Every individual possesses cognitive tools and accumulated knowledge that they regularly rely upon. But we rarely question or consider this knowledge which includes beliefs, assumptions, opinions, and prejudices. One of the solutions to this is what Adam Grant tells in this book as "rethinking". Rethinking is the process of doubting what you know, being curious about what you don’t know, and updating your thinking based on new evidence.

Summary

Conventional view: intelligence is the ability to think and learn.Alternative view: intelligence is the ability to rethink and unlearn. Grant argues these cognitive skills are essential in a turbulent and changing world.

Conventional vs. new views of intelligence:

“Questioning ourselves makes the world more unpredictable. It requires us to admit that the facts may have changed, that what was once right may now be wrong.”

Phil Tetlock’s (political scientist) mindset model: Preachers, prosecutors, and politicians.Preachers: We pontificate and promote our ideas. Changing your mind is a sign of moral weakness.Prosecutors: We attack the ideas of others, often to win an argument. Being persuaded is defeat.Politicians: We try to win the support of others, optimizing for approval and agreement (over personal conviction). We change our opinion opportunistically.

Preacher, Prosecutor, Politician

Rethinking is fundamental to scientific thinking.“You’re expected to doubt what you know, be curious about what you don’t know, and update your views based on new data.”Changing your mind is a sign of intellectual integrity and a response to evidence.

Scientist

Cognitive bias: Seeing what we want to see.Desirability bias: The tendency to act in a manner that enhances your acceptance or approval from others.Instead of searching for reasons why we are right, search for reasons why we are wrong.

Biases

The rethinking cycle: Humility-Doubt -Curiosity-DiscoveryThe overconfidence cycle: Pride- Conviction - Confirmation and Desirability Biases-Validation

Cycles

“In theory, confidence and competence go hand in hand. In practice, they often diverge.”

Anton’s syndrome is a condition whereby an individual is oblivious to a physical disability due to damage to the occipital lobe of the brain. Armchair quarterback syndrome: Phenomenon where confidence exceeds competence. Imposter syndrome: Phenomenon where competence exceeds confidence. The Dunning-Kruger effect: Identifies the disconnect between competence and confidence. The most confident are often the least competent.

Syndromes

“The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is that you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.”

Totalitarian ego: Psychological term for the mental gatekeeper that keeps threatening information out of our heads. Our mini internal dictator. Two types of detachment:Detaching your present from your past.Detaching your opinions from your identity. “Who you are should be a question of what you value, not what you believe.”Values are core principles like excellence, generosity, freedom, fairness, integrity, etc. Values retain the flexibility that opinions do not.

Something to Ponder

“People who are right a lot listen a lot, and they change their mind a lot. If you don’t change your mind frequently, you’re going to be wrong a lot.”

“Honest argument is merely a process of mutually picking the beams and motes out of each other’s eyes so both can see clearly.”

Relationship conflict: Personal feuds and arguments Task conflict: Arguments over specific ideas and opinions Task conflict can be beneficial and generate better outcomes. Challenge network: A trusted group of peers to point out blind spots and errors in our thinking.The illusion of explanatory depth: We think we know more about things than we really do.Example: How does a bicycle, piano, or appliance work? Exploring these questions reveals the limits of our knowledge.

Conflicts

Adversarial approach: Common tendency to go into preacher or prosecutor mode without listening to the other party.Collaborative approach: Leads with humility and curiosity. Invites the other party to think like scientists.Logic bully: Someone who overwhelms others with rational arguments. The others might not agree with those arguments, but they are left defenseless and bitter.

Adversarial vs. collaborative approach:

<ul><li>Plan ahead to determine where they can find common ground.</li><li>Present fewer reasons to support their case. Weak arguments dilute strong ones.</li><li>Express curiosity with questions like “so you don’t see any merit in this proposal at all?”</li><li>Express their feelings about the process and their opponent's feelings.</li></ul>

Tactics of expert negotiators:

“We won’t have much luck changing other people’s minds if we refuse to change ours. We can demonstrate openness by acknowledging where we agree with our critics and even what we’ve learned from them.”

“The person most likely to persuade you to change your mind is you. You get to pick the reasons you find most compelling, and you come away with a real sense of ownership over them.” Stop trying to convince others about the right answer. Open their mind to the possibility they might be wrong and let them work their way to the solution.

Changing Minds

“A rivalry exists whenever we reserve special animosity for a group we see as competing with us for resources or threatening our identities.”

We identify with our group or tribe. We distinguish ourselves from our adversaries—they are everything we are not.We preach the virtues of our side.We prosecute the vices of our rivals.As social beings, we are motivated to seek belonging and status. Group identification helps us achieve these goals.Group polarization: The phenomenon where we interact with people like us. This results in more extreme beliefs.

Group Dynamics

The overview effect: Astronauts who experience space travel gain a unique understanding of humanity. After seeing Earth from above, their perspective changes and they see the commonality of our existence.Counterfactual thinking: considering alternative realities, imagining different circumstances and outcomes.

Many beliefs are arbitrary and based on flimsy foundations.

The best approach to changing someone’s mind is to help that person make the change on their own.  Three key techniques are used:<ul><li>Asking open-ended questions.</li><li>Engaging in reflective listening.</li><li>Affirming the person’s desire and ability to change.</li></ul>

Motivational interviewing: 

“Many communicators try to make themselves look smart. Great listeners are more interested in making their audiences feel smart.”

Binary bias: The human tendency to seek clarity by reducing a spectrum of categories to two opposites.Presumes the world is divided into two sides: believers and non-believers. Only one side can be right because there is only one truth. The antidote is to “complexify” by showing the range of views for a given topic.

Binary bias

“Psychologists find that people will ignore or even deny the existence of a problem if they’re not fond of the solution.”

Three steps to thinking more critically:<ul><li>Interrogate information instead of simply consuming it.</li><li>Rank and popularity are not proxies for reliability.</li><li>The sender of information is often not its source.</li></ul>

Learn to ask questions that don’t have a single right answer.

Psychological safety: The ability to take risks without fear of punishment or reprisal. In environments with psychological safety, teams will report more problems and errors. Psychologically unsafe settings hide errors to avoid penalties. “Psychological safety is not a matter of relaxing standards...it’s fostering a climate of respect, trust, and openness...it’s the foundation of a learning culture.”

Rethinking is not only an individual skill, it’s also an organizational one.

Performance accountability evaluates projects, individuals and teams based on outcomes. Good outcomes aren’t always the result of good decisions.“Focusing on results might be good for short-term performance, but it can be an obstacle to long-term learning.”Process accountability evaluates projects, individuals and teams based on the decision-making process.

Performance vs Process

The author recommends twice-a-year personal checkups: opportunities to reassess your current pursuits, whether your current desires still align with your plans, and whether it’s time to pivot.

Grit is essential for motivation, but it can also blind us to rethinking.

“Our identities are open systems, and so are our lives. We don’t have to stay tethered to old images of where we want to go or who we want to be. The simplest way to start rethinking our options is to question what we do daily.”

What are the aspects of your life that need rethinking?

#1 New York Times Bestseller “THIS. This is the right book for right now. Yes, learning requires focus. But, unlearning and relearning requires much more—it requires choosing courage over comfort. In Think Again, Adam Grant weaves together research and storytelling to help us build the intellectual and emotional muscle we need to stay curious enough about the world to actually change it. I’ve never felt so hopeful about what I don’t know.” —Brené Brown, Ph.D., #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dare to Lead The bestselling author of Give and Take and Originals examines the critical art of rethinking: learning to question your opinions and open other people's minds, which can position you for excellence at work and wisdom in life Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn. In our daily lives, too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. We see disagreement as a threat to our egos, rather than an opportunity to learn. We surround ourselves with people who agree with our conclusions, when we should be gravitating toward those who challenge our thought process. The result is that our beliefs get brittle long before our bones. We think too much like preachers defending our sacred beliefs, prosecutors proving the other side wrong, and politicians campaigning for approval--and too little like scientists searching for truth. Intelligence is no cure, and it can even be a curse: being good at thinking can make us worse at rethinking. The brighter we are, the blinder to our own limitations we can become. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant is an expert on opening other people's minds--and our own. As Wharton's top-rated professor and the bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take, he makes it one of his guiding principles to argue like he's right but listen like he's wrong. With bold ideas and rigorous evidence, he investigates how we can embrace the joy of being wrong, bring nuance to charged conversations, and build schools, workplaces, and communities of lifelong learners. You'll learn how an international debate champion wins arguments, a Black musician persuades white supremacists to abandon hate, a vaccine whisperer convinces concerned parents to immunize their children, and Adam has coaxed Yankees fans to root for the Red Sox. Think Again reveals that we don't have to believe everything we think or internalize everything we feel. It's an invitation to let go of views that are no longer serving us well and prize mental flexibility over foolish consistency. If knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom.

philosophy

Philosophy

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

books

Books

#1 New York Times Bestseller “THIS. This is the right book for right now. Yes, learning requires focus. But, unlearning and relearning requires much more—it requires choosing courage over comfort. In Think Again, Adam Grant weaves together research and storytelling to help us build the intellectual and emotional muscle we need to stay curious enough about the world to actually change it. I’ve never felt so hopeful about what I don’t know.” —Brené Brown, Ph.D., #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dare to Lead The bestselling author of Give and Take and Originals examines the critical art of rethinking: learning to question your opinions and open other people's minds, which can position you for excellence at work and wisdom in life Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn. In our daily lives, too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. We see disagreement as a threat to our egos, rather than an opportunity to learn. We surround ourselves with people who agree with our conclusions, when we should be gravitating toward those who challenge our thought process. The result is that our beliefs get brittle long before our bones. We think too much like preachers defending our sacred beliefs, prosecutors proving the other side wrong, and politicians campaigning for approval--and too little like scientists searching for truth. Intelligence is no cure, and it can even be a curse: being good at thinking can make us worse at rethinking. The brighter we are, the blinder to our own limitations we can become. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant is an expert on opening other people's minds--and our own. As Wharton's top-rated professor and the bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take, he makes it one of his guiding principles to argue like he's right but listen like he's wrong. With bold ideas and rigorous evidence, he investigates how we can embrace the joy of being wrong, bring nuance to charged conversations, and build schools, workplaces, and communities of lifelong learners. You'll learn how an international debate champion wins arguments, a Black musician persuades white supremacists to abandon hate, a vaccine whisperer convinces concerned parents to immunize their children, and Adam has coaxed Yankees fans to root for the Red Sox. Think Again reveals that we don't have to believe everything we think or internalize everything we feel. It's an invitation to let go of views that are no longer serving us well and prize mental flexibility over foolish consistency. If knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom.

Adam Grant is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Adam Grant has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Adam Grant's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

Adam Grant

Think Again

“Less ego, more wealth. Saving money is the gap between your ego and your income, and wealth is what you don’t see. So wealth is created by suppressing what you could buy today in order to have more stuff or more options in the future. No matter how much you earn, you will never build wealth unless you can put a lid on how much fun you can have with your money right now, today.”

<ul><li>Financial outcomes are driven by luck, independent of intelligence and effort.</li><li>Financial success is not hard science. It’s a soft skill, where how you behave is more important than what you know.</li><li>To grasp why people bury themselves in debt you don’t need to study interest rates; you need to study the history of greed, insecurity, and optimism. To get why investors sell out at the bottom of a bear market you don’t need to study the math of expected future returns; you need to think about the agony of looking at your family and wondering if your investments are imperiling their future.</li></ul>

Doing well with money has little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach

People have different views about money.<ul><li>You know stuff about money that I don’t, and vice versa. You go through life with different beliefs, goals, and forecasts, from what I do. That’s not because one of us is smarter than the other, or has better information. It’s because we’ve had different lives shaped by different and equally persuasive experiences.</li><li>We all do crazy stuff with money because we’re all relatively new to this game and what looks crazy to you might make sense to me. But no one is crazy — we all make decisions based on our own unique experiences that seem to make sense to us.</li></ul>

No One’s Crazy

Nothing is as good or bad as it seems.Luck and risk are both the reality that every outcome in life is guided by forces other than individual effort. They are so similar that you can’t believe in one without equally respecting the other.

Luck & Risk

Happiness = results - expectationsThe only way to know how much food you can eat is to eat until you’re sick. Few try this because vomiting hurts more than any meal is good. For some reason, the same logic doesn’t translate to business and investing, and many will only stop reaching for more when they break and are forced to.

Never Enough

Leverage the power of compounding.More than 2,000 books are dedicated to how Warren Buffett built his fortune. Many of them are wonderful. But few pay enough attention to the simplest fact: Buffett’s fortune isn’t due to just being a good investor, but being a good investor since he was literally a child.

Confounding Compounding

Good investing is not necessarily about making good decisions. It’s about consistently not screwing up.Getting money requires taking risks, being optimistic, and putting yourself out there. But keeping money requires the opposite of taking risk. It requires humility, and fear that what you’ve made can be taken away from you just as fast. It requires frugality and an acceptance that at least some of what you’ve made is attributable to luck, so past success can’t be relied upon to repeat indefinitely.

Getting Wealthy vs Staying Wealthy

Be ok with failures, they are the norm.A good definition of an investing genius is a man or woman who can do the average thing when all those around them are going crazy.“It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important,” George Soros once said, “but how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.” You can be wrong half the time and still make a fortune.

Tails, You Win

Controlling your time is the highest dividend money pays﻿A small amount of wealth means the ability to take a few days off work when you’re sick without breaking the bank. Gaining that ability is huge if you don’t have it.

Freedom

No one is impressed with your possessions as much as you are. Moeny doesn't buy respect.When you see someone driving a nice car, you rarely think, “Wow, the guy driving that car is cool.” Instead, you think, “Wow, if I had that car people would think I’m cool.” Subconsciously or not, this is how people think.

Man in the Car Paradox

Riches are displayed. Wealth is hidden.We tend to judge wealth by what we see because that’s the information we have in front of us. We can’t see people’s bank accounts or brokerage statements. So we rely on outward appearances to gauge financial success. Cars. Homes. Instagram photos.The truth is that wealth is what you don’t see. Wealth is the nice cars not purchased. The diamonds not bought. The watches not worn, the clothes forgone and the first-class upgrade declined. Wealth is financial assets that haven’t yet been converted into the stuff you see.

Wealth is What You Don’t See

Less ego -> more savingsA high savings rate means having lower expenses than you otherwise could and having lower expenses means your savings go farther than they would if you spent more.Spending beyond a pretty low level of materialism is mostly a reflection of ego approaching income, a way to spend money to show people that you have (or had) money. Think of it like this, and one of the most powerful ways to increase your savings isn’t to raise your income. It’s to raise your humility.

Save Money

Savings can be created by spending less. You can spend less if you desire less. And you will desire less if you care less about what others think of you.

Aiming to be mostly reasonable works better than being coldly rationalReasonable is more realistic and you have a better chance of sticking with it for the long run, which is what matters most when managing money.

Reasonable > Rational

History is the study of change ironically used as a map of the future. The past doesn't predict the future.The four most dangerous words in investing are, “it’s different this time.”

Surprise!

Have a margin for safety.It’s fine to save for a car, a home, or for retirement. But it’s equally important to save for things you can’t possibly predict or even comprehend — the financial equivalent of field mice.

Room for Error

The most important part of every plan is planning on your plan not going according to plan.

Expect your future self to changeWhen you consider our tendency to change who we are over time, balance at every point in your life becomes a strategy to avoid future regret and encourage endurance.We should also come to accept the reality of changing our minds. Some of the most miserable workers I’ve met are people who stay loyal to a career only because it’s the field they picked when deciding on a college major at age 18.

You’ll Change

Optimism sounds like a sales pitch. Pessimism sounds like someone trying to help you.Tell someone that everything will be great and they’re likely to either shrug you off or offer a skeptical eye. Tell someone they’re in danger and you have their undivided attention.There are two topics that will affect your life whether you are interested in them or not: money and health. While health issues tend to be individual, money issues are more systemic.

The Seduction of Pessimism

Beware of your stories. Stories trump statistics.Carl Richards writes: “Risk is what’s leftover when you think you’ve thought of everything.”We focus on what we know and neglect what we do not know, which makes us overly confident in our beliefs.

When You’ll Believe Anything

Avoid taking financial cues from people playing at a different game than you are.“Medicine is a complex profession and the interactions between physicians and patients are also complex.” You know what profession is the same? Financial advice. I can’t tell you what to do with your money, because I don’t know you. I don’t know what you want. I don’t know when you want it. I don’t know why you want it.Charlie Munger once said “I did not intend to get rich. I just wanted to get independent.”

You and Me

Sandy Gottesman, a billionaire investor who founded the consulting group First Manhattan, is said to ask one question when interviewing candidates for his investment team: “What do you own, and why?”

Confessions

Everything has a price, but not all prices appear on labels. Be willing to pay the price of success.

Nothing's Free

“Some people are born into families that encourage education; others are against it. Some are born into flourishing economies encouraging of entrepreneurship; others are born into war and destitution. I want you to be successful, and I want you to earn it. But realize that not all success is due to hard work, and not all poverty is due to laziness. Keep this in mind when judging people, including yourself.”

“Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems.”

Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. Money—investing, personal finance, and business decisions—is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

habits

Habits

Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. Money—investing, personal finance, and business decisions—is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.

Morgan Housel is a partner at The Collaborative Fund. He is a two-time winner of the Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, winner of the New York Times Sidney Award, and a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. He lives in Seattle with his wife and two kids.

Morgan Housel

The Psychology of Money

“The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that basically means “the happiness of always being busy”. The Japanese word has two characters: ‘iki’ which means life, and ‘gai,’ or value.  Well, what's the happiness in business? Let's find out here!

IKIGAI

Ikigai explains how you can live a longer and happier life by having a purpose, eating healthy, and not retiring.Many people find themselves trapped in the never-ending need to do everything faster, better, and harder. In contrast, discovering your ikigai will help you slow down and enjoy life more.

Finding your ikigai can be as simple as asking four basic questions:<ul><li>PERSONAL</li></ul>What are your strengths? Think of what you do better than everyone else. <ul><li>PURPOSE</li></ul>What does the world need? Imagine something you see that the world lacks.<ul><li>PASSION</li></ul>What are your passions? Picture the things that you could do all day without stopping.<ul><li>PROFIT</li></ul>What can you earn a living doing? You have to make money from your craft, so how can you do that?

Discover your Ikigai 

Take it Slow- Ikigai helps Okinawa residents be more mindful in their daily lives. The concept of ikigai has its roots in Zen Buddhism, which emphasizes the importance of living in the present moment and keeping an open mind. Don’t Fill Your Stomach-  The “Okinawa diet” includes at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, with small amounts of fish and lean meat. They rarely eat sugar, and, if they do, it’s cane sugar. The average daily intake of an Okinawan is about 1,900 calories.

Okinawan and Well Being

Hara Hachi Bu is a traditional Okinawan saying that means “eat until you are 80 percent full.” The idea is that you should stop eating when you are no longer feeling hungry, rather than continue to eat until you feel stuffed.This philosophy of eating is based on the belief that it is better to stop eating before you feel too full, as it can lead to indigestion and other health problems. Ways to get started include:<ul><li>Eat slowly</li><li>Focus on food</li><li>Use small vessels</li></ul>

Hara Hachi Bu

Intensity may deter consistency, so Okinawans strive for simplicity in their forms of exercise. A walk around the neighborhood, a day in the garden, or singing karaoke are just a few simple ways they maintain movement frequently.

Keep moving throughout the day, no matter how little.

Research shows that friends can affect your health even more than family. People with the most friends tend to outlive those with the fewest by 22 percent. Keep in mind that this means real friends. The authors point out that Facebook friends and Twitter followers do not count.The key is to have three or four good friends that care for you the same way you care for them. The easiest way to develop close friendships is to think about what you can do to help the people closest to you be happier.

Surround Yourself With Good Friends

Smiling does more than tell other people you’re happy. Smiling lowers your heart rate and reduces blood pressure while relaxing your body. A study from University College London found that cheerful people are 35 percent more likely to live longer.

Smile

A Harvard University study showed that people surrounded by lush greenery lived longer, with a lower chance of developing cancer or respiratory illnesses. Over 100 studies have shown that being in nature, living near nature, or even viewing nature can positively impact our lives. Spending time in nature, in particular, appears inherently rewarding, producing a cascade of positive emotions and calming our nervous systems. This, in turn, helps us cultivate greater openness, creativity, connection, generosity, and resilience.

Reconnect With Nature

Gratitude has consistently been associated with positive outcomes. Apart from increasing your happiness levels, gratitude also improves your physical health. It lowers stress levels. Stress is associated with heart attacks and other chronic conditions, but can be reduced by adopting gratitude and encouraging optimism. Optimism increases immune-boosting cells. People who express gratitude are more likely to report higher levels of well-being and satisfaction with their lives. They are also more likely to experience less stress and anxiety and be more resilient in the face of adversity.

Give Thanks

Most of us know that we should exercise more, but there always seems to be something more pressing that demands our attention. Whatever the reason, the bottom line is that most of us could benefit from exercising more. As Japanese centenarians show, all you need is light, regular movement in your day. In doing so, you can face the world with strength, joy, and serenity.

Exercise

Flow is the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. It is characterized by a sense of focus and effortless concentration. It is often associated with positive experiences, such as peak performance, and the experience itself becomes highly enjoyable.

Live in the Moment (THE FLOW)

“The happiest people are not the ones who achieve the most. They are the ones who spend more time than others in a state of flow.”

The idea is to keep your mind and body active to fill yourself with purpose and ikigai daily. We see retirement as a golden age of holidays and gold. However, retirement kills your ikigai. We need to stop spending so much time worrying about making more money and our eventual retirement.So, never retire. Keep learning, keep changing, and keep growing.

Never Retire

<ol><li>Stay active; don’t retire.</li><li>Take it slow.</li><li>Don’t fill your stomach.</li><li>Surround yourself with good friends.</li><li>Get in shape for your next birthday.</li><li>Smile.</li><li>Reconnect with nature.</li><li>Give thanks.</li><li>Live in the moment.</li><li>Follow your ikigai.</li></ol>

The 10 Rules of Ikigai

“Nana korobi ya oki (Fall seven times, rise eight.)”

The happiness of being busy with life. :)

Los Angeles Times bestseller • More than 1.5 million copies sold “Workers looking for more fulfilling positions should start by identifying their ikigai.” ―Business Insider “One of the unintended—yet positive—consequences of the [pandemic] is that it is forcing people to reevaluate their jobs, careers, and lives. Use this time wisely, find your personal ikigai, and live your best life.” ―Forbes *And from the same authors, don’t miss The Book of Ichigo Ichie—about making the most of every moment in your life.* * * * Find your ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy) and bring meaning and joy to all your days. “Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years.” —Japanese proverb According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai—a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese village with the world’s longest-living people, finding it is the key to a happier and longer life. Having a strong sense of ikigai—where what you love, what you’re good at, what you can get paid for, and what the world needs all overlap—means that each day is infused with meaning. It’s the reason we get up in the morning. It’s also the reason many Japanese never really retire (in fact there’s no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense it does in English): They remain active and work at what they enjoy, because they’ve found a real purpose in life—the happiness of always being busy. In researching this book, the authors interviewed the residents of the Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds—one of the world’s Blue Zones. Ikigai reveals the secrets to their longevity and happiness: how they eat, how they move, how they work, how they foster collaboration and community, and—their best-kept secret—how they find the ikigai that brings satisfaction to their lives. And it provides practical tools to help you discover your own ikigai. Because who doesn’t want to find happiness in every day? A PENGUIN LIFE TITLE

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • 1.5 MILLION+ COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE “Workers looking for more fulfilling positions should start by identifying their ikigai.” ―Business Insider   “One of the unintended—yet positive—consequences of the [pandemic] is that it is forcing people to reevaluate their jobs, careers, and lives. Use this time wisely, find your personal ikigai, and live your best life.” ―Forbes Find your ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy) to live longer and bring more meaning and joy to all your days. “Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years.” —Japanese proverb   According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai—a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese village with the world’s longest-living people, finding it is the key to a happier and longer life. Having a strong sense of ikigai—where what you love, what you’re good at, what you can get paid for, and what the world needs all overlap—means that each day is infused with meaning. It’s the reason we get up in the morning. It’s also the reason many Japanese never really retire (in fact there’s no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense it does in English): They remain active and work at what they enjoy, because they’ve found a real purpose in life—the happiness of always being busy. In researching this book, the authors interviewed the residents of the Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds—one of the world’s Blue Zones. Ikigai reveals the secrets to their longevity and happiness: how they eat, how they move, how they work, how they foster collaboration and community, and—their best-kept secret—how they find the ikigai that brings satisfaction to their lives. And it provides practical tools to help you discover your own ikigai. Because who doesn’t want to find happiness in every day?

Hector Garcia was born in Spain in 1981 and has been living in Tokyo since 2004. During his spare time he writes aGeekinJapan.com, one of the most widely-read blogs in the world in Spanish and in English, as well as books about his experiences in Japan. He is the author of the bestsellers: Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life and A Geek in Japan. You can find more of Hector's musings at ageekinjapan.com

Héctor García

Francesc Miralles Contijoch is a Catalan writer, essayist, translator, and musician.

Francesc Miralles

Ikigai

In-feed video – These are ads that appear among the native news feed of TikTok users on the “For You” page.Brand takeover – This type of ad allows you to dominate the conversation as your message takes over the whole screen for a few seconds.Spark ads – TikTok rolled out this ad type in 2021, giving brands the ability to sponsor popular organic content that relates to their products.Image ads – Brands can place image ads in videos that appear via TikTok’s news feed apps: BuzzVideo, TopBuzz and Babe.

Type of Tiktok Ads

Video ads – These ads are full-screen videos of 5 to 60 seconds that appear in a user’s “For You” feed.Pangle ads – Pandle’s video platform integrates with TikTok to offer video, native and banner ads, but this feature is available to only specific countries.Carousel ads – These ads include up to 10 images and appear in TikTok’s news feed apps.

Branded AR content – Your ads can also appear as branded stickers, lenses and other types of AR content so TikTok users can use them in their videos.Hashtag challenge – This type of ad shows up in the “Discovery” section of the app and can encourage user participation.Sponsored influencer content – For this type of TikTok advertisement, you get your message across through sponsored content from an influential TikTok user.

TikTok closely guards its pricing algorithm, which is based on a bid model. At a minimum, campaign-level budgets should be $50/daily, and ad group level budgets must be $20/daily. <ul><li>If using a Bid Cap or Cost Cap bidding strategy, set your initial campaign level budget at No Limit and the daily ad group budget to at least 20x your target cost per action (CPA).</li><li>For App Event Optimization, set an initial budget of at least $100 or 20x your target (CPA), whichever is higher.</li><li>For Conversions campaigns using the Lowest Cost bid strategy, set an initial budget of at least $100 or 20x your target (CPA).</li></ul>

How much do TikTok ads cost?

<ul><li>Stay on brand</li></ul>TikTok users respect authenticity, so make sure your ad content is true to your company’s values and conforms with your branding.<ul><li>Be direct</li></ul>Yes, TikTok allows you 60 seconds to make your point, but videos of 21 to 34 seconds are best for boosting conversions.<ul><li>Keep it vertical</li></ul>Videos with vertical orientation outperform the square or horizontal format, with a 40% boost in impressions.

TikTok advertising best practices

<ul><li>Promote at the right time</li></ul>The success of eBay’s “Sneaker Showdown” campaign was due in part to its timing in alignment with the NCAA basketball tournament.<ul><li>Use sound and text</li></ul>According to TikTok, “audio of any kind” boosts ad impressions. Captions and text overlays also improve the impact of ads.<ul><li>Incorporate hashtags</li></ul>Help users find you by including relevant hashtags. You can see trending hashtags on the TikTok discovery page and choose the ones that make the most sense for your ad and your brand.

<ul><li>Incorporate interactive add-ons</li></ul>TikTok’s interactive features encourage interaction with ads. For example, you can use the Voting Sticker overlay to seek input from your audience.<ul><li>Partner with influencers</li></ul>Search for influencers that are either already using your product or are among your target demographic.<ul><li>Test and optimize</li></ul>Review your TikTok analytics often to see how your content is performing. Look at metrics such as views, interactions and click-through rates, and adjust your content strategy if you’re not seeing the engagement you’d hoped for.

A GlobalWebIndex analysis found that 41% of the app’s users were between the ages of 16 and 24.App Ape also found that 66% of the app’s users were younger than 30 years. It’s particularly popular among those in their 40’s, who make up 16.8% of the app’s user base.From a geographical aspect, most of the app’s users are from India and China. But the United States ranks third with <a href="https://sensortower.com/blog/tiktok-downloads-1-5-billion">123.8 million downloads</a> coming from the country and making up 8.2% of the app’s total downloads.If your target demographic is Baby Boomers, TikTok advertising is not for you.

Who uses TikTok?

TikTok video ad specs<ul><li>Aspect ratio: 9:16, 1:1, or 16:9. Vertical videos with a 9:16 ratio perform best.</li><li>Minimum resolution: 540 x 960 px or 640 x 640 px. Videos with a resolution of 720 px perform best.</li><li>File types: mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp, or .avi</li><li>Duration: 5-60 seconds. TikTok recommends 21-34 seconds for top performance.</li><li>Max file size: 500 MB</li><li>Profile image: square image less than 50 KB</li><li>App name or brand name: 4-40 characters (app) or 2-20 characters (brand)</li><li>Ad description: 1-100 characters, no emojis</li></ul>

TikTok ad specs

Spark ad specs<ul><li>Aspect ratio: Any</li><li>Minimum resolution: Any</li><li>Duration: Any</li><li>Max file size: Any</li><li>Account mentions and emojis allowed</li><li>Display name and text come from the original organic post</li><li>Note: Character counts are based on Latin characters. For Asian characters, generally the allowed character count is half.</li></ul>

Wondering how ads work on TikTok? Find out how to get started and what strategies work best for the viral social platform.

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Marketing & Sales

TikTok ads 101: How to get started with TikTok advertising

The root cause of all of our behaviors is the desire to relieve discomfort. Distraction is an unhealthy escape from reality. If we want to master distraction, we must learn to deal with discomfort.

How to be Indistractable?

“Even when we think we’re seeking pleasure, we’re actually driven by the desire to free ourselves from the pain of wanting.”

Step #1 — Expand your internal triggers.Step #2 — Make more time for traction.Step #3 — Eliminate external triggers. Step #4 — Pacts to prevent distractions.

The Keys to Controlling Your Attention

Four psychological factors make satisfaction temporary:<ul><li>Boredom</li><li>Negativity bias</li><li>Rumination</li><li>Hedonic adaptation</li></ul> The following four steps help handle intrusive thoughts:<ul><li>Look for the emotion preceding distraction;</li><li>Write down the internal trigger;</li><li>Explore the negative sensation with curiosity instead of contempt; and</li><li>Be cautious during liminal moments. </li></ul>

Step #1 — Expand your internal triggers.

“Distraction, it turns out, isn’t about the distraction itself; rather, it’s about how we respond to it.”― Nir Eyal, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life

The most effective way to make time for traction is through timeboxing: Deciding what you’re going to do, and when you’re going to do it. <ul><li>Focus on inputs - not outcomes</li><li>Schedule time for you</li><li>Schedule time for important relationships</li><li>Sync your schedule with stakeholders at work</li></ul>

Step #2 — Make more time for traction.

“Timeboxing enables us to think of each week as a mini-experiment. The goal is to figure out where your schedule didn’t work out in the prior week so you can make it easier to follow the next time around.”

Cues in our environment like rings from devices and interruptions from other people frequently take us off track. That’s why we should defend our focus.

Step #3 — Eliminate external triggers. 

Email:<ul><li>Reduce the number of messages received.</li><li>Schedule office hours, delay when messages are sent, and reduce time-wasting messages from reaching your inbox.</li><li>Spend less time on each message.</li><li>Label emails by when each message needs a response. Reply to emails during a scheduled time on your calendar.</li></ul> Chat:<ul><li>Use it like a sauna (in and out quickly)</li><li>Schedule it on your timeboxed calendar</li><li>Be picky with who is in the group chat (the fewer people the better)</li><li>Use it selectively (opt for in-person when mood, tone, and nonverbal signals add critical context)</li></ul>

Hack Back Email and Chat

Require two things of anyone who calls one.<ul><li>First, meeting organizers must circulate an agenda of what problem will be discussed. No agenda, no meeting.</li><li>Second, they must give their best shot at a solution in the form of a brief, written digest.</li></ul>

Hack Back Meetings

<ul><li>Remove apps you don’t need</li><li>Replace apps with desktop equivalents or other objects (watch, alarm clock, etc)</li><li>Rearrange apps to show tools and hide slot machines</li><li>Reclaim notifications - be very selective regarding which apps can push notifications</li><li>Reward walks or exercise with online articles (text to speech)</li></ul>

Hack Back Your Smartphone

<ul><li>Remove clutter from view</li><li>Use Instapaper or Pocket. Never read an article in the browser.</li><li>Use FB news feed eradicator, DF Tube, Open twitter notifications directly instead of starting with the main feed</li></ul>

Hack Back Your Desktop

“WRITE DOWN THE TRIGGER”

<ul><li>Effort pact prevents distraction by making unwanted behaviors more difficult to do. Apps like SelfControl, Forest, and Focusmate can help you make effort pacts.</li><li>Price pact is a type of precommitment that involves putting money on the line to encourage us to do what we say we will. Stick to your intended behavior, and you keep the cash, but get distracted, and you forfeit the funds.</li><li>Identity pact is a precommitment to a self-image. You can prevent distraction by acting in line with your identity.</li></ul>

Step #4 — Pacts to prevent distractions.

In the future, there will be two kinds of people in the world: those who let their attention and lives be controlled and coerced by others and those who proudly call themselves “indistractable.”

Key Takeaway

"Indistractable provides a framework that will deliver the focus you need to get results." —James Clear, author of Atomic Habits "If you value your time, your focus, or your relationships, this book is essential reading. I'm putting these ideas into practice." —Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind National Bestseller Winner of the Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award Included in the Top 5 Best Personal Development Books of the Year by Audible Included in the Top 20 Best Business and Leadership Books of the Year by Amazon Featured in The Amazon Book Review Newsletter, January 2020 Goodreads Best Science & Technology of 2019 Finalist You sit down at your desk to work on an important project, but a notification on your phone interrupts your morning. Later, as you're about to get back to work, a colleague taps you on the shoulder to chat. At home, screens get in the way of quality time with your family. Another day goes by, and once again, your most important personal and professional goals are put on hold. What would be possible if you followed through on your best intentions? What could you accomplish if you could stay focused? What if you had the power to become "indistractable?" International bestselling author, former Stanford lecturer, and behavioral design expert, Nir Eyal, wrote Silicon Valley's handbook for making technology habit-forming. Five years after publishing Hooked, Eyal reveals distraction's Achilles' heel in his groundbreaking new book. In Indistractable, Eyal reveals the hidden psychology driving us to distraction. He describes why solving the problem is not as simple as swearing off our devices: Abstinence is impractical and often makes us want more. Eyal lays bare the secret of finally doing what you say you will do with a four-step, research-backed model. Indistractable reveals the key to getting the best out of technology, without letting it get the best of us. Inside, Eyal overturns conventional wisdom and reveals: • Why distraction at work is a symptom of a dysfunctional company culture—and how to fix it • What really drives human behavior and why "time management is pain management" • Why your relationships (and your sex life) depend on you becoming indistractable • How to raise indistractable children in an increasingly distracting world Empowering and optimistic, Indistractable provides practical, novel techniques to control your time and attention—helping you live the life you really want.

Think Again

The Psychology of Money

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TikTok ads 101: How to get started with TikTok advertising

Indistractable

Cathy Carbellido