...When your story is not clear, when it’s fragmented or overly complex, the audience has to work hard to make sense of it. Eventually, this hard work begins to produce first resistance, then irritation, and then loss of confidence...
...We all know exercise is important, but is it better to do a little every day, or a lot a few times a week?...
...Forget the marble-size meatballs you find in many versions of this Italian Wedding Soup. In this easy recipe, they're full-size, full-flavored and plenty filling...
...The researchers theorize that putting a leisure-time activity down on your calendar diminishes its fun because scheduling adds structure, structure is associated with work, and work is associated with things that are obligatory, effortful, and constraining...
...Prioritize feedback from people with taste, skill and influence, not proximity or volume...
...Everyone’s just kind of rusty. Our social graces have atrophied...
...You can’t avoid all the fees our capitalist masters throw at us, but there are plenty of stupid fees you can avoid—and should never pay...
...[Ed. note - Ok, this was an audio book in a long car ride with family]...
...In this piece, the author outlines when it’s best to say no to taking on more work: 1) When your primary job responsibilities will suffer. 2) When it’s someone else’s work. 3) When there’s no clear exit strategy. 4) When the ask is unreasonable...
...If we’re being honest, you don’t really need a recipe to make this staple late-night meal. But, if you’re looking for some guidance (especially on how to create a killer filling), then turn to this recipe...
...When it comes to pursuing goals, you can learn to notice when you’re grinding, and instead of leaning harder on the accelerator you can opt to disengage the parking brake. The feeling is incredible: suddenly you can go faster, turn more easily, and set your sights on more distant destinations without worrying whether you’ll make it...
...Among life’s many chapters and milestones, Americans have come to see some events — like college, marriage, homeownership, child-rearing, and career success — as achievements they must fulfill in order to maintain the status quo. Because so many follow these “traditional” paths, both in real life and in Western popular culture, we learn from a young age to model and emulate these behaviors. Family and cultural traditions can dictate what is expected of us throughout life, particularly among women, which can elicit anxiety when those benchmarks aren’t reached...
...If you quit or are laid off, don't forget about your retirement savings...
...The focus and energy we lavish on events can easily distract us from the journeys we care about...
...Success does not lie in sticking to things. It lies in picking the right thing to stick to and quitting the rest...
...So what’s key problem that nobody talks about? Your brain. Why the brain? Because that’s where the bad decisions come from. Some will yell it’s their genetics but the obesity epidemic didn’t start until 1978 and genetics don’t change that fast. Yes, genes are an issue but they only load the gun – behavior pulls the trigger. And wanna guess what part of the body those obesity genes affect?...
...With our mix of seasonings and this handy kitchen gadget, you can have a practically hands-off dinner in 20 minutes...
...On any particular issue, people at the bottom can usually claim the most expertise; they know their job best. And when someone at the top has to make a difficult decision, they usually prefer to justify it via reference to recommendations from below. They are just following the advice of their experts, they say. But of course they lie; people at the top often overrule subordinates. And while leaders often like to pretend that they select people for promotion on the basis of doing lower jobs well, that is also often a lie....
...We default to time and ordinal ordering when we don’t bother to imagine a taxonomy that produces a useful grid. If you want to know what’s missing, spend some time on structuring a useful grid first...
...All of this may sound a bit ridiculous. It is just coffee, after all. But while jokes about $10 lattes and millennials who will never be able to afford homes might persist, I do think there is something special about the way we are able to make little parts of our life better...
