Today's Personal Growth Pulse
NYT launches ‘Ask the Therapist’ column to democratize mental‑health advice
The New York Times introduced a weekly column called “Ask the Therapist,” written by psychotherapist and best‑selling author Lori Gottlieb. The feature invites readers to submit personal dilemmas, which Gottlieb answers with clinical insight, aiming to make professional mental‑health guidance accessible to a broad audience.
1181: What AI Means for the Future of Finance Leadership | Yuval Atsmon, CFO & Sr Partner, McKinsey & Company
In this episode, senior partner and new CFO Yuval Atsmon discusses how AI and shifting client expectations are reshaping finance leadership at McKinsey, a firm that advises the rest of the business world. He explains the need for real‑time visibility, automation, and agile capital allocation, especially as talent becomes the primary product and traditional pricing models are challenged. Atsmon also shares insights from his global career—spanning Israel, Europe, Asia, and the U.S.—highlighting cultural nuances in leadership and the firm’s unique partnership model that grants partners autonomy while emphasizing client impact. Finally, he outlines why the CFO role now demands a blend of strategist, operator, and change translator to drive resilience and growth.
Pick the Ideology That Fuels Your Personal Growth
Pt 2/3 How to choose which perspective or ideology serves your growth the most. Do you agree? Lmk 👇🏾
Clarity Beats Urgency: Prioritize to End Procrastination
If everything feels urgent, nothing is clear. And when nothing is clear, your brain does the only logical thing: It avoids everything. That’s what procrastination really is. Not laziness, but avoidance of confusion. A good system fixes this by answering: - What matters today? -...
Anger Is Often Grief that Didn’t Get Permission to Be Sad First
The article argues that anger is frequently a secondary response that masks grief or sadness that has been denied permission to surface. Neuroscience research shows that suppressing sadness reduces outward cues but leaves the brain’s emotional signal largely unchanged, allowing...
Stoicism Demands Action, Not Aesthetic Vibes
Stoicism isn’t a vibe. It’s not a aesthetic. It’s not a way to avoid accountability or tune out the world around you. Marcus said: waste no more time talking about what a good person is like. Just be one. That’s it. Don’t...
Imposter Syndrome Hits Every Runner; Success Is Personal
The topic of imposter syndrome comes up from time to time, and is a tricky topic. Whether we like it or not, apps, social media, and tech allow us to play the comparison game with more ease and less intention...
Parshat Shemini Commentary Calls for Intentionality in Jewish Ritual
The Times of Israel's Jewish Chronicle published a commentary titled “Beyond the details: Finding meaning and intention in Parshat Shemini,” urging readers to approach the week’s offerings with heightened consciousness. The piece arrives as community leaders like Rabbi Mark Asher...
Kindness Sparked My Transformation Into Abundant Living
Not only does my forehead get bigger with every post, my life keeps getting better by the moment I was once miserable, but I decided to make a change, and that started with showcasing MORE kindness to anyone I interacted with Today,...
Blake Johnston Breaks Three World Records, Pushes Post‑Traumatic Growth
Former professional surfer Blake Johnston has shattered three world surfing records and published a mental‑health memoir after his father’s suicide. He is now using his platform to champion post‑traumatic growth, a concept gaining traction in psychology and personal‑development circles.
Companies Align Work Hours with Employees' Circadian Rhythms to Boost Focus
A wave of firms is redesigning shift patterns and meeting times around workers' natural body clocks. Early pilots show gains in creativity, decision quality and reduced fatigue, challenging the long‑standing bias toward early‑day productivity.
Physician Unveils Two Proven ‘Cheat Codes’ High‑IQ Performers Use to Boost Mental Strength
A practicing physician explains two psychological “cheat codes” that high‑IQ individuals employ to strengthen mental resilience: deliberately overshooting daily goals and deliberately shocking their nervous system with intensive practices like Vipassana meditation. The insights aim to help anyone improve mental...
Selftalk Secures €270K EU Funding to Scale AI‑Driven Meditation Platform
Selftalk, a Moldovan mental‑health startup, received €270,000 (about $295,000) in EU‑backed funding to accelerate its AI‑driven platform that includes guided meditation. The money will help the company hit a €1 million annual recurring revenue goal and serve 100 corporate teams. The...
Your Biggest Setback Could Be Your Greatest Breakthrough
What if the worst thing that happened to you is actually the best thing to ever happen to you?
A System Eliminates Guesswork, Drives Consistent Action
You don’t lack discipline. You just keep guessing what to do next. That hesitation? That’s what slows you down. When everything is already decided, you stop overthinking and just move. That’s the power of a system. Collect what’s on your mind Organise what matters Do what’s scheduled No guessing. No...
You Were Never the Problem. You Were the Pattern They Needed Not to See.
The article explores the hidden pattern that marginalizes insightful individuals who repeatedly predict problems and solve them, only to be labeled as overly critical or intense. It argues that these people are natural paradigm shifters, constantly forced to translate their...
Stop Urgency, End Burnout without Quitting
Here’s what I wish someone had told me before I burned out: You don’t need to quit your job. You don’t need to change your life. You need your body to stop reacting like everything is urgent. THAT’S how you stop the stress spiral,...
Set Phone Boundaries to Reclaim Real Attention
Your phone is a quiet addiction running your life. Feeling the urge to check your device every few minutes is normal. It's your brain doing exactly what it was built to do—except it's doing it for the wrong thing. Your dopamine system...
Positive Affect Therapy Beats Traditional Depression Treatment in New JAMA Study
Researchers from SMU and UCLA reported that Positive Affect Treatment (PAT), a 15‑session program targeting joy and reward, produced greater clinical improvement than standard negative‑affect therapy in a randomized trial of 98 adults with severe anhedonia, depression and anxiety. The...
Tiny Steps Disarm Fear, Reveal Its Illusion
"One way to beat fear is with steps so small they don't scare you. As you get closer to fear, you realize there was never anything there to be afraid of." via @farnamstreet (or my take.... just take the bigger scary steps...
Choose Your Own Path, Not Society’s Approval
This is for all the people in the arena ( your life, your career, your family ) who are doing it for them .. not for the validation of the crowd One of the great issues in our society right...
Harvard Business Review Reveals Seven Practices Behind Continuously Improving Superteams
Harvard Business Review published a study of 6,000 knowledge workers that identifies seven leader‑driven practices enabling "superteams" to out‑perform peers by up to 50% in experimentation. The findings, illustrated by the Oklahoma City Thunder’s rapid rise, offer a roadmap for...
Constraints Spark Creativity; AI Risks Stifling Thought
Check the link in my bio for more info and pre-order links for my new book, Inside the Box, in which I share science and stories that show how constraints can make you more creative, productive, and satisfied. Everyone worries that...
Boost Luck by Trying New Side Quests Daily
You aren't going to get lucky repeating the same day. You need to go on more side quests. Weekly. Daily if you can. Even one tiny new decision can substantially increase your chances at luck.
Study Shows Discipline Comes From Decision‑Free Routines, Not Willpower
A recent psychology article highlights research that disciplined people succeed by removing routine decisions, not by sheer willpower. The finding challenges common motivation myths and points to habit automation as the real driver of consistent performance.
Leadership Grows: From Supervisor to Consultant to Friend
When you lead students and young adults well, the relationship evolves from supervisor to consultant to friend.
Embrace Minor Setbacks, Gain Resilience Over Stress
I call it Spilled Milk Syndrome. The people who suffer from it live difficult, stressful lives, no matter how well things may otherwise be going for them. They freak out when their iPhone screen cracks. Their flight gets delayed an hour,...
Vulnerability at the Easel: How Artists’ Studios Unlock Creative Potential
Photographer Rohit Chawla’s book "Portrait of an Artist" captures 67 studios, exposing how vulnerability fuels creative breakthroughs. The work spotlights artists from Van Gogh to contemporary Indian painters, illustrating the studio as a crucible for human potential.
Cut Ties with Negativity, Surround Yourself with Growth
Distance yourself from people who make you feed bad about yourself. Distance yourself from people who have a problem with every solution. Distance yourself from people who take much more than they ever give. Be with better people. Be better yourself.
Habits Amplify Over Time, Shaping Your Life
Time will magnify whatever you feed it - the biggest influence in life is habit. https://t.co/CVbqwpwbkp
University of Liège Study Links Seasonal Light to Amygdala Activity and Mood
Researchers at the University of Liège used 7‑Tesla MRI on 29 volunteers and found that seasonal variations in light intensity shift activity in specific amygdala nuclei, with the strongest effect at the summer solstice. The discovery sheds light on why...
Optimism Drives Progress; Pessimism Holds Humanity Back
“The test of all beliefs is their practical effect in life. If it be true that optimism compels the world forward, and pessimism retards it, then it is dangerous to propagate a pessimistic philosophy.” — Helen Keller, Optimism
Negative Feedback Is a Gift for Growth
Getting negative feedback from customers is better than getting no feedback. It's a gift. It helps you improve.
Study Finds 78% of Knowledge Workers Treat AI Like a Colleague, Raising HR Risks
A Harvard Business Review study of 1,545 U.S. knowledge workers reveals that 78% use polite language with AI and 28% view it as a “friend” or “teammate.” More than half report workplace loneliness, prompting HR leaders to reconsider AI‑driven employee...
Leaders Replace Success They Never Created
Leaders often change what works — not because it’s broken, but because they didn’t build it.
Single Parenting Can Fuel Entrepreneurial Success
Building a business is hard. Building one while raising kids alone is something else entirely. Some people see it as a limitation. Others turn it into their biggest advantage. What you do with that pressure changes everything. https://t.co/6IX5dJ6kn0
When Have You Changed Your Mind?
The post argues that iterative thinking—continually revising beliefs and strategies—is essential for both personal growth and business innovation. It contrasts the "Innovation Cycle," which embraces feedback and adaptation, with the "Status Quo Cycle," which repeats without learning. Drawing on examples...
Treat Problems as Skills, Improve Yourself
My life got a lot better when I viewed every problem as a skill issue. Out of shape? Skill issue. Ugly bank account? Skill issue. Anxious thoughts? Skill issue. I affirmed to myself these would go away if I got...
Bezos: Writing Culture Drives Better Meetings and Thinking
Jeff Bezos on how to run effective meetings by adopting a writing culture. Read to improve your writing. Write to improve your thinking. https://t.co/D4cOCgUMtY
Feeling Lost in Your Career? Stop Asking What to Do. Ask What to Avoid.
The article proposes flipping traditional career advice by asking what to stop doing instead of what to start. It draws on Charlie Munger’s inversion principle, showing that mapping failure points can cut through decision paralysis. It identifies four counterproductive habits—emotional...
Arrogance and Entitlement Stifle Continuous Growth
Nvidia CEO: “you cannot show me a task that is beneath me.” The enemy of continuous growth is arrogance, a zero sum mindset and sense of entitlement. https://t.co/DpugJBDmtO
A 20‑Minute Walk Can Turn Bad Days Around
You can turn a bad day into a great day just by going for a 20 minute walk.
How Principles of Self-Compassion Help Fight Loneliness in the Age of AI
The rise of AI‑driven tools is intensifying a loneliness epidemic, with recent Canadian data showing more than one in ten people feeling chronically isolated. Researchers link heavy digital engagement to heightened anxiety, depression, and a feedback loop of self‑withdrawal. Psychologists...
Founders Battle Inner Pain, Not Just Hustle
Most people have no idea how hard it is to be a founder. And it’s not about work ethic or grinding or IQ. It’s about managing your own psyche against the relentless pain of failures inherent in going 0 to...
Stop Announcing Plans, Start Delivering Results
Don’t be the person constantly telling everyone what you’re about to do or build. It’s so boring. You see the same serial losers always talking about their “new beginning.” Just go do it. Then show everyone after.
AI Is Frying Our Brains — Here’s What Leaders Need to Do About It
Recent research shows AI is amplifying, not alleviating, workload, leading to employee burnout. An eight‑month ethnographic study of 200 workers found AI use intensifies effort, while BCG reports a "brain‑fry" effect that increases errors. The cognitive strain stems from limited...
Your Weekend Media Builds the Future You
The person you’ll be in five years is being built by what you’re reading, watching, and doing every weekend.
Clarity Emerges Through Action—Start When It Matters
Rumí said, "As you start to walk on the way, the way appears. Clarity doesn't come before action. It comes from action." In other words, if it’s important to you, do it. Start now.
Are You Putting the Dope Back Into Dopamine?
The post explains how dopamine drives human reward seeking and how modern online betting platforms—FanDuel, Kalshi, and Polymarket—exploit that chemistry to turn everyday choices into high‑frequency wagers. It highlights real‑world fallout, from a journalist’s $10,000 gambling stake spiraling into addiction...
Success Comes From Daily Meaningful Actions, Not Worry
Don't worry about success. Worry about doing the things that matter every day. That is already success.
Greatness Requires Risk, Not Playing It Safe
I’ve found that nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks.Nothing. There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that’s less than the one you’re capable of living. —Denzel Washington, 2011 University of Pennsylvania ...