The Science of Self

• Geniuses come in all shapes and sizes, from all walks of life and all historical periods, but they can all be seen to possess certain predictable characteristics and mindsets. • If we can model our own lives on the traits we find in great and successful thinkers, we too can learn to fulfill more of our intellectual and creative potential.• The first trait is a lust for learning and an insatiable curiosity about how the world works, and why. This is knowledge and understanding pursued for its own sake, and not because it indirectly leads to another goal like fame or money. Such inspiration and passion gives incredible stamina to any effort. • Another trait is diligence, patience, dedication and self-discipline, i.e. everything associated with consistent hard work. Without detail-oriented and practical action taken daily, and a willingness to delay gratification, success will never materialize.#Copernicus #Darwin #Descartes #Experiment #Genius #Geniuses #WhatMakesAGenius? #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #TheScienceofSelf #PeterHollins

• We need distress tolerance skills to help us cope with extremely trying or painful moments, or emergency situations. When we’re distressed, it’s easy to default to clumsy, destructive, or unconscious ways of coping—these are false coping mechanisms. • Self-soothing is a way to acknowledge and accept pain that is inevitable—without making it any bigger than it should be. It is not distraction or avoidance, but about anchoring in the present using your five senses—a technique called grounding. • TIPP stands for temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing, and paired muscle relaxation, all of which can help lower physiological arousal. Try cold water, vigorous movement, or breathing exercises to calm the limbic system.• Practice radical acceptance, which doesn’t mean we like what is happening, only that we have agreed to not fight with reality. Acknowledge how you feel and the reality of the situation and remind yourself of what matters.• The ACCEPTS acronym (Activities, Contribute, Comparisons, Emotions, Push away, Thoughts, and Sensations) can help you better tolerate momentary distress—although not for the longer term.• With anxiety, our goal is not to force ourselves not to worry, but to worry more efficiently. Scheduling worry time puts you in proactive control and helps you gain distance. • Notice the anxiety, write down the time you’ll postpone to—with the duration and content—then follow through as agreed. • Mental noting and focused mundane tasks can help you turn anxious moments into opportunities for mindfulness. #ACCEPTS #Selfsoothing #StopNegativeThinking #TIPP #MasterTheArtOfDistressToleranceAndSelf-Soothing #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #StopNegativeThinking

• No matter how bleak things look, stay calm and take heart.: you always have the power to choose your response, and you can often turn a disadvantage into an advantage simply by changing your perspective.• When faced with a challenge or obstacle, try to think outside of the box and imagine a solution beyond your current way of thinking. Understand the rules, like Caesar, and then be brave and audacious enough to rewrite them completely to your advantage.• There is never any reason for despair or giving up – things can and often do change at a moment’s notice. Stay alert and take whatever action you can, reminding yourself that, if there are no opportunities on the table that you like, you can create opportunities. The double rampart idea didn’t exist before the battle of Alesia – what novel solution to your own current problems is just one ingenious idea away?Get the audiobook on Audible at https://adbl.co/3NBG3vWShow notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/self-growth-homePeter Hollins is a bestselling author, human psychology researcher, and a dedicated student of the human condition. Visit https://bit.ly/peterhollins to pick up your FREE human nature cheat sheet: 7 surprising psychology studies that will change the way you think.#Alesia #Caesar #Grit #Oldschool #JuliusCaesarAndTheBattleOfAlesia #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #Old-SchoolGrit

• According to author Max Gunther, there are 13 attitudes, traits and habits that set lucky people apart from unlucky ones. Lucky people clearly understand the difference between luck and planning, and never confuse them. They repeat hard work that gets results, and are grateful for luck when it happens, knowing they weren’t responsible. • Lucky people find the “fast flow” of people and information and position themselves within it, being extroverted and sociable and building connections with others to maximize possible channels for luck. Lucky people take appropriate risks – neither overextending themselves nor being too hesitant. They allow data and research to guide them.• When something isn’t working, know when to cut your losses and move on. Quit while you’re ahead rather than risk losing it all on a bet that your luck will continue. On a related note, “select” your luck by cutting ties with any course that is 100% not going anywhere, rather than wasting more time and effort on it. • The path to success is usually a zig-zag and not a straight line, so relax and become curious about the most optimal – even if unexpected – path from A to B. Superstitions can help you make decisions in impossible situations, since they encourage you to act rather than freeze with indecisiveness. A little irrationality won’t hurt if it ultimately gets you to do the right thing! • Pessimism can be a useful thing if it helps you to protect yourself and plan for when things go well. Lucky people plan for the worst but expect the best. Gunther also believes that lucky people don’t narrow their possibilities by talking indiscriminately about controversial or divisive topics – it makes sense if you’re trying to connect optimally with people!• Recognize a “non-lesson” which is just bad luck but doesn’t mean anything. Don’t twist yourself in knots trying to understand it. Likewise, accept that you are owed nothing and that none of us “deserves” luck or a charmed life. • Avoid idleness and stay busy to increase your exposure to lucky new opportunities. Finally, partner up with people that seem to improve your luck, or pass opportunities your way.Get the audiobook on Audible Show notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/self-growth-home#BeingLucky #Superstitions #MaxGunther #Superstition #StrategicLuckPlanning #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #TheScienceofBeingLucky

• Stay present. It’s something we hear frequently, but what does it mean? Simply put, we are more often caught in the past or looking forward to the future. When we are caught in the past, we are affected by things and events that we have no control over. When we are looking forward to the future (excessively, of course), we are also affected by that which we have no control over. • Author Eckhart Tolle has great insight into the problem of fixating on the past or future; he once said, “All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry—all forms of fear—are caused by too much future and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.”• To let go of the past is to forgive, excuse, and allow for errors. We can learn from the past, and we don’t have to experience things in vain. To stop fixating on the future is to accept uncertainty and a certain amount of randomness. We cannot control very much in our lives, and all we can control is our actions and reactions. • Staying in the present is of course easier said than done, but the practice of meditation is a useful blueprint. It is important to clear your mind and simply lose yourself in a thought, feeling, or sensation. Preoccupation is the worst of sins here, and it can only be defeated with time and practice—and the knowledge that the past does not matter anymore and the future is out of our control.Get the audiobook on Audible Show notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/self-growth-homePeter Hollins is a bestselling author, human psychology researcher, and a dedicated student of the human condition.Visit https://bit.ly/peterhollins to pick up your FREE human nature cheat sheet: 7 surprising psychology studies that will change the way you think.#EckhartTolle #Eckhart #Guilt #Preoccupation #Suffer #Tolle #TheMindsetOfThePresent #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #SufferWell

• No matter how bleak things look, stay calm and take heart: you always have the power to choose your response, and you can often turn a disadvantage into an advantage simply by changing your perspective.• When faced with a challenge or obstacle, try to think outside of the box and imagine a solution beyond your current way of thinking. Understand the rules, like Caesar, and then be brave and audacious enough to rewrite them completely to your advantage.• There is never any reason for despair or giving up – things can and often do change at a moment’s notice. Stay alert and take whatever action you can, reminding yourself that, if there are no opportunities on the table that you like, you can create opportunities. The double rampart idea didn’t exist before the battle of Alesia – what novel solution to your own current problems is just one ingenious idea away?Get the audiobook on Audible at https://adbl.co/3NBG3vWShow notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/self-growth-homePeter Hollins is a bestselling author, human psychology researcher, and a dedicated student of the human condition. Visit https://bit.ly/peterhollins to pick up your FREE human nature cheat sheet: 7 surprising psychology studies that will change the way you think.#Grit #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #AlexanderTheGreatAndTheLandBridgeToTyreIsland #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #Old-SchoolGrit

• Study findings shared in Wiseman’s book The Luck Factor point to four factors that are responsible for a mindset most prone to luck. While these attitudes and traits don’t literally cause luck in themselves, they do lay the groundwork and make us more able to capitalize on luck when it comes our way.• The first factor is openness to new experiences, which means being aware and perceptive of lucky turns and emerging events in your environment, rather than shut out to novel possibilities. We can increase this factor in ourselves by practicing non-judgment and heightened awareness during meditation. • The second factor is to listen to your gut and follow intuitions rather than getting bogged down in self-doubt, second guessing and analysis paralysis. We can improve this factor by building our self-trust. By spending time alone to figure out your own thoughts rather than become overwhelmed by other people’s, you can develop confidence in your own appraisals. • The third factor is to harbor positive expectations, i.e., believing that good things will come. This will build the grit and resilience needed for luck to find you. This can be developed by creating a gratitude or luck journal, to shift your focus onto the positive and train your brain to expect good things. • The fourth factor is the ability to reframe “bad” luck as good luck. Luckiness is a question of perception, and we can reinterpret seemingly unfortunate events by adopting a growth mindset. This will allow us to see the lesson in mistakes, employ counterfactual thinking and accept the hidden value in any outcome. • With the above factors in place, we can not only notice luck around us more easily, but we can start to create the conditions for its unfolding. Get the audiobook on Audible Show notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/self-growth-home#AnalysisParalysis #BadLuck #BeingLucky #GoodLuck #LuckFactor #Luckiness #LuckJournal #LuckyMindset #UnfortunateEvents #Wisemans #Wiseman’SFourFactors #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #TheScienceofBeingLucky

• The fourth noble truth encourages us to follow the eight-fold path, i.e. we need to understand suffering but also take concrete action towards our intended life every day. We can use proven and effective tools to help us suffer better, and suffer less.• Firstly, we can learn the power of reframing so that we investigate the “rules” we have for deciding what counts as pain or suffering in the first place. Much suffering disappears when we take our own assumptions and interpretations out of the picture. • Emotions are fleeting and always changing. When we understand this, we don’t cling to one emotion or reject another. It’s useful to learn to accept, embrace and name emotions for what they are, so they can flow.• A third tip is to understand that effort and difficulty don’t always signal pain, and rather than being something to avoid, it can be enriching. Get into the habit of asking whether you are really suffering or whether you are just experiencing the inevitable discomfort of change and growth.• Realize that sometimes, pain and suffering may be a sign that something needs to change. Pain can be a wake-up call if we heed its message honestly. Not all pain has to be stoically endured. Be frank with yourself about the cause of pain in your life, and what its message is.• Finally, understand that even raw, blind pain such as the pain experienced by endurance pro-athletes is not the end of the world. Those who fare best tend to have an attitude of “no option.” They distract themselves when it comes to discomfort and don’t allow themselves to indulge in thoughts of giving up.Get the audiobook on Audible Show notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/self-growth-homePeter Hollins is a bestselling author, human psychology researcher, and a dedicated student of the human condition.Visit https://bit.ly/peterhollins to pick up your FREE human nature cheat sheet: 7 surprising psychology studies that will change the way you think.#Pain #Suffer #SufferBetter #SufferLess #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #SufferWell

• Don’t give up. Failure, loss, and disappointment are not the end of the line. Learn, try again, and do better the next time around. Have the courage to accept what can be improved and, instead of dwelling on the pain of your defeat, get proactive and start doing.• It’s cowardly to blame others for your shortcomings or to get angry at life in general for not being fair. If you’ve been justly beaten, accept it graciously. Don’t be a bad loser. In fact, if you can, try to welcome even painful challenges in life as an opportunity to learn and be better. Like the Romans, we can all build monuments to those who have taught us our most difficult lessons.• Hard work is a wonderful remedy for pain and loss. Resilience is not just about passively accepting your lot – you can empower yourself by taking action, and this will make any hardship 100 times easier to bear.Get the audiobook on Audible at https://adbl.co/3NBG3vWShow notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/self-growth-homePeter Hollins is a bestselling author, human psychology researcher, and a dedicated student of the human condition. Visit https://bit.ly/peterhollins to pick up your FREE human nature cheat sheet: 7 surprising psychology studies that will change the way you think.#BadLoser #Blame #DifficultLessons #Failure #Grit #Oldschool #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #Resilience #Roman #TheBattleOfZama:TheRoman’SSecretToWinning #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #Old-SchoolGrit

• Coincidence and serendipity are related to good luck. We all would like something beneficial and fortuitous to happen to us for seemingly no good reason. We can’t create positive random chances, but We can foster a “serendipity mindset” that helps us take advantage of the chances that come our way.• Serendipity means different things to different people, but generally, it is the combination of seemingly improbable occurrences plus positive personal feelings about them. We can cultivate a serendipity mindset by recognizing triggers in daily life, drawing connections to other unrelated areas, and finding potential value in that link. • Making use of the unexpected requires that we are optimistic, open-ended, comfortable with ambiguity, extraverted, and good listeners, as well as willing to make mistakes or entertain unexpected outcomes. We need to be proactive and curious about what emerges spontaneously.• The real difference between the status quo and serendipity is in the effort you put in following a chance happening, and the meaning you can assign to events after the fact.• Statistician David Hand claims that although coincidences seem surprising, “extremely improbable events are commonplace.” It is only the limits of our human understanding of probability that makes coincidence seem more astonishing. • Luck is a way of describing our interaction with random external events. Those who are religious or spiritual tend to experience more coincidences and perceive them differently. Similarly, self-referential people – i.e., those who tend to connect external events to themselves – also describe more coincidence experiences. Get the audiobook on Audible Show notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/self-growth-home#BeingLucky #Coincidence #ImprobableEvents #ImprobableOccurrences #RandomExternalEvents #Serendipity #SerendipityMindset #UnexpectedOutcomes #TwoPhenomenaAssociatedWithLuck—CoincidenceAndSerendipity #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #TheScienceofBeingLucky