If you were to make a list of “fun facts about me,” what would you include? How to Come Up with Interesting Facts About Yourself Think about your childhood and any interesting, unusual, or relevant events or situations. Consider your family and any unique characters or funny stories about them. What about your[…]
First Came Anxiety, Now There’s COVID Guilt The coronavirus has generated a great deal of anxiety. It’s also brought another unwelcome emotion: guilt. For example, perhaps your job is safe, but friends and colleagues have been laid off. Gaining Positive Outcomes From Negative Emotions Are you feeling guilty about something? If you’re guilty, confess and[…]
When you lose someone you love, the grief can be overwhelming. Though explanations alone can never be enough to soothe soul-searing grief, gaining a better understanding of it may help you through the initial period of acute grief. According to Dr. Katherine Shear, the founding director for the Center for Complicated Grief at Columbia[…]
“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” — Mother Teresa The holidays are a time for gratitude, celebrations, family, friends, and, of course, gifts. Bombarded with advertising trying to convince you that you need the latest and greatest, it’s easy to lose sight of what really matters[…]
Research suggests that grateful people are more skillful at coping with stress and regulating their emotions. Feeling grateful can bring us a variety of benefits, including better mental and physical health and improved relationships. We tend to think of gratitude as an emotion we experience when things are going well, one that is closely associated[…]
I often hear people point out someone else’s behavior as “toxic,” but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say, “My behavior is toxic.” In reality, though, most all of us exhibit some toxic behaviors at some point in our lives. What Makes Behavior “Toxic” Not all behaviors that upset another person are equally harmful.[…]
Our experience shows that people with widely different viewpoints on big issues can have discussions, find agreement, and collaborate. Never in recent memory has our country experienced such deep divides in our politics and discourse. People of good will and spirit are unable to understand each other or bridge their differences across not just political[…]
Shifting your tone doesn’t mean being phony; it’s about being grounded. Feeling a little sour? The Practice: Watch your tone. Why? Tone matters. I remember times I felt frazzled or aggravated and then said something with an edge to it that just wasn’t necessary or useful. Sometimes it was the words themselves, such as absolutes like[…]
Can we bridge differences without suppressing what makes us different in the first place? Yes, say social scientists and civic organizations. The 2002 film My Big Fat Greek Wedding resonated with millions of people around the world—it retains the title of the highest-grossing romantic comedy in history. Why? Perhaps because its central conflict is one that countless[…]
5 Ways to Become More Emotionally Intelligent at Work Emotional intelligence, sometimes referred to as EQ, refers to a person’s ability to recognize, understand, manage, and reason with emotions. It is a critical ability when it comes to interpersonal communication—a hot topic not only in psychology but in the business world. The term itself was[…]