Marty Nemko's Blog, page 323

An Honest Letter ro a Therapist or Counselor

Patients and clients know they should be quite disclosing to their therapist or counselor but that can be difficult.

It may be worth putting it in writing. I offer a  sample letter in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

A Letter to Aliens

A group of British scientists led by Stephen Hawking is offering $1,000,000 in prizes for a letter that would be beamed to advanced civilizations elsewhere in the universe. One of their goals is to encourage we earthlings to be more self-reflective. 

As my PsychologyToday.com article today, I offer the letter I'd write.

Your Child and Sports

I played college baseball, am a parent, coached a basketball team, and been career and personal coach to lots of people who played sports informally or in leagues. 

In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I offer some thoughts on how to parent wisely regarding sports.

Individiualized Management

Book publishers and consultants know that managers and leaders are always looking for a magic pill, a few-step formula for leadership success. Formulaic sells. 

So in comes Total Quality Management, 6-Sigma, Agile/Scrum, Management by Consensus, Theory Z, etc.

In truth, good management is the opposite of formulaic. It's individualized. Consistent with your work-group's mission, how can you maximize each supervisees' strengths while skirting their weaknesses. So the wise manager and leader sits down with each employee to craft an individualized approach. 

My PsychologyToday.com article today offers key factors in individualized management.

Indoctrinating Young Children

If you don’t have a son, imagine you do.

In 1970, the ratio of males to females in college was 69% male, 31% female. Now it’s 42% male, 58% female. Of course, that has profound impact in an era in which a college degree is virtually a prerequisite for good employment.

At age 10, boys commit suicide at a similar rate to girls but by age 25, the rate for males is five times as high.

Yet to look at societal efforts---governmental, education, media--one would think that female was the floundering sex.

For example, all movies have positive and negative characters, and women’s activist groups, recognizing the power of role models, have long demanded that females be disproportionately portrayed positively compared with white males. And they’ve had remarkable success including with cartoon movies aimed at young children. 

My PsychologyToday.com article today describes the main characters in the the all-time biggest box-office cartoon movies and other iconic children's cartoon movies of the past two decades. .

On a Cup of Coffee

It astounds me how many people and how much effort goes into making my cup of coffee possible. I lay it all out in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Escaping or Thriving in the Gig Economy

How do you feel when you read the phrase "gig economy?" Many people feel fear After all, it signals insecurity, the opposite of what most people crave. In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I describe how to escape it or thrive in it. 

Addressing Your Child's School Fears

 
For adults who liked school, back-to-school week was about the excitement of buying a new book bag, Crayola 64s, new clothes, and seeing who their  teacher and classmates will be.

But for many children, such thoughts are dwarfed by fears of the teacher not liking them, being ostracized or bullied by classmates, or the work being too hard or easy.

My PsychologyToday.com article today offers suggestions for reducing those fears.

"Am I Too Old To Go Back to School?"

Even some people as young as 30 worry they're too old to go back to college or graduate school. They may fear they won't fit in socially, will have forgotten too much of what they previously learned, will learn too slowly, and or forget too quickly. Many articles have been written on returning students but they tend toward patronizing reassurance. But their fears are often rational and shouldn't be brushed off gratuitously. In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I try to give them fair attention.

When You Want to Persuade Someone

If a sailor hopes to make it to Hawaii, s/he must stay alert to the need to adjust a sail, change course, etc.

Similarly, in our conversations. we must we stay alert to the need to change tactics.

In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I discuss the situation in which an employee feels overworked and micromanaged.