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Allison Zelkowitz Allison Zelkowitz

#43 Come to Attention

Do you ever struggle to get through your daily to-do list, silently berating yourself, “If only I could stay focused!”

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Allison Zelkowitz Allison Zelkowitz

#41 Get Away from it All (a Lot)

As you’re developing your 2024 plans, are you also thinking about your potential holidays? Perhaps you’re scheduling family trips during the school breaks, or taking a month off over the summer?

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#39: The Secret to Happiness, Health and Longevity

According to Harvard’s 85-year study, what is the #1 secret to a long and happy life?

A.      Healthy diet

B.      Exercise

C.      Exposure to nature

D.      Positive relationships

As explained by the study’s director, psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, in his Ted Talk, after researchers followed 724 youth from 1938 until now, their main learning was clear: 

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#38: That which does not kill us…

Think back to the most difficult experience of your life, perhaps a severe illness, an accident, a disaster, or the death of a loved one.

How did it change you?

While many people are familiar with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a less known, yet more common experience following suffering caused by trauma is called “post-traumatic growth.”

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#36: Get Your Foot in the Door

Imagine you want to get a busy, high profile person to speak at an event you’re organizing, and you’re worried they’ll say no. What can you do?

While you could focus on crafting a compelling request, there’s another, less intuitive strategy you might try: ask them for a small favor first, and after they agree, follow with the request you really want…

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#33: Our Undivided Attention

Think back to the last time you visited your bank, doctor or dentist’s office. Did you see informational posters or leaflets? What did they say?

What – you have no idea?

One principle that behavioral science teaches is that it’s wise to assume that people are paying much less attention to our programs, materials, trainings, and emails than we’d like them to. 

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#32: Recognizing (and Reducing) Motivated Reasoning

Picture this: you’re invited to speak during an upcoming webinar. You’re about to confirm, when you notice the date is on a long-awaited holiday. You reread the invitation, and decide that they already have too many presenters, and you’re not really an expert on the topic. You politely decline.

Motivated reasoning occurs when we search for rational arguments not to determine what is true, or to make the best decision, but to justify the conclusion we intuitively prefer, based on our automatic emotional reaction. 

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#30: Are you a Maximizer or Satisficer?

Which of these statements better reflects you?

A:  During meetings, I often suggest questions, processes, and areas to explore, and it worries me when others aren’t assessing all the information and possibilities.

B:  During meetings, I often get frustrated with new suggested questions, processes, and topics, and try to steer the group toward making decisions.

If you selected A, you may be…

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#24: Stepping out of the Spotlight

Has this ever happened to you? You’re giving a presentation when you lose your train of thought. You pause for what feels like an eternity, and then continue. You spend the afternoon kicking yourself, embarrassed, ruminating on what your colleagues must think.

Well, I’ve got good news – research indicates that they probably didn’t even notice.

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#23: The First Instinct Fallacy

When you were in high school or university and studying for a multiple-choice exam, did you ever receive the advice, “Go with your gut – don’t change your first answer”?

Unfortunately, decades of research has demonstrated that the majority of answer changes are actually from wrong to right. So why do we believe a lie?

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