a particularly delicious pineapple, and the bad news is an approaching tiger, you really […]