“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom,” once said Aristotle. Introspection is the act of looking inwards to examine one’s own conscious thoughts and feelings. Our busy lives often prevent us from making time for introspection, which means we miss out on the many personal and professional benefits this form of self-reflection offers.

Introspection 

<ul><li>Improved problem-solving</li><li>Better mental health</li><li>More self-compassion</li><li>Greater ability to confront fears</li><li>Enhanced future planning.</li></ul>

The many benefits of introspection

<ul><li>In Eastern Christianity, nepsis, Greek for “sober introspection”, encourages people to observe conflicts between the heart and the mind. </li><li>Pratikraman, Sanskrit for introspection, is practiced by Jains to learn from their mistakes, and Hindus are encouraged to reflect on their true nature as part of sāvdhyāya (“contemplation of the self”).</li><li>Around 700 BC, The Temple of Apollo was built at one of the oldest religious sites in ancient Greece. The aphorism, “Know thyself”, was carved into the entrance. </li><li>Philosopher Immanuel Kant rekindled our interest in introsp<warningtag>ection, a process he described as the liberation and emergence of humans in developing the ability to “think for oneself”. </warningtag></li><li><warningtag>In modern psychological sciences, introspection is known as “experimental self-observation”.</warningtag></li></ul>

The practice of introspection is as ancient as human thinking

<ul><li>Find a quiet space in which to explore your feelings privately and without distraction</li><li>Journaling helps increase awareness of how you feel, privately articulate your feelings or needs, and feel more confident in expressing who you are or what you dream of</li><li>Meditating helps you become more aware of yourself and your values</li><li>Take a walk in nature to clear your mind of internal noise</li><li>Reflect on your emotions and behavior.</li></ul>

How to practice productive introspection

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom,” once said Aristotle. Introspection is the act of looking inwards to examine one’s own conscious thoughts and feelings.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

problemsolving

Problem Solving

The power of introspection

<ul><li>Mindfulness, in the Buddhist tradition, is a tool to sit with, understand, alleviate, and ultimately overcome suffering. </li><li>No doubt, mindfulness in itself might alleviate some of the suffering workers experience. </li><li>However, corporate mindfulness often supports <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/productivity">productivity</a> as the sole arbiter of <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/self-esteem">self-worth</a>, which is in itself a source of suffering. </li><li>Moreover, corporate mindfulness is typically shorn from the ethical teachings that accompany it in Buddhism. </li><li>“Right Livelihood” is a part of the “Eightfold Path” of Buddhism.</li></ul>

Corporate Mindfulness

Many Silicon Valley corporations(Think Google or Meta) provide everything from daycare to laundry to fitness centers and snacks, meals, and happy hour drinks, in an effort to glue workers to the workplace. Some corporations even sent their workers weekly snack boxes during the pandemic, as well as paying for mindfulness and other wellness apps and programs.

Corporate Maternalism

Silicon Valley appears to have created an elite within corporate America, one which has developed its own religion, co-opting mindfulness to suit its own purposes. Will workers continue to drink the Kool-Aid? Are we all buying into the religion that says Big Tech (and social media) will solve all our problems, thus disconnecting ourselves from more meaningful engagement with our neighbourhoods and communities?

In Silicon Valley, Work May Be Religion

Many tech workers feel fulfilled and “whole” because of work, others at the margins of the tech industry are living broken lives. There is a social cost to  “Techtopia,” a society where work is the highest form of fulfilment. The problem with Techtopia is that work monopolizes the resources of a community—its time, energy, money, and devotion. As a result, people disinvest in other vital social institutions—families, faith communities, neighbourhoods, and political institutions. Work becomes the alpha institution, around which all other institutions must submit to.

Techtopia: Everything Revolves Around Work

In Silicon Valley, work is the new religion.

"Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley" is a must-read.

religionandspirituality

Religion & Spirituality

career

Career

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

mindfulness

Mindfulness

Mindfulness in Silicon Valley: Is Work Becoming Religion?

Graphic design involves many moving parts, so being organized and having a well-structured plan is a must. A graphic design workflow is the best way to structure your plan and achieve the best result.Having a good graphic design workflow means you know your client and audience’s expectations from the get-go. It helps you visualize the end product and allows the client to make changes before much work has been done. Whether you freelance graphic design or work as part of a design team, use these tips for a more productive workflow and happier clients.

Graphic Design Workflow

The brief of a graphic design project helps you understand the scope of the project and the desired outcome. It should include all the relevant information to prevent errors and confusion. Here is the information you need to have in a comprehensive brief:<ul><li>Client’s company details</li><li>Client’s brand guidelines</li><li>Target audience</li><li>Audience expectations</li><li>Type of product (e.g., logo).</li><li>The timeline is broken down into milestones</li><li>Budget</li><li>Examples of similar work for reference</li></ul>

Go over the brief

Your brief should be informed by thorough research. Researching the subject means you will have lots of valuable information to assist you. It helps you understand your target audience and informs the overall design process.Understanding your audience helps you create relevant and valuable designs. For instance, B2B marketing campaigns may require a different focus than one that caters to direct consumers.

Research the subject

With your outline and research complete, you should now know what the client and audience want. Next comes brainstorming ideas to make it happen. Moodboards are a good way to get the creative juices flowing.A moodboard is a collection of visuals to help you understand the outline and turn the initial idea into the end product. Seeing a visualization of the outline makes it easier to see what the result should look like. Moodboards also help you stay on track by reminding you of the desired end product while you work on the project.

Brainstorm and make a moodboard

The next stage in the graphic design workflow is a rough sketch of your ideas. Rough sketches can be done digitally or by hand. Some designers prefer sketching by hand because there are fewer distractions, but it’s up to you.

Make a rough sketch of your ideas

If the criticism and feedback are constructive and you can make the changes within the timeframe, don’t modify the designs based on your client’s feedback immediately. Some people tend to change their minds after they’ve thought things over again for some time. If your client is one of those people, you might end up making changes to the design over and over again if you implement the changes right away.

Make changes to the designs in response to feedback

Now that you’re fully prepared, you can move onto the final stage of the graphic design workflow: finalizing the product. Work from your sketches; this late stage of the graphic design workflow isn’t the time to experiment.Make sure you’ve fulfilled the guidelines set out in the outline. Also, check if the project is in the client’s desired format.

Finalize the product

A good graphic design workflow helps you stay organized and visualize the result before you get started. It prevents confusion between the designer and the client. With a good graphic design flow, you can also collaborate effectively with team members, making the workflow more efficient. The result? You avoid costly errors down the line. Clients can also easily make changes with a good graphic design workflow, so they are more likely to be happy with the finished product.

Wrapping Up

A Comprehensive Guide to the Graphic Design Workflow 

product

Product & Design

<ul>
<li>Make your application process nimble and mobile-friendly. Make it as easy as possible to apply as possible, with as few steps as possible. Speed defines success in the race to attract quality talent and prevent drop-off. </li>
<li>Treat your digital application process like an online shopping experience. Determine at what point the applicants are bailing out, leaving the equivalent of an "abandoned shopping cart" behind, and determine ways to keep them involved in the process. </li>
<li>Use automated screening to get rid of unqualified people and filter out those who aren't a fit right away. </li>
<li>Make sure the interview process doesn't slow down the hiring process.</li>
</ul>

Improve your time-to-hire with these 4 tips

education

Learning & Education

Hiring Lessons You Need to Learn From the Gig Economy

In North America and Europe, breakfast often consists of bacon, eggs, and toast. However, anything nutritious can be eaten in the morning. So why do Westerners then associate these foods with breakfast?
The word 'breakfast' means different things depending on the language. For example, breakfast as the day's first meal was tied to fasting before taking the Eucharist, but this same meal can mean 'small lunch' in French or even 'light supper' in Italian.

Why we eat breakfast

In the medieval period, breakfast included fish, beer and wine. Porridges were consumed across meals, not just at breakfast. But, during the Industrial Revolution, people began to spend less time around meals and started to eat light breakfasts. In the 1920s, Beech-Nut Packing Company wanted to get more people to buy their bacon, so they hired a PR consultant that spread the message that a heavy breakfast would be healthier. And so the meal of bacon (and eggs) became a staple.

How breakfast changed

Between 1880 and 1920, over 2.5 million Jewish people fled to the United States, many of them Poles. They opened small bakeries and made goods by hand, including bagels. But, in the '50 and '60, bagels became available pre-packed in grocery stores. The Family Circle magazine spread and popularised the idea of cream cheese, lox and bagels.

Immigration changed morning meals

Dr John Kellogg ran a sanitorium and made a type of granola out of wheat, cornmeal and oats as a remedy for chronic digestion problems resulting from high-protein diets. But oat groats had to be soaked before cooking, so with the help of his brother, Kellogg developed a process to produce crispy wheat flakes. Four years later, they started selling toasted corn flakes, and cold cereal was born. Dr Kellogg advertised his corn flakes as healthy through cookbooks and marketing pamphlets.

Cold cereal as a health food

In the Colonial era, Americans preferred tea. However, after England started to tax tea, Americans responded to the Boston Tea Party and drinking coffee became a patriotic duty.
In the 20th century, oranges were found to be an excellent source of vitamin C. In 1942, the U.S. Army offered money to the company that could invent frozen orange juice that tasted good. Richard Morse succeeded to manufacture frozen orange juice concentrate under Minute Made, making O.J. a popular morning drink.

Coffee and orange juice

Americans expect certain foods for breakfast. But why did these particular foods end up as morning meals? HowStuffFoods lets the foods tell the story.

food

Food

health

Health

Why Are Certain Foods Eaten Mainly at Breakfast?

<ul>
<li>Humans are a social species, designed to feel a heightened sense of physical arousal when around others.</li>
<li>Being in a crowd has many psychological and social benefits, even if all the people are complete strangers.</li>
</ul>

Being In A Crowd

The presence of other people can increase the intensity and focus of our own behaviour, and also facilitate certain manners.
Many behavioural studies show that people act differently when around others, showing an increase in efficiency and focus. The crowd provides a cue of the required behaviour to the person unsure of what to do. Example: Watching a movie in a packed theater often has the crowd laughing, providing us information about acting the same way.

Social Facilitation

<ul>
<li>Crowds can influence learning, as certain behaviour (emotional and physical) is contagious.</li>
<li>Crowds can make certain experiences richer, like being in a packed stadium watching a game, or going to a rock concert. The experience becomes much more enjoyable and exciting.</li>
<li>Crowds provide a sense of security, as being in the presence of a lot of strangers, like in a crowded marketplace, makes one relaxed and alert at the same time.</li>
</ul>

Crowds: Learning And Experiencing

Mask restrictions are dropping. It's time for crowds. It could be good for you.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

communication

Communication

Power of People: Why Being in a Crowd Feels Good

It is a universally pervasive phenomenon where we misrepresent publicly what we really think or believe or want privately due to fearing the possible consequences or to a benefit we may receive.
It can happen in settings like in the government, the academe, and even just between a group of friends.

Preference Falsification

<ul>
<li>It brings upon discomfort to the falsifier -- which makes them feel like they are living a lie temporarily, sometimes chronically.</li>
<li>It also has a stabilizing and constraining effect where it serves to filter out inclinations that people consider illicit and would rather not have.</li>
</ul>

The distinguishing characteristic of preference falsification

Many studies were done to correlate conformity and social pressure with preference falsification and it turns out that:
People adapt to conform to the beliefs of other people because they lack the reliable information needed, and in the absence of trustworthy information, the only sensible reaction is to conform.

Conformity and social pressure on preference falsification

Fearing the social disapproval of others, some people will not always say what they think or believe.

Discover the world of business and economics.

economics

Economics

What Is Preference Falsification?

An extreme form of sport that is relatively safe, bungee jumping has a brief, surprising history.
It has its roots in Pentecost Island in the Southern Pacific region. The old legend had a female victim of marital abuse jumping off a large tree with her feet tied to the vines, escaping the fall. The abusive husband who jumped after her died after hitting the ground.

Bungee Jumping: The Legend

The legend of Pentecost gave birth to the ritual of naghol, or land diving, where men jump off a wooden tower to pray for a bountiful yam harvest, and to prove their manhood. 
The world got to know about this in a BBC Documentary in 1950.

Naghol: Land Diving

Bungee Jumping was a stunt carried by David Kirke, the first bungee jumper, who jumped off the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol along with two other friends who were all members of the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club. 
Even after being arrested and fined, they repeated the stunt on various other bridges, cranes and hot air balloons, making bungee jumping famous.

Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club

New Zealander AJ Hackett, the first mainstream bungee jumper, was jumping off bridges and even the Eiffel Tower in 1986, later opening the first commercial bungee jumping site in New Zealand, and is responsible for making this extreme sport popular across the world.

Bungee Jumping In The 80s

Captain Rahul Nigam introduced serious bungee jumping in Rishikesh, India, where he set up ‘Jumpin Heights’ a site where participants jumped 83 meters into the holy river Ganga. 
He enlisted top experts from New Zealand to ensure safety.

Bungee Jumping In Rishikesh

Bungee Jumping is one of the most extreme tests of courage. The extreme sport’s history is not surprisingly- extreme! Read on to uncover the crazy events behind the Bungee’s invention!

history

History

entertainment

Entertainment

The amusing history of Bungee Jumping

<ul><li>Mindfulness: the awareness of context and of changes within that context.</li><li>Discernment: the ability to recognize and anticipate the consequences of the patterns around you.</li><li>Action: Having a bias for action and immediate implementation is how rapid learning occurs.</li><li>Expectancy: The belief in your ability to seize or create a future outcome.</li><li>Feedback: You shouldn’t and can’t avoid feedback if you want to learn. </li><li>Adaptability: If you want to adjust to new norms, you’ll have to adapt to them.</li></ul>

Essential skills for filtering information

3 things must occur for a person to have high motivation for achieving their goals: <ul><li>You must believe you can do what it takes to achieve your goal. </li><li>You must believe that you know how to achieve it (you have the proper methods). </li><li>You must believe that the rewards of a particular goal are personally meaningful. </li></ul>

Expectancy Theory of Motivation

Those half dozen skills which facilitate the development of other skills. They are foundational to living a life in alignment, to having confidence and clarity, and to becoming a powerful learner and leader.

Keystone skills

The following skills are essential to quickly filtering through the endless universes of information, choices, and distractions that now lay before us in a digital and global world. Mindfulness - the awareness of CONTEXT and of changes within that context (patterns, themes, connections, predictions).

Do You Have These 6 'Mindful' Skills? Or Are You Distracted?

Very few art forms offer something as big as an orchestra—one hundred people playing music that can last over half an hour.
To start with, try to identify some of the different things you hear.
<ul>
<li>Pick one of the nine Beethoven symphonies, then add to the Western canon: Brahms Second, Tchaikovsky's Sixth, Mahler's Fifth, Bruckner's Seventh, and Shostakovich's Fifth.</li>
<li>Or start from the 21st century and work backwards.</li>
</ul>

Classical music offers something on a large scale

The term "classical music" is a catchall for everything from solo piano works to Gregorian chant to contemporary instrumental sextets.
To help orientate yourself, start with some of the traditional smaller ensembles where three or four musicians play together.
<ul>
<li>Canonical works include Beethoven's set of 16 and Shostakovich's of 15, or listen to living composers such as Elena Ruehr and Jefferson Friedman.</li>
<li>Trios include Mozart's Divertimento in E-flat, or piano trios (written for a piano and two stringed instruments), such as Schubert's.</li>
</ul>

Classical music is more than orchestra music

<ul>
<li>For conventional music, listen to the piano works of Cecile Chaminade or Lili Boulanger's Nocturne for Violin and Piano.</li>
<li>You can find different musical timbres and textures in Lou Harrison's Suite for Violin and American Gamelan.</li>
<li>Bach's unaccompanied suites for solo cello can be returned to throughout your life.</li>
</ul>

Classical music is relaxing

Classical vocal music is either loved or really hated. 
<ul>
<li>If you've heard Beethoven's Ninth or Orff's "Carmina Burana" and liked them, look at Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde", which is a symphony of six songs based on Chinese poetry.</li>
<li>Two gems are Richard Strauss's "Four Last Songs," written after WWII, and Samuel Barber's "Knoxville, Summer of 1915".</li>
<li>Two classical choral works without an orchestra are David Lang's "Little Match Girl Passion" or "Partita for 8 Voices" by Caroline Shaw.</li>
</ul>

Classical music does amazing things to the human voice

The piano is a classical instrument, and the keyboard will give you a variety from all over the world, from Bach's Goldberg Variations to Beethoven's 32 sonatas to Frederic Rzewski's contemporary variations on "The People United Will Never be Defeated." Listen to Chopin's piano works (mazurkas and waltzes and nocturnes) and his set of 24 preludes.
Solo works on other instruments include Paganini's 24 caprices and Ysaye's six sonatas for violin, Philip Glass's "Songs and Poems", or Tania Leon's "Four Pieces" for cello.

Classical music with only one instrument

Following a gifted artist might be a better way to get into the field than singling out performances of masterpieces.
Particular artists whose concerts are almost always memorable are pianists Daniil Trifonov and Yuja Wang, violinists Hilary Hahn, Leila Josefowicz, Jennifer Koh, and the singer Julia Bullock.

It'n not just about the composers

Classical music makes a particular kind of musical statement longer than other forms and in a complex manner. It cannot be understood quickly or conveyed in any other form. 
You have to think about what it is or isn't, listen to the distinct sounds it offers, recognize earlier themes, weigh the pauses and the crescendos, think about what you do get and making it your own.

Classical music can do things no other music can

“Hallelujah”: A primer for everyone who wants to learn about what they’ve been missing.

The power of introspection

Mindfulness in Silicon Valley: Is Work Becoming Religion?

A Comprehensive Guide to the Graphic Design Workflow

Hiring Lessons You Need to Learn From the Gig Economy

Why Are Certain Foods Eaten Mainly at Breakfast?

Claudia Stark