I’ll start out with as strong a recommendation on The Nerdist Way, written by Chris Hardwick, as I can give: You should buy this book. Now I’m going to tell you why. More »
It’s never easy to admit you’ve made a mistake, but it’s a crucial step in learning, growing, and improving yourself. Writer and speaker Scott Berkun’s new essay collection, Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds, examines, among other things, how to learn from your mistakes. In this excerpt, Berkun discusses four of the most common kinds of mistakes, how to recognise them, and how, in turn, to learn from them. More »
Think you have no control over how lucky you are in life? Psychologist Richard Wiseman says think again. Turns out you can learn to be a luckier person just by changing how you look at the world around you. More »
If you fold like an orgami swan at the idea of making a birthday toast in front of a group of people or going to a party by yourself, then you might like self-improvement blog Dumb Little Man’s tips for overcoming shyness. More »
You won’t ever actually need this skill, hopefully, but learning how to throw a knife and hit your mark definitely leaves you with a feeling of action hero accomplishment. Here’s how to do it the right way. More »
Believe it or not, you can improve your career and your life by not impersonating hospital food. Speaking at an HR conference in Queensland this week, corporate director and strategic advisor Linda Nicholls (St George, Australian Post, Healthscope, the Smith Family and a bunch of others) offered up the following strategy: work out what people would never say about your organisation. For instance, no-one ever says “This hospital food is excellent — I must get the recipe” or “Wow, that hotel mini-bar is great value!” In both cases, she noted, that implies areas that are seriously in need of improvement and which should be prioritised in any future plans.
Programmer and blogger Jeff Atwood highlights the distinction between everyday work and actually practicing your craft to improve your skills, quoting Googler Steve Yegge: Contrary to what you might believe, merely doing your job every day doesn’t qualify as real practice. Going to meetings isn’t practicing your people skills, and replying to mail isn’t practicing your typing. You have to set aside some time once in a while and do focused practice in order to get better at something.
While Atwood’s post focuses around computer programming skills, the overall gist is applicable to any profession: In order to improve, you need to practice your craft outside of your daily comfort zone. Looking at the difference between building your skills and simply doing your everyday work, we’re curious: do you practice your craft, or do you simply work? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments. The Ultimate Code Kata [Coding Horror]
If you want to increase your happiness, check out this list of 9 ways you can improve your life – by treating yourself like a cat! It was the best thing I read yesterday by a long shot – it was nice to be reminded that while we might lavish our feline friends with the best care, we sometimes neglect ourselves.
The list includes those perennial feline favourite activities like stretching, napping and bathing, as well as a call to pay attention to what you eat:
“I stopped free-feeding my cats and they lost weight, yet I kept stuffing my own face and stayed overweight! Eat protein, eat vitamin and mineral rich foods and the right sort of fats. Check out the complexity of your pedigree cat food and compare to your own diet. Eat grass. I provide cat grass for my cats and they chew on it every day before each meal. Fibre and fresh leafy greens are essential for us every day.”
The list comes courtesy of the multi-talented Kate Conroy – the producer and presenter of environmental online radio show and podcast A Climate Affair.
Like what Kate has to say? Check out her Lifehacker interview and her Climate Affair podcast.
Treat yourself like a cat [Serenity Now] More »
