Eric Barker's Blog, page 3

This Is The Most Fun Way To Make Your Life Awesome

“Carpe diem.” It’s the battle cry of motivational posters, Pinterest boards, and that one friend who just declared bankruptcy for the third time.

It’s one of the oldest philosophical slogans around, first stated by Horace in 23 BCE. The poem he wrote it in, “Ode XI”, is only eight lines long but, hoo boy, has it had legs. Look around and you still see versions of it everywhere – from “Dead Poets Society” to Nike (“Just Do It”), to #YOLO.

But honestly: Seize the day? Buddy, I’m usually just try...

New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Secrets That Will Make You Lose Weight

Eating. It’s the most basic human need, right up there with breathing and arguing on the internet. But we all tend to overdo it, especially around the holidays, when the phrase “biting off more than you can chew” is not a metaphor but a brutal, self-inflicted reality.

Now if the weight gain arrived immediately, we’d change our habits. But there’s that sinister lag. It’s only weeks or months later that you notice. Your belt becomes less an accessory and more of a tourniquet. And there’s no deny...

How To Stop Procrastinating: 4 Secrets From Research

Procrastination. The bane of productivity, the thief of time, the reason why you’re currently reading this instead of doing that thing we both know you need to do.

In the world of procrastination, time ceases to exist in its linear form. Hours stretch like taffy in a carnival booth, and you find yourself doing things you never knew you had an interest in. Suddenly, you develop an intense interest in organizing your spice rack. Did you know paprika comes in four different varieties? You do now....

How To Have A Happy Retirement: 4 Secrets From Research

Retirement. The mythical Promised Land where every day is a Saturday. No more punching the clock, no more staff meetings, no more pretending to be interested in Sharon’s photos from her third trip to Dollywood.

Retirement is often presented like a montage from a pharmaceutical ad: biking through scenic parks with a face radiating pure joy, like you just swallowed a bottle of sunshine.

And it can be like that. For a little while. Um, in the beginning, at least…

In year 1 of retirement, healthy ...

New Neuroscience Reveals 5 Secrets That Will Make You Smarter

IQ is real, folks. It’s a number that tells you how good someone is at puzzle-solving, logical reasoning, and making you feel inadequate at dinner parties. But here’s the rub:

IQ isn’t everything.

Greater education and intelligence don’t necessarily lift you up; sometimes they just provide better tools for digging trenches. Check this out: “Intelligent and educated people are less likely to learn from their mistakes, for instance, or take advice from others. And when they do err, they are bett...

How To Defeat Anger: 4 Secrets From The Ancients

Anger’s greatest trick is making you think you’re standing up for yourself, that you’re finally taking control. It tells you that your outburst is justified, that your righteous fury is not only warranted but essential. It whispers in your ear: “You’re not being unreasonable. You’re being assertive.”

But you’re not. You’re a grown person screaming at a parking meter. You look like a constipated gorilla trying to pass a watermelon. People are crossing the street to avoid you.

And let’s not forg...

This Is How To Conquer Anxiety: 4 Secrets From Research

Anxiety is the modern age’s favorite emotional sport. It’s like carrying around a tiny, paranoid screenwriter in your head, constantly pitching you horror movie scenarios about your own life.

Your brain is always preparing to fight a bear or run a marathon, except you’re just trying to order a coffee. “Should I take this job? What if it leads to my ultimate undoing? Should I go on this date? What if they’re a serial killer or, worse, someone who claps when the plane lands?” And social anxiety ...

New Neuroscience Reveals 5 Rituals That Will Make You An Awesome Parent

The teen years. This is the age where one’s room can simultaneously resemble a FEMA disaster site and a meticulously curated museum of personal angst, each discarded clothing item a testament to a fleeting mood or an identity crisis.

What causes all the problems? The teenage brain. It’s a marvel of nature, a biological enigma wrapped in a riddle, encased in a skull that’s often adorned with questionable hairstyle choices. But say a word about it and you’ll invoke an eye roll so powerful it cou...

How Psychology Can Make You A Better Cook: 5 Secrets from Research

You wanted to have friends over for dinner and impress them. Now the kitchen has become your personal Jackson Pollock canvas. Flour has turned the countertops into a winter wonderland, a lone egg yolk is weeping into the sink, and you’re wearing most of the other ingredients.

Why is this so hard? The recipes always call for some fancy ingredient that you’ve never heard of and couldn’t find if your life depended on it. (What the hell is fennel pollen, and why does it cost more than your car ins...

This Is How To Get Healthy: 4 Powerful Secrets From Research

Health. You know, that elusive state of being where your insides are all sparkly.

Unfortunately, these days every health tip should be met with the kind of skepticism usually reserved for UFO sightings. The suggestions we’re provided with range from “more alien than a David Bowie concept album” to “unintentionally hilarious.” To get health tips online is to have your brain explode in a shower of absurdity, leaving you wondering if the human race is really the most intelligent species or just t...