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Optimizing birthdays

Birthdays are the most powerful events of the year. Are we using them correctly? Can we get more from a simple day?

A disclaimer: I am writing this article in mid-December of 2019 after celebrating my 45th birthday. My birthday is December 8th, Annas b-day is December 8th. My eldest celebrates Jan 1st, and he is 13 years old two weeks from now.

How did we start to celebrate birthdays?

It is not trivial that we survived yet another year. We celebrate birthdays quite often yet few of us ask: why? Let’s consider the read more

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Superlearner story: JB cures depression

You probably noticed the new course on Thinkific we call KeyToVision. It deals with visualization and analytical thinking as the main tool for solving personal problems. The common problems are depression, stress and traumas. JB is one of the reasons we developed these tools, so his testimony is especially important for me.  My student JB is a psychologist and financial advisor, so he read more

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Good and bad curiosity

Is curiosity good or bad? Depends whom you ask. If anything, for me curiosity is complex and inspiring. You may be curious enough to read here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Curiosity in reading

The first time we mention curiosity in our courses is when people start reading. Before reading something we urge our students to skim through the text very quickly, ask questions, build hypothesis and otherwise build up some curiosity. Otherwise, reading gets really boring and quite often we learn nothing.

Curiosity read more

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Exploring the Art of Patience to Create a Positive Impact

Patience and positivity go hand in hand; patience is born out of positivity, and something positive can sprout from staying patient in the most challenging situations. Understanding the intricate chains that bind the two is only possible with experience. Some learn this lesson early on, and some might reach a ripe old age. Regardless, this is something a person must learn and accept for themselves because no matter how much another person tries, they cannot make them feel or understand it.

OK, read more

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New frontier for visualization

Is our imagination limited? What can we visualize? How can technology push our limits? For today’s article you may want to read here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Three kinds of visualization

I know, dividing something into three groups is a rhetoric trick. So I use it this once, so what? It is easier for me to describe three kinds of visualization than to go into a serious discussion.

We visualize to remember, to get motivated and to have fun.

The three kinds of visualization are very different. When we visualize read more

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Superlearner story: Otis the musician

How important is productivity as a part of our training? Recently, I started to feel that my posts went too far from memory and speedreading methodology.  As I was contemplating returning to more basic materials and reframing my approach, I was approached by several students who could not function due to bad productivity training. So I decided to give it some more attention.

True stories

Several years ago I published several posts which you can search on this blog using the keywords “superlearner story”. read more

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Beware of rhetorics: you are being brainwashed

We are being brainwashed all the time. Fortunately for us, the brainwashing is not focused and we are capable to resist. How to fight manipulators effectively? We will discuss below. For further reading you are welcome to visit here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Who tries to manipulate us?

Brainwashing is so common, that we stopped noticing it. We are being brainwashed by everybody we know.

Politicians and activists want us to take a stand and vote, not necessarily for what benefits us.

Salesmen are read more

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Healing through visualization

In this blog, we treat learning not only as a simple process of reading and memorizing but also as a more complex process of personal growth. Either way, one of the obstacles we often face is a pain, mainly from past traumas.  For this post you may want to read here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

No pain no gain

Any significant personal growth is associated with a certain amount of distress. We need to step out of our comfort zone,  fail from time to time, work hard when we do not really read more

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Addicted to criticism need to change emotional diet

Our diet determines a large part of our existence. Not just physically. Is it possible to improve our lives changing the emotional diet: the thoughts we often have, the books that we read, the friends that we meet… For today I selected materials from here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Cultural aspects of emotional diet

I have a very strange perspective on emotional diet as a cultural phenomenon.  As a young scientist, I used to work with scientists all over the world. My mother tongues are English, Hebrew, and read more

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Sublimate stress into growth

You do not need positive emotions to be healthy and happy. Stress can be your best friend. Sounds counterintuitive, yet provokes curiosity. I would not think of this subject without reading stuff here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Pleasant vs stimulating

Personally, I prefer a pleasant and calm environment. I love my routine and work. My wife ridicules this, saying that I am allergic to fun. In a way she is right. The ideal environment for some people might surprise you. I quote:

Some people prize high-arousal pleasant read more