Marty Nemko's Blog, page 204

The Other Mask We Wear: Hiding what’s really going on with us

Today, when we say “mask” we think “COVID.” But we wear another mask: the pleasant or flat facial expression that masks the negatives we're experiencing: fears, anxieties, anger, substance abuse, that our home, our life is in disarray. We also may don a facial mask to portray positive characteristics: sophistication, intelligence, virtue.  My PsychologyToday.com article today offers thoughts on the wisdom of keeping the mask up and when it's worth the risk of dropping it

A Christmas Sermon: Is peace always the answer?

If there’s one word that’s core to Christmas, “It’s peace.” Yet we need recognize that even the seemingly unarguable exhortation to strive for peace must not be treated as absolute law. There are exceptions. In my Psychology Today article today. I offer examples where peace might be unwise.

The Commencement Talk I'd Give Now: Career roads less traveled

If I were to give a commencement talk to a December 2020 graduating class, this is what I'd say.

Decades ago, psychiatrist M. Scott Peck urged us to consider “the road less traveled.” this commencement address offers five under-considered career roads less-traveled as you enter the quite different world of 2021 and beyond. It's my PsychologyToday.com contribution today.

3 Keys to Parenting a Teenager Well

It's never been easy to parent teens: They want to establish their autonomy, which can lead to arguments.

But parenting may be tougher than ever. It's often asserted that the next generation will be the first to do less well than the previous. For example, most Gen Zers will not be able to afford to buy a home, that linchpin of the American dream. Layer on top of that a job market impeded by automation, offshoring, and now the COVID economic collapse, and it's easy to understand why teenagers are so stressed.

Here are three keys to good parenting that should help, even in these tough times.

The World’s Shortest Course on Emotional Intelligence

Professional and personal success usually requires both cognitive and emotional intelligence, the ability to say and do things that get others to like you or do you what you'd like.

Too often, emotional intelligence is seen as an ineffability that's suffused through lucky people’s DNA. Or emotional intelligence is the subject of a long course.

My Psychology Today article today attempts to distill emotional intelligence's essence into a blog-length post.

Career Advice to Gen Z

A reader wrote me:  ”It seems like most young people will fail at the game of life. . . .Will you please write an article about this?”

While every generation faces new challenges, it does seem that Gen Z (people in their teens or early 20s) will have a harder time finding well-paying, stable work, let alone making enough money to afford that traditional core of the American dream: owning a home. Automation, offshoring, COVID, and increasing government-mandated costs to employers, portend a challenge for most job searchers. It is for that typical person that I write my Psychology Today article today.

An Audacious Wish List for 2021

 

2020, to use the technical term, sucked. My Psychology Today article today offers a wish list for 2021 that goes well beyond COVID.

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14 More Questions to Deepen a Relationship

In a recent PsychologyToday.com article, I suggested eight questions to ask and answer that can deepen a relationship. It has turned out to be among my more popular posts, so here are 14 more such questions.

The previous set of questions was broadly applicable. Of the 14 I offer today, the first eight are especially well-suited to people who like to ask and answer personally probing questions. The second six are for people who like intellectual questions.

10 Pairs of Subtly Different Words

Many people use the following pairs of words interchangeably, thereby depriving themselves and the listener of the appropriate nuance.

And it matters. As James Clear stresses in his book on habit-formation, Atomic Habits, small improvements can add up to big results. And indeed, using the right word consistently can greatly clarify communication, which is core not only to psychology but to most accomplishment, professional and personal. My Psychology Today article today lists 10 pairs of words that are often used interchangeably . . . but shouldn't be.

The Best of Marty Nemko, 2021 edition is now available

I'm pleased to announce the publication of The Best of Marty Nemko, 2021 edition. 

Here's the blurb. It's a bit puffy but I believe accurate: 

Even if you're already quite successful and content with your life, this 69-pager will enhance your work and personal life. 

Unlike the previous edition, which was 267 pages long, this edition, with all new content, is ruthlessly concise to enhance usability. Despite its brevity, It contains a wealth of the acclaimed, award-winning career and personal advisor's most helpful, not obvious ideas. You will find the hour it takes to read this unusually valuable booklet.

It's only $6. I'd of course welcome your buying it, but perhaps even more, writing an honest review of it on Amazon.