Psychology Archives

Childhood & Self-Esteem: How to Raise a Confident Kid

How do children develop self-esteem? What can you do to help your child develop a healthy sense of self-esteem? There are many factors that shape self-esteem in childhood. Genetics plays a part, but upbringing and experience (risk, failure, and so on) are also critical. Failure, in particular, builds resilience—the more you experience it, especially when you’re young, the less you fear it. Below are some techniques for helping children develop self-esteem.

Behavioral Investing: Are You An Irrational Investor?

What is behavioral investing? What behavioral traits can cause problems for investors? Behavioral investing theories point out that people are generally not rational decision-makers. This is important for investing because a lot of people are actually irrational investors. Understanding (and avoiding) the common traits of an irrational investor will allow you to make better investment decisions. Keep reading for more about behavioral investing.

Evaluate Results to Make Better Future Decisions

Do you evaluate results after you make decisions? What can you learn by doing so? Learning from experience is a powerful way to grow. Whether it’s a decision you made—or a decision someone else made—you should evaluate results and use them as learning opportunities. Read more to learn why and how to evaluate the results of decisions.

Are Self-Serving Attributions Holding You Back?

What are self-serving attributions? How do they keep us from learning and growing? Self-serving attributions are a form of bias that we’re all guilty of at times. If our decision turns out well, we attribute it to our skill. If it doesn’t, we call it bad luck. When we think this way, we fail to learn from experience because we’ve mischaracterized the experience. To learn and grow, we should look honestly at ourselves—and at others. Continue reading to learn how self-serving attributions might be getting in the way of growth.

The Ability to Adapt and the Power of Letting Go

How is the ability to adapt important for personal growth and mental health? How does this ability relate to the power of letting go? Healthy navigation of life requires an ability to adapt. In The Road Less Traveled, psychiatrist M. Scott Peck calls this balance, which is a component of discipline. It allows us to remain flexible, moderating our behaviors when beneficial. It also requires sacrifices, and we would do well to embrace the power of letting go in order to grow. Keep reading to learn how the ability to adapt is an important part of mental well-being.

The Evidence of Grace: A Psychiatrist’s Perspective

Is grace real? What is the evidence of grace? According to psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, the evidence of grace is resilience, synchronicity, the unconscious, and evolution. In The Road Less Traveled, Peck offers that, if we reflect on the evidence of grace, we become more open to receiving it. This is critical for spiritual growth. Keep reading to learn about the evidence of grace from Peck’s perspective.

Intrinsic Motivation: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose

What are the three components of intrinsic motivation? How does each element contribute to intrinsically driven behavior? Intrinsic motivation is made up of three components: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy is having a choice in what you do, and being self-driven. Mastery is wanting to get more skilled and be recognized for competency. Purpose is understanding why you’re doing the work, it is often centered around helping other people. Below, we’ll look at each component entails in practice, and how it contributes to intrinsic motivation.

The Process of Change: Experience, Feel, Change

What is the process of change? What roles do thought and emotion play? It’s widely believed that the process of change involves thoughtful analysis. However, most of the time, the process involves experience and feelings. That’s why using an appeal to emotion can lead to effective change. Keep reading to learn how to leverage the process of change.

Here Is Why You Should Celebrate Milestones

Do you create and celebrate milestones on the way toward a goal? How can celebrating small milestones help you speed up your progress? When you want to reach a distant goal or make a big change, setting and celebrating milestones along the way is critical to reaching the goal and making the change stick. These tactics work because they build emotional momentum and minimize the effort required to make change. Keep reading to learn about the impact of celebrating milestones.

Dealing With Uncertainty: Life Is Like a Poker Game

How is life like a poker game? What can poker teach us about dealing with uncertainty? Life is full of unknowns. We must learn how to deal with uncertainty as we make decisions. If we consider how life is like a poker game, we can learn valuable lessons that we can apply to the decision-making process. Read on to learn how to deal with uncertainty in life.