Get your brain in motion

Category: Personal (Page 25 of 63)

MindMapping to learn better

Mind Maps are a tool introduced by Tony Buzan which help organize our thoughts and ideas through key words in a hierarchical yet creative manner. Mind maps can be used for anything from studying, to tackling problems, to making decisions and even preparing for our next job meeting.

Here are the main steps to creating a mind map:

  1. Take a blank piece of paper and place it horizontally
  2. Write the core concept you wish to analyze
  3. Add branches which represent the main ideas which are linked to that concept
  4. Each branch can have further branches stemming from it
  5. Lines representing the branches should be thinner as you get further away from the central point
  6. Be creative: use colors, use curvy lines, use images which help evoke certain ideas
  7. DO NOT FOLLOW A LINEAR PATH: you can go back to branches and add or subtract as you wish

Most important of all, find your own mind mapping style. In order to make ourselves be understood by others, we must find our voice!

 

Here are two TED talks on Mindmaps:

 

 

 

If you want to learn more about mind mapping, you should check out these previous articles:

The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps (part 1)

The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps (part 2): the success formula

 

How empathy shapes outcomes of diplomatic negotiations

Why do some peace summits succeed while other fails? In this work of Marcus Holmes and Keren Yahri-Milo, the authors highlight the importance of empathy between leaders. In fact, they first demonstrate that numerous findings suggest that empathy—the ability to understand the cognitive and affective states of others without necessarily sympathizing with them—is required for overcoming long-standing hostilities.

In this regard, they significantly report the words of the UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold: “you can only hope to find a lasting solution to a conflict if you have learned to see the other objectively, but, at the same time, to experience his difficulties subjectively”.

Hence, demonstrating empathy to your adversary is not a signal of weakness or vulnerability but a demonstration that you are negotiating in good-faith.

You can read more about this issue here

 

Image source: Yuriy Somov – Wikimedia Commons

9 good reasons to smile more

Smiling is not just a reaction to something funny. It is something that has positive effects on our mood and on everybody around us, no matter if it is forced or not.

In her article, Alyssa Detweiler lists nine positive effects of smiling which will make you want to smile more:

  1. Smiling is contagious
  2. Smiling lower stress and anxiety
  3. Smiling releases endorphins
  4. You will be more attractive
  5. Smiling strengthens your immune system
  6. You will be more approachable
  7. Smiling will make you more comfortable
  8. You will seem more trustworthy
  9. You will be a bettere leader

Read the full article here

Image source: pxhere (CC0)

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