Self-Improvement Archives

Contrasting Statements: Useful Tools For Trustbuilding

What are contrasting statements? How can you use them to build trust and mutual respect in a discussion? In the book Crucial Accountability, the authors talk about how contrasting statements can build mutual respect when the other person is feeling unsafe in a conversation. Contrasting statements are the building blocks of good discussions, whereas feeling a lack of mutual respect and having different motives ruins them. Keep reading to learn how to use contrasting statements to build mutual respect in a relationship.

Imagining the Future: Why It Increases Happiness

Why does imagining the future increase happiness? Why do fabrications of the future tend to look more positive than the past or present? In his book Stumbling on Happiness, social psychologist Daniel Gilbert explores how and why your brain attempts to fabricate the future. He also discusses the limitations the brain encounters while trying to do so and how it overcomes them. Here’s how and why your brain imagines the future.

The Benefits of Unconscious Decision-Making

Do you ever make decisions on the fly, without taking the time to consider their potential consequences? Can snap decisions—decisions made by the unconscious mind—be better than decisions made with deliberation? Throughout our lives, we’ve been taught that our decisions are sounder if a lot of time and effort has gone into making them. But unconscious decisions can actually be just as good as—or even better than—the decisions that we make by analyzing a situation carefully. Learn about the benefits of unconscious decision-making and how snap decisions work in the brain.

Variety in Life: You Need Less Than You Think

When you think about your future, do you assume that you’ll want lots of variety in life? Does variety make you happier? According to social psychologist Daniel Gilbert, variety is actually the opposite of what most people want. But many people fail to recognize that fact and end up forcing variety into their lives, ultimately making themselves unhappy. Here’s why you need less variety in life than you think.

Gut Decisions: 4 Tips for Making Better Choices

Why do they say “trust your gut”? How do you know when your gut is right? Gut decisions can be advantageous in some circumstances, but they can lead you astray in others. Malcolm Gladwell suggests that you can make better instinctive decisions by providing the unconscious mind with structure. This involves rehearsing your desired spontaneous responses and developing rules that you can fall back on in times of stress. Here’s how you can “train your gut” to make better decisions, according to Gladwell.

Intuitive vs. Deliberate Decision-Making

How does the brain make decisions? Are decisions made through conscious deliberation always better than intuitive decisions made on the fly? Our brains use two broad strategies for making decisions: conscious or deliberate decision-making and unconscious or intuitive decision-making. We usually think that deliberate decisions should be the way to go. But according to Malcolm Gladwell, both logical, conscious decision-making and snap judgments have their time and place. Here’s why deliberate decisions aren’t necessarily the best decisions.

How to Make the Right Decision: Skills for Life

The 3 Core Principles of Objective Decision Making

How do you approach decision-making? Is the right decision always the most informed decision? Most of us have been taught that to make good decisions, we need to consider as much information as possible. But sometimes the right decision is a less-informed decision. Too much information can overwhelm you with details and obscure the bigger picture. Here’s how to make the right decision by considering less information.

Risky Decisions Will Make You Happier Than Safe Ones

Do you avoid making risky decisions in life? Are you afraid of living with regret? As it turns out, people often assume that they’ll regret making risky decisions when, in reality, they have more regret when they don’t make those decisions. What you think is the “safe option” is probably the choice that’s going to make you the least happy. Here’s why you should take risks in your life if you want to be happy.

Your Mind Is a Battlefield—Here’s How to Win the War

In your mind, do positive thoughts or negative thoughts usually win? How can you give positivity the advantage? Positive thoughts are the key to a happy life because they lead to positive words and actions. When you think positively, you treat yourself and other people better, enjoy healthier relationships, make better choices, and are resilient in the face of adversity. Joyce Meyer asserts that positivity is difficult because the devil attacks your mind with negativity. But there’s something you can do about. Keep reading to learn how your mind is a battlefield—and how to win the war.

Doubts About God on the Battlefield of the Mind

Where does spiritual doubt come from, and where can it lead? What’s the difference between doubt and unbelief? When Jesus called Peter to walk on water, Peter did it—for a moment. According to Joyce Meyer, doubt caused Peter to sink. In Battlefield of the Mind, Meyer discusses what doubt is, how it differs from unbelief, and how we can fight both doubt and unbelief. Read more for a concise discussion of doubts about God.