Knowing how competent and skilled we are against other people helps us figure out when we can go ahead with our decisions or when we instead need to look for advice.  But psychological research suggests that we frequently overestimate our own abilities. This is known as the Dunning-Kruger effect. It explains why over 100 studies reveal that people show illusory superiority.

Knowing how your skills measure up

On average, people tend to rate themselves better than most in disciplines ranging from health, leadership skills, ethics and more. Those with the least ability often overrate their skills to the greatest extent.  People who are measurably poor at logical reasoning, grammar, financial knowledge, math and emotional intelligence tend to rate their expertise almost as favourably as actual experts do.

We judge ourselves as better than others

People lacking knowledge and skill in certain areas suffer a double curse.  <ol><li>They make mistakes and reach poor decisions</li><li>Those same knowledge gaps prevent them from noticing their errors. </li></ol>In other words, poor performers won't notice how bad they are doing. For example,  a study showed that 25% of teams in a college debate tournament lost nearly four out of every five matches, but thought they were winning almost 60%.

People lacking knowledge suffer a double curse

The Dunning-Kruger effect isn't about an ego blinding us to our weaknesses. Once people can spot their deficits, they usually will admit to them. That is why people with moderate experience often have less confidence in their abilities. They know there's a lot they don't know. Experts tend to make a different mistake. They tend to be aware of their knowledge and assume everyone else is knowledgeable too. As a result, they don't see how unusual their abilities are.

The Dunning-Kruger effect is invisible to those experiencing it

<ol><li>Ask for feedback from other people and consider it, even if you find it hard to hear.</li><li>Keep learning. The more knowledgeable we become the more we will know how competent we are.</li></ol>

How to know how good you really are

Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/teded View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-incompetent-people-think-they-re-amazing-david-dunning How good are you with money? What about reading people’s emotions? How healthy are you, compared to other people you know? Knowing how our skills stack up against others is useful in many ways. But psychological research suggests that we’re not very good at evaluating ourselves accurately. In fact, we frequently overestimate our own abilities. David Dunning describes the Dunning-Kruger effect. Lesson by David Dunning, directed by Wednesday Studio, music and sound by Tom Drew. Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Juan, Jordan Tang, Kent Logan, Alexandra Panzer, Jen, Ellen Spertus, Ryan Mehendale, Mary Sawyer, Scott Gass, Ruth Fang, Mayank Kaul, Hazel Lam, Tan YH, Be Owusu, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Katie Winchester, Michel Reyes, Dominik Kugelmann, Siamak H, Stephen A. Wilson, Manav Parmar, Jhiya Brooks, David Lucsanyi, Querida Owens.

Stashed ideas

Why incompetent people think they're amazing - David Dunning

Artfully run by a one-man development team, the secret to Sublime’s success lies in the program’s vast array of keyboard shortcuts—such as the ability to perform simultaneous editing (making the same interactive changes to multiple selected areas) as well as quick navigation to files, symbols, and lines. And when you’re spending 8+ hours with your editor each day, those precious few seconds saved for each process really do add up.

Sublime Text

Wouldn’t it be great if you could edit your HTML and CSS in real-time, or debug your JavaScript, all while viewing a thorough performance analysis of your website?Google’s built-in Chrome Developer Tools let you do just that. Bundled and available in both Chrome and Safari, they allow developers access into the internals of their web application. On top of this, a palette of network tools can help optimize your loading flows, while a timeline gives you a deeper understanding of what the browser is doing at any given moment.

Chrome Developer Tools

By abstracting a lot of the functionality usually left for developers to solve on their own, jQuery allowed more generous scope for creating animations, adding plug-ins, or even just navigating documents, than its predecessor, Javascript.And it’s clearly successful—jQuery was by far the most popular JavaScript library in existence in 2015, with installation on 65% of the top 10 million highest-traffic sites on the web at the time.

jQuery

It’s every developer’s worst nightmare—you’re working on a new project feature and you screw up. Enter version control systems (VCS)–and more specifically, GitHub.By rolling out your project with the service, you can view any changes you’ve made or even go back to your previous state (making pesky mistakes a thing of the past).  The repository hosting service also boasts a rich open-source development community (making collaboration between teams as easy as pie), as well as providing several other components such as bug tracking, feature requests, task management, and wikis for every project.

GitHub

Despite being around since 2012, the ever-increasing of people learning programming means that 2022 is going to be another bumper year for this tool beloved by the frontend community. There is almost no better way of showcasing your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript snippets, and as a result their embeds are an increasingly common sight across coding resources online.

CodePen

HTML is usually the cornerstone of any front-end developer’s toolbox, but it has what many perceive to be a serious flaw: it wasn’t designed to manage dynamic views.This is where AngularJS, an open-source web framework, comes in. Developed by Google, AngularJS lets you extend your application’s HTML syntax, resulting in a more expressive, readable, and quick to develop an environment that could otherwise not have been built with HTML alone.

AngularJS

Web dev tools that save time are your best friend, and one of the first things you’ll learn about code is that it needs to be DRY (“Don’t Repeat Yourself”). The second thing you’ll probably learn is that CSS is usually not very DRY.Enter the world of the CSS preprocessor, a tool that will help you write maintainable, future-proof code, all while reducing the amount of CSS you have to write (keeping it DRY).Perhaps most popular among them is Sass, an eight-year-old open-source project which pretty much defined the genre of modern CSS preprocessors.

CSS preprocessors: Sass

Thinking about becoming a coder? Our guide to the best and most important frontend web development tools is exactly what you need right now.

The 7 Most Essential Frontend Web Development Tools in 2022

The failure to develop a creative brief is a cardinal sin. The creative brief is important because it is the unifying document that identifies the important key benefits for a campaign of launch. The creative brief tells the story and explains why it's important to the audience, serving as a guide for the creation of new materials. Therefore, the lack of a brief will lead to longer development times due to having no clear basis.

Sin #1: No Brief

Having poor objectives that do not convey what needs to be done will not lead to a desirable outcome because it order to achieve that we need to understand which metrics needs to be moved and by how much to accomplish that business goal.

Sin #2: Poor Objectives

The reality is that although we want 'everyone' to be our target audience, it is neither realistic not sensible. Consumers are different -- each have a distinct functional and psychological need -- therefore we have to talk to them differently to be persuasive.  Plus, targeting everyone means equated to have an inexhaustible budget, but this isn't within reach for many. Instead, let us focus our energy and resources on the people that is most likely to generate returns.

Sin #3: Targeting Everyone

The best advertising connects with the target costumers because it shows understanding of their needs and pain points. It takes time to truly know your customer so don't cut corners in this process.

Sin #4: The Lack of Insight

When asked "why should people buy your product?" what do you answer? More often than not, brands take a shotgun approach to talking about everything they do well and as a result their messages come off feignly.  Great positioning is having a focus on the key benefit that speaks to the insight about your customer.

Sin #5: Overpacking Positioning

As new opportunities emerge, many brands are chasing the "shiny object" instead of starting with a strategy.  New media channels can present exciting opportunities but don't get caught chasing tactics -- chase your customer.

Sin #6: Shiny-Object Syndrome

In an age where digital channels allow more exposure, click-through, and even purchase rates -- brands have routinely failed at measurement.  All too often, we see brands discussing their measurement strategy after the campain but due to this they are often not set up to ask the right questions.  Advertising is an evolving process. Recognizing, embracing, and getting better at strategic planning via the creative brief is one means to having more impactful campaigns.

Sin #7: Bad Measurement

Why having a bad creative brief—or no brief at all—can sink an advertising campaign.

Seven Sins of the Creative Brief

<ul><li>Dropping curse words helps us cope up with pain, both physical and psychological.</li><li>It triggers a reaction in the mind and body and increases our heart rate and sweat levels.</li><li>Swearing is so fundamental to the mind and body that people who cannot even speak due to brain damage are sometimes able to swear.</li><li>Swearing boosts our strength and pain resistance, provided it is used sparingly.</li></ul>

Swearing And Cursing Sure Feels Good!

Why does saying curse words feels so good? Here, a psychologist explains the science behind swearing – and its impact on your mind and pain perception.


Why does swearing feel so good?

<ul><li>The Constitution of Canada was written in 1867 as the British North America Act. This year is also the birth of Canada, which was founded when four British colonies in North America decided to unite and form a single, self-governing confederation under the British Crown. </li><li>Canada’s Constitution outlines the country’s system of government, including the structure of its Parliament, the way elections work, the role of the monarchy, and the divisions of powers between the federal government and the provinces. </li><li>The Constitution was last updated in 1982.</li></ul>

Constitution of Canada

Self Improvement

<ul><li>The Kingdom of Denmark is both a monarchy and a democracy.&nbsp;</li><li>As a constitutional monarchy, the power of the monarch is limited by the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, which dates back to 1849. The Constitutional Act is the most important piece of legislation in Denmark, and all other laws must comply with it.</li><li>The Constitutional Act was last amended on June 5, 1952. </li><li>Not only does the Constitutional Act outline Danish democracy, but it also establishes the rights and duties of individual citizens, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and compulsory military service.</li></ul>

Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark

<ul><li>The Swiss Federal Constitution was first written on September 12, 1848, and it established the Swiss Federal State.&nbsp;</li><li>Switzerland was heavily influenced by the United States Constitution as well as the ideals of the French Revolution.&nbsp;</li><li>The Swiss Federal Constitution provided its citizens with a declaration of fundamental individual rights, a federal government, and a federal court of justice. </li><li>This 1848 Constitution was later rewritten in 1874. The modern Swiss Federal Constitution was ratified on April 18, 1999 and directly replaced the 1874 Constitution.</li></ul>

Swiss Federal Constitution

<ul><li>The Constitution of Luxembourg was first written in 1841, just two years after Luxembourg became a sovereign nation.&nbsp;</li><li>The current Constitution dates to 1868 and it was last amended in 2016. </li><li>Luxembourg’s Constitution describes the constituent foundations of the State, the guarantee of the rights and liberties of the nation’s citizens, and the organization of the powers.</li><li>While the Constitution of Luxembourg has been revised several times since 1841, one of the biggest changes took place in 1919. Following that revision of the Constitution, all citizens of legal age, 21 at the time (lowered to 18 in 1972), were given the right to vote.&nbsp;</li></ul>

Constitution of Luxembourg

<ul><li>The Constitution of Belgium was approved on February 7, 1831 after the National Congress first gathered in November of the previous year to begin discussions of establishing a new government.&nbsp;</li><li>While the Belgian Constitution is an original document, it was inspired by the French constitutions of 1791, 1814 and 1830, the Dutch constitution of 1814, and of English constitutional law.</li><li>Since 1831, Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy with three levels of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary. In addition to establishing the country’s laws and government, the Belgian Constitution provides rights and freedoms to its citizens.</li></ul>

Constitution of Belgium

<ul><li>The Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands dates back to around 1814 or 1815 and has been amended a few times.&nbsp;</li><li>The first major revision happened in 1848 and established a system of parliamentary democracy. The current version of the Dutch Constitution dates to 1983.</li><li>The Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands combines the rules for the Dutch system of government and fundamental rights for the nation’s citizens.&nbsp;</li></ul>

Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherland

<ul><li>The Constitution of Norway or Kongeriget Norges Grundlov was adopted on May 17, 1814 and is one of the oldest existing constitutions in the world.&nbsp;</li><li>It was founded on the principles of the sovereignty of the people; the separation of powers; and human rights.</li><li>Norway’s Constitution also establishes three different branches of government: Legislative, budgetary and supervisory power is vested in the Storting; Executive power is vested in the King and Council; and Judicial power is vested in the Supreme Courts, the subordinate courts, and the Court of Impeachment.&nbsp;</li><li>From the beginning, the Constitution of Norway recognized fundamental human rights that the country has strived to uphold.&nbsp;</li></ul>

Constitution of Norway

<ul><li>Although the Constitution of San Marino is technically older, the Poland’s Constitution of 3 May 1791 is generally considered the world’s second oldest modern constitution and the oldest in Europe.</li><li>The 1791 Constitution set out to establish a more effective constitutional monarchy, that had a clear division of executive, legislative, and judiciary powers.</li><li>Poland’s later constitutions take inspiration from the ideas in the Constitution of 3 May 1791. Poland’s modern constitution was put into effect in 1997 and it was last amended in 2009.</li></ul>

Constitution of the Republic of Poland

<ul><li>The United States Constitution is often considered the oldest constitution in the world. It was the first permanent constitution of its kind and influenced the constitutions of several other countries.</li><li>The United States Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788 after nine of the 13 original states signed. The Constitution went into effect the following March and a new government was established.&nbsp;</li><li>Since then, the United States Constitution has been amended 27 times, with the first ten amendments collectively known as the Bill of Rights.</li></ul>

United States Constitution

<ul><li>The Constitution of San Marino dates all the way back to 1600 and has been in continuous use since then, making it the oldest constitution in the world.&nbsp;</li><li>The country’s Constitution is uncodified, which means that not all of its elements are law (this is why the United States’ Constitution is often cited as the oldest).&nbsp;</li><li>San Marino current legal system is still based on this 1600 Constitution, so it counts as the world’s oldest existing constitution.</li><li>The Constitution of San Marino was written in Latin and contained in six books.&nbsp;</li><li>It was last amended in 2002 when the Declaration of Citizen Rights from 1974 was updated.</li></ul>

Constitution of San Marino

Discover the 10 Oldest Constitutions In The World (Updated 2021) here. Prepare to be transported into a rich & fascinating history on the oldest constitutions that exist.

10 Oldest Constitutions In The World

One needs to be aware about what is giving us happiness and what is taking it away from us.
A simple exercise of writing on a notepad the things that make us happy, and the things that don’t, is a good start towards being aware. From this point, we just need to manage our limited time to focus on activities that give us happiness.

Happiness: Becoming Self-Aware And Taking Stock

List down some words that encapsulate the emotions and experiences that we want to feel, defining the push required to achieve a goal. 
The words, when revisited and reviewed will shift our thoughts, activities and content towards our main goal. Every action or decision we make should be aligned to the list.

Happiness: Words We Can Live By

Many of the hundreds of self-proclaimed ‘happy’ people interviewed were not having a mainstream, practical work life. They were termed crazy and stupid. The problem was that they had stopped chasing fame or money, and focused on having a beautiful, exciting life where they chose to do what they wanted to do.
The explorative life, where we pursue our natural feelings is the key to happiness.

Happiness: Follow The Sparks

We can transform our day before 8:00 am. We normally wake up as employees, not as human beings starting a wonderful day.
Instead of immediately checking our phone notifications or social media, we need to take a minute with ourselves and set our intentions for the day ahead. Instead of being reactive the whole day(as usual), we can decide to be purposeful and craft a beautiful day.

Happiness: The Morning In Our Own Terms

These simple life tweaks can immediately make your days more joyful, says the founder of the American Happiness Project.


I interviewed 500 happy people. Their habits will transform your day

"Your overall satisfaction with life certainly matters. But you create meaningful change in moments and days, not years and decades. It is easier to improve your own happiness — and the well-being of others — when you focus on doing it right now. Taking small, meaningful actions today is the best way to make changes. And eventually, these small changes will lead to important long-term outcomes."

Three key conditions differentiate days when you have a full charge from typical days:<ul><li> Meaning: doing something that benefits another person.</li><li>Interactions: creating far more positive than negative moments. </li><li>Energy: making choices that improve your mental and physical health.</li></ul>

The Three Keys to a Full Charge

Creating meaning is an evolutionary process that grows by the day, as opposed to a grand purpose that suddenly falls in your lap. Small wins generate meaningful progress. You might create a small positive charge for one of your customers today or work on a new product that will benefit people in the future. Over the weekend, maybe you’ll have a long conversation with a loved one that makes a difference. It is these little moments, not grand actions, that create substance and meaning.

Creating Meaning

"The pursuit of meaning — not happiness — is what makes life worthwhile."

Pursuing happiness for loved ones or for your community is a worthwhile goal. But trying to create happiness for yourself can have the opposite effect.
The more value you place on your own happiness, the more likely you are to feel lonely on a daily basis. Seeking your own happiness and nothing else results in feelings of futility. But if you spend as much time creating meaningful interactions as you do pursuing happiness, you will be better off in both areas.

When The Pursuit Of Happiness Backfires

While there is some overlap, the differences have clear implications for how people spend their time. <ul><li>Those who pursue happiness are what psychologists call “takers.” </li><li>In contrast, people leading meaningful lives get a lot of joy from giving to others.</li></ul>

Happiness And Meaningfulness: Distinct Human Conditions

“Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to ‘be happy.'"

<ul><li>Extrinsic motivation is when you do things primarily to receive a reward. You might take a new job because of the higher pay and better benefits package.</li><li>Intrinsic motivation — or deep internal motivation — is much richer. You are driven by what you yearn to do even if there is no reward or compensation. </li></ul>Meaningful work is driven by intrinsic, rather than extrinsic, motivation.

Extrinsic And Intrinsic Motivation

"Meaning does not happen to you — you create it. One of the most important elements of building a great career and life is attaching what you do each day to a broader mission."

The future of work lies in redefining it as doing something that makes a difference each day. Work is about productively applying your talent.
A healthy relationship between an employee and an organization starts with a shared mission, meaning, or purpose. A 2013 study of more than 12,000 workers worldwide found that employees who derive meaning and understand the importance of their work are more than three times as likely to stay with an organization.

Work As A Purpose, Not A Place

"You create meaning when your strengths and interests meet the needs of the world. Knowing your talents and passions is critical, but that is only half of this supply-and-demand equation. What may be even more important is understanding what the world needs from you and how you can productively apply your strengths and interests."

One of the downfalls of the “follow your passion” advice is that it assumes that putting your own passion and happiness at the center of your world is what leads to meaning, fulfillment and joy. That is often not the case.Those who make a profound difference, in contrast, begin by asking what they can give. Starting with this question allows you to direct your talents toward what matters most for others.

The Flaws Of The "Follow Your Passion" Advice

"The only shadow you should live in is your own. You were born with unique traits and influenced by people who helped you become what you are today. To do justice to those who have invested in you, the challenge is to live the life you want."

<ul><li>You should be able to spend some time every day engaging in activities that energize and recharge you; it takes only a few moments to make a day more productive and fulfilling.</li><li>Even in the worst situations, you can find opportunities for growth. The key is to shift your focus away from what others do that hinders you and instead seek out small things that enable you to make daily forward progress. </li><li> Even if you are stuck in a job that is far from ideal, you have the ability to create a little meaning on the side (for example, volunteering in your free time).</li></ul>

Craft Your Dream Into Your Job

The result of trying to be busy is a poorly managed life. If you are busy throughout the day and bouncing from one thing to the next, you’re probably not focusing on constructive activity. You are also probably not giving your full attention to the things that matter most, from working to spending time with your family.

Purpose Before Busyness

<ul><li>The average worker loses 28 percent of each day to distraction.</li><li>Only one in five workers report having the ability to focus on one thing at a time during a workday. </li><li>On average, people spend about half of their time thinking about something other than what they are doing at any given moment.</li></ul>What’s even more disturbing is that this is not pleasant mind wandering; instead, the distractedness tends to make them less happy.

Distraction Is The New Default

<ul><li>These moments — which usually involve an exchange with another person — give your days a positive or negative charge. </li><li>Even brief interactions count, such as exchanging a smile or greeting while passing someone on the street.</li><li>You absolutely can control your next interaction with another person. No matter how bad of a mood you are in, you can make a conscious choice to add a positive spin to your next conversation.</li></ul>

Life Is The Sum Of Millions Of Individual Interactions

We need at least three to five positive interactions to outweigh every one negative exchange. Bad moments simply outweigh good ones.
Whether you’re having a one-on-one conversation with a colleague or a group discussion, keep this simple shortcut in mind: At least 80 percent of your conversations should be focused on what’s going right.

Be 80% Positive

The best way to produce sustainable increases in well-being is to appreciate what you already have and to continue creating new positive experiences with the people who matter most. When you value what you already have, not only will you grow, you won’t feel the angst of wanting more. Any time you create experiences in the context of your existing resources and relationships, it has a compounding effect on your well-being.

Want What You Already Have


<ul><li>People who spend money on experiences are happier than those who spend on material things.</li><li>People who spend on other people end up happier AND it makes someone else happy too.</li><li>Share the things you are planning with other people because anticipation increases well being. Give people the chance to anticipate great experiences. (Planning a vacation can often lead to more happiness than the vacation itself.)</li></ul>

Money And Happiness

Doing things for others and living a life of meaning is important. But without energy, you can’t do your best work. 
If you want to make a difference for years to come, you have to put your health and energy first.

Put Your Own Health First

Tom Rath, author of five influential bestsellers, reveals the three keys that matter most for our daily health and well-being, as well as our engagement in our work. Drawing on the latest and most practical research from health, psychology, and economics, this book focuses on changes we can make to create better days for ourselves and others.Are You Fully Charged? will challenge you to stop pursuing happiness and start creating meaning instead, lead you to rethink your daily interactions with the people who matter most, and show you how to put your own health first in order to be your best every day.

Are You Fully Charged?

“People don’t like to think, if one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.”

Quote

Never let anything hold you back when you think of ideas.You’ve got nothing to lose. Just make sure you act small. Put in the work and stay practical.

Think big, act small

Every time you experience stress over a problem, you’re basically sabotaging your life.A problem is nothing but an unanswered question. So stay calm. And figure out the answer.

Problems are unanswered questions

Wrong reasons to start relationships include money, fear of being alone, abuse, needing attention.The foundation of all relationships should be based on love, respect, support, trust, patience, good company, laughter, sadness, and more support.

A firm foundation for relationships

You always pay for something with money, time (the most valuable thing you have), or other resources.Life is a business. And smart business people spend their resources wisely.

Nothing in life is free

Waiting, postponing, doubting, researching too much — it’s all not useful. Get your act together, and decide firmly whenever you have to make one. And when you made the wrong decision, own it, apologize, and make another decision.

Never be afraid of making decisions

Being a leader also has nothing to do with your title.When everyone looks at each other because no one wants to take responsibility, decide that you will take responsibility.

Decide to become a leader

There’s only one thing that helps you to go from nothing to something: You have to put in the work. Make sure you value effectiveness over everything. Results matter. Get things done and move on to the next thing.

Productivity yields results

In almost everything you do, you're selling yourself.When you sell, be transparent, honest, and to the point. Don’t waste your time on people who don’t like you anyway.

See yourself as a salesperson

... in order to improve your self-confidence.You only improve your self-confidence by becoming good at something: By learning, doing, seeing results, and repeating that process for years. Your confidence will grow slowly every day.

Improve your skills

We’re social animals. When we’re alone, we die early.  So be nice to each other. And respect that your friends also have lives of their own.

Value your friends

Don’t believe all the success stories you see everywhere. YouTubers, Instagram models, millionaire entrepreneurs: They seem perfect. But you only see the outside.You don’t have to be a cynic. Just don’t take appearances for facts.

Don’t believe everything you see

It’s fuel for you. You can use criticism to improve yourself, your product, or your service. Or, if the criticism makes no sense, it can make you angry, which is also a good thing. That type of anger is useful. “I’ll show them!”

Learn to love criticism

If you can’t take care of your body, you can’t take care of anything.You can influence your health by eating healthy, exercising, and treating your body with respect.

Take care of your body

You control your thoughts. That means you decide what you do with your life. If you’re unsatisfied, angry, or frustrated, that’s all you.

Happiness is a choice

Make yourself useful. Instead of consuming so much information, products, and entertainment from others, spend a fraction of that time on creating something yourself.

Create something

I'm the last person to say that life is easy. I don't think that's the case at all. But there's one thing I've learned in recent years that changed everything. The way you THINK determines the outcome of your life. But thinking is hard. That's why we don't do it often enough.

I Have 15 ideas to Change Your Life-Do You Have Five Minutes?

It’s your ability to resolve conflicts between your short-term desires and your long-term goals.For example, successful self-control means sacrificing immediate pleasure (cookies and cakes) and choosing the delayed reward (healthy weight).

Self-control

People who have high self-control aren’t missing out on enjoyment. Not being able to resist temptation and enjoying life are not the same things.
They tend to eat in a healthily way, exercise more, sleep better, drink less alcohol, smoke fewer cigarettes, achieve higher grades at university, have more peaceful relationships, and are more financially secure.

Why self-control matters

Research showed that self-control is ultimately limited by our biology. We can’t exercise effortful self-control indefinitely – the brain has to do regular maintenance to remain functional.

Biological limits to self-control

People that are great at self-control don't have to make more effort. Instead, they avoid effortful strategies and use easier ones.In this way, they don’t tax and overwork their brains, and thus they are free to invest their effort into pursuing their goals, instead of fighting with themselves

Achieving great self-control

<ul>
<li>Thought suppression: when you consciously attempt not to think about something. It can have some benefits in the short term, but it takes a lot more effort than other strategies and it will make your desire even stronger in the long-run.</li>
<li>Resisting temptations: it when **you’re actively inhibiting your urge to act on them.** Because it’s one of the most effortful strategies, it’s likely to fail when applied over a longer period of time.</li>
</ul>

Bad self-discipline strategies

Use a ‘commitment contract’. This is a way to impose costs on self-control failure.For example, you sign a contract with a friend or a company and place a financial deposit. You only get your deposit back if you meet certain criteria after an agreed-on period of time. For instance, you need to cut down your smoking to a few cigarettes a day. If you don’t satisfy the criteria, then you lose your deposit.

Make temptation less fun

... to prevent self-control failures. Research has shown that people who have developed a self-image around virtuous activities are more likely to identify and resolve self-control conflicts.
For these people, indulging incurs a cost to their self-image – it contradicts the beliefs they have about themselves.

Adjusting your identity

Many studies have shown that mindfulness is an effective way for boosting our self-control.Mindfulness doesn’t suppress or resist your thoughts and emotions. It just changes your perspective on them. You don’t judge your inner experiences (don’t evaluate whether your desires are good or bad).

Self-control and mindfulness

Distractions cause cognitive load: they fill up your working memory. As a result, there’s less space for your long-term goals.
A distraction can be anything such as chatting with friends, listening to the radio or watching television.

Removing distractions

Indulge now and pay the price later? Or wait a little and reap bigger rewards in the future? Many of life's biggest challenges come down to a simple trade off. Self-control isn't easy. But it is possible to make it easier. In this guide, I've teamed up with cognitive science PhD student Jakub Jilek for ...

The Complete Guide to Self-Control | Scott H Young

The daffodil principle is taught as a great principle of celebration where we are taught to move towards our goals one step at a time even if we're taking baby steps to reach them. It teaches the importance of being patient and how it correlates to why extraordinary successes happen: 
<ol>
<li>Ordinary actions are done consistently</li>
<li>Regular feedback is provided where you're self-aware of what works and what doesn't and with this, you improve the former to maximize possible outcomes.</li>
</ol>

The Daffodil Principle

When trying to achieve a certain goal, taking action is merely not enough, you must also constantly assert change and improve the process you're using as well.
Set yourself up with manageable expectations and try to improve at least 1 percent a day - in the long term - you will only thank yourself as that 1 percent compounds on itself and produces results you could have never imagined. Whether it may be 1 percent every day or every week, it still produces significant outcomes.

The Difference 1% Makes

"What got you here won't get you there.

There are two ways to measure your progress with the daffodil principle, and those are to make qualitative and quantitative improvements towards yourself or your goals.
If by chance your goal is to write a book, then the qualitative improvement you could do is to increase your knowledge in grammar and syntax; for quantitative you could write a thousand words a week, as long as it is 1 percent more than last week.
Consistent actions and feedback result in great outcomes.

The Daffodil Principle In Action

What happens when you take action every day? Read this article to learn how one woman applied The Daffodil Principle in her life (and how you can, too).

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Joshua Martins
@joshuamar

Why incompetent people think they're amazing - David Dunning

The 7 Most Essential Frontend Web Development Tools in 2022

Seven Sins of the Creative Brief

Why does swearing feel so good?

10 Oldest Constitutions In The World

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Joshua Martins@joshuamar

Why incompetent people think they're amazing - David Dunning

The 7 Most Essential Frontend Web Development Tools in 2022

Seven Sins of the Creative Brief

Why does swearing feel so good?

10 Oldest Constitutions In The World

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Joshua Martins
@joshuamar