Work longer, get less done. Parkinson's Law says that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. When you establish fixed hours to your work, you find unproductive ways to fill it. Work like a lion instead - sprint, rest, repeat.

The Productivity Paradox

In order to grow, sometimes you need to shrink. Growth is never linear. One step back, two steps forward is a recipe for consistent, long-term success.

The Shrinking Paradox

The thing we fear the most is often the thing we most need to do. Fears - when avoided - become limiters on our growth and life. Make a habit of getting closer to your fears. Then take the leap - you may just find growth on the other side.

The Fear Paradox

You have to put in more effort to make something appear effortless. Effortless performances are often the result of a large volume of effortful, gritty practice.

The Effort Paradox

You have to fail more to succeed more. Our greatest moments of growth often stem directly from our greatest failures. Don't fear failure, just learn to fail smart and fast.

The Failure Paradox

The more you learn, the more you are exposed to the immense unknown. This should be empowering, not frightening. Embrace your own ignorance. Embrace lifelong learning.

The Wisdom Paradox

You have to lose money in order to make money. Sometimes you have to pay to learn.

The Money Paradox

The following are some of the most powerful paradoxes of life. Time to ponder ....

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productivity

Productivity

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

timemanagement

Time Management

Some Paradoxes (Part 1)

"Sometimes not everything that we want will happen, but that doesn't mean we have to give up"

One of the bad thoughts of humans is that when their goals or what they want are not achieved, they will think that they have failed. Even though it is not a failure. If we really think it's a failure then we must also really think that is the beginning of our success.

Bad Thoughts

When the that thing we want is not achieved or we are facing a failure, sometimes we get confused and become more overthinking then in the end we will give up. If we are experiencing something like that, it would be nice if we did a rest and think phase.Resting and Thinking Phase is a phase where we rest ourselves, mentally and mind from something bad that has happened or is happening but we still make plans for what we will do next. Or in other words we do refreshing but still think about the next step so that we don't think too much about the bad things in the problem.

Resting and Thinking Phase

In life we ​​have to make a lot of plans because if one plan doesn't come true, we can make other plans.For example, let's assume our plan is plan A, plan B, plan C. Then our first step is to do plan A but plan A is fails, because we have other plans so we can do plan B or the next plan.So what should we do if all our plans are fail?The answer is that we surrender all our plans to the God, it doesn't mean we give up, it's just that we keep fighting and trying but we trust whatever happens in the future to our God.

Plan A and Other Plans

Basically we have no reason to give up.Because actually we won't know what will happen in the future if we give up now. Let's think, do you know what will happen in your life tomorrow? Of course you don't know but if you think the bad things will happen tomorrow, trust me it's just your bad thoughts.We may fail today but it turns out that in the future we will get success.

Future

"Actually our life that we have to live is praying, learning and struggling. The problem of failing or succeeding is part of our destiny but God always has a good plan for humans."

It's just  simple ideas from me if we will face a failure :')

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

mindfulness

Mindfulness

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

mentalhealth

Mental Health

Face Failure 

Our thoughts are like a private theatre, and as such they can fascinate us. They are sometimes unpredictable and sometimes on cue. They can surprise us, stimulate us, move us to action and sometimes to tears. As much as thoughts can trigger emotions, they can also be triggered by them: feelings influence what is shown in our mental theatre.

Our Private Mental Theatre

The fleeting images and phrases in our minds make up a good portion of our lives. By some estimates based on brain state transitions in neuroimaging data, we may have 4 to 8 thoughts per minute. Even accounting for some periods of fatigue or apathy and many periods spent perceiving sensory input (such as reading or listening), that can add up to several thousand thoughts a day.Several psychological disorders produce changes in stream of thought. Manic states, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety often increase whereas depression and dementia often reduce it.

Thousands Of Thoughts, Literally

Many thoughts can be classified as spontaneous or involuntary. They spring to mind; they don’t feel deliberate. Some may be ideas or intuitions relevant to a current situation, intrusive thoughts linked to preoccupations, or “free associations” while the mind wanders. Some are recollections of autobiographical memories with some link to recent experiences.

The Spontaneous Thoughts

Where do spontaneous thoughts come from? An obvious source is environmental stimulation: the ideas evoked by what we see and hear. However, spontaneous thoughts often appear when the environment is relatively stable, like when walking a familiar path or sitting on a bus.Spontaneous thoughts often emerge from long-term memory, unconscious pieces of phrases, images, actions and ideas that also give rise to dreams. These mental construction blocks are the collective activity of networks of neurons in the brain’s grey matter whose connections have been strengthened by numerous experiences.

Spontaneous Thoughts’ Stimuli: External Or Internal?

These neural networks are ordinarily inactive, but when they are excited by other brain activity, such as a stimulus, a related thought or hunger, they compete for access to consciousness based on their strength. The competitive strength of networks is influenced by their relevance to our situation, but also to our goals, needs, interests or emotions. We think about food more easily when we are hungry but also when we have an important dinner to prepare.

Neural Networks Are Like Competitive Sprinters

Emotions play a key role in many types of spontaneous thoughts. For example, intrusive thoughts are forced upon us by emotions so that we focus on high-priority information like threats, frustrations or opportunities. Anxiety often produces intrusive thoughts pointing to real or imagined threats. In post-traumatic stress, it can cause repetitive flashbacks and ruminations.

The Relationship Of Emotions And Thoughts

While negative emotions make us focus on high priority content, positive emotions appear to facilitate more remote or unusual associations which increase memorization and creativity. During euphoria — intense happiness or pleasure that may be out of proportion to its causes — intrusive thoughts often include optimistic anticipations and imaginative ideas. Passion induces positive spontaneous thoughts.

The Urgent And The Abstract

Even during uneventful daily activities, weak emotions or microemotions such as worries, desires, irritation, stress, surprise or interest are involved in orienting many of our thoughts.Microemotions are brief and often unconscious. They mainly trigger micromovements like muscle tension or facial microexpressions and they produce small physiological reactions including adrenaline secretion and cardiovascular responses.

Microemotions

Micro-fears often trigger what-if thoughts and worries that maintain anxiety through a positive feedback loop; this in turn can be a source of insomnia. Microemotions of guilt or pride trigger moral intuitions of anticipated disapproval or approval of others, which are essential to develop pro-social behaviour such as co-operation, helpfulness and other types of behaviour that benefit others. Microemotions of boredom or craving for stimulation can trigger distraction or mind wandering and may underlie some symptoms of attention deficits.

The Many Products Of Microemotions

Microemotions influence our thoughts in a variety of ways. They distract our attention from its present object, they sensitize perceptual systems to notice things related to their dominant theme and they facilitate the retrieval of memories relevant to that theme. Microemotions are themselves triggered by a perception or an idea, often an unconscious one, that is significant enough to subtly activate emotional systems.

The Relationship Of Microemotions And Thoughts

Emotions can activate spontaneous thoughts through several brain circuits centred on a hub called the amygdala. That hub has access to our urges and desires activated in the low parts of our frontal lobe. It can interpret the emotional significance of perceptions or retrieved memories, and it can also influence them.

The Hub: The Amygdala

The amygdala hub also activates the brain’s amplifiers in the brain stem that feed neuromodulators like adrenaline and serotonin to the grey matter. These systems juice up the level of neural activity and steer it toward the theme that is consistent with the emotion. When the evoked thought is itself emotion-provoking, a self-sustaining loop is created between thought and emotion that is stopped by either distraction or cognitive processes.

The Bi-Directional Feedback Loop

In essence, spontaneous thoughts are largely motivated thoughts: every minute, feelings nudge our attention, our inner voice and our mental theatre in a specific direction. Better control of stress levels, emotions and daily experiences may improve the quality of these spontaneous thoughts and the satisfaction derived from them.

A “Mental” Mental Theatre

“Spontaneous” thoughts. “Micro” emotions. What of them? They sound harmless, trivial and insignificant. They are constant, continual and cumulative. They can have quite a malign macro impact. Think of them in juxtaposition to Death By a Thousand Cuts: a form of torture and execution. How harmless do they sound now?

Emotions play a key role in many types of spontaneous thoughts. Even microemotions — which are often fleeting and unconscious — can affect thoughts and influence attention.

The Thought-Emotion Loop & How Micro-emotions Can Lead to All-Consuming Thoughts

Motivation is primarily self motivation. No outside influence can match the kind of inner boost you give to yourself. the more you have faith in yourself, the more you try to accomplish your objectives.

STEPS TO BELIEVING IN YOURSELF 

Cease thingking of what you cannot do, and think of what you can do. A popular saying goes "Don't let things you can't do stop you from doing things which you can do"

Step1: Believe In Your Capability Of Being Successful 

Hold the deep conviction: "yes, this is the right time for me, I know I can succeed." Ray Kroc was already sickly and past 50 when he felt inspired to purchase a successful California restaurant. By the time he died in 1984, his Mcdonald's Corporation was the largest restaurant company in the world.

Step2: Seize Every Opportunity 

the size of your goal is determined not just by the size of your brain, but also by the size of your faith.

Step3:Think Big

Thoughts are the basis of all actions. You can control your actions if you control your thoughts. Japanese Zen monks have a remarkable sense of discipline. They can squat and meditate for hours emptying their minds of outside thoughts and letting feelings of peace and serenity flow within

Step 4: Discipline Your Thoughts

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments. Follow your dreams, Believe in yourself. And don't give up. 

Believe in yourself

Which Are You? How many emails are in your inbox? If the answer is thousands, or if you often struggle to find a file on your computer among its cluttered hard drive, then you might be classed as a digital hoarder.In the physical world, hoarding disorder has been recognised as a distinct psychiatric condition among people who accumulate excessive amounts of objects to the point that it prevents them living a normal life. Now, research has begun to recognise that hoarding can be a problem in the digital world, too.

Digital Hoarders

A case study published in the British Medical Journal in 2015 described a 47-year-old man who, as well as hoarding physical objects, took around 1,000 digital photographs every day. He would then spend many hours editing, categorising, and copying the pictures onto various external hard drives. He was autistic, and may have been a collector rather than a hoarder — but his digital OCD tendencies caused him much distress and anxiety.

A case study

The authors of this research paper defined digital hoarding as “the accumulation of digital files to the point of loss of perspective which eventually results in stress and disorganisation”. By surveying hundreds of people, my colleagues and I found that digital hoarding is common in the workplace. In a follow-up study, in which we interviewed employees in two large organisations who exhibited lots of digital hoarding behaviours, we identified four types of digital hoarder.

Accumulation

“Collectors” are organised, systematic and in control of their data. “Accidental hoarders” are disorganised, don’t know what they have, and don’t have control over it. The “hoarder by instruction” keeps data on behalf of their company (even when they could delete much of it). Finally, “anxious hoarders” have strong emotional ties to their data — and are worried about deleting it.

Hoearders types

From retaining old emails to accumulating digital files, digital hoarding is emerging as a potential problem for people.

health

Health

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

problemsolving

Problem Solving

Digital Hoarders: We’ve Identified Four Types – Which Are You? - Neuroscience News

- Search for action, getting uncomfortable	- Publish your Ideas	- Schedule Free Time	- Eliminate Negativity	- Say "Yes" more often	- Get active, engage in things	- Do things without expecting a return	- Dig deeper into interesting things	- Dont always be productive: get bored sometimes	- Be curious

Self

- Surround yourself with smarter people- Hang out with optimists- Talk to strangers- Be more social (cold messages, search digital & real communities)- Ask about what people do at their weekend and observe it- Put some money into things you got recommended thrice- Ask interesting questions

People

Join the community of Tens of thousands of The Curiosity Chronicle readers. Brought to you by Sahil Bloom - a Substack newsletter and podcast.

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

How to get Lucky

Have you always wanted to change your life, but you don’t know how to begin or make it into a reality? After 25 years of researching change expert Stan Goldberg, Ph.D lays out 10 major principles that cover all the strategies which you need for successful change.

The 10 Rules of Change

Strategy: Break down the behaviorChange occurs in stages. To increase the overall probability of success, divide a behavior into parts and learn each part successively.

1) All Behaviours Are Complex

Fear of the unknown can result in clinging to status quo behaviours.Strategy: Examine the consequencesCompare all possible consequences of both your status quo & desired behaviors. If there are more positive results bound with the new behavior, your fears are unwarranted.e.g. still unpunctual? -> chance to be fired -> greater benefit to changing than to not changing.Str: Prepare your observersNew behaviors can frighten the people observing them, so introduce them slowly.Str: Be realisticUnrealistic goals increase fear. Fear increases the probability of failure.

2) Change Is  Frightening 

Reinforcement - not punishment - is necessary for permanent change. Reinforcement can be intrinsic, extrinsic or extraneous. One type of reinforcement must be present for self-change, 2 would be better than one, & 3 would be best.Str: Enjoy the actIntrinsic reinforcement occurs when the act is reinforcing.E.g. she loved dressing well. Seeing her clothes laid out at night was a joyful experience.

3) Change Must Be Positive

Str: Admire the outcomeAn act doesn't have to be enjoyable when the end result is extrinsically reinforcing. -> enjoy the payoff from your workE.g. I hate cleaning my kitchen, but I do it because I like the sight of a clean kitchen.Str: Reward yourselfExtraneous reinforcement isn't directly connected to the act or its completion. E.g. A worker may despise his manufacturing job but will continue working for a good paycheck. Whenever he met his target, he put $20 into his Hawaii vacation fund.

Change Must Be Positive -part2

Uncomfortable change becomes punishing & people don't continue activities that are more painful than rewarding.Str:Take baby stepsResearch:participants were more successful when their goals were gradually approximatedWrite down the behavior you want to change. Then write your goal. Draw 4 lines between the two & write a progressive step on each that takes you closer to your goal.Str:Simplify the processMethods of changing are often unnecessarily complicated & frenetic. Through simplicity, clarity arises.Str:Prepare for problemsPerfect worlds don't exist & neither do perfect learning situations

4) Being Is Easier Than Becoming

Everything has its own natural speed; when altered, unpleasant things happen. Change is most effective when it occurs slowly, allowing behaviors to become automatic.Str: Establish calmLife is like a stirred-up lake: Allow it to calm and the mud will settle, clearing the water. The same is true for change.Str: Appreciate the path "It's good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end." -Ursula LeGuonDon't devise an arduous path; it should be as rewarding as the goal.

5) Slower Is Better

Surprise spells disaster for people seeking change.Knowing more about the process allows more control over it.Str: Monitor your behaviorsSome therapists insist on awareness of both current & desired behaviors, but research suggests it's sufficient to be aware of just the new one.Str: Request feedbackA study in the British Journal of Psychologyfound that reflecting on personal experiences with others is key to successful change.Str: Understand the outcomeSuccess is satisfying, and if you know why you succeeded or failed, similar strategies can be applied when changing other behaviors.

6)Know More, Do Better

Str:Identify what worksClassify all activities, materials you're using as either helpful/neutral/unhelpful in achieving your goal. Eliminate unhelpful ones, make neutrals into positives & keep / increase the positives.Str:Revisit your plan regularlyReview every day how & why you're changing and the consequences of success & failure. Research:repetition increases the probability of success.Str:Logically sequence eventsIt's important to sequence the aspects associated with learning a new behavior in order of level of difficulty / timing.

7) Change Requires Structure

Practice is another key approach to change & the majority of failures occur because this principle is ignored. Practice makes new behaviors automatic and a natural part of who we are.Str: Use helpersNot all behaviors can be learned on your own. Sometimes it's useful to enlist the help of a trusted friend.Str: Practice in many settingsIf you want to use a new behavior in different environments, practice it in those or similar settings. Dubbing this "generalization" is critical in maintaining new behaviors.

8) Practice Is Necessary

Even when flawlessly performed, new behaviors are fragile and disappear if unprotected.Str: Control your environmentEnvironmental issues such as noise & level of alertness may interfere with learning new behaviors. After identifying what helps and what hinders, increase the helpers and eliminate the rest.Str: Use memory aidesBecause a new behavior is neither familiar nor automatic, it's easy to forget. Anything that helps memory is beneficial (e.g.list discribing the sequence of things to be done, etc.)

9) New Behaviors Must Be Protected

Unfortunately, plans for big successes often result in big failures. Focus instead on a series of small successes. Each little success builds your reservoir of self-esteem; one big failure devastates it.Str: Map your successApproach each step as a separate mission and you'll eventually arrive at the end goal.

Small Successes Are Big

Change isn't easy, but it is possible: an expert offers 10 rules to change.

habits

Habits

Do you find yourself noticing faint sensations that no one else can perceive? Are you startled easily? And is your mood easily swayed by the feelings of the people around you? If so, you may be a highly sensitive person (HSP), a personality profile that is of increasing interest to both scientists and armchair psychologists.

HSP persons

High sensitivity is often presented as a key contributor to depression and burnout. “A lot of people still think of it in terms of risk and vulnerability,” says Prof Corina Greven of the Radboud University medical centre in the Netherlands.The truth, however, is more complicated. Both high and low sensitivity can have advantages and disadvantages – it all depends on the context. And with a bit of self-knowledge about our place on the spectrum, we can all learn to find the right coping mechanisms to make the most of our personality profile.

Sensitivity & Vulnerability

Do you find yourself needing to withdraw during busy days, into bed or into a darkened room or any place where you can have some privacy and relief from stimulation?When people are uncomfortable in a physical environment do you tend to know what needs to be done to make it more comfortable (such as changing the lighting or the seating)?Do you find it unpleasant to have a lot going on at once?Does being very hungry create a strong reaction in you, disrupting your concentration or mood?Are you deeply moved by the arts or music?

Sensory Processing Sensitivity

Kanye West and Lorde say they are HSPs. What’s the science behind this newly popular label for understanding our ability to process feelings?

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

Are you anxious, introverted or just a ‘highly sensitive person’?

Results are something which you have no control over.So focusing on something which you have no control over is just waste of your time and energy.Although you can influence your results through your decisions and hard work

What happens when you focus on results 

Focus on achieveing small goals Eg: if you are a youtuber then publishing a video every day may be a goal for you which you have complete control over.

What should you focus on

You will not feel disappointed when you don't meet your results like reaching 100K+ views on YouTube. You will be much more happy when you finally achieve your goals

Benefits of this practice 

Learn more about it on my blog<a href="https://selfdevelopmentfreak.blogspot.com/2022/04/why-you-shouldnt-focus-on-results.html">Click here to learn more</a>

A little learning is a dangerous thing 

Learn why you shouldn't focus on the results and instead focus on the process

Why shouldn't you focus on the results 

“Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself.” “If you believe very strongly in something, stand up and fight for it.” “The only person who can pull me down is myself, and I'm not going to let myself pull me down anymore.”

Inspirational Quote 

Inspirational quotes always keep us motivated 

Inspirational quote

Find  Self Improvement Tips - Curated from popular Books like Atomic Habits, 48 Rules of Power, Deep Work, Rich Dad Poor Dad and way more!