The Hidden Side of Your Brain: Fast Type 1 Thinking

February 2012

in Self-awareness

There is a large, hidden side to our brains. Understanding how it works and what it does is key to improving our thinking and deciding.

We have this amazing ability to think without thinking. Not literally think without thinking, but thinking without thinking that we’re thinking.

Let’s try that again. We are often thinking, but because we can’t feel or notice this thinking, we’re not aware of it.

While walking down a street and chatting with a friend, you’re not thinking, “Right foot, left foot, right foot – stay balanced! – left foot, right foot…” Yet you walk without difficulty, taking thousands and thousands of steps without fault, and you’re keeping a conversation, and you’re aware that your friend is in a good mood, and you notice a car approaching from the corner of your eye. All of this is the furthest thing from an effortful task. How much could your brain really be doing if you don’t feel anything happening in there?  [click here to keep reading…]

Changing Mindsets: Can it be done?

February 2012

in Self-awareness

Post image for Changing Mindsets: Can it be done?

Followup to: Mindsets: Where Do They Come From?

In Why Your Mindset is So Important I introduced the concept of fixed (we can’t change) and growth (we can improve through effort) mindsets detailed in Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. ((Dweck (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Ballantine Books.)) The benefits of a growth mindset are plenty: increased creativity, greater success, love of challenge, belief in effort, resilience in the face of setbacks, and more.

Then in my previous mindset post I explained the primary origins of our mindsets: our teachers, parents, and learning environments. A fixed mindset comes from praise for our accomplishments, whereas a growth mindset comes from praise for our hard work and effort.

Given the benefits of a growth mindset and the origin of a fixed mindset, the question remains: Can we change our mindsets?  [click here to keep reading…]

How to Get Motivated: A Guide for Defeating Procrastination

February 2012

in Productivity & Organization, Self-mastery

Post image for How to Get Motivated: A Guide for Defeating Procrastination

Followup to: How to Generally Reduce Procrastination and How to Stop Procrastinating Right Now

Jump down to the end if you want the download links. 

Two of my recent posts were meant to highlight clear, actionable things we can do to defeat procrastination – whether it’s general life and environment changes or things that can be done immediately – based on The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel.

They’re a bit long, and despite my best intentions to use as many of the methods from the book as possible, when I’m in the middle of procrastinating I don’t tend to go out of my way to look up a post, find a method, and implement it.

It needs to be easier; it needs to be as easy as possible!

So, I created a flowchart, to be printed in colour and posted somewhere visible, to help me actually use the anti-procrastination advice I so desperately need!

To use it: when you notice you are procrastinating, pick one of the items from the green, yellow, or blue branches and implement it, using the tips to help you out. Here are the instructions taken from the poster:

 

Download It Here!


How to Get Motivated: A Guide for Defeating Procrastination v2

Note that all images are .png format.

How to Get Motivated - 7100x5000
(free)

How to Get Motivated - 2560x1440
(free)

How to Get Motivated - 1920x1080
(free)

How to Get Motivated - 1440x900
(free)

Before Using It…

If you haven’t yet, read my two lead-up posts: How to Generally Reduce Procrastination and especially How to Stop Procrastinating Right Now, which this flowchart is primarily based on.

Without reading them, the poster may be hard to decipher and utilize.

This poster now falls under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 for Canada.

Here’s to kicking procrastination’s ass.

///

Mindsets: Where do they come from?

February 2012

in Self-awareness

Post image for Mindsets: Where do they come from?

Followup to: Why Your Mindset is So Important

In Why Your Mindset is So Important I introduced the concept of mindsets from Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. ((Dweck (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Ballantine Books.))

Your mindset is the view you have of your qualities and characteristics; specifically, where they come from and whether they can change. A fixed mindset comes from the belief that your qualities are carved in stone. A growth mindset comes from the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through effort. Our abilities, while sometimes naturally inclined, are largely the result of effort and hard work, which the growth mindset encourages.

Having already briefly introduced the importance of the growth mindset for dealing with criticism, facing challenges, being resilient to setbacks, and increasing creativity, an obvious question comes to mind: Where does our mindset come from?  [click here to keep reading…]

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →