Wisdom Journal
Applied Psychology
From The Expectation Effect, by David Robson:
Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing.
Wishful Seeing is psychologists’ term for our brain’s ability to create what we want to see or want to believe.
"Those who saw anxiety as a source of energy—agreeing with statements such as 'Feeling somewhat anxious makes me more active in problem solving'—were much less likely to suffer from emotional exhaustion than those who viewed it as a sign of weakness or a threat to their performance.
...the aim is to change your interpretation of anxiety rather than suppressing the feeling itself. That’s a vital distinction, since attempts to avoid or ignore our feelings often reinforce uncomfortable emotions and add to their stigma....the simple point to remember is that those responses are not a sign of weakness and should actually help you to perform at your best and to grow in the future."
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From Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman:
"Cognition is embodied. You think with your body, not only with your brain."
“This is the essence of intuitive heuristics: when faced with a difficult question, we often answer an easier one instead, usually without noticing the substitution.”
“Nothing in life is as important as you think it is, while you are thinking about it.”
“We are prone to overestimate how much we understand about the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events.”
“A general 'law of least effort' applies to cognitive as well as physical exertion. The law asserts that if there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will eventually gravitate to the least demanding course of action. In the economy of action, effort is a cost, and the acquisition of skill is driven by the balance of benefits and costs. Laziness is built deep into our nature.”
“We can be blind to the obvious, and we can be blind to our blindness.”
“The easiest way to increase happiness is to control your use of time. Can you find more time to do the things you enjoy doing?”
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From Think Again, by Adam Grant:
"When people reflect on what it takes to be mentally fit, the first idea that comes to mind is usually intelligence.....Yet in a turbulent world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and learn."
We need to develop the habit of forming our own second opinions.
"When people ignore advice, it isn't always because they disagree with it. Sometimes they're resisting the sense of pressure and the feeling that someone else is controlling their decision. To protect their freedom, instead of giving commands or offering recommendations, a motivational interviewer might say something along the lines of ‘Here are a few things that have helped me - do you think any of them might work for you?’"
"At work and in life, the best we can do is plan for what we want to learn and contribute over the next year or two, and stay open to what might come next. To adapt an analogy from E.L. Doctorow, ‘writing out a plan for your life 'is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.'"
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From The Body Keeps The Score, by Bessel Van Der Kolk:
“We all have ‘parts’: Parts are not just feelings but distinct ways of being, with their own beliefs, agendas, and roles in the overall ecology of our lives. How well we get along with ourselves depends largely on our internal leadership skills—how well we listen to our different parts, make sure they feel taken care of, and keep them from sabotaging one another. Parts often come across as absolutes when in fact they represent only one element in a complex constellation of thoughts, emotions, and sensations... Modern neuroscience has confirmed this notion of the mind as a kind of society.”
“The rider and the horse: The neuroscientist Paul MacLean ... compared the relationship between the rational brain and the emotional brain to that between a more or less competent rider and his unruly horse. As long as the weather is calm and the path is smooth, the rider can feel in excellent control. But unexpected sounds or threats from other animals can make the horse bolt, forcing the rider to hold on for dear life. Likewise, when people feel that their survival is at stake or they are seized by rages, longings, fear, or sexual desires, they stop listening to the voice of reason, and it makes little sense to argue with them. Whenever the limbic system decides that something is a question of life or death, the pathways between the frontal lobes and the limbic system become extremely tenuous."