Self-Improvement Archives

How Negative Thought Patterns Hurt Your Mental Health

Do you often find yourself slipping into negative thought patterns, ruminating about the past, or imagining the worst-case scenarios in the future? Can negative thinking attract negative experiences? According to Joseph Murphy, the author of The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, if you’re not entirely happy with your life experiences, it’s because you’re thinking “false” negative thoughts that contradict the positive force of Universal Consciousness. These negative thought patterns leave an imprint on your subconscious mind which can further perpetuate the cycle of negativity. In this article, you’ll learn how your negative thoughts inhibit the positive flow of Universal Consciousness,

Elizabeth Gilbert: Perfectionism Kills Creativity

Is your tendency towards perfectionism getting in the way of your ability to be creative? How does perfectionism hinder creativity? One of the greatest mental obstacles to creativity is perfectionism. No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to attain perfection in the creative realm—there will always be a way someone can find your work lacking. It’s therefore pointless to strive for perfection and better just to create something imperfect and put it into the world. In this article, we’ll look at how perfectionism kills creativity and how not to let it get in the way of

The 4 Tendencies and How They Pair Up

What happens when you put members of the 4 tendencies together? Which pairs do well and which shouldn’t be in the same room? According to The Four Tendencies author Gretchen Rubin, some tendencies tend to get along better while some tend to butt heads when they’re together. While tendencies aren’t by any means an all-encompassing personality trait, you can generally tell if you’ll get along with a person based on their tendency. Here is how the 4 tendencies work together.

Joseph Murphy: How to Train Your Subconscious Mind

Is it possible to influence your subconscious mind through conscious thought? What can you do to train your subconscious mind to think more positively? In his book The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, Joseph Murphy explains how to train your subconscious mind through conscious thought. The process to train your subconscious mind is very simple: You just need to use your conscious mind to imprint positive thoughts and images upon your subconscious mind. Murphy explains that there are two steps to making this process work for you: First, you need to decide to think positive thoughts. Then, you need to

The Upholder, Obliger, Questioner, & Rebel: Explained

What are the four tendencies from Gretchen Ruben’s book? What are the personality traits, strengths, and weaknesses associated with each tendency? The four tendencies are the Upholder, Obliger, Questioner, and Rebel. Knowing what type of tendency you are can help you find a better job fit, discover your strengths, and understand those around you better. Here is an overview of each of the four tendencies.

How to Reframe Your Thoughts for More Positivity

How to Develop a Positive Sales Attitude

Do you often find yourself stuck in negative thinking patterns? What can you do to train your mind to think more positively? According to Joseph Murphy, the author of The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, negative, self-sabotaging thoughts can block the flow of Universal Consciousness into your life. When this flow is blocked, you are more likely to attract negative experiences into your life. In this article, we’ll explore specific methods you can use to reframe your thoughts for more positivity.

Nassim Taleb: What Drives Virtuous Behavior?

What drives virtuous behavior? How can readiness to take risks reflect one’s ability to do good deeds for others? According to Nassim Taleb, having your skin in the game (the willingness to take risks and make sacrifices) is a necessary ingredient in any good deed imaginable. Without skin in the game, virtuous behavior that appears honorable on the surface is, at best, cheapened and ineffective, and at worst, inauthentic and malicious. In both cases, Taleb argues that the risks of skin in the game prove that you are what you claim to be. In this article, we’ll explore Taleb’s notion

Understanding the Use-It-or-Lose-It Tendency

The 25 Cognitive Biases: Use-It-or-Lose-It Tendency

What is the use-it-or-lose-it tendency? How do you stop valuable skills from depreciating? The use-it-or-lose-it tendency is the inclination of skills to decline over time if unused. It is impossible to say the level of skill that would be lost within a set period of time, but skills that have been mastered will depreciate more slowly than skills that have not been fully developed. You can prevent skill depreciation by constantly practicing skills you can’t afford to lose. Read on to learn more about the use-it-or-lose-it tendency.

Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity

The 25 Cognitive Biases: Ostrich Effect Bias

What is the ostrich effect bias? How dangerous is denial syndrome? The ostrich effect bias is the tendency to avoid negative information and refuse to accept that objective truth exists because it causes pain. This bias is dangerous because it can lull you into believing that a situation is better than it really is, which causes things to deteriorate further. Read on to learn more about the ostrich effect bias.

Elizabeth Gilbert: Creativity Is Magic

Is creativity an inborn quality? How do creatives develop novel ideas? According to Elizabeth Gilbert, creativity can come to anyone who gets in touch with what she calls “Big Magic.” This force is bigger than us and cannot be explained scientifically or proven empirically. It is an eternal cosmic entity that creatives must have faith in. In this article, we’ll explore Gilbert’s conception of creativity and two key ways Big Magic might come to you: via ideas and your genius.