James E.

The halo effect is a cognitive bias. It causes people to assume something because of their impression of other aspects of it. For example, people think someone will have an interesting personality simply because they find the person attractive.

We can find the halo effect in a person, a product, or a company. It is important to understand the halo effect as it can influence how we perceive others and the way they perceive us.

When we write things down we are given more creative freedom to do what we want to do and write what we want to write.

You have the chance to organize things that goes beyond the line-by-line offered by most note-taking and to-do list apps.

Chronic overthinkers rehash conversations they had yesterday, second-guess every decision they make and imagine disastrous outcomes all day every day.

Thinking too much prevents them from getting anything done. And it wreaks havoc on their mood.

There are two stages to this method:

• The creation stage: the objective is to generate high quality essay plans for every possible title that you could receive in an exam.
• The memorization stage: transfer all of these essay plans to memory by methodically using active recall, spaced repetition, spider diagrams, and flashcards.

Benefits of this technique: you will be able to memorize so many essay plans by the time your exam is due, that a lot of these will come up at the exam anyway (or similar ones, so you'll have the possibility to compile bits of the memorized information to generate great essays from scratch).

Leaders understand the complexity of making decisions. Their decisions must always align with these three dimensions:

1. Ethics
2. Morals
3. Responsibilities of their role

To no one's surprise, these elements come into dispute from time to time. When this occurs, there are no simple answers but by closely considering these three aspects, leaders will go on confidently that the choices they make represent the best possible compromise between their values.

Self-control is a key component of emotional intelligence, yet in a study where two million people were asked to rank order their strengths in 24 different skills, self-control ended up in the very bottom slot.

Most people do not realize that being persistent is a virtue in a creative process.

A person’s first ideas are rarely their most creative ones, as one generally goes through a lengthy brainstorming process, and has to list out and shaft through a large number of nominations.

Biophilic design is a concept of using both direct and indirect exposure to nature to increase wellbeing.

Leading up to 2020, biophilic design was a major office trend. Amazon introduced spherical conservatories to its Seattle headquarters, and Facebook created a 3.6-acre rooftop garden at its Silicon Valley hub. Due to the pandemic, remote workers can bring the concept back home with them and create a work environment with their own wellbeing in mind.

• Stop whining. Learn to accept the situation, adapt to it, and move on. 
• Don’t mindlessly believe that something is ‘wrong’ and must be avoided. 
• Discover your coping mechanism and consider changing some aspects of it. 
• Be open to change. As long as it’s safe, embrace new things and experiment. 
• Have multiple plans so no change will surprise you. 
• Engage in positive self-talk occasionally, to help you adapt faster to changes. Stick to your natural inclinations. 
• Do what you feel is right for you. 
• Think big and let go of limitations. 
• Don’t assign blame as a habit, it’s a waste of time. 
• Learn the aspects of your life where you are exaggerating or neglecting to balance it. 
• Stop waiting for self-imposed conditions.