I love my friends. That's why I'm mean to them.
"Hey, man. There's this really cool Exeter party on Friday. I'd totally invite you... but, honestly, you're kind of a clinger, and I don't want to have to babysit you."
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Maybe You Stopped Improving Because You Were Driven By a Fear of Failure, Not a Desire to Succeed.8/3/2017
Being driven by a desire to win means that when you achieve your goal, you’ll feel joy. Being driven by a fear of failure means when you succeed, you’ll feel relief.
Whether training for your high school swim team or trying to make it to the pros, you've probably experienced a plateau. All athletes do! There are tons of physical reasons -- and one very mental reason -- why this happens.
"It is a happy talent to know how to play," Ralph Waldo Emerson once said.
He was exactly right. According to my master's research, playfulness isn't a trait -- it's a skill. But due to the ubiquity of technology (read: passive entertainment) and high-achieving childhoods, many young adults have yet to develop their leisure skills. The fact that they're making less money and are more likely to have debt than ever doesn't help. You Are NOT Allowed to Veto My Restaurant Choice If You Don't Have An Alternative Suggestion6/26/2017
Let's take a break from talking about playfulness and leisure skill development for a second to discuss something serious.
I went for a long walk on the beach with my dear friend Alex* recently, and during a conversation about relationships -- inspiration struck! (Inspiration always strikes when I go to the beach!)
Alex wanted to contribute to The Happy Talent... but anonymously. So without further ado, here is The Happy Talent's first guest post of 2017!
"I'm socially awkward."
"I have, like, zero social skills." "I don't want to go to the party because I never know what to do at parties." We've all heard -- or even uttered -- such phrases. Maybe when you hear it, you feel sympathetic. But when I hear it, I feel slightly annoyed. "Socially awkward" is a choice. Saying you have "bad social skills," to me, sounds like saying, "I'm bad at basketball," when you haven't played since middle school. Travel is magical... but it can also be stressful, riddled with logistics, decision overload, and long flights.
Which is why so many international travelers with long layovers choose to remain in the airport, rather than spend three, or five, or eight hours in a bustling new city. Luckily, South Korea's Incheon International Airport has tackled that problem with its free transit tours.
There's a common myth in popular psychology that money doesn't buy happiness.
It totally does.
By now, I'm sure we've all heard of gamification -- a strategy that employs game-like elements in non-game contexts to improve employee, student or even just life engagement.
As someone who has studied and blogged about playfulness for years, I want to be on-board with the gamification movement. The problem is... a lot of managers are doing it totally wrong.
You know what I love about interacting with people who disagree with me? The inspiration that comes from hearing their viewpoints -- and the corresponding reevaluation and refining of my own views.
For example, I was recently asked whether it's sexist for women to expect to be entertained by men -- and it seemed like the asker was hoping for a definite yes. But the real answer... is maybe. |
About the Author
Eva is a content specialist with a passion for play, travel... and a little bit of girl power. Read more >
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