I know, I know – could it be more trite? And yet… There’s so much research demonstrating the importance of community, friendships, and loose social networks to health and happiness. Anybody who claims to have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps is forgetting all the kind words, second chances, mentoring and plain old good luck […]
A psychology professor named Angela Duckworth wrote in the New York Times about a phenomenon she calls situational agency. She means that willpower is not what works to get yourself to resist temptation, or to do something you know you should. Instead, successful people create a structure around themselves that minimizes the need for willpower. […]
Turns out one of my favorite sayings actually has a name – Hanlon’s Razor. It says “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” An article in The Economist recently recommended using it to squelch the urge for revenge against annoying or deceitful colleagues. Having found that advice to be useful over […]