Improve Every Day

Have you ever admired those successful people who seem to "have it all"? Their success boils down to their more skillful way of dealing with fellow human beings.

Today I'll be sharing five techniques from a great book on communication techniques: "How to talk to anyone" by Leil Lowndes.

1. The flooding smile

2. Sticky eyes

3. Limit the fidget

4. Parroting

5. Wear a Whatzit

Bizarre* ;)

There will always be challenges and obstacles in life. Some more difficult and some less. What matters is how we look at the problems we face. Are we looking with a fixed, or a growth mindset?

In this video I explain the two mindsets through a story of twin brothers.

People with a growth mindset know intelligence can be developed. It leads to a desire to learn and therefore a tendency to:

embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks and learn from criticism.

People with a fixed mindset believe intelligence is static. It leads to a desire to look smart and therefore a tendency to:

avoid challenges, give up easily, ignore feedback and see effort as fruitless.

The twins started in the same place, with the same circumstances.

However, the path they chose was different as a result of their mindset.

You might be asking yourself "Why am I lazy?"

Wouldn't it feel fantastic if you reached the end of the day and looked back with satisfaction on the things you'd achieved?

Laziness is a nasty little affliction that affects everyone from time to time. Often it's an attempt to avoid difficult or unpleasant tasks. But remember, laziness is a habit, not a personality trait.

When you try to do two things at once, you can't or won't do either well. If you think multitasking is an efficient way to get more done, you've got it backward. It's an efficient way to get less done.

In the world of results, it will fail you every time. And for some reason in today’s society, doing just one thing at a time seems downright wasteful.

Are you talented? Or could it be that you're just hard working?

The talent myth is built on the idea that innate ability, rather than practice, is what ultimately determines whether we have it within us to achieve excellence. This is a corrosive idea, robbing individuals of the incentive to transform themselves through effort.

In 1991 Anders Ericsson, a psychologist at Florida State University conducted the most extensive investigation ever undertaken into the cause of outstanding performance. He was looking for "talent". The funny this is, he couldn't find any.

His subjects - violinists at the renowned Music Academy of West Berlin in Germany - were divided into three groups. There was one difference between the groups that was both dramatic and unexpected. The number of hours devoted to serious practice. By the age of twenty, the best violinists had practiced and average of ten thousand hours - over two thousand hours more than the good violinists and over six thousand hours more than the violinists hoping to become music teachers.

Ericsson also found that there were no exceptions to this pattern: there was nobody who had reached the elite group without copious practice, and nobody who had worked their socks off has failed to excel. Purposeful practice was the only factor distinguishing the best from the rest.

Meditation can sometimes seem very complicated and difficult to learn. However that shouldn't be the case.

It has been scientifically proven to be the best exercise for keeping a healthy mind. Just 10 minutes of meditation a day, can have huge physical and mental benefits.

First: Pick a spot

Second: Set a time

Third: Correct posture

Fourth: Close your eyes

Fifth: Pick an anchor

Just place the attention on your breath as it comes in, and follow it through your nose all the way down to your lungs.

Notice how the body moves with each inhalation and exhalation. Notice the movement of your body as you breathe. Observe your chest, shoulders, rib cage, and belly. Simply focus your attention on your breath without controlling its pace or intensity.

When your mind wanders, which it will, simply bring your attention back to the anchor.

The whole game is just to notice when your mind is wandering and to come back to your breath, over and over and over...And when you do that, it is a bicep curl for your brain.

Have you ever thought about why we make friends?

After all, do we really need friends at all?

Couldn't we get along just fine by ourselves?

We are social creatures and derive a lot of our happiness through the relationships that we have developed.

People with good friends tend to live longer lives. They also tend to be healthier.

Good friendships have been associated with lower levels of stress, decreased blood pressure, and a reduced risk of depression.

So it makes sense to learn how to connect with other people.

Do you find it difficult to focus on the task at hand because your mind keeps wandering?

Do you worry too much or have too many things to do, that you can't sit down and concentrate on one thing?

Learning how to focus every day is a must.

There is no one way to do it, that's why I'm sharing three tips on how to find it.

Remove distractions.

Before you can add, you will need to subtract.

Meditate and read.

If you are completely relaxed and stress-free, then your mind will also work more efficiently.

Slowly build up your focus stamina.

Each person may start off with a certain amount of focus, but rest assured that this is something that can be improved over time.

Reading improves your focus and concentration.

With all the distractions nowadays, people have really big problems with concentrating. Don’t be one of them.

You're stressed out? Then pick up a book.

Research conducted in 2009 showed that reading is the most effective way to overcome stress.

Scientific studies show that reading actually makes you smarter.

Your body needs movement. That means your brain needs movement, as well. And reading is the best workout for your mind.

The Feynman technique is a mental model named after Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winning physicist. The Feynman technique is designed to help you learn better and faster - to understand concepts you don't really get, remember stuff you have already learned, or study more efficiently.

The basis of his technique is to explain a concept in plain, simple language.