What are intrusive thoughts? Intrusive thoughts are involuntary and unpleasant thoughts, images, or ideas that pop into our mind. They are a common symptom in those with anxiety, depression, OCD, and PTSD; however, the truth is most people experience intrusive thoughts from time to time. Common intrusive thoughts are usually associated with aggression, impulsive urges, [...]
A lot of the clothes I still wear I’ve had for years. The video games I play today are all from previous generations. And I still use the same TV, laptop, and cellphone that I’ve had for a really long time. It’s not that I’m against any of these things or that I’m against spending [...]
There’s always tomorrow – except when there’s not. Why do we constantly put off things that we know we should do? What does it take to motivate ourselves to follow through on these activities? One big part of the answer is identifying activities that we tend to procrastinate on. When we acknowledge what it is [...]
It’s not hard to make a decision that impacts your life. Even small and simple changes can make a big difference if you make them where they really count. Here is an experiment you can try in changing one small habit in your daily routine. The goal is to try it out successfully for one [...]
The purpose of thinking is to understand our world as best as possible. Our minds have evolved to think so that we can better adapt to our environment and make smarter decisions on how to survive and live. At a biological level, our thoughts are millions of neurons firing off in our brain. These brain [...]
A source of much conflict in today’s relationships is our inability to see things from another person’s viewpoint. However, by practicing a technique called “perspective-taking,” we can learn how to better resolve these social conflicts. And by doing this, we can start building stronger relationships in our lives. One of the main assumptions behind perspective-taking [...]
Often we go through awkward phases throughout our self-improvement. An aspiring baseball player doesn’t think or feel like a baseball player the first time he steps up to the plate. His body is not yet familiar with the mechanics. His stance is awkward. His swing is awkward. He doesn’t exactly understand all the rules of [...]
Unschooling is an educational philosophy that believes children learn best through their natural life experiences. This includes learning through play, games, household responsibilities, work experience, and social interaction. Unschooling differs from traditional schooling because it asserts that standardized curriculum, uniform grading methods, and other forms of traditional schools are counterproductive toward maximizing a child’s education. [...]
A couple days ago I asked people on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, and LinkedIn to choose one mantra for the new year. Here are some of the responses I got. Feel free to share your own mantra in the comment section below. I’ll add my favorites to this post. Comments from Facebook “I love.” – [...]
Black and white thinking can be the cause of many problems in our life. I remember a time when I was very depressed, and looking back, I can now see how my absolutist views were a big reason I couldn’t get out of the rut I was stuck in for so long. Black and white [...]
There’s a right way and a wrong way to help people. It’s important to remember that even when you act with the best intentions, you don’t always know what is best for someone else. Here are some guidelines to determine if you’re really helping someone or not. You make people dependent on you. As the [...]
As we age we often become stuck in old routines and habits. In many ways, our growth stagnates. We begin to stick with what is familiar – whatever is in our “comfort zone” – and often we become stubborn, resistant, and even afraid to expose ourselves to new things. In short, we become complacent toward [...]
