NEWS OF MIND

The 4 best tricks I learned while studying psychology in college and being around personal development in my free time are: 1. If you want others to open up to you or like you, make them the most important thing in the world.  In psychology this is referred to as “Active Listening.” All you need to do is give your  entire  attention to them when they talk. There are various ways you can implement this: Think that you have to give an hour-long presentation on what they talked about the next day.Act like they have something to share that will give you a million dollars.Listen like you would if you were talking to your hero or god. Doing so will make sure you pay full attention to what they say. The difference is minute in your eyes, but the subconscious effect it has is massive! People will feel it and will love to talk to you, because you make them feel like they matter. Which is one of the most sought after feelings in the world. Try going an entire day...

Educators often say that practice makes perfect. But what should that practice look like? Psychological research reveals that not all practice is equally useful. Mindless repetition is an inefficient way to improve any skill, and short sessions of high-quality, deliberate practice matter much more than a larger quantity of such repetition. In his recent book  Peak , Anders Ericsson describes the principles of deliberate practice that research has found to be effective in improving people’s skill in fields ranging from surgery to playing the violin. How can teachers use deliberate practice to improve what they do every day in the classroom? Drawing on Ericsson’s principles and research applying practice-based approaches to teacher education,  Deans for Impact , an organization composed of leaders of programs that prepare new teachers, recently produced  Practice with Purpose , a report exploring the application of deliberate practice to teaching. We identify five essen...

BY LEO BABAUTA One of the things that held me back from pursuing my dreams for many years was fear of failure … and the lack of self-confidence that I needed to overcome that fear. It’s something we all face, to some degree, I think. The key question: how do you overcome that fear? By working on your self-confidence and self-esteem. Without really thinking of it in those terms, that’s what I’ve been doing over the years, and that’s what helped me finally overcome my fears, and finally pursue my dreams. I still have those fears, undoubtedly. But now I know that I can beat them, that I can break through that wall of fear and come out on the other side. I’ve done it many times now, and that success will fuel further success. This post was inspired by reader Nick from Finland, who asked for an article about self-worth and self-confidence: Many of the things you propose make people feel better about themselves and actually help building self-confidence. However, I would be int...

Nina Zipkin Staff Writer. Covers media, tech, startups, culture and workplace trends . Shy, retiring, socially inept -- these are some of the stereotypes that plague introverts. If you are looking to promote someone in your office, don't let a reserved demeanor take someone out of the running. And if you are a card-carrying introvert who has a time limit for big parties or is drained by all-day conferences, you are still entirely capable of being a charismatic leader. "Introverts need to do two things to become charismatic: make people feel liked and show them your power," says Carrie Keating, a professor of psychology at Colgate University. "Charisma is just that balance between inviting us in close and letting us feel your power by standing apart. Many introverts are halfway there." Keating notes that a great way for introverts to get out of their own heads and work on being more expressive or comfortable in crowds is to look into acting classes or ...

Pregnancy is filled with many emotions and sensations.  Not only are our bodies changing, there are wishes, hopes, plans and expectations that bombard us both from the inside and outside. Typically during pregnancy, appetite increases, there’s an eager anticipation of the new life to come, and  sleep is good (except for the usual physical adjustments).  Normal doubts and worries can be sprinkled throughout the pregnancy experience, but they shouldn’t dominate our days or nights. When you ask yourself, “Do I emotionally feel like ‘me’ most of the day?,” “Am I able to sleep at night?,” “Am I generally looking forward to the baby coming?,” and “Am I feeling hungry?,” the answer should be “Yes.” If not, seek out a specialized health care practitioner who can help determine what’s happening.  Depression and anxiety affect just as many pregnant women as new mothers, and can happen to the strongest, most intelligent and loving moms. Every trimester you should eith...

While it is generally accepted that work must occur in order for an individual to receive the income necessary to support himself in life, few people would argue the point that work is not always easy or enjoyable.  In fact, many individuals would readily admit that their jobs are difficult, challenging and demanding on a regular basis.  However, if you ask these same individuals whether they are happy with their jobs, many will state that they are–largely because the challenges they have to work through are actually fun to overcome. As a general rule, people are usually happier when they have something to do.  One can make an experiment of this and simply sit staring at the clock for five minutes, or spend five minutes cleaning.  The five minutes spent in action will often pass more quickly and produce a sense of satisfaction.  An individual who is not industrious is often bored and unhappy in general, and may even complain that their life is pointless and...

If you can't seem to find yourself motivated because of several reasons, take a deep breath and try to motivate yourself with these simple yet effective tips: 1.Close your eyes, and visualize yourself reaching your goals. 2.Try something new today. 3.Take a walk in a park, and let nature reset your mind. 4.Make a to-do list. You'll feel encouraged as you cross off items. 5.Get more sleep. Sleep deprivation could be making you less motivated. 6.Drink coffee for a quick jolt. 7.Start exercising, and you'll feel like yourself 8.Take a small step. You don't have to immediately immerse yourself in the project and see it until completion right away. Just make baby steps, and take it one day at a time. 9.Wake yourself up from your slump with a cold shower. 10.Have a reward system, so you'll have something to look forward to. 11.When doing a task you don't want to do, play energizing music to help you get through it. 12.Get the hard stuff done first thing in...

If we ourselves haven’t experienced a mental illness, most of us know someone who has. One in four adults—about 61.5 million Americans—wrestle with mental illness each year, and 13.6 million live with a serious, ongoing illness such as bipolar disorder or major depression. October 6 to 12 is Mental Illness Awareness Week, so we’re posting stories and tools over the next few days to foster conversation and break down misconceptions about mental illness. As you read, may you be encouraged in your own life and better equipped to help others in the journey. *** I thought I was going to die that night. My body was trembling all over, my chest was tight, and my head swam. I sat on the edge of my tiny dorm room bed, staring blankly into space thinking, I’m going to die in my sleep. So I prepared accordingly. I texted “Love you!” to my mom. I said good night to my roommates and left my door slightly ajar. I asked God to forgive me for all my sins. ...

The Story: A young couple I have treated for some time came into my office recently. Lisa was angry with Justin because he had been (in her opinion) distant and unloving towards her in recent weeks. No matter how hard she tried to please him, nothing seemed to work, and she began to wonder whether he had lost interest in her. After I asked Justin certain key questions, it became clear that he had gradually become depressed and, in doing so, had lost interest in pretty much everything that had previously given him pleasure – including Lisa. Once Justin’s depression was adequately treated, he became the warm, loving and attentive man with whom Lisa had fallen in love and chosen to spend her life with. There are some important lessons to this story. First, depression is not always obvious. It can masquerade as something else (in this case, lack of interest in your partner). Second, it is valuable for friends or loved ones to learn the tell-tale signs of depression so that t...

Depressed people are very much common in our society. All of us became depressed at least once in the life time. Depressed people got some typical criteria in which they are easily different than normal people. Here is Top 10 criteria of depressed people... 1. Always Angry Depressed people always become angry with others. They can't tolerate  others. They think that everyone trying to do any harm to them. So they just can't behave normal with others. 2. Feel guilty Depressed people always think negative about themselves. They think that they are the most waste product in the world . They think they are good for nothing. 3. Ready to take any kind of self destruction method As they think negative about about themselves. They are ready to take any kind of self destruction method. Because they think they deserve to be punished. 4. Feel absolutely hopeless They lost there hope in life. They just can't think of positive of anything. 5. Always think negative ...

Since I’ve started being honest about my mental health, I’ve noticed that my relationships have changed – mostly for the better. There’s more trust there. We’re able to talk about bigger things. Now that I’ve opened up, the people around me have started to open up, too. 5 things I wish I'd known about getting older And it’s made me think about how much time I’ve spent being not-the-best friend when I wasn’t open about what I was dealing with (meaning depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and obsessive thoughts). I want to say sorry . I’m sorry for all the times I didn’t message you back because I overthought a response, then decided that ignoring you entirely would make you hate me less than taking a few hours to send a text. I’m sorry I declined your calls, scared to reveal that yes, you had woken me up, because I’m still in bed at 3pm on a Sunday. I’m sorry I backed out of plans at the last minute...

Mental Health is a challenge in public health policymakers theory. Lots of people are suffering from mental diseases. So organizations on mental health are trying their best to take proper action against mental diseases. Nevertheless, I’ll take that risk and offer 10 of the top mental health organizations based in the United States, in my humble opinion. In this post, I’ll cover the first 10 organizations My informal criteria for including an organization on the list included: a) being well-established and credible; b) having goals of education and raising awareness; c) having a well-organized website with extensive resource links. The organizations aren’t ranked, just listed in alphabetical order. Here we go. 1) Active Minds – Active Minds is a network of over 400 campus-based chapters which provide a forum for college students to get together and raise awareness about mental health issues and to promote help-seeking for mental health concerns. Active Minds...

If you’ve got a major goal and you’re serious about achieving it, you’ll never get there without a serious dose of determination! Determination is to success as oxygen is to life. It is a pre-requisite. Anyone who has ever achieved anything significant has done so on the back of their determination. The good news is regardless of how much determination you have shown to date, you can improve your levels of determination. It all begins by eliminating these 10 behaviours… The 10 Things Determined People Don’t Do 1. The Determined don’t give up on their goal, regardless of how tough things get! They have powerful reasons that force them to keep going and their ability to continue to fight while others drop off is what earns them the title while others watch on with envy. If you want to be more determined, decide first that you will not give up until you achieve your goal. Get clear on your reasons why you must achieve it and what the consequences of failure are. The greater the ...

     Hi everyone! Recently, I haven’t been posting as much as I’d like to, and I apologize for that. I’ve been stressed with school, work, and other life happenings. Because I’ve had a lot of stress in my life recently, I want to talk to you all today about some healthy ways to handle the stressors of everyday life. When we’re stressed out, it’s very easy to form unhealthy habits to cope with it. These unhealthy habits could include smoking, “eating our feelings” as I like to call it, drinking, or forming irregular sleeping patterns. Instead of succumbing to unhealthy stress relief methods, I have compiled a list of different ways we can positively deal with stress. Here’s the list! Start waking up earlier. The earlier you start your day, the more likely you are to be productive. Prepare for the morning the night before. If you get your clothes, purse/bag, meals, etc. prepared for the next day right before yo...