The challenge

This is a mental state where, as a result of a certain bad experience, we believe that we can’t do anything about a certain problem.

We can start to feel helpless when we see people fail in a certain plan, and this could start acting as a negative motivation in our minds.

Literal language is functional, and is a utility, serving the purpose of communication, while poetry captures the beauty, the essence of an object, doing away with the descriptions and linear definitions.

The creative nature of consciousness can be described by the analogy of a canvas. Our consciousness is a blank canvas initially and as we gain education, experiences and perform actions, we paint this canvas, slowly adding details, and the final work of art is the story of our lives.

Our expression of creativity is born out of the interactions and experiences we keep having. The canvas that we paint can be cohesive and whole or can be broken and messy.

There are some creative and artistic people who are genuinely authentic in anything they do. They are having a secret inside them, a fragrance that comes with completeness and realism. These people have, through hardships, suffering, and reconciliation, have discovered a core inside them, a certain light that is brightly shining.

This quality shines through in the writings and works of genuine artists. Maybe their poetry, which is seemingly so profound, isn’t poetry at all, but pure truths that they have simply expressed honestly.

Pessimism comes naturally to people because thinking about the bad stuff that could happen helps us to prepare for survival.

The problem is that pessimists think bad events are permanent and unchangeable. "I think my interview is going to be a disaster." We need to learn to recognize what we're saying to ourselves and then argue against it. "I've done many interviews in my life, and they generally turn out well."

Meditation - mindfulness, focusing on the moment - is an excellent anti-anxiety, anti-anger tool..But accepting suffering and finding contentment in that means you can't move into doing something good in the future.

One important idea is hope. Positive human future doesn't come about by accident - it needs hopeful people who plan for it and make it happen.

New research suggests that managers can innovate better by embracing and working with constraints, instead of viewing them as a hindrance to innovation.

When there are no challenges in the creative process, complacency comes in, and people tend to go for the most intuitive and easy ideas rather than investing in the development of better but difficult to implement ideas.

• It makes your day simpler: fewer meals= less stressing about what you'll eat.
• It helps you live longer: you get the benefits of a longer life without the hassle of starving.
• Still up for debate, but intermittent fasting may reduce the risk of cancer.
• It is much easier than dieting, once you get over the idea that you need to eat all the time.

• Daily Intermittent Fasting: 16–hour fast followed by an 8–hour eating period. 
• Weekly Intermittent Fasting: One of the best ways to get started with it - do it once per week.
• Alternate Day Intermittent Fasting: incorporates longer fasting periods on alternating days throughout the week.

Human beings are always moving towards growth, either positive or negative (backward growth).

If we do not provide constant nourishment to our body and mind, we will become stagnant, stale and in danger of withering away.

Staying inside our comfort zones keeps us from having regular transformative experiences. More than logic or reason, emotions are what invokes transformation in humans.

Emotions are tied to memory, which is fluid and is affected by deep, intense emotions.

The biggest economic risk is what no one’s talking about. If no one is talking about it, no one will be prepared, and the damage will be amplified when it arrives.

In recent years, people cited the trade wars and election as risks. It is the same risks, repeated over and over. People may be worried, but no one is surprised. A business may be concerned, but many have prepared. Compare that to what, in hindsight, have actually been the biggest risks.

What turn events into disasters is that few discussed them even moments before they occurred. They were surprises. People affected did not prepare, either mentally or with actions. They could only react, often surrounded by panic.

Two things happen with surprises:

• You become vulnerable.
• Surprises shake the beliefs that leave you paranoid and pessimistic.

• If you are healthy, and have a modern balanced diet, taking multi-vitamins and high-dose antioxidants may shorten your life.
• There’s no evidence to support antioxidant supplements for primary or secondary prevention of diseases.
• Beta-carotene and vitamin E seem to increase mortality, and so may higher doses of vitamin A.
• Antioxidant supplements need to be considered as medicinal products and should undergo sufficient evaluation before marketing.
• The functions of minerals and vitamins are understood largely by their deficiency diseases so there’s no certainty what they all do or how they interact.
• Antioxidants soak up toxic, chemically-reactive by-products of metabolism called free radicals. These free radicals, left unchecked, can cause damage to DNA and may be linked to cancer.
• Your body's immune system fights infections by using free radicals to kill bugs. Several of the minerals and vitamins in excess can cause damage.

• Folic acid for the women thinking of having a baby and pregnant women up to week 12 of the pregnancy.
• Vitamin D for all pregnant and breastfeeding women, those aged six months to five years or over 65 and for people who are not exposed to much sun.
• Vitamins A, C and D supplementation are recommended for all children aged six months to four years, especially those not eating a varied diet.
• If they are prescribed to you for a medical condition.

• Bob Ross created and hosted Joy of Painting, an instructional television show that ran for years.
• Even 25 years after his death, Bob Ross Inc. is still thriving. The official Bob Ross YouTube channel has over 4 million subscribers and more than 360 million total views. With the pandemic, millions of people have turned to Joy of Painting episodes.
• Bob Ross had a level of positivity that was contagious. When someone can display that amount of peaceful happiness, it compels people to partake in the bliss.
• Each episode feels complete. Before therapists knew to tell clients to be mindful and present, Ross told his viewers to appreciate every breath.

The show was as meditative as it was instructive. Ross put out pure positivity into the world.

In every episode, Bob Ross explained his art as a way of capturing the eternal beauty of the world. When he filled his canvas with color, he'd say things like, "This piece of canvas is your world, and on here you can do anything that your heart desires." When he painted a cloud, he might say, "A cloud is one of the freest things in nature."

Opportunity cost in non-financial situations is more difficult to quantify. The loss or gain with choosing an option while foregoing another can be subjective and not readily comparable.

Example: While deciding on which job offer to take, we may consider job satisfaction, brand name, commute time, long-term growth, and the salary offered. While finalizing, we have to forego the other best offer. While deciding on a career, we have to consider options like prestige, impact and the work sector.

The way to calculate the opportunity cost is to subtract the value of the option from the value of the alternative that is foregone.

Opportunity Cost = Return on the best foregone alternative - Return on the chosen option.