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The Tyranny of the Perfect Life
Incoherency of a Utopia
We believe people have many needs and values that can come together in perfect harmony. We think, under the right conditions, education, technology and political systems, we can completely solve all our problems.
But we have to stop and consider these questions: What if our values and needs contradict each other? What, if we gain somewhere, we will lose somewhere else?
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
Altering the brain
In 2005, studies began to point out that meditation can change the structure of your brain by thickening the cortex. The cortex controls your attention and emotions.
You can reap the benef...
Mindfulness meditation
It typically refers to a practice for training your attention. It is an awareness that comes through paying attention in the moment, but non-judgmentally.
It involves sitting down with closed eyes and focussing on feeling your breath go in and out. When your attention starts to wander, you take note and bring your attention back to your breath.
Reduced amygdala activity
Meditation shows reduced activity in the amygdala, our brain’s threat detector. When the amygdala perceives a threat, it sets off the fight-flight-freeze response.
In a study, after practicing mindfulness for 20 minutes per day over just one week, participants showed reduced amygdala reactivity only while they were engaged in mindfulness, suggesting they need regular practice.
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Key Ideas
Journaling approaches
- The Gratitude Journal: Simply write about something that you’re grateful for.
- Morning Pages: Before starting work each day, write 3 pages, long-ha...
What you write, you learn
The key to learning is to stop passively consuming information and start actively engaging with the ideas we encounter.
One effective way researchers have found to reinforce learning is through reflective writing: It promotes the brain’s attentive focus, boosts long-term memory, illuminates patterns and gives the brain time for reflection.
What you write, you control
- Recording your thoughts in a medium outside your own head helps your mind to become quieter: It stops returning to the same worn-out mental loops over and over.
- When you recount and reflect upon your thoughts and experiences you are, in effect, telling your own story. Journaling helps us clarify, edit, and find new meaning in these narratives.
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Key Ideas
Set Plan for Day: 5 min
Before turning on your computer, sit down with a blank piece of paper and decide what you can realistically accomplish that will further your goals.
Take your calendar and schedule tho...
Refocus: 1 min every hour
Manage your day hour by hour.
Set your phone or computer to ring every hour. When it rings, take a deep breath, look at your list and ask yourself if you spent your last hour productively.
Review: 5 min
Shut off your computer and review your day.
What worked? Where did you focus? Where did you get distracted? What did you learn that will help you be more productive tomorrow?