Tag Archives: Self-Help

In My Hands Today…

Posted on by
Reply

The Psychology of Stupidity – edited by Jean-François Marmion, translated by Liesl Schillinger

Stupidity is all around us. But in order to vanquish it, we must first understand it. In The Psychology of Stupidity, some of the world’s leading psychologists and thinkers—including a Nobel Prize winner and bestselling authors—discuss in articles, essays and interviews

  • Why smart people sometimes believe in utter nonsense;
  • How our lazy brains cause us to make the wrong decisions;
  • Why trying to debate fools is a trap;
  • How media manipulation and Internet overstimulation make us dumber;
  • Why the stupidest people don’t think they’re stupid.

In My Hands Today…

Posted on by
Reply

Dignity: The Essential Role It Plays in Resolving Conflict – Donna Hicks

The desire for dignity is universal and powerful. It is a motivating force behind all human interaction—in families, in communities, in the business world, and in relationships at the international level. When dignity is violated, the response is likely to involve aggression, even violence, hatred, and vengeance. On the other hand, when people treat one another with dignity, they become more connected and are able to create more meaningful relationships. Surprisingly, most people have little understanding of dignity, observes Donna Hicks in this important book. She examines the reasons for this gap and offers a new set of strategies for becoming aware of dignity’s vital role in our lives and learning to put dignity into practice in everyday life.

Drawing on her extensive experience in international conflict resolution and on insights from evolutionary biology, psychology, and neuroscience, the author explains what the elements of dignity are, how to recognize dignity violations, how to respond when we are not treated with dignity, how dignity can restore a broken relationship, why leaders must understand the concept of dignity, and more. Hicks shows that by choosing dignity as a way of life, we open the way to greater peace within ourselves and to a safer and more humane world for all.

In My Hands Today…

Posted on by
Reply

Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most – Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, Roger Fisher

Whether you’re dealing with an under performing employee, disagreeing with your spouse about money or child-rearing, negotiating with a difficult client, or simply saying “no,” or “I’m sorry,” or “I love you,” we attempt or avoid difficult conversation every day. Based on fifteen years of research at the Harvard Negotiation Project, Difficult Conversations walks you through a step-by-step proven approach to having your toughest conversations with less stress and more success.

You will learn:
— how to start the conversation without defensiveness
— why what is not said is as important as what is
— ways of keeping and regaining your balance in the face of attacks and accusations
— how to decipher the underlying structure of every difficult conversation

Filled with examples from everyday life, Difficult Conversations will help you on your job, at home, or out of the world. It is a book you will turn to again and again for advice, practical skills, and reassurance.

In My Hands Today…

Posted on by
Reply

Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love – Cal Newport

In this eye-opening account, Cal Newport debunks the long-held belief that “follow your passion” is good advice.

Not only is the cliché flawed—preexisting passions are rare and have little to do with how most people end up loving their work—but it can also be dangerous, leading to anxiety and chronic job hopping.

After making his case against passion, Newport sets out on a quest to discover the reality of how people end up loving what they do. Spending time with organic farmers, venture capitalists, screenwriters, freelance computer programmers, and others who admitted to deriving great satisfaction from their work, Newport uncovers the strategies they used and the pitfalls they avoided in developing their compelling careers.

Matching your job to a preexisting passion does not matter, he reveals. Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it.

With a title taken from the comedian Steve Martin, who once said his advice for aspiring entertainers was to “be so good they can’t ignore you,” Cal Newport’s clearly written manifesto is mandatory reading for anyone fretting about what to do with their life, or frustrated by their current job situation and eager to find a fresh new way to take control of their livelihood. He provides an evidence-based blueprint for creating work you love.

So Good They Can’t Ignore You will change the way we think about our careers, happiness, and the crafting of a remarkable life.

In My Hands Today…

Posted on by
Reply

How to Be Well: Navigating Our Self-Care Epidemic, One Dubious Cure at a Time – Amy Larocca

Peleton. Pilates. Biohacking. Colonics. Ashweganda. Today the wellness industry is a $3.7 trillion-dollar behemoth that touches everyone. Journalist Amy Larocca peels back the layers behind the movement and reckons with its promises and profits. How did we get here, and how did the idea of wellness become integrated into people’s lives, especially women’s?

How to be Well takes readers into the communities that swear by their activated-charcoal toothpaste and green-juice enemas, explaining what each of these practices really are—and what the science says. Larocca holds a magnifying glass to alternative medicine and nouveau lifestyle prescriptions, delivering an incisive assessment of how the wellness industry embodies (gendered, class-based, racialized) perceptions of care and self-improvement, and how it preys upon an unshakeable fear of the unknown. She traces the history of how the beauty and fashion industries has peddled snake oil for decades—and why people keep coming back for more.