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.
Women Aged Between 40-65 Say Clubbing Benefits Their Mental Health, Study Finds
A University of Leeds study published in April 2025 surveyed 136 women aged 40‑65 who regularly attend electronic‑music events. Over 92% reported that clubbing lifts their mental health, while 81.6% have been part of the scene for more than two decades. The majority (91%) go out four to six times a year, and 65.2% admit using drugs to enhance the experience. Despite positive effects, roughly one‑fifth sometimes feel out‑of‑place because of their age.
Digital Wellbeing: Breaking Free From Screen Overload
The article defines digital wellbeing as the balanced, intentional use of technology that supports mental, physical, and emotional health. It highlights the harms of doomscrolling and social‑media addiction, citing recent research linking these habits to higher stress, anxiety, and reduced...
Finding Clarity Through the Messy Middle: Reflections From My Book Retreat with Betsy Jordyn (BONUS)
In a bonus episode of the *Chain of Learning* podcast, host Katie Anderson sits down with business coach Betsy Jordyn to unpack the "messy middle" of writing her next book and leading change. The conversation highlights how uncertainty, evolving ideas, and...
When You Can’t Settle Your Mind, Start With Your Space
When mental chatter stalls, the article suggests tackling a small physical space—like washing dishes or clearing a countertop—to reset the brain. Citing psychology research, it notes that a tidy environment directly lowers anxiety and improves focus. Even ten minutes of...
7 Money Rules the Wealthy Keep Quiet From the Working Class
The article contrasts the wealthy’s asset‑centric money mindset with the working class’s paycheck‑and‑debt approach. It outlines seven rules the affluent follow, such as borrowing against appreciated assets, using cash‑flow from investments to pay for luxuries, and leveraging fixed‑rate debt during...
Charlie Munger Advice: If You Really Want to Be Happy in Life, Start Saying No to These 10 Things
Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway’s longtime partner, argues that happiness stems more from what you refuse than what you pursue. He outlines ten habits to reject—envy, resentment, self‑pity, overspending, unreliable people, high expectations, rigid ideology, disrespectful coworkers, liquor/leverage, and intellectual stagnation....
5 Reasons Self-Improvement Is Lonely According to Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett argues that genuine self‑improvement is a solitary pursuit, driven by an inner scorecard rather than external validation. As individuals raise their standards, they gravitate toward higher‑quality associations, which naturally narrows their social circles. Protecting time by saying “no”...
How to Not Take Things So Personally: 6 Helpful Habits
The Positivity Blog outlines six practical habits to stop taking things personally, ranging from simple breathing exercises to improving self‑esteem. By pausing to breathe, seeking clarification, and recognizing that others’ behavior often reflects their own issues, readers can create mental...
My Mother Read My Journal when I Was 17. I Didn't Write Again for 30 Years.
The author recounts how her mother read a private journal entry when she was 17, prompting a 30‑year silence from writing. Decades later she returns to journaling, confronting the lingering nervous‑system alarm that honesty can be punished. She describes a...
How Elon Musk Thinks, and Why It Is Killing Us
Elon Musk’s cognitive framework treats the world as software, applying version‑control, continuous integration and rapid iteration to physical factories. This approach reshaped Tesla’s production line and SpaceX’s rocket development, delivering unprecedented cost and speed gains. The same software‑first mindset, when...
AI Doesn’t Just Make You Worse. It Makes You Stop Trying.
A new preprint from Carnegie Mellon, Oxford, MIT and UCLA shows that just ten to fifteen minutes of AI assistance can erode persistence. In three randomized trials with 1,222 participants, those who used AI for direct answers performed worse and...
10 Phrases That Kill Leadership Progress
The article lists ten common phrases that silently sabotage leadership effectiveness, from “We’ve always done it that way” to “I already know that.” Each expression reinforces rigidity, hierarchy, or disengagement, eroding trust and stifling continuous improvement. By spotlighting what not...
Is Command-and-Control Leadership Back in Fashion?
A wave of articles and podcasts is championing a comeback of command‑and‑control leadership, dubbing CEOs as “wartime” leaders and praising authoritarian coaching. The narrative gains traction because volatile markets make decisive, centralized authority feel reassuring. Yet scholars note that top‑down...
The Most Dangerous Productivity Myth Is the One You Can See
The piece argues that visible busyness is a misleading productivity myth, illustrated by Chris Gardner’s choice to pursue high‑value clients first rather than ticking off a long list. It links today’s hustle culture to early‑20th‑century manufacturing metrics that prized speed...
The People Who Remember Everyone’s Birthday but Quietly Hope Someone Will Remember Theirs without a Reminder
The article examines people who habitually remember everyone’s birthdays and life events, often using spreadsheets and calendar alerts, while hoping their own milestones are noticed without prompting. It reveals that this relational labor is a form of emotional work that...
#142 Jordan Ritter Conn: Why Do Men Feel So Alone?
In this episode, host Nick Vershaw talks with senior staff writer Jordan Ritter‑Kahn about his new book *American Men*, which explores how men across diverse backgrounds grapple with the gap between cultural expectations of masculinity and their lived realities. Ritter‑Kahn...
What Is ‘Friction-Maxxing’ and Should Leaders Embrace It?
Businesses are discovering that generative AI tools, touted as productivity boosters, are actually intensifying work and eroding critical‑thinking skills, according to studies from UC Berkeley and MIT Media Lab. In response, some employees are deliberately re‑introducing inconvenience—a practice dubbed “friction‑maxxing”—by...
I Blew Bubbles Before Going to Work, and You Should Too.
Arianna Bertolotti recounts buying a $1.25 bubble kit and using it as a morning ritual to break a stressful streak. The simple act of blowing bubbles on her patio sparked laughter, a sense of childlike joy, and sustained positivity throughout...
Demi Moore, 63, Says Her 'Life-Changing' Nighttime Routine Helps Her Wind Down
Actress Demi Moore, 63, told Elle that an intentional evening routine has become a "life‑changing" part of her wellness regimen. She starts each day with meditation, journaling, movement, hydration and sleep, and she now treats nighttime skin‑care and a calm...
Master Conflict Resolution: Pro Tips for Managers
Here’s how to resolve conflict as a manager in the workplace like a pro. Comment ‘CONFLICT’ if you want to read my article on this topic for managers and leaders. I’ll send it to you. #leadership #conflict #conflictresolution #workplaceculture
The Conversation that Could Change a Founder’s Life
Burnout in startups often goes unnoticed until it threatens performance, with nearly half of people leaders reporting severe fatigue, according to Wiley Workplace Intelligence. As teams grow from five to fifty, informal support erodes and leaders become stretched across hiring,...
The Surprising Ways Love Opens Our Minds
Lewis Raven Wallace’s new book *Radical Unlearning* argues that love, connection and community—not facts alone—are the primary drivers for shedding bias and trauma. Drawing on neuroscience, the work shows how oxytocin‑fueled neuroplasticity rewires the brain when people feel safe and...
From Hospital Volunteer to AI Innovator: Melodious Isanda’s Inspiring Journey
Melodious Isanda, a Kenyan community‑health graduate, entered the University of Nairobi’s Engage program and, despite no prior coding experience, created a blood‑sugar prediction app for a local hospital. Engage delivers tiered AI and data‑science residencies to high‑school, diploma and university...
Not The Finger, The Moon
The post uses the Zen “finger‑pointing at the moon” story to illustrate that teachers can guide but must not become the goal of enlightenment. It argues that effective coaching empowers students to trust their own inner compass rather than fostering...
Believe Again: You Can Still Win
The moment you no longer believe is the moment you’ve lost. I’m here to tell you that you can still win.
Why Natural Brain Support Is the New Essential for Investors
Investors are increasingly recognizing that cognitive performance is as critical as market analysis. The article highlights how natural brain support—through nutrients like zinc, magnesium, iron, and B‑vitamins—can sustain focus and prevent the mental fatigue that leads to costly errors. It...
You Are Exhausted, Angry, and Overwhelmed. Here Is What 40 Years in Court and a Decade of Trump Taught Me...
Trial lawyer Mitch Jackson draws on four decades of courtroom battles and a decade of Trump-era politics to outline a simple stress‑management system. He argues that exhaustion stems from failing to separate what we can control from what we cannot,...
Leaders Have Better Lives but Worse Days
Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report finds that managers of managers—defined as leaders—are more likely to rate their lives as thriving and report higher work engagement than the employees they supervise. At the same time, these leaders experience...
The 25 Psychological “Shield Phrases” That Silence Gaslighting and Break Male Emotional Control
The post outlines 25 "shield phrases" designed to neutralize gaslighting and break male‑driven emotional control. It explains how subtle denial tactics destabilize memory and self‑trust, turning language into a weapon of power. By adopting precise psychological boundary language, individuals can...
Treat Your Body Like a Business KPI
Running restaurants, leading an industry association, and still showing up. People ask how I do it. Simple answer? I treat my body like my most important business asset. Here’s what I do: Monitor your steps. Aim for 10,000 a day. 1 minute of walking...
Why Leadership Traits Don’t Determine a Successful Leader
The piece argues that leadership success hinges on self‑awareness and context rather than a static list of traits. It highlights a Silicon Valley biotech CEO who, despite being praised for many classic traits, let them become blind spots, prompting senior...
The Loneliest People in Extreme Environments Aren’t the Ones Far From Home. They’re the Ones Who Return and Discover that...
Returnees from extreme environments—astronauts, submariners, polar crews, and combat veterans—often face a profound form of loneliness that persists long after they step back onto familiar ground. Researchers label this phenomenon reverse culture shock or re‑entry distress, a type of existential...
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Tapping for Anxiety: How It Works and Tips for Doing It, According to an Expert
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also called tapping, blends acupressure with cognitive‑behavioral strategies to alleviate anxiety. Research cites roughly 100 clinical trials demonstrating reductions in stress hormones, heart rate, and blood pressure, with most users noticing benefits after 4 to 10...
Prodoscore Launches ProdoAI Chat, a Conversational AI for Instant Productivity Insights
Prodoscore introduced ProdoAI Chat, a conversational AI embedded in its platform that answers plain‑language questions about employee productivity, burnout and technology utilization within seconds. The tool aims to democratize data access for managers and executives without requiring analytics expertise.
HOW TO CREATE THE NEXT GREAT COMPANY
Salvatore D. Fazzolari’s new book, *The Nine Principles of Greatness*, tackles why many firms falter while a few achieve lasting success. He attributes failure to three "storms of change": leadership missteps, disruptive innovation, and severe external shocks. The book offers...
Manager Shortage Threatens $10 Trillion in Global Productivity
Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace shows employee engagement down 20% and manager engagement falling from 27% to 22%, a slump that could cost the world economy $10 trillion in lost productivity. The findings spotlight a looming leadership pipeline crisis...
Finding Freedom in Trusting Divine Timing
I've been sitting in this deep sense of peace lately and I think it's worth sharing. Even when my brain wants to rush things or stress about more clients or more money, there's this quiet knowing that God is working on...
Herzog's Guide: Creative Self‑Reliance Pays Off
Werner Herzog on creativity, self-reliance, and how to make a living doing what you love https://t.co/M5IPptCgXL
Why Can't They Just...? Revisited
The article revisits the perennial "why can’t they just…" question that surfaces across engineers, managers and senior leaders, using AI tool mandates as a case study. It argues that such questions often overlook deep legal, tax, strategic and cultural constraints...
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"I’m Not Good at Anything:" How to Combat Low Self-Esteem
The Verywell Mind podcast hosted by therapist Amy Morin tackles the pervasive belief that "I'm not good at anything," linking low self‑esteem to anxiety, depression, and impaired performance at work and in relationships. The episode outlines how social‑media comparison, past...
Nicholas Mastriaco: Building Trust Through Service
Nicholas Mastriaco, a Business Customer Service and Sales Representative, attributes his disciplined work ethic and relationship‑focused sales style to a modest upbringing in Pleasant Garden, North Carolina. Early hobbies like building Lego sets and playing strategy games taught him patience,...
The Worst President.
In this episode, Frank Schaeffer delivers a reflective essay on how the evangelical right’s political mobilization—rooted in his father Francis Schaeffer’s influence—helped propel Donald Trump to the presidency and set the stage for a systematic erosion of democratic norms. He...
Obsessed With Being a Failure
The article examines how perfectionists obsess over avoiding failure, driven by black‑and‑white thinking and social‑media comparison. It highlights the "failure gap" study (Eskreis‑Winkler et al., 2026) showing people underestimate how often failures occur, which shapes harsher self‑judgments. The author argues that coping...
The Cost of Being Right
The article argues that organizational culture is forged not by what leaders say, but by what they tolerate. Small, repeated lapses—such as ignoring interruptions, keeping underperformers, or excusing high‑performers’ bad behavior—solidify into lasting norms. Modern leadership’s emphasis on empathy and...
Rushing Kills Results; Patience Reveals the Point
Everyone wants “it” too fast … and in that desire for “fast” they fuck it all up and miss the “point” #patience #perspective #garyvee
Your Happiness Multiplies when You Define Your Own Worth
A rule that will 10x your happiness: don't let external forces tell you if something was worth it or not.
Purposeful Training Beats Constant Racing for Marathon Success
A few observations regarding yesterday’s Boston Marathon: The athletes who had massive PRs and strong performances tend to have the following things in common: they train with purpose, and don’t constantly race. They play the long game, and don’t force their...
Admiration Beats Extra Zeros In Your Bank Account
Admiration is a lot more exciting than a couple extra 0s in your bank account.
Start Believing, Acting, and Resting to Grow
A few things you need to start doing: Start believing in yourself Start asking the right questions Start giving yourself a chance Start implementing what you learn Start making videos before you’re ready Start incorporating rest into your routine
Dismissed for “No Imagination”? Prove Them Wrong
Walt Disney was told he “lacked imagination” and got fired from a newspaper job. Imagine agreeing with that voice and stopping there.