Navigating a season where the weather doesn’t always leave your immune system at an advantage can be challenging enough. Throw in a worldwide pandemic and you’ve got yourself a cocktail for compromised immunity. While many of us are bound to our homes, adjusting to remote work in a sedentary role, and trying to find a way to manage the new and unprecedented sources of stress, it is all we can do to remember to eat three meals a day. Now is the time of year where the treatment we show our body is of utmost importance. …

I know of a few people in my life who have approached reading books similar to how they do the dozens of other tasks they take on throughout the day — in bits and pieces. They’ll send a couple of emails, make a few phone calls, start on laundry, unload the dishwasher, but wait to load what’s in the sink.

Why is it so many of us find difficulty in just choosing one thing to work on at a time or better yet, allowing ourselves the opportunity to maximize our potential in one area before shifting to the next?

Let’s say you’re a man who swears he’s in love with three women — and perhaps you are. You can imagine starting a family with all three, but you simply do not have the heart to choose just one. This due to the fact it would mean you pass up on the other two indefinitely. If you continue to refrain from deciding, all three women remain an option, but the downside is no real relationship will ever develop. …

Do you know of any private bankers or financial auditors who do their jobs out of passion or who believe in a higher mission? I don’t. This can only be for one reason: Financial incentives and performance bonuses work well in industries with generally uninspiring jobs — industries where employees aren’t proud of the products or the companies and do the work simply to get a paycheck. …

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

Experts in the world of psychology refer to this technique as ‘framing.’ The French would refer to it with the saying, “C’est le ton qui fait la musique,” which translates to “it’s not what you say, but how you say it.” In other words, as human beings, we react differently to identical situations, depending on how they are presented.

A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush

In the 1980’s, Kahneman and Tversky conducted a survey in which they put forward two options for an epidemic-control strategy. The participants were told that the lives of six hundred people were at stake. …

And how to avoid it in the future.

In his book, Influence, Robert Cialdini tells the story of two brothers, Sid and Harry, who ran an American clothing store in the 1930s. Sid was in charge of sales while Harry led the tailoring department. Whenever Sid noticed the customers who stood before the mirror really like their suits, he became a little hard of hearing, but not in the literal sense. He would call over to his brother and say, “Harry, how much for this suit?” Harry would then look up from his cutting table and shout back: “For that beautiful cotton suit, forty-two dollars,” which at the time was an absurdly inflated price. Sid pretended as if he hadn’t understood while responding, “How much?” Harry would yell back, “Forty-two dollars!” Sid then turned to his customer and rather than relaying the previously mentioned dollar amount, he reported, “He says twenty-two dollars.” …

Many of us can identify with the presence of toxic individuals in our lives; some might be voluntary while others — we have zero control over how long they stick around. We can find toxic relationships amongst family, romantic partners, friends, peers, coworkers, classmates, and acquaintances, but no matter the dynamic of each unique connection, there are seven traits that most toxic people in your life have in common:

They are manipulative.

This trait should be seen as toxic without question. Toxic people will do everything in their power to steer a situation in any direction where they will benefit. It isn’t about equality for these individuals. A genuine friend might send the text: “Hey, want to grab lunch on Thursday” without any ulterior motive, while a toxic person with manipulative tendencies might ask the same question only with the subtext “and if you don’t, I’ll be mad at you for the rest of the week.” You might also notice ‘gaslighting’ in these relationships. …

“I sleep with memories,

They lie in my hollow bed,

In the space right next to me that you used to fill instead.

I talk to myself,

Because there were things left unsaid.

Every night, I drink wine.

I touch the lips to the bottle until the only thing left are the drops of, ‘Please give me a sign.’

I cry,

Because there’s no other way to express destruction,

Than to drown yourself in your own emotion.

I dream of kissing as many people as I can

Until the ink-stamped imprints of your lips are replaced with another man’s.

I go to museums to remind myself that other things that history too. …

Each of us navigates life based on a belief system cultivated by our experiences. If this observation elicits any variation of doubt in your mind, I would challenge you to this: The next time you are told new information, take a moment to draw attention to your thoughts immediately following. You will soon realize that each one has its roots in data you have already accumulated. This is data that you have accumulated either consciously or unconsciously. Regardless, this means that your intellect is perpetually immersed in the past. …