How to Be More Social: A 7-Step Guide
If you met me today, you’d probably see a happy, smiling girl chatting with a bunch of people around her. I bet, hidden beneath this social butterfly, you’d never recognize the quiet, shy girl I used to be. …
Self Improvement
How to Be a Better Person
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. ― Ernest Hemingway Have you ever asked yourself: how can I be a better person? Recently, I found …
4 Practices to Create Lasting Change in Your Life
When I began the process of examining my life, I didn’t have the intention to achieve life-mastery – I just wanted to be happy. I wanted to make the necessary changes in my life so I could live …
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What I Learned From Reading 170 Books in a Single Year
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin No one is going to die your own death FOR you, and so no one has the …
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An Actor’s Mindset: How Improv Has Changed My Life
I was never an outgoing kid. A series of unfortunate events during my high school years, whose perpetrators undoubtedly know of my longlasting distress, left me emotionally crippled. I was shy to the point of becoming unable even …
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How to Say No (Without Guilt or Being a Jerk)
When you say yes to others, make sure you aren’t saying no to yourself. – Paulo Coelho Once upon a time, I said yes to just about everything. It wasn’t the enthusiastic “yes!” of an adventurous person facing …
7 Important, Life-Changing Lessons I Learned While I Worked As A Janitor
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell I got fired on …
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How to Raise a Good Man
I was recently asked to be godfather to a very special young man; the ritual requires godparents to oversee the lad’s ‘spiritual education.’ Not being a great churchgoer, I thought I’d rather leave him my thoughts on what it takes to be a good man, if not necessarily a religious one.
I just saw a movie with the boy’s mom; it was called The Descendants, starring George Clooney. Afterwards she described the main character as a ‘good man.’ It occurred to me what an undervalued concept that has become in today’s society; men today tend to think of themselves as successful or not successful, sexy or not so much, cool or nerds.
Why Trying to Be Charismatic Backfires (and What to Do Instead)
I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of being charismatic. It seemed like such an exotic and fascinating trait to have, and at one moment in my life I believed that I lacked it entirely. So soon enough, I decided to try and become charismatic.
The first thing I did was to read about the behavior that makes a person charismatic and to study the behavior of people around me who were deemed charismatic. Then, with fierce determination, I started trying to adopt the very same type of behavior. Often, this is a good approach to developing certain traits. You deconstruct them into specific behaviors and you practice those behaviors until they become second nature. Paradoxically though, with trying to be charismatic, this approach failed me miserably. Not only that I did not become more charming, but I actually became tenser in social situations and I started enjoying them less.