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“Strong Winds Strong Roots: What Trees Teach Us About Life”
Originally posted in our October 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. To conclude this month’s Top of Mind newsletter, we visit an ecological experiment set in a desert called the biodome. In it are, seemingly, the perfect conditions for growing fruits, vegetables, and trees, and it was a place where humans could live happily for months at a time. “When the trees grew to a certain height, they would topple over. It baffled scientists until they realized…
Read more“How William James Can Save Your Life”
Originally posted in our October 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. What’s the point of it all? This question has led to a range of discourses in psychology, philosophy, and religion. One philosopher from the turn of the 20th century spoke very openly about this in an 1895 lecture titled “Is Life Worth Living?” William James, often referred to as the father of American Psychology sought to understand this question to save himself. He framed this type…
Read more“The Secrets of Resilience”
Originally posted in our October 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. While few of us would wish for adversity, much can be learned from those who overcame it to achieve success. One study, referenced in this piece from the Wall Street Journal, sought to do just that. In the study turned book from 1962, Victor and Mildred Goertzel analyzed the lives of (at the time) 400 eminent figures around the world. What they found was that 75%,…
Read more“How to use anxiety to your advantage”
Originally posted in our October 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. If someone asked you if you feel anxious often, it’s a fair assumption that you would say, “yes, absolutely!” Anxiety, both the medical diagnosis and the general feeling, seems to have increased over the last two decades. In this piece from the BBC in October 2022, author Tracy Dennis-Tiwary discusses the role of strong emotions, namely anxiety, in how we interact with the world. “[E]motions are…
Read more“How to Change Your Workplace”
Originally posted in our September 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. To close out this month’s Top of Mind Newsletter, let’s apply some of what we’ve learned about our individual minds to collectives. In any established organization, workers will have seen any number of “change initiatives,” from reducing waste in a corporate setting, improving customer feedback, or developing new programs to improve employee morale. And we often hear about how these initiatives do not work or how…
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