<ul><li>We need to change our perspective on failure.</li><li>Plenty of us have an image of only successful people who never made mistakes or failures, when in reality, we all do - some just manage to make it look prettier than others</li><li>Failure is a large part of what it means to be human.</li></ul>

Perspective is everything

Set the right expectations for people. Don't waste time trying to convince people they'll succeedGet right down to what happens when things go wrong. Every little one goes through struggles as they learn to walk, and determination is all it takes to find dexterity

Set the right expectations for people

<ul><li>Facing hardship and enduring failure teaches us how to succeed.</li><li>Failure is a positive thing. A failure is simply something to work past, and my determination gives me an edge over other people.</li><li>Without any kind of challenge, success would likely be meaningless.</li></ul>

It's okay to fail

The only thing anyone can do for themselves is try their best and never give up.Try not to whine about how tough things are going to be or how much pressure there was from adults telling you this wasn't going to work.

Labels don't matter

Entrepreneurship is a never-ending process of refinement through trial and error. Failure is a natural part of success.We need to change our perspective on failure. Stop avoiding it, stop shaming others who make them, and start looking at what they can teach us about ourselves.

Success is built on a foundation of previous failure

Making mistakes is just another step in achieving your goals. We need to change our perspective on failure.

Stashed ideas

Why You Need To Change Your Perspective on Failure

The world is full of outsiders: students at university far from home, immigrants to a new country. Many American workers became outsiders when they quit their jobs in the Great Resignation. But because it was voluntary doesn't make it easy. Being an outsider can be lonely and difficult. Yet, there is little evidence that being an outsider creates long-term problems for happiness or lowers your chance of success. When people are thrust between places and cultures, they tend to develop strength, flexibility, and resiliency.

Being an Outsider


Many older theories of philosophy and psychiatry would predict difficult outcomes for outsiders and would recommend against being one if possible. Plato believed that acculturation, which is the psychological change that takes place when a person blends into an unfamiliar culture, was damaging to one's sense of self. This reasoning was continued by psychologists such as Abraham Maslow, Erik Erikson, and Carl Rogers. Outsiders often face particular hardships, like distrust by insiders. People at the margins of society often bear the brunt of hostility.

Difficulties outsiders face

Outsiders may suffer somewhat in the short term, but evidence shows that in the long run, being an outsider may be one of the best investments you will ever make, and you should embrace it, pain and all. <ul><li>A 2018 study showed that outsiders grow to be happier and more resilient than their peers and are less prone to age-related cognitive decline. </li><li>A 2012 review found being raised in at least two cultures leads to greater psychological and emotional well-being and higher social competence.</li><li>Outsiders further develop a superpower; they develop multiple cultural identities that they can use flexibly,</li></ul>

Outsiders do very well

<ul><li>Being an outsider is a feature, not a bug. When you are new in a group, you might view your unfamiliarity as a cost of doing business, but it is making you stronger and more resilient.</li><li>Find regular ways to be an outsider. Find opportunities to be on the margins; go to a new church, club or gym where you don't know anyone.</li><li>Make new friends with outsiders. It's a way to practice creating your own culture. Even if you aren't an outsider, you can learn these skills by joining those who are.</li></ul>

How to incorporate an outside ethos

Doing so may feel painful, but it’s one of the best investments you will ever make.

Find More Ways to Be an Outsider

You don’t necessarily need a degree to become a graphic designer. Though, all of this has got us asking, is a graphic design degree worth it in 2021?We’re going to weigh both the advantages and disadvantages of a degree in graphic design to help you answer the question “should I major in graphic design?

Career Decisions: Graphic Designer

We would be lying if we said that doing a degree in graphic design is not a tried and tested way of starting a career in graphic design. For decades, the only way that creatives could turn their dreams into realities was the university route.This meant that a huge amount of graphic designers got into the industry this way—they left school, enrolled at a college or university, studied and then spread their wings. So when we consider if a graphic design degree is worth it, we must take this into account.

Advantages Of A Graphic Design Degree: Tried and Tested

If having the name of a well-established institution on your degree certificate is something that you want to impress people with, then it could certainly be argued that a graphic design degree is a good major to undertake.

The Prestige Of A Degree

If you spend three years doing something, there’s a high chance that you’ll make some friends—and a graphic design degree is no different. During a graphic design major, you’re guaranteed to make some like-minded friends for life—especially trudging blurry-eyed to an early morning lecture or having some drinks at the bar after your exams.If the idea of working and learning alongside some like-minded creative people sounds like your kind of thing, then a graphic design degree is definitely worth it.

Networking: The Main advantage of a degree

You’ll be surrounded by fellow creatives and have the opportunity to put your heads together and collaborate on projects. It really is a special thing to be surrounded by people who are all working towards the same creative goal—you’ll find yourself being constantly inspired!

The Creative Advantage

“What did you get in your degree?” is something that you are very unlikely to hear when you start working in the graphic design industry. In fact, it’s all about your portfolio—a showcase of your very best work, which also backs up all the incredible design skills and knowledge you have. Most of the time, potential employers will choose whether to interview and whether to hire you based solely on your portfolio and the work within it.

No need for a Degree: Your Portfolio Speaks For Itself

A degree in graphic design isn’t exactly the speediest way to learn graphic design. In fact, let’s look at the average time it takes to complete an undergraduate degree in the US, UK and Australia: three years, four years and three-four years respectively. That equates to roughly 36 to 48 months—and that’s not considering all the long holidays and breaks where you won’t even be studying!

The Time cost of a Degree

Let’s break down how much a degree might cost a student:In the United States, the average domestic university student will pay, if they attend a college in their home state, $37,460 for the privilege. If they chose to go to a college in a different state, this jumps significantly to $95,560! Meanwhile, international students who choose to attend a US college can face fees of $78,820 on average for their degrees.

The Money Cost Of A Degree

So you’ve spent four years getting your graphic design degree? And acquired a load of debt in the process? You’ll definitely have all the skills you need to get a job in the graphic design industry, right? Right…? Not necessarily. Some graphic design degree programmes or majors will spend three years teaching you how to design, but now how to design for a job and actually work in a studio.Ask yourself: Do I want to do a major that might not necessarily help me nail the skills and knowledge I need to get a job?

Real-World Skills

With the creative job landscape changing so rapidly, many students are wondering if it's still worth getting a graphic design degree. Click here to find out

Is A Graphic Design Degree Worth It In 2021?

Getting turned down or away is discouraging no matter how many years you’ve invested in your professional journey.But even though it stings at first, rejection may actually make you tougher in the long run. The key to achieving your career ambitions comes down to one question: How many times are you willing to pick yourself up after falling down?

Rejection sucks. Always has, always will

In fact, some of the most successful household names have been turned away, more than once. Stephen King, the man who wrote the book on writing saw 30 rejections from publishers for his novel Carrie — the same work that launched his career and spawned an iconic horror movie.

It’s comforting to know that setbacks are common

“One of the most critical skills that can help someone cope with rejection is resilience — or the ability to quickly recover from challenges. Luckily, resilience is not just a static attribute but a learned, lifelong skill that can be honed, just like a muscle that can be strengthened and grown over time.”

<ol><li>G: Ground yourself in the situation.</li><li>R: Recognize what you can control.</li><li>O: Organize your resources.</li><li>W: Work with your community for support.</li></ol>

The GROW method to cope with rejection

Everyone Gets Rejected — Here’s How to Move On

Philosophers have struggled with the question "What is truth?" from the dawn of time.
The current theory of truth among the public and scientists is that truth corresponds with facts and reality. Many scientists would add that the scientific method is the central system for determining facts and the best tool to find the truth.

The prevailing theory of truth

Self Improvement

Inductive logic is the process of observations, then drawing conclusions from that limited data.
<ul>
<li>In An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), David Hume argues that inductive logic is unjustified as it can fail. If you only notice white swans, it does not mean all swans are white? The next one could be black.</li>
<li>In his Critique of Pure Reason (1781), Immanuel Kant says people can't distinguish between reality and our perception of reality. If you see an orange basketball, how do you know it is really orange?</li>
</ul>

Inductive logic

Science can put people on the moon and give us things like iPads. Science is the best way to understand the material world, but it can't answer the most important questions in life.
For example, science can't say anything substantive about love, beauty, purpose in life, yet they are the driving forces behind most human behaviour. Philosophy (and religion) have lots to say on these topics. Our best attempt to understand the truth is when we pay attention to both.

When science can't answer big questions

Science is based on the correspondence theory, which claims that truth corresponds with facts and reality. Philosophers have made substantive challenges to the truth claims made by science. While science is the best tool to understand the material universe, it has little to say about the things that matter most, like love, beauty, and purpose.

The hardest question ever asked: What is truth?

<ol>
<li>Research the country thoroughly such as the health and safety aspects and not just the price of a cup of coffee</li>
<li>Be extremely keen on your finances and establish any possible expenses you will make and include ex-pat tax implications</li>
<li>Get a job upfront or have an amount prepared to support yourself in any case scenario</li>
<li>Be thorough when looking for local housing and search for good neighborhoods</li>
<li>Gear up for budget relocation costs whether you're covered by your company or not</li>
</ol>

Preparing Yourself Before Moving

<ol>
<li>Tackle the administration. Get through the mandatory and important tasks first like registering with the local government and make sure that all of your paperwork is in order. This includes arranging your ID/tax number.</li>
<li>Find your way around and learn about the local transport. Get lost and familiarize yourself with the surrounding. You can even do a trial run to your new workplace.</li>
<li>Look for a grocery store or a market nearby and enjoy the delicacies.</li>
</ol>

Moving abroad: Your checklist upon arrival

<ol>
<li>Making friends in a new country is a priority. Keep an open mind and meet as many as possible to help get you through the lonely days</li>
<li>Try to connect with locals and other ex-pats, groups can be found on social media for ease and convenience</li>
<li>Learn the local language and make sure to practice daily</li>
<li>Adapt to the local traditions and customs they may have. Read up on public holidays and find out the cultural landscape.</li>
</ol>

Embracing the new culture

<ol>
<li>Give yourself a week or two to settle in and adjust. Be patient with yourself and remember that Rome wasn't built on a day.</li>
<li>If you're moving abroad alone prepare to face the feeling of loneliness and homesickness.</li>
<li>Learn from mistakes because you will make them and a lot of unexpected things can and will happen. Just keep looking at the silver lining and be compassionate with yourself.</li>
<li>Keep in touch with your friends and family back home.</li>
</ol>

Moving abroad: A few bumps along the way

Moving to a new country alone is a huge step. Don't be put off by the difficulty, though; it could be the best decision of your life.

Moving to a new country alone: a how-to guide | Expatica

Our inner Demons, or inner voices, make us do irrational, stupid and selfish things, based out of fear.We hide and distract ourselves from our inner voice, which is nothing but our fear and insecurities, talking to us.

Our inner 'demons'

Some of our common 'demons' are:<ul><li>Procrastination</li><li>Laziness</li><li>Self-loathing</li><li>Comparing yourself with your peers, leading to envy</li><li>Loser mentality.</li></ul>

Our common negative parts

Our inner demons lead us to negatively judge ourselves, further leading to avoiding that judgment, and eventually starting the internal self-destruction, if the negative downward spiral is left unchecked.

The downward spiral

You can befriend your demons, by facing them and objectively understanding the insecurity.You will get insights about your demon and will begin to realize your various traits and the side effects it produces.

Befriend your insecurities

If you choose to value something in your life, you are also choosing the other side of the coin, which is the failure of that value, automatically.No one can just choose to take the good while not taking the bad.

The other side of the coin

Having demons or internal insecurities is not something exclusive, but is, in fact, a common reality among human beings. Everyone faces their demons, and it helps us to understand and learn about ourselves.

Internal insecurities

Carl Jung defined shadow as all of the parts of ourselves that we despise or loathe and therefore hide and avoid. It is impossible to run away or lose your shadow because ultimately, your shadow is a representation of you. No shadow can exist without a source of light. To rid yourself of your shadow would require you to rid yourself of the light in your life and thus, live in utter darkness. But denying our shadows and everything they contain is a source of a great deal of human suffering.

The shadow metaphor

As a result, I spent most of my twenties being a terribly unreliable (and often selfish) person. I was the guy who said he couldn't wait to see you and then never showed up. I was the guy who went on three spectacular dates with a woman and then strangely found an endless litany of excuses to not go on a fourth.

How to Overcome Your Demons | Mark Manson

<ul>
<li>A spiritual experience, according to the father of Western psychology, William James, is a state of higher consciousness.</li>
<li>Spirituality, in essence, is connectedness, the antithesis of the values of society like capitalism and laws of the land.</li>
<li>A spiritual state can be achieved by contemplative and ritualistic practices like prayer and meditation.</li>
<li>Many spiritual traditions like Buddhism report a higher state of consciousness and connection.</li>
<li>These states of mind need not be rare experiences of a chosen few, but can be reached in daily life by anyone.</li>
</ul>

Spirituality Is A State Of Mind

The ordinary, once we collect ourselves and pay attention to it in a fully integrated manner, becomes miraculous.
Normally our minds are so fragmented that there are always multiple conflicts in how we behave, think, feel or communicate. People who regularly meditate do not have this problem and report a harmonious brain activity with great synchrony and connectivity of neurons.

The Ordinary Is Miraculous

During meditation, a large group of brain cells are synchronized, dancing together in great harmony and integrity. This helps the brain become better at almost everything, from problem-solving to reduced addictions, and an increase in moral values.
A meditating person becomes more empathetic, creative and socially effective. He becomes self-aware and confident while being less greedy or immoral in any way.

Higher Synchronization Of Brain

QMT is a movement meditation that alternates between dynamic movement and still postures. It puts our attention on the present moment(time) and our present location(space). One has to be aware of their inner and outer worlds at the same time.
Benefits of QMT include improved cognitive flexibility, a feeling of relaxation, an increase in attention and an easy shift to the flow state.

Quadrato Motor Training (QMT)

An egg shaped chamber that increases neural-synchronicity was created by Patrizio Paoletti, a meditation teacher. 
Called the OVO chamber, this spherical model of consciousness maps out subjective experiences, making our life experience sharper and more intense.

The OVO Chamber

Simply by paying close attention to our breath and somehow getting past the distraction stage where our mind wants to stop the boring activity and do something else(like checking the smartphone), we can change our mindset from a fear-based individual to someone with high aspirations and values.
By meditation, we can internally connect the scattered aspects of our lives: family, career, health, friendships, relationships, finance and society.

Rooting Ourselves In Meditation

Meditation makes our life worth living, as we stop reacting and rushing through our day, and become grounded, rooted and calm.
Our outlook, reactions and behaviour change as we feel a sense of connectedness with everyone. This experience of the interconnectedness of being is what we know as spirituality.

Increased Life Awareness

Neuroscience shows that spiritual experiences are correlated with brain states that we can all aim for, religious or not

Spirituality is a brain state we can all reach, religious or not | Psyche Ideas

The Theater and its Double was a 1938 book by French playwright Antonin Artaud, the first-ever record of the word ‘virtual reality. A reality that was both illusionary and fictitious.
The 1950s saw inventor Morton Helig working on a projection booth with 3D images and sound, a moving seat and smells/sensations of the road to give an impression that the person on the seat was riding a motorcycle, trying to give the first taste of virtual reality. It never went into production.

Virtual Reality: Origins

Pop Culture

Virtual reality was termed somatic cognition and also augmented reality over the years, but the term Virtual Reality or VR stuck, popularized in the 1980s by Jaron Lanier, a gifted music composer, author and Time Magazine’s 100-most-influential-People honoree.
He developed a virtual reality headpiece with a glove, a technology that used a virtual space called ‘cyberspace’ where virtual objects were manipulated.

The Real Creator Of Virtual Reality

<ul>
<li>Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series (the one with Captain Picard) had the holodeck, a place where anything imaginable was experienced, like a past memory.</li>
<li>The 2009 movie Avatar used virtual reality as the main storyline.</li>
<li>The real world now uses virtual reality to tackle real-world problems, like doctors learning to use surgical instruments, for example.</li>
<li>The military uses simulated war games to train soldiers for the real thing.</li>
</ul>

Star Trek: Uses And Pop Culture Of Virtual Reality

Who popularized the term 'Virtual Reality'? Find out who popularized the term 'virtual reality' at HowStuffWorks.

Who popularized the term 'virtual reality'?

Dark Matter is a bizarre, unknown ingredient of the universe, which scientists cannot observe directly, but takes up 80 percent of the mass of the universe.
It is not seen by the naked eye as it does not emit light or energy. There are entire galaxies (like Dragonfly 44) that are made up entirely of dark matter. Scientists use particle detectors to detect cosmic rays, energy patterns, gravity, and positrons (anti-electrons) to research dark matter.

Dark Matter Of The Universe

Sciency

<ul>
<li>Familiar material of the universe contains protons, neutrons and electrons, also known as Baryonic Matter.</li>
<li>Dark matter is made up of the same plus also non-baryonic matter (neutrinos, free electrons, supersymmetric particles, axions, and black holes) which is hard to detect.</li>
<li>The objects of the universe that may contribute to dark matter are dim brown dwarf stars, white dwarf stars and neutron stars.</li>
<li>Supermassive black holes, the size of which is 21 billion times the mass of our Sun, can make up a lot of dark matter by themselves.</li>
</ul>

Baryonic And Non-Baryonic Matter

The way massive objects of the universe bend and distort gravity and light indicates to scientists about the existence of dark matter. The way large objects move about in the universe (velocity) also is a factor pushing towards the probability of much more mass than is visible.
Dark matter provides the gravity and weight in galaxies, which would fall apart if all they had was what is visible to scientists via their various instruments.

Proof That Dark Matter Exists

Particle detectors and other dark matter detecting projects prove the universal interest in dark matter:
<ol>
<li>From Italy, a particle detector named XENON1T is hunting for dark matter with an ultra-low background.</li>
<li>From South Dakota, the Large Underground Xenon Dark-Matter Experiment (LUX) is hunting for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP).</li>
<li>IceCube Neutrino Observatory is situated under Antarctica’s ice, hunting for sterile neutrinos.</li>
</ol>

The Instruments Of Observing Dark Matter

Apart from dark matter, the universe is full of energy, most of which is dark energy. 
New data shows that the universe is not running out of energy like previous theories claimed, but is actually expanding at an accelerated rate.

Dark Matter Vs Dark Energy

Dark matter emits no light, and cannot be directly observed, but scientists think that it and dark energy make up most of the mass of the universe.

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Ayla Jain
@aylajain

Why You Need To Change Your Perspective on Failure

Find More Ways to Be an Outsider

Is A Graphic Design Degree Worth It In 2021?

Everyone Gets Rejected — Here’s How to Move On

The hardest question ever asked: What is truth?

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Ayla Jain@aylajain

Why You Need To Change Your Perspective on Failure

Find More Ways to Be an Outsider

Is A Graphic Design Degree Worth It In 2021?

Everyone Gets Rejected — Here’s How to Move On

The hardest question ever asked: What is truth?

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Ayla Jain
@aylajain