Michael Frost

Main character Syndrome refers to a situation where people consider themselves the star of the feature film that is their everyday lives.

The syndrome exists in the overactive minds of the internet's many self-identified leading characters who embrace memes that encourage this outlook. However, Main Character Syndrome is also an important coping technique. During the pandemic, main character memes have helped us accept life's up's and downs as plot developments in our story.

Stress is best defined as an emotional and physical state where the body is getting ready for the "fight or flight" response.

During the fight or flight response the body releases adrenaline, experiences palpitations and increased sweating that lasts until the perceived threat is over, or until the body falls into exhaustion and can no longer sustain this state. The stress can cause a lack of sleep, inability to focus, and changes in our eating habits.

The imposter syndrome is the feeling that you are unworthy of your accomplishments at work and that you will be exposed as a fake. People who experience imposter syndrome perceive it as harmful to their success.

But the behaviours that the 'imposters' show to compensate for their self-doubt can make them better at their jobs and motivate them to outperform their non-imposter peers in interpersonal skills.

This is a way of life in Japan, where people work towards what they love doing, and do that with passion. Iki means life, and gai means ‘to be worthwhile’; loosely translated, Ikigai means the work, activity or hobby that gets an individual up in the morning.

It's something you live for: If you have a great time when you are working, it could be ikigai. If you have a family you love and you can do something for, it's also ikigai.

While collaborating with others is essential in a creative process, exceptional creativity needs solitude. Interacting and brainstorming in a group is not as deep creatively as shutting down the world and being completely alone with your own craft. Creative people generally tend to be introverts.

The best creative minds like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein remain flexible and spend a lot of quality time in solitude, while also valuing the ideas from other sources.

1. Self-Awareness: understanding of one’s emotions.
2. Self-Regulation: it frees us from being prisoners of our feelings.
3. Motivation: having an intrinsic desire to achieve things.
4. Empathy: the ability to understand emotions of other people.
5. Social Skill:  the ability to build rapport and manage relationships.

Emotions (like rage) are a jolt of energy with a short duration and are also called ‘action potentials’. This is because they provide information that energizes you towards a particular action.

Moods are states of mind shaped by our current problems, stress, thought and rumination. Moods that go on longer than a day or two can cause anxiety or depression.

Resilience is the ability to walk through bad experiences.

It generally means adapting well in the face of chronic or acute adversity.

People often dislike Mondays if they didn't prepare for the start of the week emotionally and logistically.

Many people fail to realize they subconsciously prepared to fail. If we don't plan, Mondays can be very stressful and unbearable.

Conventional wisdom states our motivation leads us to perform an action.

Our feelings and motivation do guide us, but there is a way to change our mental state, our mood. The way is Action itself.