Failure Is Not The Worst Outcome, Mediocrity Is

Failure Is Not The Worst Outcome, Mediocrity Is

Dharmesh Shah

Founder and CTO at HubSpot and Blogger at OnStartups.com

Later in this article, I'm going to tell you something you probably don't know about Drew Houston, the founder and CEOE of Dropbox.

I'm a big fan of Drew. I have known him for many years (well before he started Dropbox) and am honored to call him a friend. I will cancel plans with my wife to hang out with Drew if he and I happen to be in the same city. There are only a few people I'd do that for. Plus, it helps that she loves Dropbox and uses it every day.

Disclosure: Drew is on the advisory board for my company, HubSpot.

There's one big lesson and insight I want to draw out from Drew and Dropbox's story.

The worst outcome for a startup is not failure — its mediocrity. When I first met Drew, he was still working for a local Boston-area software company called Bit9 (in the security space, and they're still around). Good company. Drew was in the midst of working on a startup idea that was in the SAT prep space (the company was called "Accolade"). I met with Drew for dinner to talk about Accolade and his plans for it. Candidly, I was not a big fan of the idea, and told him so. It was a super-competitive category, it was going to be hard to differentiate. Most importantly though, I was not sure how big of an opportunity it was. I just didn't see it being a big, "break-out" business.

I knew that Drew was really smart — but I didn't have enough evidence to know if he was going to be a great entrepreneur. I know many, many really smart people. Few of them have what it takes to be great entrepreneurs. As it turns out, Drew is one of those people, but I didn't know it at the time.

Continuing the story...Drew ultimately ended up abandoning the SAT prep idea to do something different. He had this other idea for syncing files across multiple devices. It was a problem he faced himself. It too was a highly competitive market -- but it was a really big one.

Here's the big lesson: Many founders think that the worst outcome you can have in a startup is failure. You try something and it fails. And yes, failing is no fun. But, what's worse than failing is going sideways for years and years. The worst is being stuck in a quagmire of mediocrity. Things are going reasonably well, but not spectacularly well. The reason mediocrity is worse than failure is very simple: Failure lets you move on, mediocrity stalls you and keeps you from reaching your potential.

It's not knowable as to whether Accolade (Drew's SAT prep startup) would have been a phenomenal success or not. But, it's doubtful that it had near the potential that Dropbox did. Had Drew "stuck to it" with Accolade, it's likely that Dropbox would have never happened and tens of millions people (including me and my wife) would have been less happy. And, of course, Drew would have been worse off for it. As he will tell you, Dropbox has been super-fun and super-gratifying. We all dream to have a startup like that someday.

It would have been a sub-optimal use of talent and energy for Drew to have gotten stuck in a quagmire of mediocrity. Not a complete waste of his time -- because few entrepreneurial endeavors are wastes of time, just sub-optimal.

Imagine if all the founders that are currently stuck in "sideways" startups could somehow pull themselves out of the muck, clean themselves off, and take another crack at becoming legendary. How much better off would they and the world be?

Of course, there's one big counter-argument to all of this. How do you know whether you're stuck in a quagmire? Isn't startup success often about persistence and focus? What if that break-out success is just around the corner. Those are good questions. The simple answer is: There are no simple answers. If it were me, the question I would ponder is this: If 90% of everything started going "right" with your startup, what will it become? (I'll call this the "wave the magic wand", best-case scenario). If the answer does not please you, and you've been at your current idea for a while, I'd ponder a change.

The danger of "ramen profitability": One of the great things about software startups today is that it's very possible to reach "ramen profitability". This is where the company is making enough money that the founders can live on Ramen Noodles. That's also one of the bad things. Once you get to "ramen profitability", running out of cash is no longer a way to know that you should be starting afresh and trying something new. You can run a startup like that indefinitely — and many entrepreneurs will do just that, instead of building the next Dropbox and becoming legendary.

One point I'd like to clarify: I'm not suggesting that stable, sustainable businesses with modest growth are a bad thing. Just that if the business is not something the founder is passionate about -- she should move on. Life is short. We don't all need to build the next Dropbox -- but we all should stretch ourselves. It reminds me of an idea that Tim O'Reilly planted in my head: Pursue something so important that even if you fail, the world is better off with you having tried.

Easy to say, very hard to do. It's easy for me to say "Hey, you should abandon that startup you're working on that doesn't seem to be going anywhere," but that is sooo much easier said than done. I've struggled with that very problem myself. It's hard to let go. It's hard to give up something you've toiled away at. It's hard to all of a sudden admit "you know, my friends may have been right..." It's hard, because we're human and we become emotionally attached to the things we build. Particularly things we've had to defend against the cold, hard world. Things we've had to nurture and defend. Things that in some ways define our identity. I have no brilliant insights other than: Be honest with yourself and be mindful of your opportunity cost. Life is short. We have a limited amount of time to achieve our potential.

Edited by: Lawyer Asad

The Failure Bow: How To Stop the Blame and Shame Game and Start Learning

The Failure Bow: How To Stop the Blame and Shame Game and Start Learning*

Beth Kanter

Director Radboud REshape & Innovation


Last, I had the pleasure of facilitating an interactive opening plenary a the Legal Services Corporation Technology Conference.
Part of the session was about failure and learning. I have learned about this from colleague Peter Sims, Author of Little Bets and founder of 
BLKSHP. His book has a great summary of the research out there on what is failure.
One idea particularly stuck with me — that it is a lot of about mindset change and that there is difference between perfection and failure. Peter
summarizes Dr. Carol Dweck, a professor at Stanford's research on the topic. Her research explains why some people are more willing and able to
learn from setbacks. Her research demonstrated that people tend to lean toward one of two general ways of thinking about failure, though everyone
exhibits both. Those who favor a "Fixed Mindset" are motivated by external praise, getting an "A" or someone staying "Good Job." It is hard for those
people to learn from a mistake or setback.

The other mindset is called a "growth mindset" or what I would call curiosity and learning. They are motivated by the learning process. If they
get a "C," they think what can I do to get an "A" – what do I need to change?
I think people and organizations need to shift to the growth mindset when comes to implementing social media – and working networks – and need to
incorporate a steady program of measurement and learning. But often, our feelings of shame or the blame gets in the way. When I asked nonprofits if
they do an after action review, many say yes, but it often turns in pointing figure and people hunching their shoulders.

Stop! Here's how.

The 7 minute video above is from Matt Smith who is a Seattle improviser and auctioneer. He talks about how to altering our physiological response to 
failure can lead to transparency, availability, flexibility and improved results.The video is short and worth listening to all of it, but if you are impatient skip to minute 7 and listen to the last five minutes.

Matt talks about our inner headsets that we learned as kids and it boils down to:

Don't Make A Mistake

Don't Make A Mistake

Then there is the "mistake" moment. We cringe …. Think of your last mistake — personal or at work. Feel what your body does — the cringe, the shame.
What does it feel like. That's what is stopping us from learning from mistakes or failure.
Matt says that our body gives in to the mistake. "It's like a gumby doing the bidding. I made a mistake!"

No matter you learned this as a child – in school or whatever. As an adult, it probably still haunts you. It keeps you from being creative, stops us,
but here is a technique to get past it: The failure bow. It helps us come to terms with mistakes and clear us for learning. Trapeze artists do it, 
improvisers, gymnastics stars do it. Watch this brief video clip and you'll recognize it.

Next time you make a mistake or your team is doing an after action review, don't cringe. Do this instead:

(1) Raise hands to offer it up and let it go

(2) Give a wide, stupid grin like a dog being trained and uses submission.

(3) Say "thank you I failed" and move on

Now you are ready to learn!

Matt suggests that you can't walk into walk into a meeting late and raise your hands and shout this, but you can do it under the table! If you 
incorporate the failure bow, you are not glorifying failure – but rewarding the transparency, being accountable, being in the present, and paving the
way to innovation – and perhaps better results with your social media.

How does your organization did with "mistakes" and pave the way for learning from failure?



Edited by: Lawyer Asad

11 Simple Concepts to Become a Better Leader

11 Simple Concepts to Become a Better Leader

Dave Kerpen

CEO, Likeable Local,

NY Times Best-Selling Author & Keynote Speaker

Being likeable will help you in your job, business, relationships, and life. I interviewed dozens of successful business leaders for my last book, to determine what made them so likeable and their companies so successful. All of the concepts are simple, and yet, perhaps in the name of revenues or the bottom line, we often lose sight of the simple things - things that not only make us human, but can actually help us become more successful. Below are the eleven most important principles to integrate to become a better leader:

1. Listening

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen." - Ernest Hemingway

Listening is the foundation of any good relationship. Great leaders listen to what their customers and prospects want and need, and they listen to the challenges those customers face. They listen to colleagues and are open to new ideas. They listen to shareholders, investors, and competitors. Here's why the best CEO's listen more.

2. Storytelling

"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." -Robert McAfee Brown

After listening, leaders need to tell great stories in order to sell their products, but more important, in order to sell their ideas. Storytelling is what captivates people and drives them to take action. Whether you're telling a story to one prospect over lunch, a boardroom full of people, or thousands of people through an online video - storytelling wins customers.

3. Authenticity

"I had no idea that being your authentic self could make me as rich as I've become. If I had, I'd have done it a lot earlier." -Oprah Winfrey

Great leaders are who they say they are, and they have integrity beyond compare. Vulnerability and humility are hallmarks of the authentic leader and create a positive, attractive energy. Customers, employees, and media all want to help an authentic person to succeed. There used to be a divide between one's public self and private self, but the social internet has blurred that line. Tomorrow's leaders are transparent about who they are online, merging their personal and professional lives together.

4. Transparency

"As a small businessperson, you have no greater leverage than the truth." -John Whittier

There is nowhere to hide anymore, and businesspeople who attempt to keep secrets will eventually be exposed. Openness and honesty lead to happier staff and customers and colleagues. More important, transparency makes it a lot easier to sleep at night - unworried about what you said to whom, a happier leader is a more productive one.

5. Team Playing

"Individuals play the game, but teams beat the odds." -SEAL Team Saying

No matter how small your organization, you interact with others every day. Letting others shine, encouraging innovative ideas, practicing humility, and following other rules for working in teams will help you become a more likeable leader. You'll need a culture of success within your organization, one that includes out-of-the-box thinking.

6. Responsiveness

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." -Charles Swindoll

The best leaders are responsive to their customers, staff, investors, and prospects. Every stakeholder today is a potential viral sparkplug, for better or for worse, and the winning leader is one who recognizes this and insists upon a culture of responsiveness. Whether the communication is email, voice mail, a note or a a tweet, responding shows you care and gives your customers and colleagues a say, allowing them to make a positive impact on the organization.

7. Adaptability

"When you're finished changing, you're finished." -Ben Franklin

There has never been a faster-changing marketplace than the one we live in today. Leaders must be flexible in managing changing opportunities and challenges and nimble enough to pivot at the right moment. Stubbornness is no longer desirable to most organizations. Instead, humility and the willingness to adapt mark a great leader.

8. Passion

"The only way to do great work is to love the work you do." -Steve Jobs

Those who love what they do don't have to work a day in their lives. People who are able to bring passion to their business have a remarkable advantage, as that passion is contagious to customers and colleagues alike. Finding and increasing your passion will absolutely affect your bottom line.

9. Surprise and Delight

"A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless." -Charles de Gaulle

Most people like surprises in their day-to-day lives. Likeable leaders underpromise and overdeliver, assuring that customers and staff are surprised in a positive way. There are a plethora of ways to surprise without spending extra money - a smile, We all like to be delighted — surprise and delight create incredible word-of-mouth marketing opportunities.

10. Simplicity

"Less isn't more; just enough is more." -Milton Glaser

The world is more complex than ever before, and yet what customers often respond to best is simplicity — in design, form, and function. Taking complex projects, challenges, and ideas and distilling them to their simplest components allows customers, staff, and other stakeholders to better understand and buy into your vision. We humans all crave simplicity, and so today's leader must be focused and deliver simplicity.

11. Gratefulness

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." -Gilbert Chesterton

Likeable leaders are ever grateful for the people who contribute to their opportunities and success. Being appreciative and saying thank you to mentors, customers, colleagues, and other stakeholders keeps leaders humble, appreciated, and well received. It also makes you feel great! Donor's Choose studied the value of a hand-written thank-you note, and actually found donors were 38% more likely to give a 2nd time if they got a hand-written note!

The Golden Rule: Above all else, treat others as you'd like to be treated

By showing others the same courtesy you expect from them, you will gain more respect from coworkers, customers, and business partners. Holding others in high regard demonstrates your company's likeability and motivates others to work with you. This seems so simple, as do so many of these principles — and yet many people, too concerned with making money or getting by, fail to truly adopt these key concepts.

Which of these principles are most important to you — what makes you likeable?

Dave Kerpen is the New York Times bestselling author of two books, Likeable Social Media and Likeable Business.

Edited by: Lawyer Asad

10 Leadership Nuggets from Abraham Lincoln

10 Leadership Nuggets from Abraham Lincoln

Lucy P. Marcus

CEO, Non-Exec Board Director, 

Prof at IE Business School, 

Reuters columnist & host "In the Boardroom with Lucy Marcus"

 Abraham Lincoln brings us enduring wisdom in a nutshell.

Abraham Lincoln is very much in the news these days, with examinations of his character, his actions, and his leadership style. The New York Times has an article about the management lessons that can be learned from Abraham Lincoln.

It got me to thinking: some of the most enduring Lincoln quotes bring us wisdom in a nutshell.

Here are my top 10:

1. "It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."

2. "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

3. "Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing."

4. "I don't like that man. I must get to know him better."

5. "He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help."

6. "I am not concerned that you have fallen -- I am concerned that you arise."

7. "The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just."

8. "Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality."

9. "No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent."

10. "If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem."

OK. 10 wasn't enough, so here are a 5 more:

11. "The best way to predict your future is to create it"

12. "Those who look for the bad in people will surely find it."

13. "Live a good life. In the end it is not the years in a life, but the life in the years."

14. "People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be."

15. "Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."

Each one is a gem. 

Edited by: Lawyer Asad

Top 10 Secrets of Personal Magnetism

Top 10 Secrets of Personal Magnetism

By Hamilton Miller/ Author of Elite Social Control



PTC's and Magnetic Statements are essential for mental domination, but they need the support of the Magnetic Moves.

The Magnetic Moves give it the final touch. Others may overlook many drawbacks you have, but not your failure to perform the Magnetic Moves.
These sweep everybody off their feet. It is obvious how tremendous they must be for mental domination.
The Magnetic Moves are easy to learn. Even people with below average intelligence can study them, apply them with little trouble, and gain phenomenally from them. 

With these, women with ordinary minds and looks have won choice husbands.
 Men of inferior birth have become the associates of presidents, kings, and queens. Nothing will make you more welcome anywhere. With these moves, con artists have pulled off amazing frauds, and men have been elevated to positions of affluence over men with far more ability.

How the Magnetic Moves Affect Others

The Magnetic Moves disarm the other person, lower his defences, and throw him into rapport with you. If he is your superior, he favours you because he can't help himself. If he has to reprimand you, the words choke in his throat. 
With the Moves you appear as if you harbor no evil in you. That alone usually stifles resistance against you. The Moves may be called The Great Disarmer, the great neutralizer of hostile feelings against you.

There are 10 Secrets of the Magnetic Moves



Secret 1: The Non-Analytical Look

When about to be introduced to anyone, show no shyness or unwillingness. Show respect and admiration for the person, instead, by envisioning him nobly and respectfully. Overlook everything detracting about him.

Completely ignore Bob's lesser height, irregular features, unsymmetrical figure, poor clothes, uneven teeth, poor dental work, missing limb, prominent mole, ugly scar – in fact, anything and everything about him which does not add to his appearance. Stay neutral and establish instant rapport with him.

If he believes you are not aware of his imperfections, he might conclude that you are not observant. But he will relax with you, and you need that for mental domination. Nobody enjoys the psychoanalytical look when it is directed at him. It is an antisocial look and arouses resentment. It may be pardonable in a doctor because he has to diagnose, but in everyday life people prefer to hide their deficiencies.

Stare only at Bob's eyes to suggest to him that he has captured your full attention. That banishes the rest of him from view and stops you from studying him.



Secret 2: Drawing the Other Person Out of His Shell 

After expressing your pleasure in meeting Bob, flatter him with a Magnetic Statement. But don't usurp the conversation after that, unless he is tongue-tied or the silent type. Induce him to do most of the talking, particularly about himself, and give him your undivided attention. You can't do this for long because it grows boring. But do it long enough to establish complete rapport between you and him.

Secret 3: Subtle Probing

As stated in a previous section, don't embarrass the other person with intimate questions. Praise something about him and let him elaborate on it if he is so inclined. If you praise him for possessing broad shoulders, he might scoff and "admit" that he acquired them from playing sports in college. At once, exhibit interest in his education and ask him what college he attended. You would soon discover what he studied. From that you can guess his occupation – even his probable income.

Secret 4: How to Take Graceful Departures From People

Don't abruptly march off from a person you are conversing with. Say to Bob, first, "Will you excuse me? I'm late already. Good meeting you. See you again." If another group has already gathered around him and has eclipsed you, withdraw inconspicuously.

Secret 5: Retain Your Equanimity

Never give vent to rage or anger in social company. Slight or humiliate no one, even if he is unpleasant. Don't be a social sadist. Don't wound people's feelings.
Don't hit back by embarrassing others for slights, either actual or imagined, which you suffered at their hands. Revenge thinking, besides, changes your general demeanour to the unfriendly.

Secret 6: Show a Democratic Attitude Towards Others

At work especially, look down on no one in a subordinate position, even if he belongs to another department. Some day, he might be able to do you a big favour and save you a lot of hassle. An antisocial attitude, besides, gets talked about; and, once you are known for bad manners, people expect the worst of you and act aloof towards you.

Secret 7: Don't Brag

Don't brag about your income, as if your co-workers were paupers. If you are a woman, don't brag about your beauty. If others don't notice how attractive you are, forget it – there are others who will.

Secret 8: Be – Or Pretend to Be – a Good Listener

Don't adopt a know-it-all attitude. Appear always ready to listen. Don't pass for a simple-minded idiot who believes anything he is told; but don't act stubborn, nor as if impossible to influence either. People want you to listen to what they have to say. Don't turn your head when the other person presents his side of the question.Even if he is misinformed, don't insult him by being rude. If he is long-winded, interrupt him with something he likes to hear about and then abruptly change the subject. If that is not easy to do at the time, turn pleasantly to someone else and ask for his or her opinion of the matter. Never start a quarrel with a person who is monopolizing the conversation.

Secret 9: Retain an Impartial Attitude

Don't turn, tongue in your cheek, to someone beside you and mutter sarcastically about the person who is monopolizing the conversation. It puts your listener in an embarrassing position. You compel him to take sides, and that is not sociable, even if he secretly agrees with you. Refrain from all personal discussion. Mention nothing to your companion about his own private life, character, or ability to reason. Confine yourself to the subject being discussed and raise no controversial issue that could lead to a heated argument. Arguments incite people and curtail your power to influence them.

Secret 10: Reply to People with Words, Not Gestures

No mannerism antagonizes people more, nor labels you with a supercilious attitude sooner, than to reply to their statements with nods or shakes of the head. They wonder if you view them as animals or slaves. No slave would answer his master with nods or shakes of the head, but many a master might reply to his slave like that. So, don't insult others by replying to them
 with gestures instead of words, unless they are insufferable, and you wish to drive them away from you. Reply in words, even with "yes" or "no", or you will lose your mental domination over others fast.

Secret 11: Don't Push Your Way In and Take Over the Stage

Don't swagger up to people who are conversing and, with a booming voice, take over the stage. To those of sensitivity and refinement, such behaviour is enraging.

By Hamilton Miller



Edited by: Lawyer Asad

If You Don't Design Your Career, Someone Else Will

If You Don't Design Your Career, Someone Else Will

Greg McKeown

Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum

 A client once responded to one of my questions by saying, "Oh Greg, I am too busy living to think about life!" His off-the-cuff comment named a trap all of us fall into sometimes. In just one example, it is easy to become so consumed in our careers we fail to really think about our careers.

To avoid this trap, I suggest carving out a couple of hours over the holiday break to follow these simple steps for reflecting on your career.

Step 1: Review 2012. Review the year, month by month. Make a list of where you spent your time: include your major projects, responsibilities and accomplishments. No need to overcomplicate this.

Step 2: Ask, "What is the news?" Look over your list and reflect on what is really going on. Think like a journalist and ask yourself: Why does this matter? What are the trends here? What happens if these trends continue?

Step 3: Ask "What would I do in my career if I could do anything?"Just brainstorm with no voice of criticism to hold you back. Just write out all the ideas that come to mind.

Step 4: Go back and spend a bit more time on Step 3. Too often we begin our career planning with our second best option in mind. We have a sense of what we would most love to do but we immediately push it aside. Why? Typically because "it is not realistic" which is code for, "I can't make money doing this." In this economy—in any economy—I understand why making money is critical. However, sometimes we pass by legitimate career paths because we set them aside too quickly. 

Step 5: Write down six objectives for 2013. Make a list of the top six items you would like to accomplish in your career in 2013 and place them in priority order.

Step 6: Cross off the bottom five. Once you're back to the whirlwind of work you'll benefit from having a single "true north" career objective for the year.

Step 7: Make an action plan for January. Make a list of some quick wins you'd like to have in place by January 31 2013.

Step 8: Decide what you will say no to. Make a list of the "good" things that will keep you from achieving your one "great" career objective. Think about how to delete, defer or delegate these other tasks. Emerson said, "The crime which bankrupts men and nations is that of turning aside from one's main purpose to serve a job here and there."

Many years ago I followed this process and, without exaggeration, it changed the course of my life. The insight I gained led me to quit law school, leave England and move to America and start down the path as a teacher and author. You're reading this because of that choice. It remains the single most important career decision of my life.

Two hours spent wisely over the next couple of weeks could easily improve the quality of your life over the 8760 hours of 2013--and perhaps far beyond. After all, if we don't design our careers, someone else will.

Edited by: Lawyer Asad

6 Habits of Remarkably Likeable People

6 Habits of Remarkably Likeable People

Jeff Haden

They're charming. They're genuine. And they can make an entire room full of people smile.

When you meet someone, after, "What do you do?" you're out of things to say. You suck at small talk, and those first five minutes are tough because you're a little shy and a little insecure.

But you want to make a good impression. You want people to genuinely like you.

Here's how remarkably likeable people do it:

They lose the power pose.

I know: Your parents taught you to stand tall, square your shoulders, stride purposefully forward, drop your voice a couple of registers, and shake hands with a firm grip.

It's great to display nonverbal self-confidence, but go too far and it seems like you're trying to establish your importance. That makes the "meeting" seem like it's more about you than it is the other person--and no one likes that.

No matter how big a deal you are you pale in comparison to say, oh, Nelson Mandela. So take a cue from him. Watch how he greets Bill Clinton, no slouch at this either.

Clinton takes a step forward (avoiding the "you must come to me" power move); Mandela steps forward with a smile and bends slightly forward as if, ever so slightly, to bow (a clear sign of deference and respect in nearly every culture); Clinton does the same. What you have are two important people who put aside all sense of self-importance or status. They're genuine.

Next time you meet someone, relax, step forward, tilt your head towards them slightly, smile, and show that you're the one who is honored by the introduction--not them.

We all like people who like us. If I show you I'm genuinely happy to meet you, you'll instantly start to like me. (And you'll show that you do, which will help calm my nerves and let me be myself.)

They embrace the power of touch.

Nonsexual touch can be very powerful. (Yes, I'm aware that sexual touch can be powerful too.) Touch can influence behavior, increase the chances of compliance, make the person doing the touching seem more attractive and friendly.

Go easy, of course: Pat the other person lightly on the upper arm or shoulder. Make it casual and nonthreatening.

Check out Clinton's right-hand-shakes-hands-left-hand-touches-Mandela's-forearm-a-second-later handshake in the link above and tell me, combined with his posture and smile, that it doesn't come across as genuine and sincere.

Think the same won't work for you? Try this: The next time you walk up behind a person you know, touch them lightly on the shoulder as you go by. I guarantee you'll feel like a more genuine greeting was exchanged.

Touch breaks down natural barriers and decreases the real and perceived distance between you and the other person--a key component in liking and in being liked.

They whip out their social jiu-jitsu.

You meet someone. You talk for 15 minutes. You walk away thinking, "Wow, we just had a great conversation. She is awesome."

Then, when you think about it later, you realize you didn't learn a thing about the other person.

Remarkably likeable people are masters at Social Jiu-Jitsu, the ancient art of getting you to talk about yourself without you ever knowing it happened. SJJ masters are fascinated by every step you took in creating a particularly clever pivot table, by every decision you made when you transformed a 200-slide PowerPoint into a TED Talk-worthy presentation, if you do say so yourself...

SJJ masters use their interest, their politeness, and their social graces to cast an immediate spell on you.

And you like them for it.

Social jiu-jitsu is easy. Just ask the right questions. Stay open-ended and allow room for description and introspection. Ask how, or why, or who.

As soon as you learn a little about someone, ask how they did it. Or why they did it. Or what they liked about it, or what they learned from it, or what you should do if you're in a similar situation.

No one gets too much recognition. Asking the right questions implicitly shows you respect another person's opinion--and, by extension, the person.

We all like people who respect us, if only because it shows they display great judgment.

(Kidding. Sort of.)

They whip out something genuine.

Everyone is better than you at something. (Yes, that's true even for you.) Let them be better than you.

Too many people when they first meet engage in some form of penis-measuring contest. Crude reference but one that instantly calls to mind a time you saw two alpha male master-of-the business-universe types whip out their figurative rulers. (Not literally, of course. I hope you haven't seen that.)

Don't try to win the "getting to know someone" competition. Try to lose. Be complimentary. Be impressed. Admit a failing or a weakness.

You don't have to disclose your darkest secrets. If the other person says, "We just purchased a larger facility," say, "That's awesome. I have to admit I'm jealous. We've wanted to move for a couple years but haven't been able to put together the financing. How did you pull it off?"

Don't be afraid to show a little vulnerability. People may be (momentarily) impressed by the artificial, but people sincerely like the genuine.

Be the real you. People will like the real you.

They ask for nothing.

You know the moment: You're having a great conversation, you're finding things in common... and then bam! Someone plays the networking card. 

And everything about your interaction changes.

Put away the hard-charging, goal-oriented, always-on kinda persona. If you have to ask for something, find a way to help the other person, then ask if you can.

Remarkably likeable people focus on what they can do for you--not for themselves.

They "close" genuinely.

"Nice to meet you," you say, nodding once as you part. That's the standard move, one that is instantly forgettable.

Instead go back to the beginning. Shake hands again. Use your free hand to gently touch the other person's forearm or shoulder. Say, "I am really glad I met you." Or say, "You know, I really enjoyed talking with you." Smile: Not that insincere salesperson smile that goes with, "Have a nice day!" but a genuine, appreciative smile.

Making a great first impression is important, but so is making a great last impression.

And they accept it isn't easy.

All this sounds simple, right? It is. But it's not easy, especially if you're shy. The standard, power pose, "Hello, how are you, good to meet you, good seeing you," shuffle feels a lot safer.

But it won't make people like you.

So accept it's hard. Accept that being a little more deferential, a little more genuine, a little more complimentary and a little more vulnerable means putting yourself out there. Accept that at first it will feel risky.

But don't worry: When you help people feel a little better about themselves--which is reason enough--they'll like you for it.

And you'll like yourself a little more, too.

Edited by: Lawyer Asad

Managing difficult conversations

Managing difficult conversations

Daniel Goleman
Co-Director of Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations

We've all had difficult conversations, often with difficult people. How do you improve the process and outcome of challenging discussions? I recently spoke with Erica Ariel Fox, lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, and member of the internationally acclaimed Program on Negotiation at Harvard
Law School (PON), about how to manage a difficult conversation. Her research on negotiation showed her that improving your interactions with 
others starts with managing how you interact with yourself.

Here's her take on how she came to discover the effectiveness of emotionally intelligent negotiation: "Every difficult conversation is really three conversations. There's the conversation about what happened: the substance, the facts. Each of us has a story about what happened. There's also what they call the feeling conversation, the emotional level. And there's also the identity conversation, which asks "what does this say about me?" Is 
something in my self-image implicated in what's going on here? What's making the conversation difficult for me? Expanding your view of the conversation in this way lets you understand that just battling back and forth to prove that you're right and the other side is wrong is not likely to get you from a breakdown to a breakthrough. 

I've spent a lot of time working with executives, teaching, working in companies, and working in some government situations, and I noticed that 
people had this difficulty trying to deal with the three conversations - they got the concept, but in real time they found it very difficult to use this concept. Even if they practised it in a workshop and got the words to come out of their mouth, their real-time experience was that they weren't doing the best practices that they cognitively knew they should do.

I became extremely interested in this gap, what I later called the Performance Gap, between people's potential to negotiate effectively, which might be very high, and their ability to practice it. In looking at this gap and trying to figure out how you help people in real time bring forward their skilful means and higher nature, I simply asked the question: What if I'm the problem? 

What do I need to do to be more effective to get better results, or develop stronger relationships, or reap the deeper rewards of life in general? I can stop looking out there. I can stop wishing my boss would change. I can stop blaming or judging my family members. I can look inside and ask how am I contributing, how is my relationship with my self leading me to get in my own way? 

Asking yourself if I'm the problem isn't the same as self-blame. If you think about your levers of change, where you can influence - it's not easy to change other people, particularly when you're talking about long-standing habits and mindsets. But you actually do have a quality of autonomy that enables you to grow as a human being. You set that intention, you learn skills, and you shift your mindset. It's extremely empowering to notice that one of the ways to improve your interactions with other people is to get better at how you interact with yourself."



Edited by: Lawyer Asad

8 Public Speaking Lessons from 57 Inaugural Speeches: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

8 Public Speaking Lessons from 57 Inaugural Speeches: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Margaret M. Perlis, Contributor

I write about Excellence in practice, people, places & product.

 

To date, there have been 44 United States presidents and 57 inaugural addresses. On January 21, 2013 , Barack Obama will deliver the 58th.  And while each speech holds tremendous historical value, very few can be considered rhetorical masterpieces. So what makes a great inaugural speech? What do they say about the president and our country? And what constitutes a success or a failure?

Curious, I decided to read each of the 57 inaugural speeches delivered over the past 228 years, and it was not a walk in the park. James Garfield attempted the same feat prior to his own inaugural address, but quickly delegated it to an assistant. He only had 19 to read. Getting through them is a bit like eating a head of raw broccoli … very substantive, but tough to get through.

That said, between trips to the Barista, I was indeed captivated. To read the inaugural speeches back-to-back is to get an abridged and narrated history of our nation. The content of each exposes the character and nature of the president and the nation at a very specific time, highlighting the priorities, principles, anxieties, and dreams. Inaugural speeches set a tone, and create context for a presidency.  They mark a transition, from one era to the next … it is a reset, a nod to the past, a portal to the future … continuity captured.

As I read the 57 inaugural speeches, I realized early on that some were more effective than others.  The deliveries range from clear to convoluted, pragmatic to pugnacious, inspired to insipid. So, when you become president, whether it is of the United States, your company, or the Lions Club, and need to give an epic address, here are eight lessons I learned from the best and worst of 57 inaugural addresses.

Lessons From Some Losers:

Keep it Concise.

William Henry Harrison, our 19th president, has the inauspicious and dual distinction of delivering the longest inaugural speech as well as holding the shortest presidency. The 68-year-old delivered a two-hour speech, outside, in a snowstorm, without an overcoat. It was Thursday, March 4, 1891, and after concluding his 8,000-word speech, he remained in the cold for hours greeting well wishers before attending late-night celebrations. Unfortunately, "Old Tippecanoe" as he was affectionately nicknamed for his exploits in the Indian War, caught Pneumonia and died within a month.

Harrison's speech is a cautionary tale that exposes a sacred rule that could mean the life or death of your performance:  keep it concise. No one wants to hear a two-hour speech—especially in this day and age. No one has time. And, frankly no one has anything important enough to say that could possibly take that long … even you.  My sixth grade history teacher used to say, "a speech should be like a mini-skirt, long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep it interesting." He'd probably be fired for using that analogy today, but it has always stuck with me. (More on memorable quotes later.)

Be Self-Effacing, Not Self-Loathing.

Everyone likes a speech that is reflective and honest, and one way to set the stage is by using tactful self-effacement. Sharing vulnerability can personalize a presentation, engage an audience, and paradoxically convey confidence. That said there is a fine line between self-effacement and self-loathing, and unfortunately for Franklin Pierce, our 14th president, he stumbled over that line.

On Friday, March 4, 1853, Pierce began his speech:

"It is a relief to feel that no heart but my own can know the personal regret and bitter sorrow over which I have been borne to a position so suitable for others rather than desirable for myself."

This confessional takes humility to a new level and is problematic given that it is being delivered to a country that just elected him because of their confidence in his leadership.  Perhaps it is better suited for a journal entry than an inaugural address, one purpose of which is to reinforce the confidence bestowed upon a newly elected president.

In Pierce's defence  he was following a long-standing inaugural tradition of bowing oneself to the tasks ahead, but did so to an uncomfortable level. Almost every president prior to Pierce had expressed concern and anxiety about his new gig, starting with the first line of the first inaugural address by George Washington on April 30, 1789:

"Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that which the notification was transmitted by your order…"

 And James Monroe stated in his first inaugural address in 1827:

"Conscious of my own deficiency, I cannot enter on these duties without great anxiety for the result."

 However, no one until Pierce stepped quite so far over the line from humility to humiliating. Be willing to expose yourself, but be mindful of the degree to which you do so.

Keep It Real.

Many historians agree that James Buchanan, our 15th president, was one of the worst in American history, and when you read his speech there are hints as to why he became labelled "clueless." Buchanan's term ran from 1857 to 1861, when the issues of slavery and secession were reaching a boiling point. While Buchanan rejected slavery as an indefensible evil, he refused to challenge the constitutional establishment, even supporting the Dred Scott decision during his speech. More damaging to his legacy was his unwillingness to challenge the states that were threatening secession. What is striking about his inauguration speech is how he tries to deny and diminish the severity of the impending conflicts by peppering it with words like "simple" or "happy."

Edited by: Lawyer Asad

5 ways to be a better communicator

5 ways to be a better communicator

By Paul Morin 

If you want to be a better communicator, take a moment to consider these five tips. Then, give them a try.

1. Be concise. Don't use 100 words to say something you can say in 50. It's easy to become enamored of your own voice, but this may cause you to
 drone on and lessen your effectiveness as a communicator.

2. Have a point. Don't speak for the sake of speaking. Have a point—especially when you're trying to be persuasive or explain something.
It's one thing if you're having coffee or a beer with a friend, but in a business or teaching situation it's important to have a point before you start talking.

3. Don't have too many points. It's tough for most people to remember long lists. It's even tougher if the list is comprised of complex points.
 Many memory experts say to stick to a list of seven or fewer points if you want your audience to remember them.
Have a maximum of three key points you'd like your audience to remember. Better yet, have just one and hit it from a bunch of different angles. 
Obviously this is not one-size-fits-all, but in most instances you'll want to stick to a small number of key points or you will confuse your audience.

4. Use words and metaphors that will resonate with your audience. If you're speaking to a board of directors, a group of CEOs, or a bunch of 
marketing vice presidents, the words you'll use will be different from those you'll use when speaking to a group of politicians or museum curators. This is true if you are speaking to individuals from these groups as well. Each audience has its own buzzwords and hot buttons. It's key to use 
examples, phrasing and metaphors that resonate with your audience. If not, you will not pass the ethos, pathos, logos test, and you will be far less
 likely to effectively get your point across.

5. Listen more than you talk. Listening to and understanding your audience are critical aspects of being an effective communicator. 
Unfortunately, it's often tempting to formulate your next great thought while your audience is trying to communicate with you. Given the difficulty of multitasking effectively, the likelihood of you being able to formulate your thoughts and process those of your audience at the same time are very small.
If you don't empathize with your audience, they will sense it, and it will make them far less likely to listen to and understand your message. The law of reciprocity is alive and well in effective two-way communication.

Give these tips a try and see if they help you communicate more effectively.
.
Paul Morin is founder of CompanyFounder.com, where a version of this article originally appeared.


Edited by: Lawyer Asad

Rules I’ve Learned and Live by to Motivate People and Organizations

Rules I've Learned and Live by to Motivate People and Organizations

Richard Rosenblatt
Chairman and CEO at Demand Media



I love hearing all types of business stories, from passionate tales of how entrepreneurs risked it all to stoically delivered lessons from seasoned 
executives. I've enjoyed reading about these moments from thought leaders on LinkedIn and was honored when Jeff Weiner asked me to participate in the dialogue. While saying yes was easy, figuring out what to say was much harder.

My first challenging CEO experience was in 1997 when I became CEO of iMALL, and I have learned a lot over the years.  What I know for sure is that my style and experiences deviate from the norm. They may work for some, but not for others.  I found that the two main things I focus on (consciously now, but maybe not so consciously at first) are motivating the team and keeping momentum in the business during good and bad times. Over my next
several posts, I'll share with you how I try to motivate people and how important momentum is to any business. I'm also going to write here the way I think and the way I speak – in plain English.

10 Rules I Live by to Motivate

#1 Always be positive, open and genuine. Always.
Every business - nearly every day - has its challenges.  Do not try and "wish" them away – take immediate action and solve 
the problem. Openly acknowledge the issues with your team and stakeholders.  At the same time, however, I've found it's more effective to counterbalance the negative message with a positive one and to accentuate the exciting components of the business that haven't changed. When I think about the many challenges I've faced, the company and the people involved (including me) were always stronger afterwards. If I had been distracted or weighed down in despair and blame, I would have missed the opportunity that was revealed in solving the problem.
I want to re-emphasize that timing is a critical element. Simultaneously reveal the issue and your plan to address it, or you'll lose credibility.
People need to know that you get it and are on it.  Equally important is that they see your continued (if not increasing) belief in the business.
The real key to harnessing positive energy is bringing others along with you. I happen to believe this is true in all aspects of your life. When 
people around you start being negative (and they will), help redirect their energy into solving problems versus spreading them. Our reactions to 
obstacles were formed early on and it takes some practice to change them.
 
That's where the job of a motivating leader feels more like a football coach. Understand your team and what drives each of your team members.
That takes me back to the "always" part of the rule. Always be positive and manically focus on moving the organization forward, EVEN if it feels like
 the company just took a step backwards. That's when it's the most important time to lead.

Edited by: Lawyer Asad

20 essentials for every employee communicator

20 essentials for every employee communicator

Be direct, be credible, be influential—and 17 more guiding principles.



By Paul Barton



 

1. Strategic communications help a business achieve its objectives. That is their purpose.

2. Effective communications are those that produce measurable results, and they can be a competitive differentiator.

3. There are costs associated with communicating, but there can be costs associated with not communicating as well. Internal communications seek 
cost-effective and creative solutions to solve complex communications challenges.

4. Employees are drowning in information, but starving for understanding.
 Our job is to make the important interesting.

5. Credibility is the foundation upon which effective communication is built. Unless it is believed, a message has no worth.

6. Face-to-face communication is the most desirable form of communication because it is immediate, personal, and interactive. Most employees say 
their immediate supervisor is their preferred and most credible source of information about the business.

7. Communication is, by definition, a two-way process. Feedback mechanisms must be part of every employee communication.

8. Communication is a management responsibility. Internal communications supports leaders by serving as consultants, facilitators and resource 
partners.

9. As in any effective strategy, form should follow function. The medium is the message.

10. Employees should learn of important events affecting them and their company from an internal source rather than an external source. 
Well-informed employees can serve as informal ambassadors of the company.

11. The more important the information is personally to the receiver, the fewer exposures are needed to make an impression. Make your communications relevant.

12. True effectiveness in communication is the ability to influence and change behavior. Changing behaviors is a long, slow process; therefore, 
measurement of effective communications must be taken over time.

13. The case for change should be found in the marketplace. For change to occur, employees must move through these stages: awareness, understanding, acceptance, and commitment. You cannot skip a step. Formal communications (particularly written communications) are most effective in promoting awareness and understanding. Informal communications (leader behaviors, unwritten rules, management decisions, openness, risk-taking tolerance, etc.) are necessary to reach full commitment.

14. External sources are de facto employee communications; therefore, external messaging should be aligned with internal strategies. Likewise, 
employees are informal ambassadors of an organization, so internal messaging should be aligned with external strategies. Every internal 
communication should be written as if it will be read by the news media.

15. Rumors are created to fill communication voids. Fill those voids with valid information. A phrase such as, "Unfortunately, we have more questions
 than answers right now but we're aware of the problem, we're working on it, and we'll keep you updated with any news," goes a long ways to keep the 
rumor mill from grinding out of control.

16. Well-defined communication processes and procedures are the foundation for creativity. Key message libraries, templates, crisis plans, etc., free
 up time for creativity and continuous improvement.

17. The overall tone of employee communications directly reflects the relationship an organization has with its employees. The best tone for strategic communications is the Voice of the Brand, which is primarily what the company is but also what the company is striving to be.

18. With better information, better business decisions can be made. 
Employees need to understand the "what" and the "why" to be fully engaged.

19. Well-informed employees are more satisfied, more creative, more productive, and more committed.

20. A common trait among successful companies is open and honest communications with all their key audiences, especially their employees.



Paul Barton is a part-time communication consultant and a full-time
graduate student. He can be found discussing employee communications every
day on Twitter as @PaulBartonABC. A version of this article originally ran on his blog.



Edited by: Lawyer Asad



 

How - and why - to stop thinking

How - and why - to stop thinking

Bruce Kasanoff, helps companies act smarter | co-author of Smart
Customers, Stupid Companies



Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is to stop thinking. Your conscious brain does not have all the answers. Inventors, programmers, scientists, 
architects and many others know this.

I have a friend in Los Angeles, Jim George, who understands this in a big way. He has an unusual combination of skills: he's a talented animator 
(Disney, etc.) who nearly a decade ago shifted gears to work one on one with people who wanted more clarity and focus in their lives. Jim has a 
diverse clientele - movie execs to scientists to students - and some remarkable success stories.

At night, Jim still draws. He recently pulled the two parts of his day together and created a self-help book called Time to Make It Stop: The How of Now.

The book is a tour de force of creativity, which is why I'm telling you about it.
While many of us are increasingly obsessed with the changes technology makes possible, Jim demonstrates here the changes you can make possible by not thinking. Personally, most of my best ideas come to me when I "do nothing."

The challenge, of course, is that it can be extremely difficult to stop thinking. Certain thoughts go round and round in our heads. What if my 
proposal gets rejected? Is my job at risk? Am I going to get the raise I deserve? Is someone else going to get the raise I deserve?

You might not believe that a book could be an effective tool to help you stop thinking; that was my fear when I first caught wind of this project. I
 was wrong. Jim transcends any preconceptions you have about a "book."

In many respects, this is more of a video than it is a book, even though nothing actually moves. The pages flow into each other, the artworks and 
words meld together, and the results are magical.

For example, on some pages, a sentence dissolves into a curving line, that wanders onto the next page, and then another, and eventually becomes an 
image. Jim explains that, "The gentle guiding of the eye and the mind to read and follow words as they gradually move off the page and into 
nothingness sets the stage for something to happen beyond the book itself."

This seems like a simple little book, but there's a reason behind every twist and turn.
Jim told me, "I use brief, almost truncated and free-form copy with light cartoons to suggest a break from traditional text and a departure into new territory. This provide a clue that the book won't be difficult or intellectual but, rather, simple and fun. It creates an immediate sense of relaxation, of open and receptive attention. The form takes the content under the radar of patterned education and into the world of play."

In other words, he's building an ideal learning environment for young and old. Whether or not you choose to benefit personally from Jim's work, there is much to learn from the manner in which he uses so many different communication approaches. You could apply a similar approach to any important information you wish to communicate. I don't mean that you magically become a Disney artist, but rather that you use more than one technique to communicate important messages.



Edited by: Lawyer Asad

6 Ways to Enhance Your Credibility

6 Ways to Enhance Your Credibility

Geoffrey James

You won't succeed in business if nobody believes in you. Here's how to make certain they do

Your success in business is directly proportional to how quickly (and how well) you can establish credibility with your customers, investors, and colleagues. A while back, I had a conversation about credibility with Randall Murphy, president of the professional development firm Acclivus. Here's my interpretation of his ideas:

1. Be genuine about who you really are.

The days are long gone when customers were impressed by an illustrious corporate name or a fancy job title. Customers are more likely to respect you if you present yourself as an individual rather than a plug-and-play "representative." The moment you pretend to be more (or other) than you really are, your credibility flies out the window. Be authentic, even if all you bring to the table is your enthusiasm.

2. Know the legitimate value of what you provide.

When you know--truly know--what you're products and services are worth, you're unafraid to communicate both the strengths and the limitations of your offering.  You'll refuse to cave to unreasonable customer demands. You'll stick to your firm's policies and procedures, and explain to the customer why they make sense. You'll be strong and confident about what you can contribute, thereby creating credibility.

3. Have insights based on research and analysis.

Adding insights to a conversation automatically creates credibility. Insight comes from learning about a firm, the role it plays in the industry, and the customers that it serves. Insight is strengthened when you develop multiple contacts (and thus different perspectives) within the customer's firm. Remember: even the smartest CEO doesn't know everything, and as an outsider, you can bring a fresh perspective to old problems.

4. Listen actively, consider carefully, and respond succinctly.

People who have credibility don't feel the need to "prove it" all the time. Nothing says "I'm insecure and insincere" spouting pat answers to questions that haven't been asked. Therefore, when a customer speaks, listen with all your concentration, take a few seconds to consider what was said, and only then make a remark, ask another question, or tell a brief story to move the conversation along.

5. Never talk or write in "sales-speak."

The moment you sound like a salesperson, customers buttonhole you into the "empty suit" category. Whenever you communicate with customers, edit out everything that sounds like a sales pitch (e.g. "money back guarantee"), don't make unsubstantiated claims (e.g. "we have the highest quality"), and avoid marketing biz-blab (e.g. "reach out", "best practices"). Instead, clearly describe how your offering improves your customer's business.

6. Be a catalyst rather than a hero.

In the comics, heroes swoop in to save the day. In real life, would-be sales heroes fall flat on their faces. Credibility comes not from your heroic actions, but from your ability to "crystallize" problems and solutions. Even customers with a detailed list of requirements usually need a clearer understanding of their needs and how best to meet them. Doing so helps the customer to be the hero, which creates masses of credibility...for you.

Edited by: Lawyer Asad

How Affirmations Helped Create My Worldwide Empire

How Affirmations Helped Create My Worldwide Empire

 

By Scott Adams, Creator of Dilbert

Several years ago, in the closing pages of my otherwise humorous book titled The Dilbert Future, I told a weird little tale of how I used a technique called affirmations in my attempts to achieve a number of unlikely goals.

Since then, I've received more questions on that topic than on anything else I've ever written. So I know this will pin the needle on the blog comments.

The idea behind affirmations is that you simply write down your goals 15 times a day and somehow, as if by magic, coincidences start to build until you achieve your objective against all odds.

An affirmation is a simple sentence such as "I Scott Adams will become a syndicated cartoonist." (That's one I actually used.)

Prior to my Dilbert success, I used affirmations on a string of hugely unlikely goals that all materialized in ways that seemed miraculous. Some of the successes you can explain away by assuming I'm hugely talented and incredibly sexy, and therefore it is no surprise that I accomplished my goals despite seemingly long odds. I won't debate that interpretation because I like the way it sounds.

But some of my goals involved neither hard work nor skill of any kind. I succeeded with those too, against all odds. Those are harder to explain, at least for me, since the most common explanation is that they are a delusion. I found my experience with affirmations fascinating and puzzling, and so I wrote about it.

At this point, allow me to correct a mistake I made the first time that I described my experience with affirmations. If you only hear the objective facts, it sounds as if I believe in some sort of voodoo or magic. That's not the case.

While I do think there is something wonderful and inexplicable about affirmations, I have no reason to conclude it is any more than a pleasant hallucination. But if it is a hallucination, it's a totally cool one. When I have flying dreams, I know they aren't real, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying the hell out of them. And so it might be the same with affirmations. Affirmations might be nothing more than a wonderful illusion that you can control your own luck.

Skeptics have suggested -- and reasonably so -- that this is a classic case of selective memory. Perhaps I tried affirmations a bunch of times and only remember the times it seemed to work. That's exactly what I would assume if someone told me the stories I've told others. But working against this theory is the fact that affirmations leave a substantial paper trail. It would be hard to forget writing something 15 times a day for six months. And if it turns out that this is what happened to me, it's fascinating still, because it says a lot about how the mind works.

My best guess about what really happens when you use affirmations is that several normal phenomena come together to create what seems abnormal. I'll describe a few theories of what might be behind affirmations. Maybe there are more.

There's a book called The Luck Factor, in which researcher Richard Wiseman describes studying people who considered themselves lucky, to see if they had any special powers along the lines of ESP. It turns out that they don't.

But he did discover that people who expect luck have a more powerful ability to notice opportunities in their environment. Optimistic people's field of perception is literally greater. And the best part is he discovered that when you train people to expect luck, their field of perception increases accordingly.

I think part of the mystery of affirmations has to do with the fact that it improves your ability to notice an opportunity. And when you do, it seems like a lucky coincidence. In my case, about half of my seemingly miraculous results with affirmations could be traced back to my noticing something important.

I'm not sure if optimism is what inspires a person to go through the effort of writing affirmations, or if the affirmations cause the optimism. But in either case you would expect that people who are writing affirmations would more readily notice opportunities than the average non-optimist.

I also wonder if affirmations are one way in which the subconscious (if such a thing exists) communicates with the rational part of your brain. Writing affirmations takes effort. Perhaps your subconscious only allows you to spend that much time on goals that it feels you have a chance of obtaining even if your rational mind does not. For example, my rational mind didn't believe I could become a syndicated cartoonist with no experience and virtually no artistic ability. But maybe some other part of my brain knew it was a realistic goal.

Viewed in this light, if you can write a goal 15 times a day for months, there's a good chance that some part of your brain views the goal as achievable even if your rational mind doesn't see how.

Writing affirmations also helps you focus on your goal, moving them from wishful thinking to something in which you are willing to invest yourself. If you have ever managed people, you know that your staff's level of commitment makes a huge difference to their success. Perhaps affirmations are a way to manage your own level of commitment. In effect, you are brainwashing yourself, and this might help you get through the tough patches that come with pursuing ambitious goals. When I started Dilbert, I didn't take a day off for ten years. You only work that hard if you fully expect something good to come from it. I did.

My favorite explanation for the power of affirmations also has the least evidence to support it, i.e. none. The idea behind this explanation is that human brains don't have the capacity to understand all the complexities of reality, and so our brains present us with highly simplified illusions that we treat as facts.

In this model, affirmations are a lever on some entirely natural chain of cause and affect, but not a chain that our brains are capable of comprehending. While this view is unlikely to be correct, it has the advantage of being totally cool to think about.

Since the publication of The Dilbert Future, I've received thousands of e-mails from people recounting their own experiences with affirmations. Most people seem to be amazed at how well they worked. I heard all kinds of stories of people changing careers, marrying the person of their dreams, making money, and starting businesses. I also heard stories from people who claimed affirmations didn't work for them, but the failure stories were the minority. To be fair, the people who had success were more likely to get excited and write to me about it, so the most that I can conclude is that lots of people BELIEVE affirmations worked for them.

Your Questions about Affirmations

Since I know you are going to ask me a bundle of questions about affirmations, let me answer the ones I can anticipate:

1. If affirmations work, it's probably because you are focusing on a goal. Therefore I doubt it matters exactly how you word the affirmation, or if it's handwritten or typed, or if you keep them or throw them away, or if you stop for a few days and then continue. I won't answer any other questions about technique because I'd be guessing.

2. I've never heard of a "monkey paw" affect where you achieve your goal but something horrible happens to you to balance it out.

3. I'm not doing any affirmations at the moment, mostly because I already have everything I want except a Nobel Prize. And even that wouldn't change my life much. But I do visualize all of my goals and I always expect good luck, so I probably get the benefits of affirmations -- even if those are only psychological -- without the effort.

4. I don't know how long you should try affirmations before concluding that they don't work for you. But trying it for less than six months probably doesn't give it a chance.

5. Affirmations have not worked every time for me. But the few times they did not work, I must say I wasn't fully invested in the objective. For example, there are a few cases where if I had achieved an objective it would have caused a lifestyle change that wasn't entirely positive.

I know from my experience describing this topic that fully half of you reading it just concluded that "the Dilbert guy believes in magic." The truth is that I believe in cool things that haven't yet been explained to my satisfaction.

So here's a good test of your personality. If all of your friends told you that they win money on the slot machines whenever they stick their fingers in their own ears, would you try it? Or would you assume that since there is no obvious reason it could work, it's not worth the effort?

Edited by: Lawyer Asad

7 Tricks To Waking Up Earlier

7 Tricks To Waking Up Earlier

Vivian Giang

Not only does the early bird get the worm, he's generally happier and has a higher overall satisfaction with his life.

"We don't know why this is, but there are a few potential explanations. Evening people may be more prone to social jet lag; this means that their biological clock is out of sync with the social clock," Renee Biss, a researcher wrote in a study conducted by the University of Toronto.

"Society's expectations are far more organized around a morning-type person's schedule."

Robert Oexman, director of the Sleep to Live Institute, told us that "lack of sleep can manifest itself in erratic behavior, short tempers, and bad decision-making." Sleep-deprived persons also have difficulty remembering details, and don't deal as well in high-pressured situations—such as meetings or new business pitches. 

And it's getting worse nowadays because of technology usage. Young adults in their 20s are experiencing earlier signs of aging attributed to sleep loss. 

So if you're not a born early riser how do you acquire good sleep habits? We compiled some tips to help you get an early start on the day:

1. Skip the caffeine

According to a study published in the journal SLEEP, caffeine intake six hours before bedtime is just as disruptive as caffeine three hours before.

2. Limit technology usage before bedtime

"Your bedroom should be reserved for sleep, sex, and nothing else," Oexman told us. "There's no excuse—if your cell phone is your alarm clock, then buy a $5 alarm clock and solve the problem."

3. Mentally prepare yourself before you go to sleep

Jeff Goins wrote in his blog that you need to make decisions before you go to sleep, because you can't trust your brain in the morning.

"When I realized waking up early is a battle fought on two fronts, everything changed We must prepare our bodies, but we must also trick our sleepy minds," he said.

4. Wake up to light

Meredith Jaeger advised in her blog that you should sleep with the curtains open so that sunlight can come through your window in the morning. If you're unable to experience sunlight from your bedroom window, get a timer that increases light intensity, which resembles the sun. Some of these models also have built in alarm clocks.

5. Don't hit the snooze button

It might be tempting to hit your snooze button to sleep for a few more minutes, but this doesn't actually help you, Jaeger wrote. This is because the 15 to 20 extra minutes of sleep won't give you any restful REM sleep and you might even feel more groggy when the alarm goes off again. 

Hitting the snooze button is also habit-forming and the more you do it, the more you'll likely do it in the future.

"Alarms should be there to remind you to wake up, not wake you up after six snooze hits," Oexman said.

It might also help to keep your alarm clock far away from your bed so that you're forced to get up in order to turn it off.

6. Find an alarm that doesn't make you angry

Seth Simonds at Lifehack advised that you should "experiment a bit and see what works best for you. Light, sound, smells, temperature, or even some contraption that dumps water on you might be more pleasant than your old alarm clock."

7. Have a morning routine

You need to get your blood flowing when you wake up whether this is stretching, crunches, jump roping or going for a walk to the nearby coffee shop, you need to "get your blood flowing and chase the sleep from your head," Simonds wrote.

Whatever you decide to do, remember that what you do during the daytime will affect your sleep at night, so quit beating yourself up with a bad diet and poor sleeping habits. 

Edited by: Lawyer Asad

85 Brain Hacks to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better in the 21st Century

85 Brain Hacks to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better in the 21st Century

 

Source: Online Education Database

One of the most valuable things you can ever attain in your life doesn't have a dollar value: it's knowledge. Whether you head to college, learn on the job, or just make a hobby out of exploring new and exciting topics, learning is one of the best things you can ever do for yourself, personally, professionally, or otherwise.

So, why not learn to do it better? We've collected some amazing tips and tricks you can use to help you get the most out of the time you spend learning. From study suggestions to brain hacks, these tips are sure to help you learn faster, deeper, and better, no matter the subject.

Physical Health and Well-Being

Your brain is an organ in your body, and just like your heart and lungs, it needs you to be in good health to function properly. Here are some tips to help you maximize your learning power from a physical standpoint.

Eat breakfast. Studies have shown that skipping breakfast can impair your ability to learn, making you slower to recall memories, poorer at math, and overall cognitively less adept. So, to learn better, eat a hearty breakfast in the morning, especially if you're taking a test or heading to class.

Get enough sleep. Whether you get enough sleep can have a huge impact on how well you're able to learn. Researchers have found that not getting enough sleep impairs the brain's ability to remember new information. It can also make it harder for you to concentrate or be creative, and reduce your overall cognitive function. A solid six to eight hours a night is a must for maximum learning potential.

Exercise. Exercise doesn't just keep your body fit; it also helps your mind stay in great shape. Aerobic fitness has a positive effect on cognitive function, improving learning ability in both humans and animals. Researchers have found that even just 20 minutes of exercise can increase information processing and memory functions, so consider integrating workout sessions into your academic life.

Take supplements. Gingko biloba has long been promoted as an herbal treatment for improving cognitive function. While scientists have yet to prove whether it truly has a marked effect on learning and memory, it can't hurt to give it a try if you want to max out your learning potential.

Avoid alcohol. Excessive drinking can have some serious effects on your memory, making it hard for you to engage your working and episodic memory at its full capacity. Drink in moderation, and consider avoiding alcohol altogether during times when you need to focus on learning new skills or information.

Eat right. What you choose to fuel your learning with may have a bigger impact on how well you learn the material than you may realize. There are well-researched links between nutrition and academic achievement, and poor nutrition (i.e. eating ramen at every meal) can lead to impaired cognitive function and poorer academic achievement.

Don't ignore health issues. Many health issues like uncorrected vision and depression can affect how well you're able to learn. If you have a health issue that may impact cognitive function or distract you from learning, then see a doctor who can help you treat the issue so you can focus on your studies instead.

Mental Health and Well-Being

Just as physical factors play a role in how you learn, so too does your mental state. Use these tips to help you get happier, healthier, and, in turn, better at learning.

Reduce stress. While a small amount of stress can be good for learners (it provides a great source of motivation), too much stress can actually inhibit your ability to learn, hurting both your physical and mental health in the process. In fact, stress can actually interfere with conscious, purposeful learning, causing you to rely more on gut feelings than well-reasoned methods of learning a new task.

Treat depression. Besides just making you feel sad and unmotivated, depression can also make it harder for you to concentrate and may sap your energy, both robbing you of valuable assets to your learning.

Meditate. Mindful meditation may just have big brain benefits. Studies have shown that not only can meditation make you feel happier and keep your mind healthier, it can also improve your concentration and cognitive function.

Have a laugh. Take a break from learning to have a good laugh. Laughing can help to make you more relaxed and more receptive to the ideas or information you're trying to learn. What's more, it can also help to reduce the anxiety associated with certain assignments or subjects, so learners can relax and let go of preconceived fears.

Focus on your passions. If you're interested in something, you're much more likely to seek out additional material on it, study it, concentrate on it, and generally just learn a whole lot more about it. Even if a topic isn't a favorite, find a way to relate it to something you do love to get more out of learning it.

Train your brain. Just as you can train your muscles, you can train your brain. If you want to break out of bad habits or mental patterns, slowly work on them. In time, you'll be able to improve focus and concentration and have a better behaved brain.

Pay attention to your emotions. If you're feeling sad or angry, you might not be able to process high-level information, at least that's what research suggests. Studies have found that certain types of strong emotions shut down the brain's higher-level mental processes, which could be a real roadblock to learning.

Keep your bedroom dark. As odd as it may seem, keeping your bedroom dark at night may help reduce your chances of developing depression or learning issues. A recent study at Johns Hopkins revealed that bright lights, those from lamps, TVs, and computer screens, elevate stress hormones which can lead to depression and impaired cognitive function.

Methods to Facilitate Learning

New research and old knowledge alike can help you to take advantage of numerous ways to maximize your learning. Learn about a few of the most interesting here for getting more out of every study session, class, and hands-on experience.

Capitalize on spike time-dependent plasticity. A learning model called spike time-dependent plasticity can help you take advantage of natural phenomena in the brain to learn more. The model helps learners capitalize on neuronal avalanches, or brief bursts of activity in a group of interconnected neurons that create an "avalanche" of brain stimulation.

Try twilight learning. Twilight learning, perhaps better known in popular culture as subliminal learning, has long been a method employed for training the brain. If you're trying to learn how to do something (or not to do something) or implant information into your brain, use the suggestive messages of this method to help you get there.

Learn a language. Want to beef up your brain? Research suggests that learning a language is one of the best ways to do that. Language learning has been found to actually grow specific regions of the brain; a win-win for those who want a bigger brain and knowledge of another language.

Try osmosis. If you've ever wished you could just put a book against your head and have the information migrate into your brain, you'll appreciate knowing that there are ways you can use osmosis to learn. Stimulation during sleep has been found to enhance skill learning as associations formed during sleep remain intact when you wake up. While it's not the same as gleaning knowledge through contact, learning something new can be as easy as sleeping with an educational track playing so you can hear it.

Embrace the learning methods of The Matrix. The effortless learning showcased in the film The Matrix may not be science fiction entirely, at least according to recent research. It may be both possible and plausible to use technology to learn to do things like play the piano or hit a ball with very little conscious effort. How? By using images processed by the visual cortex to alter brain patterns so that they match those of someone who already knows how to do the activity. It's not a practice that's widely available yet, but even low-tech learners can practice getting into the mindset of experts when learning.

Tune into some binaural beats. Binaural beats result from playing two close frequencies simultaneously to produce alpha, beta, delta, and theta waves, each of which correspond to a particular type of brain activity. Some people use them in combination with other learning methods in order to improve alertness, concentration, and relaxation and to get more out of the learning experience.

Getting and Staying Focused

To really get the most out of any kind of learning, whether you're taking a dance class or trying to learn calculus, you have to have focus. These tips can help you build it, keep it, and become a concentration whiz.

Take a break. It is very difficult to maintain intense concentration when learning something for an extended period of time. In fact, research has shown that you'll actually learn and retain more if you punctuate your studying with short breaks. Breaks give your mind time to relax and absorb information, but don't stay away for too long: 15 to 20 minutes is ideal.

Get outside. Can't focus? A short hike or walk outside could be just what you need to clear your mind, reduce stress, and get you ready to focus on the task at hand.

Alternate subjects. If you don't have time for a break, give your mind a change of scenery in a more figurative sense instead. Leave one subject aside for a moment to concentrate on another. You'll have the best results if you alternate between subjects that require different kinds of thinking.

Don't multi-task. While you might think you're getting more done when you're multitasking, you're actually just shortchanging everything you're working on by dividing up your attention. Instead, focus on one topic at a time. It might take longer, but you'll get more out of the experience.

Block out distractions. Distractions can have a serious impact on your ability to focus and in turn to learn, perhaps much more than you realize. Even simple things like answering text messages while studying can leave you with poorer learning outcomes, so turn off your phone, disconnect from Facebook, and block out noise when you're learning.

Practice smart time management. When you don't manage your time well you end up stressed, rushed, and very often overwhelmed. The solution? Be smart about how much time your learning endeavours will take and prioritize them over other things. If you wait until the last minute you're less likely to remember information and will learn a whole lot less than if you plan ahead.

Eat smart. Studies suggest that certain foods can actually improve your ability to concentrate. When learning, eat meals that contain fruits, fish, nuts, chocolate, avocados, whole grains, and blueberries to stay at your maximum alertness.

Have caffeine in moderation. For some people, caffeine can be a valuable tool in boosting concentration and focus. Have a small amount of coffee, tea, chocolate, or other food containing caffeine before you study, but don't overdo it; too much caffeine will leave you jittery and strung out.

 

Improving Your Memory

It's great to have knowledge coming in, but if that information isn't retained, you're not helping yourself. Here are a few ways you can improve your memory and get more out of learning.

Listen to music. Research suggests that certain types of music can help you to recall memories. Information learned while listening to a particular song or collection can more easily be recalled when the corresponding song is recited mentally.

Try speed-reading. Save yourself time while studying by learning how to speedread. The practice will make you more efficient and can also help you to better absorb the material. How? Reading slowly can hinder your ability to take in new information (unless it's a technical subject) and speedreading also offers you the chance to filter out irrelevant information.

Use mnemonic devices. Mnemonic devices, essentially tricks for remembering information, can make memorization much easier. Used right, you'll be able to remember all kinds of random information years down the road, just by creating acronyms and visual devices to go along with the material.

Write it down. Writing down information you're trying to learn can actually help you remember it better than typing it out. The act of writing engages more regions of your brain than typing, though there is one caveat: your notes have to be of high quality for the practice to really help you learn.

Sleep on it. Psychologists have found that going to sleep shortly after learning new information can actually help you to remember that information. So, set up your study sessions a few hours before you go to bed or follow them up with a nap to get the biggest boost to your recall.

Rest your brain. To keep new information from trickling out of your brain you don't need to repeat it until your brain is exhausted. In fact, it's actually more effective to sit and rest your brain after learning something new; the practice gives a significant boost in memory.

Using Technology

While technology can be a big distraction, it can also be a boon for learning. Follow these tips to make the most of all the latest and greatest tech tools for learning.

Use social media to organize information.

Social media can be a great tool for organizing information and resources. Make use of sites like Pinterest and Evernote to track links, photos, and useful materials, or keep a log of your research on Twitter.

Find like-minded learners. The Web makes it easier than ever to connect with others. If you're learning something new, reach out to others who are also learning, or who are experts on a topic, through Web forums. You may just learn a few valuable tricks or find some support if you're struggling.

Use apps to help you stay on task. Find yourself distracted by social media or funny pictures of cats? You can use apps that block you from using certain sites for a given period of time so you can concentrate.

Take advantage of quiz and flashcard sites. Quizzes and flashcards are a great way to test your progress in learning, and technology can make it easier to do both. There are a variety of sites that offer templates for building flashcards and quizzes alike.

Learn from videos and multimedia. There are countless educational videos on the Web that can show you firsthand how to do all kinds of things, explain complex topics, or just introduce you to new things. Take advantage to add richness to your education.

Stand or move while using your computer. An recent study found that combining a mentally stimulating activity like computer use with a physically stimulating activity like standing or walking actually reduces memory loss more than doing either alone.

Don't listen to the naysayers. There are a lot of people out there who don't think technology is all that great for learning but they may be on the wrong side of history. Research shows that computer use actually gives students a bump in their grades, which while small isn't insignificant.

Tweet about your learning. It might sound strange, but studies have shown that using Twitter actually improves student learning. Really! Tweeting about your learning can make you feel more engaged with the material and as a result could help you have better outcomes.

Don't know? Look it up. The Internet offers you an amazing educational opportunity: unlimited access to knowledge. If you don't know something, just look it up.

Take a MOOC. Massive Open Online Courses (or MOOCs) are a hot topic this year. They can allow you to take courses online for free from some of the world's leading academic institutions. It's an opportunity well worth taking advantage of for learners.

Use online library resources. Today, just about every library out there has a Web presence. You can find loads of books, articles, and multimedia from college and public libraries as well as in big collections like that of the Library of Congress.

Find experts. Need some help figuring things out? Use the Web to seek out experts. You can use sites focused on providing access to experts, or find your favourite scholars on Twitter.

General Tips for Learning

Some things never change, including these tips that you can use to learn and study. No matter what you're learning or how you learn, you'll find help in relaxing, taking in new information, and making the most of your ideas.

Loosen up. If you're stressed out or feeling tense, you're less likely to be able to learn well. So, take a minute to loosen up, have a laugh, and relax before you engage in learning.

Freethink. Sometimes, it can be smart to just let your mind wander a little bit. Sit back and freethink loosely around an idea. You may just find that you suddenly understand things a little better.

Keep a notebook on hand. Scores of famous writers and thinkers have used small notebooks to record their ideas on the fly. You can do so as well, jotting down questions, thoughts, and correlations as they come to you.

Get organized. You can make learning a whole lot easier by getting yourself organized. When you know where your materials are you'll waste less time looking for them and have more time for learning.

Learn about learning. Want to learn more effectively? Then take the time to read up on some of the latest learning-related research.

Think holistically. Instead of focusing on the details, consider a topic from a broader viewpoint. It may make more sense to you that way and give you a better sense of how the smaller parts contribute to a whole.

Don't shy away from repetition. Repetition, as dull as it might sound, is actually a great tool for learning. So keep doing flashcards, studying notes, and practising.

Build problem-solving skills. It might not help you to remember small details, but building problem-solving and critical thinking skills is one of the best things you can do to improve your learning ability. You'll more easily be able to see connections, work through problems, and get more out of your studies.

Understand that there is no wrong way to learn. There is no right or wrong way to learn, just what works. Cater to your own needs and forget what others say; that's the only right way to do things.

Self-direct your learning. Research has shown that self-directed learning is one of the most effective ways to learn. Scientists aren't quite sure why that's the case, but while they figure it out you can use hands-on, self-led study to your advantage.

Let yourself get confused. As frustrating as it may be, confusion can actually help you to learn. A new study from Notre Dame has shown that confusion with difficult conceptual topics actually results in individuals being better able to apply that knowledge, when the answers were finally puzzled out, to new problems.

Have novel experiences. Our brains love novelty. In fact, they crave it. Incorporating more novel experiences into your learning can give you a greater passion for it and help you to remember and learn more.

Slow down and give your mind time to adapt to change. While humans are very adaptable creatures, we, and our brains, do need some time to adjust. When you experience a change of scenery, circumstances, or rules, give yourself a chance to let your brain catch up and get used to the new guidelines for learning before getting frustrated and giving up. You'll get there, it will just take time.

Getting Motivated

Feeling frustrated with trying to learn something new? You're not alone. There are plenty of ways to get and keep yourself motivated, however, and you can read about a few of them here.

Keep a learning journal. A learning journal can help to document what you're learning on a daily or weekly basis and can serve as an amazing motivator as you look back on all that you've accomplished.

Give yourself credit. While it's good to push yourself, it's also critical to give yourself credit for a job well done. Let yourself bask in the glory of reaching your goals before you start moving onto setting others.

Find intrinsic reasons to learn. Teachers, parents, and friends can offer motivation, but the best source of motivation is closer to home: it's you. Think about why you want to learn, not for others but for yourself.

Set high but realistic goals. If you want to keep yourself motivated, set your goals and expectations for yourself high. If you don't, you won't have to work hard and you won't feel motivated to do the work.

Keep a positive mindset. When you're struggling with a topic it can be hard to keep yourself looking at your progress in a positive manner, but if you get down on yourself you'll lose motivation and accomplishing your goals will just be harder.

Create a learning-friendly environment. Do you have a space available to you that's conducive to learning? If you don't have somewhere that's quiet, organized, and private, work on constructing a space that will help, not hinder your learning.

Set deadlines for yourself. Deadlines might stress you out a bit, but they're essential for keeping you motivated and working hard.

Don't give up. Failure is how you learn, so don't throw in the towel just because you've had a few setbacks. Just like you didn't learn to ride a bike on the first try, learning new things takes time, so keep at it.

Find a challenge. There are few feelings as amazing as rising to meet a challenge that's put in front of you. Set yourself up with a challenge and chip away at it bit by bit until you've met it.

Finding Opportunities for Learning

Looking to learn something new? From basic lessons to tech tools to teachers, you'll find some great advice on learning opportunities.

Read everything. One of the most accessible and easiest ways to learn is by reading. Read everything you can get your hands on and you'll grow your knowledge by leaps and bounds.

Let your learning branch out. If you're learning about one topic and find yourself interested in another, related topic that comes up, don't hesitate to take on learning more about that topic, too. It will enrich your knowledge about the original topic and encourage you to learn as much as possible.

Figure out what you don't know. Not sure what you want to learn? Start out by figuring out where the gaps are in your knowledge. Once you know what you don't know, you can start working to fill in those gaps.

Try applied learning. If reading a book on a subject sounds like a snooze to you, you may learn more by engaging in a form of applied learning. Applied learning can be anything from an intern-ship to performing an experiment; essentially anything that gets you hands-on and learning about a topic in the real world.

Take advantage of free online courses. There are hundreds, if not thousands of free online courses available on the Web. Use them to your advantage to learn about topics that range from computer science to religious studies.

Take a trip. Travel can be one of the most amazing and fun ways to learn. Take a trip to a place you've never been, whether close to home or far away, to learn more about history, culture, and geography.

Make use of local museums and cultural centers. Most communities are full of learning opportunities if you know where to look. Use your local museums, cultural centers, and events as a way to learn more about things you've never explored before.

Join a book club. A book club can be a great way to motivate you to read, and it can also encourage you to give books a deeper analysis than you would on your own.

Don't force it. If you're learning something just to learn something and you're finding yourself unmotivated to do the work, consider setting it aside for awhile. If you're not passionate about learning, you'll get less out of it and it may be better to wait until it's the right time for you to revisit a topic.

Tips for Students

Those taking a class can find tips to improve the learning experience, whether online or off, here, with ideas on how to get connected, research, and study.

Make a mindmap. Mindmaps can be a great way to organize your thoughts and figure out where you need to focus your studies. They're also a great tool for boosting creativity.

Study in sequence. There are certain things that are best learned in a sequence, where one idea builds on another. This method can help you to get more out of study time and better understand the material at hand.

Take notes. Taking notes, both in class and while you're reading, is a great way to help you condense and organize the information you're trying to learn.

Have everything you need to learn. There's nothing more distracting than having to hunt for your notes or run out to the store in order to have all the things you require to do homework, complete a project, or even just learn from a class. Get everything you need first, then sit down so you'll be better focused and prepared.

Collaborate with others. Working with others can help to spark new ideas, make learning more fun, and can even help you to understand topics you're struggling with. Just try not to have too much fun; you might forget to learn!

Teach others. One of the best ways to really learn something is to teach it to someone else. You'll have to be able to answer a lot of questions about the topic, and it can be a great way to beef up your own knowledge, no matter the subject.

Plan and prioritize your learning. You'll get more out of learning if you plan to make it an important part of your daily life. Set aside times for study and homework and make them a top priority on a regular basis.

Test yourself. Research shows that there's a lot of value in testing yourself. Tests can both help you assess what you've learned and can help you to better learn and retain new information over the long term and apply it across different contexts.

Edited by: Lawyer asad