In stand-up comedy, those who are successful deliver the first punchline in the first 15 seconds. The second punchline is delivered in the next 15 seconds. This earns you the right to speak for a longer duration before the next punchline.

When you're pitching an idea, don't start with information your audience already knows. Instead, throw in your teaser immediately to make them interested in listening to the rest of your pitch.

Movies about law, having heroic or ferocious lawyers often strike gold in Hollywood, giving good competition to big-ticket movies.

To Kill A Mockingbird, a 1962 adaptation of a book by Harper Lee, had the character Atticus Finch, a fictional lawyer who became the greatest hero of all American cinema in a list ‘100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains’ by the American Film Institute.

Lack of self-efficacy, that is your confidence (or belief) in navigating a challenging situation and shooting down potential obstacles is a fundamental reason for the inability to focus.

• Coined in 1977 by psychologist Albert Bandura, self-efficacy is different from confidence, as it relates to a particular task or topic.
• High self-efficacy results in less stress and depression and almost guarantees your personal accomplishment.
• A low self-efficacy results in procrastination, failure and blame games.

The first step in approaching a negative situation with an optimistic outlook is to accept what you can’t change.

Once you’ve done that, you have 2 options: reframe ( look for an opportunity instead of ruminating on the loss ) or divert (shift your focus to something else).