I recently discovered Mel Robbins on Instagram. She puts out great Instagram content such as: “What would @oprah do?” – That simple question is the key to making better decisions. It’s what I always ask myself when I’m weighing options and have a tough decision to make. By asking “what would @oprah do”, I literally CHANGE the way I think. It’s called the “power of objectivity” and in this video I share this powerful tool with you. – When I consider any problem from Oprah’s perspective, I silence my emotions, think creatively and have the ability be more strategic about the choices in front of me. It works like a charm. – Now it’s your turn. Who do you admire? Tag them. The next time you have a decision to make, stop and ask yourself what would they do. A post shared by Mel Robbins (@melrobbinslive) on Aug 23, 2018 …[Read More]
TED Talks
Should we self-censor what we consume?
When I was at uni, I took an Aesthetics class. The Philosophy of Art. I don’t remember much from that course except for a couple of essays on Plato and Tolstoy. Plato was keen that when educating the young men of his Republic that their art be censored and that the youth should only consume art that promoted nobility. So poetry shouldn’t be about loucheness and hedonism, rather they should be about promoting bravery in battle and moral uprightness. I was reminded of this recently after binge watching a series of Mindhunter on Netflix, a show about the FBI’s profiling of serial killers in the 1970s. This is show that goes deep into the minds and motivations of deeply disturbed people, and it’s very entertaining and very compelling. We watched this off the back of Unabomber, another Netflix show, this time about the hunt for another serial killer, Ted Kaczynski. …[Read More]
What you can learn from Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk – Your body language shapes who you are
This TED Talk by Amy Cuddy on how deeply your body language affects you is one of the most viewed TED Talks of all time. Summary Professor Cuddy demonstrates just how closely linked the physical is with the psychological. We heard of psychosomatic, where your mind can influence your body, eg when anxiety affects your bodily health. Cuddy explains how our body language affects our mental states, i.e. the reverse is also true. For example, if you’re hunched over, with your shoulders rolled forward, looking down at the ground, it’s likely that you’re in a nervous state of mind. Now exaggerate the opposite posture. Sit back, lean backwards, open up your chest, breathe deeply and you’re likely now feeling more relaxed, less anxious and more at ease. We can exaggerate this further. There’s a universal pose for victory and feeling victorious. Studies show that even those unable to see make …[Read More]
What I learnt from Simon Sinek’s TED Talk – ‘How Great Leaders Inspire Action’
This video by Simon Sinek will change how you see the world. In this TED talk, Sinek says most of the time we fail to start with the Why. Instead, he argues in general that, we start with the What, then the How, then the Why. To resonate with people, however, we need to start with the Why. This is the part that appeals to the ‘feeling’ part of the brain. Not the rational, logical part, but the emotional part. Sinek applies this to marketing, such as when explaining Apple appeals to consumers more than Dell. Both sell great computers (the What). Both sell the How. But only Apple truly sells the Why. Sinek argues that Apple found their raison d’etre and started from there. They sold the counterculture, the rebellion, the attack on the status quo and that’s what consumers bought into. They bought why Apple existed before they …[Read More]