Podcasts by Social Skills Coaching

The Friendship Mindset: THE ART OF ACTIVE LISTENING from 2023-12-12T04:00

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00:00:34 Part one of the Friendship ...

Communication’s Most Underrated Skill from 2023-12-05T04:00

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00:06:04 How to Use Funnel Questions

00:08:26 Here's a summary of How To As...

Anatomy Of A Good Question from 2023-11-28T04:00

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00:02:26 Anatomy of a Good Question

00:04:10 A Good Quality Question Is Ope...

Reciprocal Curiosity from 2023-11-21T04:00

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00:08:57 How to Build Curiosity

00:13:49 Assume Nothing

00:16:40 Per...

Painting With Words from 2023-11-14T04:00

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00:02:31 How to Paint the Picture Listen

Becoming Emotionally Intelligent from 2023-11-07T04:00

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00:02:26 The Emotions Wheel and Learning to Label

00:04:47 Different versio...

CREATE YOUR OWN REALITY DISTORTION FIELD from 2023-10-31T04:00

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00:01:54 Bestselling author and self-help guru Tim Ferriss

00:04:20 Be Ver...

Mastering Style And Tone from 2023-10-24T04:00

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00:03:51 Get Comfortable with Pausin...

Tips For Instant Rapport from 2023-10-17T04:00

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00:02:24 Similarly, so called Barnum statements, named after famed showman and Ho...

THE FRIENDSHIP FORMULA from 2023-10-10T04:00

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00:00:35 The Friendship Formula is a simple framework for building and maintainin...

Argyris'Ladder of Inference: Climb to Better Decisions and Relationships from 2023-10-03T04:00

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00:01:10 In 1974, business professor Chris Argyris created a handy tool

00:...

Mindful Nonverbal Communication from 2023-09-26T04:00

Easily listen to Social Skills Coaching in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/social-skills-home

00:02:54 Author Nick Morgan describes in his book Power Cues

00:08:34 How ...

Charting Your Progress In Black And White from 2023-09-19T04:00

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00:03:54 Use a Journal and Be Your Own Therapist

00:06:50 How to Use Affirm...

The Foundation Of Empathy Is Perspective from 2023-09-12T04:00

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• Empathy is the ability to share...

Breaking The Illusory Bonds Of Codependency from 2023-09-05T04:00

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00:02:32 You’ll Know That Codependency Is Part Of Your Need To People-Please If:<...

Goal-Oriented Communication from 2023-08-29T04:00

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00:03:40 In Aristotle's time, Oration was an honored art and tradition

00:0...

Cultivating Conversational Intelligence from 2023-08-22T04:00

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00:06:44 As Stephen Covey says, seek first to understand, then to be understood.<...

The Art Of Compassion...REAL Compassion from 2023-08-15T04:00

Easily listen to Social Skills Coaching in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/social-skills-home

00:01:42 Pleasing others becomes a transaction or a deal

00:02:44 Mindfuln...

As If It Wasn’t Hard Enough… from 2023-08-08T04:00

Easily listen to Social Skills Coaching in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/social-skills-home

00:02:29 The COIN Framework

00:03:59 In Carroll’s book, The Feedback Imper...

Plugging Into The Energy Source Of Self-Validation from 2023-06-27T04:00

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00:05:11 Step 1: Be Aware of What You Feel

00:09:47 Step 2: Normalize

Abraham Lincoln And His Team Of Rivals from 2023-06-22T04:00

Easily listen to The Science of Self in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/ScienceOfSelfPodcast

http://bit.ly/GeniusHollins

• Lincoln’s genius traits included intellectual ...

3 Types of Validation: How to Understand and Respond from 2023-06-20T04:00

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00:01:12 Broadly speaking, there are three types of validation:

00:01:4...

Interrogation (Sort Of) from 2023-06-13T04:00

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00:02:55 Technique 1: Playing It Cool

00:07:02 Technique 2: Pulling A Colum...

How To Drop The People-Pleaser’s Worst Habit from 2023-06-06T04:00

Easily listen to Social Skills Coaching in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/social-skills-home

00:05:12 Tip 1: Just Keep Quiet Really.

00:05:49 Tip 2: Show Your Compassio...

EQ Vs. IQ: Which Is More Important For Success? from 2023-05-30T04:00

Easily listen to Social Skills Coaching in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/social-skills-home

00:02:56 According to Psychology Today, emotional intelligence (EI) is “the abili...

Cold Reading: A Look Behind The Curtain from 2023-05-23T04:00

Easily listen to Social Skills Coaching in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/social-skills-home

00:07:45 Technique One Shotgun Statements

00:09:09 Technique Two Barnum Sta...

How To Be Assertive AND Empathic from 2023-05-16T04:00

Easily listen to Social Skills Coaching in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/social-skills-home

00:08:38 Psychologist Craig Malkin's book Rethinking Narcissism

00:10:59 Th...

Tools Of The Charming from 2023-05-09T04:00

Easily listen to Social Skills Coaching in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/social-skills-home

00:01:34 Talk WITH people and not TO them.

00:03:07 Dr. Karl Albrecht in Ps...

Look Into My Eyes from 2023-05-02T04:00

Easily listen to Social Skills Coaching in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/social-skills-home

Hear it Here - https://bit.ly/ExtractInfo

00:01:16 From Patrick King's book...

Don’t Take Your Inner Critic’s Word For It from 2023-04-25T04:00

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• People-pleasing behavior can stem from a harsh inner critic, who is the one telling us that we are not worth anything unless we serve others, or that we do...

The Power Of Empathic Statements from 2023-04-18T04:00

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00:01:33 What to Say, What Not to Say

00:03:...

Expressing Without Speaking from 2023-04-11T04:00

00:05:40 Posture and Body Orientation

00:09:33 Eye Contact

00:10:54 A study led by Dr. Arthur Aron

00:11:53 The Power of Eye Contact by psychologist Michael Ellsberg

00...

A Mechanism For Learning To Trust from 2023-04-04T04:00

https://www.audible.com/pd/B094NZS81Q/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWU-BK-ACX0-258377&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_258377_pd_us

00:02:54 “Stimulus Generalization as A Mechanism for Learning to Tr...

Speak Loud, Speak Clear, And Speak From The Heart from 2023-03-29T04:00

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00:03:25 Feelings Are Never Right or Wrong

00:05:26 People Are Responsible for Their Own Feelings

00:07:30 Understand What the Goal of Communic...

Curiosity from 2023-03-21T04:00

00:03:07 Can I just observe without judgment or evaluation?

00:07:41 Brian Grazer is the author of the bestseller A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life.

00:10:39 Type 1: Divers...

The Rapport Game: Five Ways To Build Rapport from 2023-03-14T04:00

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00:01:58 Mirroring and Matching

00:03:03 In the 1970s, Richard Bandler and John Grinder introduced NLP

00:05:24 Way 1: Match and Mirror E...

Putting Your Questions Into Context from 2023-03-07T04:00

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00:04:28 Elicitation Practice If none of the above work, that’s where the practice of elicitation comes in.

00:08:15 Ellen Naylor in her 201...

Fake It till You Make It from 2023-02-28T04:00

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00:01:27 In 2019, Matthew Berry and Steven Brown did research on the vocal tones

00:06:14 Jo Emerson is a confidence coach

00:07:10 Watch Your ...

Be Still And Reflect from 2023-02-21T04:00

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Psychological Barriers To Communication from 2023-02-14T04:00

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00:03:29 “But I thought you meant X!”

00:07:00 Preconceived Attitudes.

00:12:34 Judgment and Premature Evaluation.

00:15:11 Other Ba...

Asked And Analyzed from 2023-02-07T04:00

Hear it Here - https://www.audible.com/pd/B094NZS81Q/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWU-BK-ACX0-258377&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_258377_pd_us

Asking questions is an active way to deliberately el...

Everyone Needs Boundaries...Including You! from 2023-01-31T04:00

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• Everyone has a right to have boundaries. Try to reframe how you think of boundaries—they are there to protect and prioritize what’s important, and not shut...

The Basics Are Not So Basic from 2023-01-24T04:00

• The best mindset to adopt in order to become a better communicator is the one that will best allow you to connect, meet your needs, solve problems, and express yourself.

• Begin by aski...

The Human Body Is A Whole—Read It That Way from 2023-01-17T04:00

• Body language signals cannot be interpreted in isolation. Rather, first seek a baseline of behavior to help interpret a particular new observation – a baseline helps you identify incongruent b...

The Body Can Listen, Too from 2023-01-11T04:00

• Use mirroring, paraphrasing, or reflecting to show active listening.

• Body language can be empathic too, and when your body mirrors another person’s, this is a way to show physical “ac...

Six Different Ways To Say NO from 2023-01-03T04:00

One of the most useful tools in the people-pleaser’s survival kit is the ability to say NO. There are at least six different kinds of no to learn and practice: the direct no, the reasoned no, th...

Body Talk from 2022-12-27T04:00

• Ex-FBI agent Joe Navarro has some tips for reading body language, and they come from an understanding that body language is inbuilt, automatic and ancient, and based on fight, flight or freeze...

Don’t Just Listen Actively, Listen Empathically from 2022-12-20T04:00

• To listen effectively and empathically, we need to let our egos take a back seat so the other person can lead. If we are sensitive, alert, and respectful, we can listen without an agenda.

Conflict Avoidance Is Actually A High-Risk Strategy from 2022-12-13T04:00

• People-pleasers can be conflict avoidant, but this is actually a high-risk strategy, and you may gather resentments only to explode later (“gunnysacking”). Instead, use “and” instead of “but” ...

Look At My Face from 2022-12-06T04:00

• It’s possible to extract loads of useful information from people merely by using the power of observation.

• First, observe the face, tiny, quick and involuntary movements of the fac...

Accounting For Bias, Prejudice, Ego, And Perspective from 2022-11-29T04:00

• Your perspective on life is what makes you unique, but it can also be a source of isolation, misunderstanding, and conflict.

• A pre-conceived notion about who another person is may be ...

“Fawning”—A Response to Trauma from 2022-11-22T04:00

In the face of trauma and conflict, some people respond with anger, some respond by fleeing . . . and some, like Person A, respond with a flood of appeasing, soothing, and conciliatory behavior....

Defense Of The Ego Is A Nasty Habit from 2022-04-21T04:00

Loss, rejection, uncertainty, discomfort, humiliation, loneliness, failure, panic . . . all of these can be defended against using certain mental tricks. These mechanisms are there to protect us fr...

Curious As A Cat from 2022-04-18T04:00

The first and most natural way to probe below the surface is through cultivating curiosity. There are five types of curiosity, each of which can be a motivation for asking questions: joyous explora...

Defense Of The Ego from 2022-04-14T04:00

Finally, we come to defense of the ego. This is one of our most powerful motivators, but it is mostly unconscious. Simply put, we act to guard our ego from anything that would make us feel psycholo...

Acts Of The Amorous Nature from 2022-04-11T04:00

• At this point in the book, you may have a better understanding of how to reach your goal of mating. However, in reality, your goal is sustained mating within a relationship. How can you make sure...

Battle Social Influence from 2022-04-08T04:00

The last way we must struggle to keep an open mind and clarity of thought is concerning our social influences. The people around us can determine what we think and do, no matter how hard we try. Th...

The Pyramid Of Needs from 2022-04-06T04:00

Next, we move to the pyramid of needs, otherwise known as Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It states that we are all seeking various types of needs in various points in our lives; when you can ...

Selflessness Is Sexy from 2022-04-04T04:00

Despite our own internal confusions, there are certain scientifically proven traits we do seek in mates that are more related to biological imperatives. We are subconsciously drawn to excitement an...

Listening And Nonviolent Communication from 2022-04-01T04:00

The four principles of Marshall Rosenberg’s non-violent communication are: observations, feelings, needs, and requests, in that order. First make neutral observations instead of judgmental evaluati...

Our Inner Child Still Lives from 2022-03-30T04:00

Any discussion on motivation must begin with the pleasure principle, which generally states that we move toward pleasure and move away from pain. If you think about it, this is omnipresent in our d...

Triggers For Attraction And Arousal from 2022-03-28T04:00

Despite our own internal confusions, there are certain scientifically proven traits we do seek in mates that are more related to biological imperatives. We are subconsciously drawn to excitement an...

Question Yourself. Question Others. from 2022-03-25T04:00

Immersing yourself in someone else’s equally valid reality is harder than it looks, and so we need to routinely test our own assumptions. We need to ask people questions and challenge our own assum...

It’s Okay To Be Uncertain from 2022-03-23T04:00

Confirmation bias is also the most prominent way that we fail to simply follow the evidence. If we perform research and keep an open mind, our task is simple: just follow the arrows where they poin...

Why Bother To Understand People At All? from 2022-03-21T04:00

We’ve talked about analyzing and predicting behavior based on people’s emotions and values, but what about motivation? It turns out there are a few prominent and fairly universal models of motivati...

The Problem Of Objectivity from 2022-03-18T04:00

Finally, we become great people-readers when we understand ourselves. We need to know what biases, expectations, values, and unconscious drives we bring to the table so we are able to see things as...

Confirmation Bias Is Seeing What You Want To Prove A Pre-Chosen Conclusion from 2022-03-16T04:00

The most glaring example of this is confirmation bias, wherein we are deaf and blind to evidence that doesn’t support what we think. In other words, we see what we want to see, and we can make a be...

Signs That Your Listening Could Use Some Work from 2022-03-14T04:00

It’s important to avoid using language that triggers defensiveness. This includes things like “what’s wrong with you?” “I’m sorry you feel that way,” “whatever,” “you’re overreacting,” “you’re enti...

How To Know What You Want (You Don’t) from 2022-03-11T04:00

We often think we know what we want based on singular experiences, stereotypes, or simple social pressures. But we are typically very, very wrong. In fact, most of the time, we are just making educ...

Obstacles To Becoming Brilliant At Reading People from 2022-03-09T04:00

Most of the communication that takes place between people is non-verbal in nature. What people say is often a poor indicator of what they want to convey, which makes people-reading a valuable life ...

Active Listening Is Hard. It Takes Effort. from 2022-03-04T04:00

Active listening techniques help us to absorb, understand, remember, and respond to what we’re told. This includes non-judgment, reflection, paying attention, seeking clarification, summarizing, an...

Love May Be Less Important Than How Similar You Are To Your Mate from 2022-03-02T04:00

A study specified the traits that predicted the most relationship success if similar: agreeableness and emotional stability. Conventional wisdom says that opposites attract, but for successful long...

Reading And Analyzing People from 2022-02-28T04:00

Most of the communication that takes place between people is non-verbal in nature. What people say is often a poor indicator of what they want to convey, which makes people-reading a valuable life ...

What To Say And How To Say It from 2022-02-25T04:00

In the Imago framework, we seek to remove emotional barriers to connection by communicating. The Sender and the Receiver takes turns sharing their message.The Receiver listens by mirroring, validat...

Work To Improve Your Perception from 2022-02-23T04:00

Your perception is biased. Understanding the world around you is probably biased because of how the brain jumps to conclusions. These types of jumps are called cognitive biases. They seek to create...

When You Say You’re In Love With Someone, What Do You Mean? from 2022-02-21T04:00

The triangular theory of love states that the most successful relationships score well on all three metrics: attraction, intimacy, and commitment. Happy couples need to have strong overlap and matc...

Listening Well Means Putting Your Own Needs And Perspectives On The Back Burner from 2022-02-18T04:00

Practice conversational patience, listen to others, and give them the space to be as they are. In other words, cut out the ego! You can validate others by asking questions every time you’re tempte...

Perception Is Biased from 2022-02-16T04:00

Your perception is biased. Understanding the world around you is probably biased because of how the brain jumps to conclusions. These types of jumps are called cognitive biases. They seek to create...

Love Is All That Matters . . . from 2022-02-14T04:00

Love is what most of us marry for, but arranged marriages have been around for a very long time. In fact, what most of us would consider romantic love is a luxury that is only a few hundred years o...

Humility: The Rarest Virtue from 2022-02-11T04:00

Humility is the virtue that will allow you to quickly and sincerely own up to mistakes. This takes courage and maturity. Make sure any apologies show remorse, repentance, and full responsibility, a...

Perspective Isn’t Reality from 2022-02-09T04:00

Your perspective isn’t reality. It represents your subjective and unique worldview, but it’s not objective, it’s not reality, and it is destined to be skewed in terms of your experiences. Some expe...

A Word On First Impressions—And Walking The Walk from 2022-02-07T04:00

• Dr. Jack Schafer’s friendship formula states that people build connections when they are in proximity to one another, when their interactions are frequent and long in duration, and when both part...

Stay Curious from 2022-02-04T04:00

With curiosity, we stay open-minded and humble, and approach others in a spirit of opportunity, respect, and the desire to learn. Express genuine interest in someone by asking open-ended questions ...

Freedom From Illusions Of Reality from 2022-02-02T04:00

• Usually, your brain, instincts, gut feelings, emotions, and hunches are all liars (usually). They aren’t doing it on purpose, but they inherently function by jumping to conclusions, saving time, ...

All About Flirting from 2022-01-31T04:00

the art of getting the attention of the opposite sex Hear it Here - https://bit.ly/ScienceOfAttractionShow notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/social-skills-shownotes ...

But What About Empathy? from 2022-01-28T04:00

• Empathy is the ability to understand and feel into someone else’s experience, as well as take action to help them. There are three types—cognitive, emotional, and compassionate. • First gain...

What Independent Thinking Actually Looks Like from 2022-01-26T04:00

Many famous independent thinkers throughout history shed light on how we might develop the capacity in ourselves. Socrates teaches us the power of asking questions and uncovering our assumptions by...

The Deeper The Love, The Deeper The Hate from 2022-01-24T04:00

Finally, the deeper the love, the deeper the hate. Love and hate are closer than you think because they are both intense emotions. Work with love and hate in your own “chase” by leading with your p...

The Gentle Power Of Assertiveness from 2022-01-21T04:00

Better communication skills stem from a healthy mindset and a good attitude toward relationships in general. We can practice and communicate self-differentiation by knowing and taking responsibilit...

Independent Is Not The Same As Contrarian from 2022-01-19T04:00

The fundamentals of critical thought include learning to take in information (especially reading) critically, dropping the ego so that you don’t get stuck in any one perspective or opinion, having ...

Humans Want What We Can’t Have from 2022-01-17T04:00

Most of us have been faced with being rejected and told that we are only thought of as friends and not romantic partners. Is there a way to deal with this? For females, perhaps. Studies have shown ...

Separate Out Your Thoughts From Your Feelings from 2022-01-14T04:00

Finally, master self-differentiation and be crystal clear on thoughts versus feelings, and your thoughts and feelings versus those of others. Defuse conflict by taking responsibility for your persp...

What Does It Really Mean To Be An Independent Thinker? from 2022-01-12T04:00

• Independent thinkers can think logically, clearly and autonomously, outside the pressures of their cultures, upbringings, past experiences or historical period. They are conscious and aware, rath...

Address The Higher Self, Acknowledge The Emotional Self from 2022-01-10T04:00

In every interaction, consciously choose to address the other persons highest self, or at least their most vulnerable and human self. Acknowledge emotional content and not just superficial details....

The “Chase” from 2022-01-07T04:00

The chase is something we subconsciously do, despite outwardly decrying having to play dating games. Mostly, the chase has to do with the appeal and addictiveness of intermittent rewards and unders...

Why Breaking The Rules Can Be Attractive from 2022-01-05T04:00

Breaking rules can be attractive since it conveys confidence and power and communicates that you act from your own internal integrity, which is sexy! Never violate peoples boundaries, however, and ...

Telling The Third Story from 2022-01-03T04:00

In conflict, try to imagine a neutral observer and the “third story” theyd tell so you can identify a set of facts about the situation that both parties can agree on. Harmonious relationships begin...

The Block Of Close-Mindedness, Concluded from 2021-12-31T04:00

Our attitude toward new information determines the extent of our learning. If we are “soldiers” who seek only to defend the beliefs we already have, we don’t grow or learn. But as “scouts” we learn...

The Thrill Of Uncertainty from 2021-12-29T04:00

You may appear more attractive when people are unsure of your feelings for them, so dont be too transparent too early on. Give compliments, but let their meaning be ambiguous. Keep the words flowin...

Assume People Are Doing Their Best from 2021-12-26T04:00

Assume noble intent and that people are doing their best. This will put you in a proactive, generous, and optimistic frame of mind that will inspire the best from others and keep you open to soluti...

The Block Of Close-Mindedness from 2021-12-24T04:00

Closed-mindedness is failing to be aware of the mental perspective we inhabit—and so failing to see that we can and often should step outside of it. This traps us into thinking that we know everyth...

Eye Contact from 2021-12-22T04:00

When we think about trust, one of the first places our minds will go is to eye contact. Whatever the reality, if you aren’t able to use eye contact, people will find you untrustworthy. Thus, eye co...

The Biggest Obstacle To Real Communication from 2021-12-20T04:00

• Everyone can learn to be better at communication, listening, and being heard. This can improve every kind of relationship, as well as help you deal with difficult people and conflict. • Culti...

The Curse of Inappropriate Expectations from 2021-12-17T04:00

An intolerance for the inevitable hard work of self-improvement sometimes comes down to inappropriate expectations. We need to be honest and realistic in what we expect from life, so that we don’t ...

Don’t Say A Word from 2021-12-15T04:00

Many animals don’t have verbal languages. This means they must communicate their attraction, often forcefully, through their movements and actions. The human equivalent is how we communicate nonver...

The Block Of Discomfort from 2021-12-13T04:00

“Laziness” often masks the mental block of being unable to tolerate discomfort, or the belief that success shouldnt be challenging, difficult or take too long. Its not that “lazy” people are incapa...

Do Men And Women Want Different Things? from 2021-12-10T04:00

Human beings tend to want the same things in their mates—attractiveness, resources, and emotional connection—but people will rank the relative importance of these differently depending on their sex...

Socrates the Know-It-All from 2021-12-08T04:00

Socrates was rather a know-it-all, or at least that’s how he would have appeared according to the Socratic Method. It was a technique of questioning a stance or opinion in a way to shed light on wh...

Growth And Comfort: Two Mutually Exclusive Values from 2021-12-05T04:00

To live with more integrity and honesty, we need to acknowledge that growth and comfort are mutually exclusive. Can we accept all that we are, even the dark and unwanted parts of ourselves? We must...

Discover What People Really Want from 2021-12-03T04:00

Another reason for the instinct to apologize is to avoid conflict. Conflict is tense and uncomfortable, but it is the essence of assertiveness. Becoming comfortable with it by changing your vocabul...

Four Sequential Steps To Attraction from 2021-12-01T04:00

Waisman’s four steps are an elaboration on the classic sociobiological theory of attraction. They inform us as to exactly what we are looking for in a way that fuses sociobiological theory with mod...

A Look At Defense Mechanisms from 2021-11-29T04:00

We know self-delusion is at play if we recognize defense mechanisms, which develop to protect our ego from uncomfortable truths. Nobody can tackle our defense mechanisms but us. There are many comm...

Einstein And “What If?” from 2021-11-25T04:00

Albert Einstein is known for many things, but his thinking method of using thought experiments helped him discover the theory of relativity. It is a hypothetical situation, played out to the very e...

Cautiously Prioritizing Others Again from 2021-11-24T04:00

Ultimately, maintaining healthy boundaries is a task that we have to persist with throughout our lives. As we discover new and better ways to communicate, develop new values and priorities, or ente...

The Need To Apologize from 2021-11-22T04:00

Apologizing is the opposite of assertiveness—at least when you do it out of instinct like many of us are prone to do. Over-apologizing, however, does give a peek into how you view yourself and the ...

The Sociobiological Theory Of Attraction from 2021-11-19T04:00

The classic sociobiological theory of attraction states that we are nothing but animals when it comes to attraction. Worse yet, most of what we are attracted to is subconscious and not fully unders...

The Block Of Self-Deception from 2021-11-17T04:00

Self-delusion is the biggest mental block to our full and honest awareness. All of us delude ourselves about reality to some extent; it is nothing to be ashamed of. However, self-deception has many...

Doubt And The Scientific Method from 2021-11-15T04:00

René Descartes is sometimes known as the father of modern philosophy, and sometimes as the father of the modern Scientific Method. It was his usage of doubt as a tool that led to his significance i...

It’S Not Your Turn from 2021-11-12T04:00

So far, we have primarily focused on the way others violate our boundaries. However, we also inevitably violate boundaries that others have. This does not necessarily make us toxic or bad individua...

“Riddle-Thinking” Applied from 2021-11-10T04:00

Though riddles are often framed in relatively simple words, they can be incredibly complex, utilizing many different but important modes of thinking. When faced with a tricky problem, asking yourse...

Assertive Communication Style from 2021-11-08T04:00

Assertive communication is standing up for yourself, being clear and direct when sharing your thoughts and feelings, and protecting your rights without taking away the rights of other people. Asser...

Too Much, Too Eager, Too Available, All Too Soon. from 2021-11-05T04:00

When you smother someone, you hem in their independence and make it seem as if you have nothing better to do with your time. You are perceived as someone with low social value and even less sexual ...

Empathetic Listening - Making Space, Reflecting, And Reacting from 2021-11-03T04:00

Just like we have empathetic communication, there’s also empathetic listening. Empathetic listening is very similar to active listening, wherein all of your focus is devoted solely to the speaker. ...

The Genius Of Elon Musk And Charles Darwin from 2021-11-01T04:00

Elon Musk and his usage of first principles thinking is all about rejecting what is thought to be fact. He describes a process where you identify your assumptions in the face of solving a problem, ...

Understanding Your Communication Patterns from 2021-10-29T04:00

There are generally four styles of communication: passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, and assertive. You can guess which one is the best to shoot for. Assertive communication is standing up f...

How We Can Show Validation Through Empathy from 2021-10-27T04:00

The key to validating someone effectively is being able to communicate empathetically. But what is communication, really? Essentially it is the passing of a message between a sender and a recipient...

Diligence Is The Mother Of Good Luck. from 2021-10-25T04:00

Some of the greatest thinkers of human history have shared many similar opinions on how to think. That’s no coincidence, and I’ll trust them, especially when there is a consensus. Clear thinking st...

Making Sense Of Riddles To Become A Better Problem Solver from 2021-10-22T04:00

Though riddles are often framed in relatively simple words, they can be incredibly complex, utilizing many different but important modes of thinking. When faced with a tricky problem, asking yourse...

Choose Compassionate And Careful Language from 2021-10-20T04:00

Lastly, our understanding is only worth something when we can communicate it well. Be careful in the verbal and non-verbal cues you send out. Respect boundaries when they’re asserted and try to rem...

Dealing With Repeat Boundary Offenders from 2021-10-18T04:00

Unfortunately, some people will continue to disrespect your boundaries despite being warned repeatedly. In such cases, you might have to cut contact either temporarily or permanently, even if these...

Two Ways To ID And Deal With Toxic Takers from 2021-10-15T04:00

Boundaries become important very quickly to enforce, both to assert your rights and to defend against those who would seek to take advantage of you. Toxic takers are the epitome of those who would ...

The Gift Of Failing from 2021-10-13T04:00

With a growth mindset, we see failure as the gift it is: an opportunity to learn and prove that we are evolving and changing. Fixed mindsets teach us that failures are something to be scared of, an...

Stanley Milgram’S Electrical Experiment. It's Shocking! from 2021-10-11T04:00

The last way we must struggle to keep an open mind and clarity of thought is in relation to our social influences. The people around us can determine what we think and do, no matter how hard we try...

Language-Based Riddles - Focus Carefully On The Words from 2021-10-08T04:00

This last set consists of language-based riddles - Focus carefully on the words used to form them. In some states, you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. Why not? Like previous rid...

To Get More Creative, Think More Plainly from 2021-10-06T04:00

Understand that the best creative thinking will draw upon different fields and disciplines. What is novel is one discipline is natural and worn in another. One of the best examples of this is Einst...

People Want Positivity - So Says Harvard Researchers! from 2021-10-04T04:00

People want positivity. This might be the surprising part: a positive mood spreads impressively as a result of emotional contagion. People just like being around positive and happy people because i...

Cultivating Empathy In Ourselves from 2021-10-01T04:00

Cultivating empathy in ourselves is something all of us should endeavor to do. There are three main steps to do this. First, we must be open-minded. Second, we must learn to walk in other people’s ...

5 Missteps To Avoid When Setting Boundaries from 2021-09-29T04:00

It is obvious that we will make mistakes in our attempts to build healthy boundaries. However, knowing some of the common ones might help you avoid them. These include being too aggressive, not bei...

Improve Your Storytelling With Inside Jokes And Good Questions from 2021-09-27T04:00

Stories can also be the basis for an inside joke. When you think about it, an inside joke is something that comes up multiple times with the same person and evokes a positive emotion. It’s the same...

The Story Spine - An Outline for Telling Good Stories from 2021-09-24T04:00

The story spine is more or less the formula for every movie that exists. It’s a simple framework that you can use in your everyday stories and conversations, because it teaches you what emotional b...

The Growth Mindset - Whatever We Are Now, We Can Learn To Be Different from 2021-09-22T04:00

We can adopt a growth mindset and engage our conscious will to choose the self and the life we want, rather than passively accept the status quo. We tell ourselves that with the right amount of eff...

Don’t Let Boundary Crossers Off The Hook from 2021-09-20T04:00

The other major aspect is setting consequences and then enforcing them. This is what happens when someone attempts to violate your boundaries after you’ve communicated them. This is can be whatever...

Find Common Ground, Even When That Takes Some Effort. from 2021-09-17T04:00

Suppose that you’re an American who has never really cared much for soccer, but you’re going to be moving to a country in Europe or South America where soccer is a big deal. You might still find th...

Change Yourself—And Only Yourself from 2021-09-15T04:00

Strong and clear boundaries will be one of your best defenses against people-pleasing and the people who would have you do so. However, they can’t exist solely in your head, and they can’t be so fl...

Boundaries, Brick By Brick from 2021-09-13T04:00

Even if we find that we have been less than pleasant in some of our interactions, there are several things we can do to better ourselves. The first and most important step here is to accept and lis...

The 1:1:1 Method - Telling Stories to Further Conversations from 2021-09-10T04:00

The 1:1:1 method of storytelling is to simplify it as much as possible. The impact of a story won’t necessarily be stronger if it is ten sentences versus two sentences. Therefore, the 1:1:1: method...

Take, Borrow, Steal from 2021-09-08T04:00

To get more creative, think more plainly. It sounds counterintuitive, but simple thoughts underlie complex processes and solutions. Thinking more basically allows you to refocus on what matters and...

Labeling. from 2021-09-06T04:00

The last way we must struggle to keep an open mind and clarity of thought is in relation to our social influences. The people around us can determine what we think and do, no matter how hard we try...

Language And Word Riddles from 2021-09-03T04:00

This last set consists of language-based riddles. Focus carefully on the words used to form them. How can you drop a whole, raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?What comes once in a ...

The Block Of Fixed Mindset from 2021-09-01T04:00

A fixed mindset is one where you believe that all of your qualities such as intelligence, motivation levels, your skills, and so on, are all inherently a part of you in pre-decided quantities that ...

Your Role, Your Needs from 2021-08-30T04:00

Sometimes, simply communicating your boundaries to others will not persuade them to stop violating them. In such cases, it might help to ask ourselves some questions regarding this person. Is there...

People Want Similarity And Familiarity from 2021-08-27T04:00

People want allies, emotional support, and friends who will go to bat for them and even defend them. No one likes to feel like they are surrounded by unreliable people, or even perpetual takers. Qu...

Choosing And Enforcing Your Boundaries from 2021-08-25T04:00

Strong and clear boundaries will be one of your best defenses against people-pleasing and the people who would have you do so. However, they can’t exist solely in your head, and they can’t be so fl...

Validation Even In Conflict from 2021-08-23T04:00

Empathy and validation are two very closely linked concepts. Validation is when we convey our acceptance of another person’s experiences and emotions, whereas empathy is when we see the world as th...

Captivating Stories from 2021-08-20T04:00

Captivating people usually refers to telling a story that leaves them listening like children (in a good way). Storytelling is a big topic that is often made overly complex, but there are many ways...

Follow The Evidence from 2021-08-18T04:00

Confirmation bias is also the most prominent way that we fail to simply follow the evidence. If we perform research and keep an open mind, our task is simple: just follow the arrows where they poin...

The SCAMPER Method from 2021-08-16T04:00

The SCAMPER method forces you to think in foreign and novel directions. It stands for (S) substitute, (C) combine, (A) adapt, (M) minimize/magnify, (P) put to another use, (E) eliminate, and (R) re...

Recognizing Abuse from 2021-08-13T04:00

We live in a world where everyone has boundaries, strong or weak. As such, we must be mindful of not only our own boundaries, but also those of the ones around us. If someone has overly rigid bound...

A Man’s Name Is Called... from 2021-08-11T04:00

A man hears his name spoken and is taken away by other men. Later, he dies under the care of others. What happened? Think of the context where this is possible. The answer is a courtroom, where a j...

A Simple Roadmap from 2021-08-09T04:00

In previous chapters, we’ve discussed some of the specific ways of thinking about social interactions that can make them more positive. They’re a bit indirect, and have to do with perception, psych...

Asserting Boundaries from 2021-08-06T04:00

We tend to think being agreeable and accommodating are positive traits. They are, but only to a certain extent. Studies have shown that too much of either conveys a negative impression to others—pr...

Set Up A Default Choice from 2021-08-04T04:00

Indecisiveness comes down to an intolerance of uncertainty, and often to informational overload. In our modern, technologically advanced world, we’re constantly bombarded with an endless set of opt...

Validating Amidst Disagreement from 2021-08-02T04:00

It’s one thing to validate someone when their grievances are aimed at someone else. It’s another thing entirely to do so when you are the source of their frustrations. Another challenging scenario ...

Storytell In Reverse from 2021-07-30T04:00

Second, we learn to tell stories in reverse using the fishbone diagram analysis. This is a powerful tool to deal with the problem of cause and effect and illuminate our thinking to the possibilitie...

Ironic Humor from 2021-07-28T04:00

The final technique is all about dissecting misdirection and how it can lead to big laughs. First, we start with sarcasm and irony. Sarcasm is when you say something you don’t mean in an attempt to...

Battle Confirmation Bias from 2021-07-26T04:00

The most glaring example of this is confirmation bias, wherein we are deaf and blind to evidence that doesn’t support what we think. In other words, we see what we want to see, and we can make a be...

Start With Who You Are from 2021-07-23T04:00

We live in a world where everyone has boundaries, strong or weak. As such, we must be mindful of not only our own boundaries, but also those of the ones around us. If someone has overly rigid bound...

Mystery Weight Loss from 2021-07-21T04:00

A woman goes into a store and piles a shopping cart to the brim with things. She leaves the store without paying, yet nobody stops her or calls the police. Why? Think of situations where one can fi...

How to Avoid Invalidating Others from 2021-07-19T04:00

Some of the most common ways in which we might invalidate others include using undermining language, having judgmental attitudes, trying to fix another person’s problems when they just want to be h...

Process Versus Outcome from 2021-07-16T04:00

Three mental models are specifically suited toward our purpose of practical intelligence and acting within the bounds of common sense. First, we discuss the difference between evaluating a process ...

Misdirection Aplenty from 2021-07-14T04:00

The final technique is all about dissecting misdirection and how it can lead to big laughs. First, we start with sarcasm and irony. Sarcasm is when you say something you don’t mean in an attempt to...

In-Groups from 2021-07-12T04:00

Sometimes humans are painfully predictable. Even without reading the contents of this chapter, you probably could have guessed that humans seek the following elements. We’re all just selfish, hairl...

Why Are People So Closed Minded? from 2021-07-09T04:00

An integral part of crystal-clear thinking is to be open-minded. Being open-minded means to hear evidence or an argument and not make an instant judgment. It means being able to say “I don’t know” ...

The Antidote Of Commitment from 2021-07-07T04:00

Indecisiveness comes down to an intolerance of uncertainty, and often to informational overload. In our modern, technologically advanced world, we’re constantly bombarded with an endless set of opt...

The Basic Steps from 2021-07-05T04:00

Marsha Linehan has come up with a comprehensive, six-step model of validation that we can use when listening to others. Each step in this model relies on the previous one. One can’t jump from step ...

Let's Shoot Some Hoops! from 2021-07-02T04:00

Other methods of saying no include planting preemptive seeds, emphasizing how you are tied to other people and can’t act independently, reflecting and acknowledging, referencing the fact that you c...

Knowing Thyself from 2021-06-30T04:00

Your identity and relationship with boundaries are inextricably linked. Those with poor boundaries often struggle with them because they have never truly reflected upon what it is that they want. O...

The Man, The Car, And The Hotel from 2021-06-28T04:00

I don’t have a voice, but I speak to you. I tell you all the things that people in the world do. I have leaves, but I’m not a tree; I have a spine but am not human. I have hinges but am not a door....

Self-Verification from 2021-06-25T04:00

For every negative trait a person sees in him/herself, the key is for you to be accepting and considerate. Occasionally, you may run across a situation where someone’s self-perception varies vastly...

Information Overload from 2021-06-23T04:00

Indecisiveness comes down to an intolerance of uncertainty, and often to informational overload. In our modern, technologically advanced world, we’re constantly bombarded with an endless set of opt...

Models In Brief from 2021-06-21T04:00

Among the innumerable approaches that exist, we talk about the Pareto Principle (80/20 ratio), thinking about secondary consequences, distinguishing between feeling and thinking, satisficing (satis...

The Comic Triple from 2021-06-18T04:00

One comedy technique that relies on mental imagery is the comic triple. Here, you basically describe something using three adjectives, two positive, and one highly negative, in that order. Alternat...

Validation is One of the Clearest Ways to Say You Care from 2021-06-16T04:00

Many people tend to confuse sympathy, empathy, and validation, and there is indeed significant overlap between the three concepts. However, sympathy is when we see other’s experiences through our o...

Think In Models from 2021-06-14T04:00

One of the best ways to embody practical intelligence is Charlie Munger’s concept of mental models. These are heuristics, or handy rules of thumb, for how to approach situations in smart ways. It’s...

A Tale Of Fish from 2021-06-11T04:00

We end the book right back where we start—with questions. And this is illustrated through the parable of the happiness of fish, as noted by Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi. No one can peer into the mi...

Vivid Imagery from 2021-06-09T00:15

One of the main things that prevents us from being humorous and funny is that we take everything too literally, and we use boring language in doing so. This is a difference in mindset, similar to t...

The Block Of Indecision from 2021-06-07T04:00

Indecisiveness comes down to an intolerance of uncertainty, and often to informational overload. In our modern, technologically advanced world, we’re constantly bombarded with an endless set of opt...

Reciprocity from 2021-06-04T04:00

Reciprocity of liking—a phenomenon in which choosing to like somebody first makes it much more probable that they’ll like you back. The immediate application of this is simple—when you meet somebod...

Why Validation Is So Important from 2021-06-02T04:00

The concept of validation is especially relevant in our present age because of how socially isolated we are as individuals. Validating someone is a way of expressing solidarity with them, and makes...

What’s A Beetle? from 2021-05-31T04:00

Perception can also be shown to be wholly unimportant in the grand scheme of things, as demonstrated by Wittgenstein’s beetle in a box thought experiment. Suppose we have a box of objects that we c...

Beating Cognitive Bias from 2021-05-28T04:00

Three mental models are specifically suited toward our purpose of practical intelligence and acting within the bounds of common sense. First, we discuss the difference between evaluating a process ...

“I Can’t” vs. “I Don’t” from 2021-05-26T04:00

Saying no is one of the toughest situations in everyday life because it is a mini confrontation every single time. But there are many ways to make this part of life smoother and less tense. Start s...

A Simple Pyramid from 2021-05-24T04:00

It is all too easy to fall into the trap of replacing loose boundaries with ones that are overly rigid. We might feel like we are protecting ourselves by erecting a huge emotional wall around us, b...

Branch Out from 2021-05-21T04:00

In a similar vein, learn more, read more, expose yourself to more, and think more. Stop relying on information to passively come to you; proactively learn about what you are interested in. Have int...

A Strange Word from 2021-05-19T04:00

What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? Seemingly contradictory, the answer is the word ... These types of riddles often include the solution within the question itsel...

The Laws Of Logic from 2021-05-17T04:00

Finally, it’s important to understand logical arguments—especially illogical arguments. This is how you determine the truth and validity of what is being said. We hear these every day but may not b...

Go Beyond The Literal from 2021-05-14T04:00

One of the main things that prevents us from being humorous and funny is that we take everything too literally, and we use boring language in doing so. This is a difference in mindset, similar to t...

The Curse Of Comparisons from 2021-05-12T04:00

When we slow down and become curious about why we feel as we do, we can start to reduce, remove and transform negative self-belief into a feeling of self-love and high self-esteem. Other practical ...

Pygmalion from 2021-05-10T04:00

The Pygmalion effect states that if you have an image of a person’s behavior and personality, that’s exactly who they’ll become. Our perception becomes reality, because we can’t help but act accord...

Validation As A Communication Skill from 2021-05-07T04:00

When we validate someone, we convey our acceptance of that person’s experiences, emotions, thoughts, and realities. Conversely, when we invalidate someone, we deny or minimize the importance of the...

The Nature Of Perception from 2021-05-05T04:00

Perception is necessarily unique and individual, because our perception is not just a shared circumstance or setting. Perception comes through the total sum of our experiences, memories, feelings, ...

Four Cognitive Biases To Watch Out For from 2021-05-03T04:00

We practice confirmation bias because, quite simply, it hurts to be wrong. Taking the emotional component out of our “truths” as much as possible and being open-minded about divergent views help us...

Empathetic Assertion from 2021-04-30T04:00

There are better and worse ways of making requests and asking for what you want. In fact, there are seven elements that will help you the most. Don’t fill the silence after your ask, consider the o...

Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Emotional Drain And Loneliness from 2021-04-28T04:00

It is all too easy to fall into the trap of replacing loose boundaries with ones that are overly rigid. We might feel like we are protecting ourselves by erecting a huge emotional wall around us, b...

Looking Inwards from 2021-04-26T04:00

This book is littered with tips and tricks to make small talk less painful and flow more smoothly. It’s been almost all outwardly focused—on the other person, on the interaction, and on what you ca...

Brain Teasers from 2021-04-23T04:00

The following set of riddles exploits the cognitive shortcuts and assumptions our brain makes.  You are in a dark cabin and you have a single match in a matchbox, a candle, a newspaper, and an...

Memories Are Wrong from 2021-04-21T04:00

Your memories are wrong. No matter how real and accurate they sometimes feel, a disturbing fact is that memories and false memories end up being indistinguishable to your brain. Factors as small as...

Instigate A Banter Chain from 2021-04-19T04:00

Our next few tricks rely on the art of misconstruing. The banter chain is the first of these. Banter chains are a series of exchanges that rely on you having misconstrued an ordinary remark as the ...

Psychological Perception from 2021-04-14T04:00

Perception is actually similar to the phenomena we discussed in the previous chapter. You don’t know for sure if it’s true, but you like what you see. That lends credence to the sad truth that we h...

The Man From The Swamp from 2021-04-12T04:00

Each of the thought experiments in this chapter follows the same line of thought. Swamp man asks how you would evaluate the identity of a swamp monster that rises after you are struck dead by light...

Battling Biases from 2021-04-09T04:00

Biases can also come from the two ways in which we organize the limited information we have about the world: schemas and heuristics. They serve to put what we know about the world into action and f...

Passive-Aggressiveness from 2021-04-07T04:00

Passive-aggressive behavior is concealed hostility masquerading as niceness, often with the goal of inducing some type of behavior. This happens when people are too angry to ask for what they want,...

Finding The Balance from 2021-04-05T00:15

It is all too easy to fall into the trap of replacing loose boundaries with ones that are overly rigid. We might feel like we are protecting ourselves by erecting a huge emotional wall around us, b...

A Poison Riddle from 2021-04-02T00:15

Two girls order iced teas at a restaurant. The first girl drinks hers quickly and orders four more, while the other drinks her first one slowly. The teas were poisoned, but only the second girl die...

Post-Purchase Rationalization from 2021-03-31T00:15

Say you’re shopping for home theatre equipment. You go to a showroom and see a couple different models. One’s extremely expensive, features a lot of bells and whistles, and takes up a lot of space....

The Witty Comeback Machine from 2021-03-29T00:15

This chapter will teach you how to be a witty comeback machine. If you’re the kind of person who thinks of smart replies twenty minutes after a conversation ends, the techniques laid out here will ...

They Should Have Known from 2021-03-26T00:15

We also wait for people to take action because of the symbolic value we assign to things. We believe other people’s symbolic value matches ours, which should inform their actions. But this is again...

How to Change Your Self-Defeating Narratives from 2021-03-24T00:15

We can change our core beliefs by slowly reworking our self-narratives. We can do this by accepting our negative emotions with self-compassion and curiosity before we gently rewrite our stories. Av...

Helpful Acronyms from 2021-03-22T00:15

Finally, in case all else escapes your mind, there are three incredibly helpful acronyms that can assist you in never running out of things to say on the fly. These are: HPM, SBR, and EDR. HPM stan...

Plank by Plank from 2021-03-19T00:15

Existence and identity are deep topics. One is reminded of Descartes’ immortal declaration of “I think, therefore I am.” In a way, that’s where we are headed in this chapter. The concept of persona...

Watch Yourself from 2021-03-17T00:15

This chapter has a tall task—to get you to think about your thinking. When we’re not engaging in what is known as metacognition, it’s easy to veer off the path of clear thought. You must become awa...

The Correct Frame from 2021-03-15T00:15

Frames are a different way to imagine listening styles. Frames are much more fluid, and simply ask you to consider what someone’s overall goals or the purpose for the interaction is. What is theirs...

Cognitive Biases from 2021-03-12T00:15

Your perception is biased. How you understand the world around you is probably biased because of how the brain jumps to conclusions. These types of jumps are called cognitive biases. They seek to c...

Self Assessing from 2021-03-10T00:15

There are many different reasons why so many of us have poor boundaries, to begin with. One of the most common ones is suffering from childhood trauma, as this is where beliefs are formulated and s...

The Block of Self-Doubt from 2021-03-08T00:15

The mental block of self-doubt can show up in the form of imposter syndrome, where we choose to listen to our negative self-belief rather than the objective evidence of our success. We could be the...

Warmth and Confidence from 2021-03-05T00:15

We haven’t, however, looked into what is really the glue that binds people to you. When it comes down to it, what are the things that really make a person likable? Think about the people you have k...

More Complex Riddles from 2021-03-03T00:15

Analytical riddles are more challenging than situational ones because instead of shifting perspectives, they require you to carefully analyze information to arrive at conclusions. This is the class...

Where Did This Come From? from 2021-03-01T00:15

Children who don’t have control over their own bodies, personal space, emotions, or behavior may understandably feel confused and worthless, maybe even learning that they don’t deserve to fight for...

How to Ask For and Get What You Want from 2021-02-26T00:15

How do you ask for what you want? Well, you already know how. But we don’t for various reasons, the first of which is that they should have known. They should have been able to read our minds and u...

What is Half of Half? from 2021-02-24T00:15

Finally, what’s half of half? 25 percent. What’s half of that? 12.5 percent. What happens when you get to infinitesimal numbers? Do you ever reach zero? Nope. But is that reflective of reality? Nop...

Think On Your Feet from 2021-02-22T00:15

Sometimes, despite knowing full well that we must create motion, we are unable to do it. Sometimes our minds go blank. The next couple of sections deal with this specifically—how can you think more...

Perspective Isn't Reality from 2021-02-19T00:15

Your perspective isn’t reality. It represents your subjective and unique worldview, but it’s not objective, it’s not reality, and it is destined to be skewed in terms of your experiences. Some of t...

People, Emotion, and Heart from 2021-02-17T00:15

Let’s suppose you’re trying to learn how to play the guitar. You’re right-handed, but you’ve accidentally gone and bought a guitar for left-handers. This is not a recipe for success. That’s how we ...

Intentional Thinking in Four Steps from 2021-02-15T00:15

Throughout this book, we’ll use the formula “uncover, remove, reduce, and transform” to address these mental blocks and develop intentional thinking. We can tackle mental blocks by uncovering their...

A Important Definition from 2021-02-12T00:15

Asserting your boundaries can be a frightening and scary prospect, especially for those of us who have never done so before. We may be afraid of conflict, or terrified at the possibility of being d...

More Situational Riddles from 2021-02-10T00:15

A man in an open field lies dead with an unopened package next to him. No animal or human is around him. How did he die? A woman gives birth to two sons born in the same hour of the same day. But ...

Social Sensitivity from 2021-02-08T00:15

Studies have shown that the following four traits are desirable, attractive, and place people high in social hierarchies: dominance, prestige, warmth, and competence. The studies (one found dominan...

The F.O.G. of Emotional Blackmail from 2021-02-05T00:15

Emotional blackmail is the dynamic that most frequently occurs to make you let things slide when you really shouldn’t. Even if there don’t appear to be forms of emotional blackmail (if you don’t do...

A Touch of Witty Banter from 2021-02-03T00:15

If you’re the kind of person who thinks of smart replies twenty minutes after a conversation ends, the techniques laid out here will help you come up with them much quicker. It’s a matter of thinki...

Shakespeare, I Presume? from 2021-02-01T00:15

The infinite monkey theorem is just that—what happens when you put an infinite amount of monkeys into a room with typewriters? Well, the law of big numbers and probabilities dictate that eventually...

Joseph Campbell, You're My Hero (Story) from 2021-01-29T00:15

How can you keep conversation, small talk especially, flowing smoothly when you don’t feel like you have anything to talk about? This is a challenge even with good friends sometimes. Most of the ti...

(Don’t) Trust Your Instincts from 2021-01-27T00:15

Your brain, instincts, gut feelings, emotions, and hunches are all liars. They aren’t doing it on purpose, but they inherently function by jumping to conclusions, saving time, conserving energy, an...

All Hail Conan - O'Brien, not the Barbarian from 2021-01-25T00:15

For a role model on how to draw information out of people, look no further than late-night talk-show hosts. Their sole job is to make a celebrity, often no funnier than you or I, appear immensely c...

Fast Fashion - Good Economics or Exploitative? from 2021-01-22T00:15

Imagine you’re at a get-together of friends and are introduced to someone new, and you strike up a conversation with them. You compliment them on their cool shirt, and they tell you how surprisingl...

An Example of Intentional Thinking from 2021-01-20T00:15

Intentional thinking is the conscious, willful control of your own thought processes so that you can actively direct your own life toward success. By thinking intentionally, you determine your own ...

Setting Up Personal Boundaries from 2021-01-18T00:15

Personal boundaries are limits we place for ourselves and others in our interactions with others. They define the kinds of behavior that we are both comfortable and not comfortable with. However, ...

A Man Walks Into a Bar... from 2021-01-15T00:15

Situational riddles are those that involve some bizarre circumstances that have taken place. Your job is to account for or explain why the situation materialized in that particular way by challengi...

Popularity, Motivation, and Success from 2021-01-13T00:15

Our first dive into the finer points of social intelligence is all about how to be more likable and popular. If you think about this question in the context of evolution, you might assume it has to...

BLUE Your Thoughts from 2021-01-11T00:15

This abbreviated version of cognitive behavioral therapy is effective—changing your thoughts by pointing out inaccuracies and correcting them. This is known as the BLUE process: “B” stands for...

You Wanna Try Some Role Play? from 2021-01-08T00:15

Instant role-playing is a technique that you can fall back on. This is perhaps one of the easiest tricks mentioned so far. The trick generally involves both of you taking up some generic roles and ...

The One About Infinity from 2021-01-06T00:15

The infinite is one of the most confusing concepts to grasp. The truth is, in reality, things beyond a certain point of frequency or amount (even money) cease to hold any meaning for us. We just ca...

Better Answers Come From Better Questions from 2021-01-04T00:15

Of course, the tried and true way of directly getting deeper with people is to ask better questions. The simple truth is that most questions we use are surface level, and thus will only return surf...

Where Were You on 9/11? Are You Sure? from 2021-01-01T00:15

Social Skills Coaching by Patrick King - a Newton Media Group production. It's December 2020. This is Russell from Newton Media Group and Patrick King and I are going to take a little break from th...

The Eisenhower Matrix from 2020-12-30T00:15

Social Skills Coaching by Patrick King - a Newton Media Group production. It's December 2020. This is Russell from Newton Media Group and Patrick King and I are going to take a little break from th...

Brain 101 from 2020-12-28T00:15

Social Skills Coaching by Patrick King - a Newton Media Group production. It's December 2020. This is Russell from Newton Media Group and Patrick King and I are going to take a little break from th...

Nietzsche's Concept of Will to Power from 2020-12-25T00:15

Social Skills Coaching by Patrick King - a Newton Media Group production. It's December 2020. This is Russell from Newton Media Group and Patrick King and I are going to take a little break from th...

Problem v Solution Mindset from 2020-12-23T00:15

Social Skills Coaching by Patrick King - a Newton Media Group production. It's December 2020. This is Russell from Newton Media Group and Patrick King and I are going to take a little break from th...

Adapt and Grow from 2020-12-21T00:15

Social Skills Coaching by Patrick King - a Newton Media Group production. It's December 2020. This is Russell from Newton Media Group and Patrick King and I are going to take a little break from th...

Fill in the Blank - Opinions Are Like __________ from 2020-12-18T00:15

Having an opinion is something we all do, but we must recognize that we often do it based on insufficient information and questionable evidence. An opinion is one thing, while forming a well-founde...

But, They're Boring! from 2020-12-16T00:15

A conscious obstacle many people face is the feeling that the people they interact with are quite boring and have nothing worthwhile to say; thus, listening to them is not a good use of their time....

Are You Skeptical or Cynical? from 2020-12-14T00:15

One methodical way to seek truth and simulate curiosity is by embracing skepticism. No, it’s not about being cynical or simply refusing to believe what people tell you. Rather, it’s refusing to bli...

Who Is In Control? from 2020-12-11T00:15

Intentional thinking is the conscious, willful control of your own thought processes so that you can actively direct your own life toward success. By thinking intentionally, you determine your own ...

You Are Important and Deserve to Be Respected from 2020-12-09T00:15

There are several different types of boundaries that one can have. These include physical, emotional, spiritual, sexual, digital, time, and even energy boundaries. All of these various categories, ...

A complete problem-solving strategy from 2020-12-07T00:15

 The first step is to identify the specifics of the problem you’re faced with. Following that, you need to evaluate the quality of the information available through research. Identify any bias...

There Are Limits to Socializing from 2020-12-04T00:15

It has been hypothesized that the upper limit for our network we can keep in our minds is roughly 150 people, and this also springs from evolutionary patterns of behaviors. Before humans domesticat...

Toxic Beliefs That Hinder Your Assertivness from 2020-12-02T00:15

Too often, we feel like we must “let things go” for one reason or another. Are these reasons real or imagined? Important or irrelevant? Sometimes they appear important because of emotional blackmai...

Fallback Stories from 2020-11-30T00:15

If a conversation seems to be dying out or droning along, you might want to have some fallback stories to reinvigorate your interaction. These are extremely short incidents that you can narrate to ...

Loss of Control from 2020-11-27T00:15

Next, we have Descartes’ demon problem. This can be said to go a step farther, as it assumes that it’s possible (a non-zero chance, to be sure) that a demon is possessing you and causing you to rea...

The Listening Mindset from 2020-11-25T00:15

Sometimes people will lower their guards without even intending to if they find a kind ear that’s willing to listen intently and let them voice their inner thoughts. Listening is a skill that shoul...

What Prevents Clear Thinking? from 2020-11-23T00:15

Along with the ego, there are a few notable obstacles to pursuing truth and clarity of thought. They are intellectual laziness (I can’t be bothered to understand or research this, so I will accept ...

Unconscious Obstacles from 2020-11-20T00:15

There are many unconscious ways we wrest control over a conversation and become a conversational narcissist. This is simply when someone speaks so much that it appears to be a monologue versus a sh...

Boundaries Affirm Your Self from 2020-11-16T00:15

There are several different types of boundaries that one can have. These include physical, emotional, spiritual, sexual, digital, time, and even energy boundaries. All of these various categories, ...

Creativity and Divergent Thinking from 2020-11-13T00:15

The most important tool that helps solve riddles is divergent thinking. This form of thinking demands that you survey and analyze all possible solutions to any given problem. In its opposite, conve...

The Social Brain Hypothesis from 2020-11-11T00:15

The social brain hypothesis states that human brains evolved and became bigger in order to be more social, not the other way around. Furthermore, the theory states that increasing the capacity for ...

Your Personal Bill of Rights from 2020-11-09T00:15

Write the personal bill of rights down and post it on a wall in your room. These are rights, not privileges or luxuries. It’s easy to forget until someone snaps you out of it. Right from the outset...

Ferris Bueller, Jim Halpert, and Francis Underwood from 2020-11-06T00:15

The fourth wall is a term in television, movies, and plays where the character steps out of his role and addresses the audience directly. Think of it as an actor being surrounded by three walls on ...

Black Swans and The Matrix from 2020-11-04T00:15

Next, we delve into a thought experiment that you are already familiar with. It’s called the brain in a vat experiment, and it closely mirrors (or rather, the other way around) the premise for the ...

The Oldest Trick in the Book from 2020-11-02T00:15

Certainly one of the easiest ways to get into someone’s good graces is to compliment quickly and freely. This is ground zero for flattery and making people light up with a smile. If you think about...

Ego and Intellectual (Dis)Honesty from 2020-10-30T00:15

One of clear thinking’s biggest opponents is the ego. This is when an argument, stance, or opinion is supported not by evidence, but by pride, the need to be right, and the desire to avoid shame an...

One Mouth, Two Ears from 2020-10-28T00:15

We’ve all got two ears but only one mouth, right? This means we should do about double the listening versus speaking, but the truth is doing so goes against our natural instinct. We are wired to ex...

Look Beneath the Surface from 2020-10-26T00:15

Practical intelligence is another way of saying common sense, but we all know that common sense truly is not so common. One of the key lessons to learn with practical intelligence is that nothing i...

Protect Yourself and Take Back Control from 2020-10-23T00:15

A boundary is a line between us as individuals and the rest of the world. Inside of this boundary lies everything related to ourselves, things that are relevant to us and that are under our control...

Intellectual Honesty from 2020-10-21T00:15

If you reflect for a second, clear thinking is not usually the goal we have in mind. We are usually after a combination of quick, simple, or easy thinking. However, none of those things are particu...

What Am I? from 2020-10-19T00:15

Riddles are phrases or questions framed in the form of puzzles that require all types of thinking to deduce its answer or some double meaning underlying its words. They employ several different pat...

The Social Animal from 2020-10-14T00:15

Social intelligence is about how to fit in, charm people, and allow socializing to help rather than hinder you in achieving your goals. Luckily, there are fairly predictable ways to do this, and th...

The Balance of Assertiveness from 2020-10-12T00:15

Assertiveness requires a delicate balance, especially if you are new to it. You may have started as too passive, but take care to not swing into the aggressive territory where you are robbing other...

The Nature of Uncertainty from 2020-10-09T00:15

Uncertainty is a very uncomfortable concept to wrap our minds around. The human brain highly prefers a concrete answer, thought, or even guess. It’s why we jump to conclusions and prioritize speed ...

Inside Stories from 2020-10-07T00:15

Stories can be the basis for an inside joke - something that comes up multiple times with the same person and evokes a positive emotion. It’s the same topic brought up in a different context. Thus,...

Double Explanations and Better Compliments from 2020-10-05T00:15

Regardless of who you’re talking to, you’re likely to be asked the same set of generic questions. These include what do you do, how was your day, and others like these. You’ll want to have two sepa...

The Runaway Trolley from 2020-10-02T00:15

A prime example of mulling around solutions and perspectives for which a million variables exist is the Trolley Problem. Would you rather allow one person to die or five? This is a classic thought ...

The Story Spine from 2020-09-30T00:15

The story spine is more or less the formula for every movie that exists. It’s a simple framework that you can use in your everyday stories and conversations, because it teaches you what emotional b...

Free Association from 2020-09-28T00:15

If your mind goes blank, use a technique called free association to generate a response. These are words that immediately come to mind upon hearing something. For example, if someone talks about ca...

Shut Your Mouth from 2020-09-25T00:15

Recent research on the topic of social jerks by Janina Steinmetz suggests that many of us perform several actions that make us look like a jerk deliberately due to a mistaken belief that it makes u...

How To Be Captivating from 2020-09-23T00:15

Captivating people usually refers to telling a story that leaves them listening like children (in a good way). Storytelling is a big topic that is often made overly complex, but there are many ways...

Think Before You React from 2020-09-21T00:15

Reactions are important. People say and do things for a reason, and it’s usually to get a reaction. This step is deceptively simple yet difficult. Pay attention to other people and ask yourself wha...

Open the Door! Belief Police!!! from 2020-09-18T00:15

The SCAMPER method from Bob Eberle stands for seven techniques that help direct thinking toward innovative ideas and solutions: (S) substitute, (C) combine, (A) adapt, (M) minimize/magnify, (P) put...

Manufacture Connection from 2020-09-16T00:15

Sometimes people either aren’t willing to engage or not good at opening up themselves. You can blast past this by using forms of elicitation, in which you put forth a topic or question in a way tha...

Flow Like a River from 2020-09-14T07:00

You know those people who always have something clever or witty to say? Ever wonder how they cultivated this seemingly magical quality? If you have, know that being witty is much easier than you mi...

Reform Yourself Part I - Safe Harbor from 2020-09-11T00:15

The first and foremost aspect about reforming your toxic habits is to realize that you might actually be making people feel unsafe and uncomfortable yourself.
That is a startling realization, b...

Make the First Move from 2020-09-09T00:15

What determines whether you hit it off with someone? It’s not circumstantial; rather, it’s a matter of you taking charge and setting the tone to be friendly and open. Most people treat others like ...

Overt and Covert Communication from 2020-09-06T20:04

Communication can be divided into two categories: overt and covert. Overt is the words we say and the explicit messages we want to convey. This is when we directly tell someone that we’re hungry an...

Emotional Intelligence from 2020-09-03T19:00

Emotional intelligence is the other aspect of self-awareness, and it is more or less understanding emotions—first of yourself and secondly of others. Daniel Goleman’s conception of emotional intell...

First Impressions, and How to Make Yours Better from 2020-09-02T00:30

What determines whether you hit it off with someone? It’s not circumstantial; rather, it’s a matter of you taking charge and setting the tone to be friendly and open. Most people treat others like ...

Gossip, Chitchat and Communication from 2020-08-30T19:00

Gossip can serve a purpose, such as discussing important matters of food, shelter, and the well-being of the group or tribe. It can also serve no purpose at all and simply act to familiarize people...

Self-Awareness and The Johari Window from 2020-08-28T00:30

Self-awareness involves thinking about yourself, other people, and all the messages and emotions that are being transmitted. It’s not easy, and it’s certainly not a skill or habit most of us use. B...

A Childlike Experience from 2020-08-26T07:30

Physically, you should seek to warm up by reading out loud before socializing and making sure you exaggerate emotional expressiveness and variation. Read a passage out loud three times and notice t...

Benign Moral Violations. You Know - Toilet Humor... from 2020-08-23T20:01

Crude/crass humor is extremely universal and effective. Specifically, these are called benign moral violations—basically something that is wrong to laugh at but harmless overall. These things are s...

Your Turn! Finally... from 2020-08-20T19:00

When it comes to actual conversations, the value of digging deep can’t be overstated. Digging deep is really the act of forging friendships and building deeper relationships. This is how you move p...

Ugh! Small Talk... from 2020-08-18T19:00

We are a social species, and multiple studies confirm this. Lack of social interaction itself is harmful, and for our purposes, lack of substantive social interaction is no better. Gaining the abil...

Charisma, Quick Wit, and Humor from 2020-08-16T19:00

Charisma and a sense of humor are two pillars of the quality of likability. Often, when we say someone is likable, these traits are what we are referring to; studies have shown that they come about...

Six Steps of Validation from 2020-08-13T19:05

There’s more to do with people skills before we ever open our mouths. It’s about listening and validation, which are somewhat lost arts. Simply put, are you listening in your interactions, or are y...

Understand the Present by Interpreting the Past from 2020-08-11T19:00

Think Like a Psychologist is about working backward from the person in front of you. You will learn to draw conclusions about people’s emotions, behavior, past experiences, and overall personality ...

Sharing, and Getting Others to Share from 2020-08-09T18:25

Talking to some people is like pulling teeth with how little they give you. This is where the practice of elicitation comes in. Elicitation is the art of soliciting information through indirect mea...

Turning the Obstacle Upside Down from 2020-08-06T19:00

This means our happiness depends on our perception and judgment of external events. In fact, all events are neutral, and we only assign them value due to our perceptions. We actively prevent oursel...

Salvaging a Social Situation from 2020-08-02T19:00

A tangent to being likable is not being stereotyped or judged in a negative way. Sometimes, avoiding a bad impression is the best that we can do in certain situations or with certain people. That’s...

Active Listening from 2020-07-30T20:07

The five stages of listening are ignoring, pretend listening, selective listening, attentive listening, and empathetic listening. Most of us are stuck in the first three levels. Some of us might re...

What Motivates You? from 2020-07-28T21:22

You may not be able to read people’s minds, but armed with knowledge about behavioral tendencies, developmental psychology, motivation and personality theories, and nature versus nurture, you will ...

Frenemies - Convert Enemies into Friends from 2020-07-26T18:48

The Benjamin Franklin effect is where you ask someone else to perform a favor for you, and surprisingly, this makes them like you more. This goes against the conventional view that doing things for...

Stoicism: The Disciplines of Desire, Action, and Assent. from 2020-07-23T19:57

Stoicism has been around in many forms, but the most widespread and modern version comes from Marcus Aurelius, the famous philosopher king of the Roman Empire. It is a direct philosophy on how to l...

Stories & the Inner Dialogue from 2020-07-22T05:00

You may not be able to read people’s minds, but armed with knowledge about behavioral tendencies, developmental psychology, motivation and personality theories, and nature versus nurture, you will ...

One Ratio to Rule Them All from 2020-07-19T16:39

Despite our best efforts, we are usually unable to separate a statement’s impact from the source. This is known as shooting the messenger, and we are usually guilty of it, both anecdotally and as f...

Confucius and the Five Relationships from 2020-07-16T19:18

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10-Minute Philosophy: From Buddhism to Stoicism, Confucius and Aristotle - Bite-Sized Wisdom From Some...

To "Know One's Self," Just Ask! from 2020-07-14T20:24

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Think Like a Psychologist: How to Analyze Emotions, Read Body Language and Behavior, Understand Motiva...

How to Make People Lower Their Guards from 2020-07-13T07:00

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Descartes' Meditations from 2020-07-09T20:31

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10-Minute Philosophy: From Buddhism to Stoicism, Confucius and Aristotle - Bite-Sized Wisdom From Some...

Self-Motivation from 2020-07-07T20:00

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Think Like a Psychologist: How to Analyze Emotions, Read Body Language and Behavior, Understand Motiva...

How To Be Trustworthy from 2020-07-05T21:09

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Descartes and Seeking Absolute Truth from 2020-07-02T19:39

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10-Minute Philosophy: From Buddhism to Stoicism, Confucius and Aristotle - Bite-Sized Wisdom From Some...

Emotional Cues from 2020-06-30T20:28

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Think Like a Psychologist: How to Analyze Emotions, Read Body Language and Behavior, Understand Motiva...

Friendship and Trust Increase with Interaction from 2020-06-26T01:04

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How Does This Knowledge Help Us? from 2020-06-24T02:00

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(In)Validating Responses from 2020-06-21T22:47:12

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The Chemistry of Friendship from 2020-06-19T01:27:24

Understand what makes people tick, and strategically give it to them. There are seminal studies from (in)famous researchers such as Sigmund Freud, Ivan Pavlov, Stanley Schachter, and Daniel Gole...

Expansive and Akimbo, or Wringing and Rubbing? from 2020-06-17T15:32:37

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Moving From Passive Apathy to Active Listening from 2020-06-14T23:00:50

Learn how to adapt, win people over, and handle just about any social situation. Your qualifications and intelligence aren’t what will move you forward in life. People skills (soft skills, inter...

Let's Get Physical - I Wanna See Your Bodytalk from 2020-06-12T11:05:59

Think Like a Psychologist is about working backward from the person in front of you. You will learn to draw conclusions about people’s emotions, behavior, past experiences, and overall personali...

Descartes Thought, Therefore He Was from 2020-06-10T10:40:44

Classic ideas and ancient concepts are broken down for the modern age. A non-academic approach to better living and greater happiness. Philosophy doesn’t have to be pointless and boring. If we c...

Expect More From Your Friends. They May Deliver! from 2020-06-07T23:59

Being likable unlocks the doors to everything you want in life. A better career? You better believe that the people with the most promotions and highest salaries aren't just the most qualified. ...

Can You Hide Your True Intentions and Feelings? from 2020-06-04T23:16:14

You may not be able to read people’s minds but armed with knowledge about behavioral tendencies, developmental psychology, motivation and personality theories, and nature versus nurture, you wil...

What? Yeah, I'm Listening... from 2020-06-03T00:45:14

Understand people's psychological drives. Improve Your People Skills is a book of action that allows you to truly understand others and speak their language, no matter what it is. It will fundam...

Buddha and the Eight-Fold Path from 2020-06-01T00:39:01

10-Minute Philosophy is your quick introduction to philosophy - 6 of the most influential philosophies in history, to be exact. You’ll get a taste of the complexities, but walk away with real, p...

Act the Part of a Close Friend from 2020-05-29T03:00

100% scientifically-proven ways to make friends quickly, turn enemies into friends, gain trust, and be flat-out likable. Utilize the most interesting, shocking, and counterintuitive findings in ...

Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, Rational - Which Keirsey Temperament Are You? from 2020-05-27T00:33:47

You may not be able to read people’s minds, but armed with knowledge about behavioral tendencies, developmental psychology, motivation and personality theories, and nature versus nurture, you wi...

Listen, Validate, and Make Others Feel Safe from 2020-05-22T00:32:15

People skills open the doors for your life in a way that literally nothing else can. The world is not a meritocracy – a startling realization for most, but a happy epiphany for those with people...

Buddhism and the Elimination of Attachment from 2020-05-20T00:36:57

10-Minute Philosophy is your quick introduction to philosophy - 6 of the most influential philosophies in history, to be exact. You’ll get a taste of the complexities, but walk away with real, p...

Like Attracts Like, In Relationships Just as in Science from 2020-05-17T23:36:05

You can get a new haircut and wardrobe, and you even learn knock-knock jokes. But likability is something more. It's subconscious, and it's about the small signs that signal our brains to let th...

Jung and the MBTI from 2020-05-15T01:38:45

Think Like a Psychologist: How to Analyze Emotions, Read Body Language and Behavior, Understand Motivations, and Decipher Intentions By: Patrick King Think Like a Psychologist is about working b...

Walk a Mile for Empathy from 2020-05-13T10:41:15

Improve Your People Skills: How to Connect With Anyone, Communicate Effectively, Develop Deep Relationships, and Become a People Person (How to be More Likable and Charismatic Book 2)

Virtues or Vices: The Choice Is Yours. from 2020-05-10T23:27:25

Aristotle possessed the belief that virtue (and thus eudaemonia) would spring from moderation of 11 specific traits, which again are right at the midpoint between excess and deficiency. The firs...

Do You Have High-Value Friends? Are You One? from 2020-05-08T00:46:58

100% scientifically-proven ways to make friends quickly, turn enemies into friends, gain trust, and be flat-out likable. Utilize the most interesting, shocking, and counterintuitive findings in ...

MBTI, The Big Five, and KTS: You Can't Cram for These Tests! from 2020-05-06T00:32:37

Think Like a Psychologist: How to Analyze Emotions, Read Body Language and Behavior, Understand Motivations, and Decipher Intentions By: Patrick King Think Like a Psychologist is about working b...

Curiosity - Bad for Cats, Good for You from 2020-05-03T23:52

Improve Your People Skills: How to Connect With Anyone, Communicate Effectively, Develop Deep Relationships, and Become a People Person (How to be More Likable and Charismatic Book 2) 

Vizzini Was Wrong: Aristotle Was Not a Moron. from 2020-05-02T00:12:41

10-Minute Philosophy: ?From Buddhism to Stoicism, Confucius and Aristotle - Bite-Sized Wisdom From Some of History’s Greatest Thinkers Feeling lost or looking for more? Why not borrow from thous...

Positive or Unpleasant: Which Will You Be? from 2020-04-30T01:38:39

100% scientifically-proven ways to make friends quickly, turn enemies into friends, gain trust, and be flat-out likable. Utilize the most interesting, shocking, and counterintuitive findings in ...

"How Does That Make You Feel?" asked the Austrian Doctor... from 2020-04-28T00:37:36

How to Analyze Emotions, Read Body Language and Behavior, Understand Motivations, and Decipher Intentions

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Have You Met Clever Hans? from 2020-04-25T00:59:14

Improve Your People Skills is a book of action that allows you to truly understand others and speak their language, no matter what it is. It will fundamentally change you...

How Did You Answer the Trolley Dilemma? from 2020-04-23T01:00:25

10-Minute Philosophy:  From Buddhism to Stoicism, Confucius and Aristotle - Bite-Sized Wisdom From Some of History’s Greatest Thinkers

By Patrick King

Make Yourself Likable, Trustworthy, and Intelligent from 2020-04-21T00:34:49

100% scientifically-proven ways to make friends quickly, turn enemies into friends, gain trust, and be flat-out likable. Utilize the most interesting, shocking, and counterintuitive findings in ...

Think Like a Psychologist from 2020-04-18T00:03:48

How to Analyze Emotions, Read Body Language and Behavior, Understand Motivations, and Decipher Intentions

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Learn how to adapt, win people over, and handle just about any social situation. from 2020-04-15T23:36:08

Improve Your People Skills: How to Connect With Anyone, Communicate Effectively, Develop Deep Relationships, and Become a People Person (How to be More Likable and Charismatic Book 2) 

10-Minute Philosophy from 2020-04-14T00:10:11

From Buddhism to Stoicism, Confucius and Aristotle - Bite-Sized Wisdom From Some of History’s Greatest Thinkers

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Ego vs. Task Orientation from 2020-04-09T00:09:50

Many of us will inevitably fall prey to ego orientation, which is when we are overly focused on comparisons, outside perceptions, and ultimately what others think about us regarding the performa...

Beating Procrastination from 2020-04-08T00:20:53

Many great ideas go unexecuted, and many great executioners are without ideas. One without the other is worthless. - Tim Blixseth

You may not have realized how deeply it has seeped in...

You Say Multitask Like It's Good Thing from 2020-04-05T01:18:40

It should be clear why these methods of focusing are successful at battling your short attention span.

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Bundle Temptations & Improve Your Environment from 2020-04-01T23:48:16

Author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, known for the book Flow, calls this general approach for environment changing one’s activation energy—the less activation energy required to make good decisions a...

Maximize Momentum from 2020-03-28T00:23:59

Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but don't quit. - Conrad Hilton

This is the chapter that assumes you can now occasionally ...

Learn to distinguish between urgent and important tasks from 2020-03-26T22:48:36

One matters, while the other only appears to because it may have more time constraints. But urgency by itself doesn’t denote any kind of priority. To master the difference, try using the Eisenho...

Solution Versus Problem Mindset from 2020-03-25T23:57:47

The fixed mindset says that intelligence, talent, ability, and performance are all firmly determined from cradle to grave—they can’t change or grow. You are what you are, and if you don’t have s...

The Take-Action Mindset from 2020-03-25T00:12:10

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We’ve talked about the various ways that you can be gal...

Limit Consumption to Increase Productivity from 2020-03-24T00:01:55

Consuming information is almost always seen as a net positive. It’s what we believe underlies being educated and intelligent, and reading in particular is seen as superior to more passive forms ...

Err on the Side of Action from 2020-03-21T00:00

You may have heard of what’s known as the fight or flight response. This is when we interpret a stimulus in the world to be dangerous, which ratchets up our adrenaline and alertness and readies ...

The best way to predict the future is to create it. from 2020-03-19T23:40:09

One of the (many) problems with a lifetime of not taking action is that your first instinct will be to freeze. You may feel that it’s safer to maintain the status quo instead of making a move, o...

You Can’t Think and Do at the Same Time from 2020-03-19T00:24:29

Perhaps for the brain, a lack of action is truly the safest way to live, but it ignores that doing is the only thing we are measured by in this world. Your overactive mind will hold you back fro...

Stop Overthinking from 2020-03-18T00:39:38

Act or accept. - Anonymous

In light of the theme of this book, I opted to skip the introduction and get right to the meat of the matter so you can, of course, take action more rapidly...

Take Rapid Action from 2020-03-05T02:00:16

Practical, psychological methods to turn your thoughts into reality, instead of endless avoidance and laziness.

Transform from struggling with getting off your butt, ...