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Category: Personal (Page 21 of 63)

Be orderly in life, be original in your work

03/04/2019 /

The contemplative life requires discipline and hard work, for sure. But it also seems to require some time indulging pleasures.

There is much fascinating variety in the daily habits of celebrity and creative humanists to be discovered browsing their biographies.

Monkish and lonely Nietsche used to eat incredible amounts of fruits at lunch, and a much loved beefsteak, before setting himself for long mountain walks in the Swiss Alps.

Prodigious Karl Marx was accustomed to working long hours at night, accompanied by ceaseless smoking.

Rather predictable and orderly Immanuel Kant tried to stick to the rule that he would smoke only one pipe, but the bowls of his pipes increased considerably in size as the years went on…

Remember Gustave Flaubert’s quote?

“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” Maybe, the addition of a little “bad habit” or two might help too!”

Discover more in this article of Openculture …

Source: Pixabay – Rawpixel (CC0)

The memory of an elephant

01/04/2019 /

The Diplo calendar 2019 realized by Stefano Baldi presents a selection of quotes for better living and better working.

All the quotes are about animals and their behaviours, their instincts and the complexity of their social dynamics.

Here is the selected quotation for the month of April

If you do not have a memory like an elephant
leave impressions like one

Anonymous

Balancing act

20/03/2019 /

Finding the right balance between success and self-improvement is a game we all play in our lives to a certain extent. Some of us tend to veer more towards one or the other, but they are both goals we strive for.

What habits can help us be more successful?

What habits can help us work on self-improvement?

Many times, they won’t be compatible. Author Niklas Göke suggests that instead of looking for those habits that fulfill both goals, we should first focus on those habits that are hindering us.

  • Give Up Reducing Your Dimensions
  • Give Up The Imitation Game
  • Give Up Looking in Favour or Seeing
  • Give Up Living in Outcomes
  • Give Up All Happiness Outside Yourself
  • Give Up Waiting
  • Give Up the Make Pretend
  • Give Up Anything But Loving Yourself

Here is the full article:  What Habits Does Your Best Self Not Have?

Winning, Motivation, Succeed, Man

Image: Pixabay (CC0 Creative Commons)

 

13/03/2019 /

Oftentimes what makes our life really hard is criticism. Or rather, fear of criticism.

Pursuing our goals becomes a daunting task when we think people will be judging us; the fact that we are often our worst critics makes it even more daunting.

We’re told that we should just ignore those voices, just ignore those criticisms. But how can you do that when it’s your own inner voice telling you that everything you do is wrong?

Well, Brené Brown suggests we shouldn’t try to quieten those voices: we should rather tell them “Tell them, I see you, I hear you, but I’m going to do this anyway”.

Here is her wonderful TED Talk on Criticism:

 

The Power of Less

06/03/2019 /

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all that you have to accomplish, all the deadlines, responsibilities?

Do you ever wonder how on earth you can juggle it all, obtain good (if not excellent) results, while still remaining sane?

Well, here is the simple answer: you just can’t.

It is important to learn how to prioritise our tasks and identify small steps that can help us to reach our goals in a progressive way. Only by doing so will we be able to be productive and stress-free at the same time.

In his book “The Power of Less”, Leo Babauta talks about how to find what is truly important to you and how to pursue it successfully in order to lead a satisfying life.

Here is a quick (only 4 minutes!) summary of the book: Four Minutes Books – The Power of Less

And here is the book for those of you who wish to read all of it: The Power of Less

The old fox

01/03/2019 /

The Diplo calendar 2019 realized by Stefano Baldi presents a selection of quotes for better living and better working.

All the quotes are about animals and their behaviours, their instincts and the complexity of their social dynamics.

Here is the selected quotation for the month of March

An old fox understands the trap

Latin Proverb

10 Tips for Better Teamwork

06/02/2019 /

Effective teamwork is both profoundly simple and difficult at the same time. It’s not always the task at hand that challenges teams in their progress, it’s the relationships and the little things that happen day-to-day. According to this article, teams have basic needs that must be acknowledged and fulfilled if you expect your teams to experience their greatest success.

The following  ten tips describe the environment that must occur within the team for successful teamwork to take place:

  1. The team understands the goals and is committed to attaining them. This clear direction and agreement on mission and purpose is essential for effective teamwork.
  2. Team members trust each other. The team creates an environment in which people are comfortable taking reasonable risks in communicating, advocating positions, and taking action.
  3. Communication is open, honest, and respectful. People feel free to express their thoughts, opinions, and potential solutions to problems.
  4. Team members have a strong sense of belonging to the group. They experience a deep commitment to the group’s decisions and actions.
  5. Team members are viewed as unique people with irreplaceable experiences, points of view, knowledge, and opinions to contribute.
  6. Creativity, innovation, and different viewpoints are expected and encouraged.
  7. The team is able to constantly examine itself and continuously improve its processes, practices, and the interaction of team members. The team openly discusses team norms and what may be hindering its ability to move forward and progress in areas of effort, talent, and strategy.
  8. The team has agreed upon procedures for diagnosing, analyzing, and resolving teamwork problems and conflicts. The team does not support member personality conflicts and clashes nor do team members pick sides in a disagreement.
  9. Participative leadership is practiced in leading meetings, assigning tasks, recording decisions and commitments, assessing progress, holding team members accountable, and providing direction for the team.
  10. Members of the team make high quality decisions together and have the support and commitment of the group to carry out the decisions made.

 

Imagine: Flickr – U.S. Pacific Fleet  (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Improve your English speaking

23/01/2019 /

The free e-book I Still Can’t Speak English by Jason West, downloadable at bookboon.com can finally help you to learn to speak English quickly by curating your own free and hugely effective social learning and social media English course.

From the Introduction of the book: “If you have studied English for some time; if you have taken lots of different classes, studied using lots of different course books, listened to lots of audio and still do not feel confident when you speak English (but desperately want to); this ebook is for you.”

 

 

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