Eric Barker's Blog, page 7
August 20, 2023
This Is How To Succeed Under Pressure: 4 Secrets From Astronauts
On the International Space Station nothing is comfortable and everything is a challenge. There’s no running water and even less privacy. Your world is covered in Velcro. And it’s loud. Fans whir and hum constantly, interrupted by the occasional micrometerorite slamming into the Station’s armor.
Weightlessness does a number on your sinuses causing congestion, so food always tastes bland like when you have a head cold. There’s an emphasis on oatmeal, pudding and cooked spinach because food that ...
August 6, 2023
New Neuroscience Reveals How To Overcome Boredom, Frustration, And Impatience
Life, much like that questionable tuna salad at the office potluck, is a strange mix of flavors. We have many different feelings, many different emotions. Some are nicer than others — and some we complain about a lot. Like boredom, frustration, and impatience.
Well, I’ve got news for you: none of those three are bad things. You’re shooting the messenger. It’s an emotional friendly fire incident.
In fact, boredom, frustration, and impatience are downright good for you. Yeah, I said it.
They are...
July 23, 2023
New Research Reveals 5 Secrets That Will Make You Persuasive
Who wouldn’t like to have a few magic words that can warp reality? Shazam! Abracadabra! Hocus pocus! And then everything works out. We all yearn for a few elusive syllables that can produce linguistic sorcery but they seem about as easy to find as an original thought on Twitter. Well, believe it or not, it seems like there just might be a few magic words…
In the 1970s, researchers from Harvard approached people using a copy machine and asked if they could cut the line and go first. Sometimes t...
July 9, 2023
5 Rituals To Keep You Happy All The Time
We all get a little sad sometimes. It feels like the universe is a twisted gameshow called “How Can We Torture This Poor Soul Today?” — and you’re the contestant.
Other times it can escalate into full-on depression and that dark cloud of emotions follows you around like a fart in a spacesuit. Trying to get anything done feels like trying to climb a mountain of razor blades with a backpack full of anvils while a broken sound system plays a perpetual loop of Sarah McLachlan’s greatest hits.
No o...
June 25, 2023
How To Become An Expert At Anything: 5 Powerful Secrets From Research
It’s very telling that we only use the term “learning experience” when things are bad.
Nobody really teaches us the best way to learn. As a student, we spend plenty of time in classes but how much real instruction do we get on the best way to take notes or study? It’d be hysterical if it wasn’t obscene. We’re not dumb — we’re doing it wrong.
Effective learning is not intuitive. And it’s made even more unintuitive by the fact that your brain is lazy and will play devil-on-your-shoulder the enti...
June 11, 2023
This Is How To Overcome Anger: 5 Powerful Secrets From Research
In 1974, Daniel Casriel released a book titled, “A Scream Away From Happiness.” The thesis was that by “scream therapy” you could release tension and anger and become a happier person.
No, this doesn’t work and you should not buy that book unless you’re a big fan of unintentional humor. Research shows venting anger is not good. In fact, it’s better to do nothing than to scream and yell or throw things.
But sometimes screaming, yelling, and throwing things sounds like a great idea, despite how ...
May 28, 2023
5 Rituals To Keep You Happy All The Time
Let’s begin with a cruel little fact…
Iris Mauss, a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, found that those who worked the hardest to be happier ended up being unhappier on every measure she studied.
Huh? Trying to live a better life fails miserably? Might be time to close up shop on this blog. Well, we had a good run. It’s been fun. Bye…
Seriously though, let’s put a pin in that one for now. We’ll get to it later. (Trust me, there’s a reason.)
More importantly, why can’t we j...
May 14, 2023
This Is How To Get Unstuck: 5 Secrets From Research
There are moments in life that make you say, “And just how did I end up here?”
You feel neck-deep in a quagmire of “stuck.” Not only has your desired future not arrived, it might not even seem possible anymore. You wish deus ex machina was really a thing. And feeling stuck isn’t even the scariest part. What’s scary is getting used to it.
Whether it’s career, relationships or big picture life goals, we all get to a point where we no longer feel we’re on our way to our dreams. You’re not alone. ...
April 30, 2023
How To Be Resilient: 5 Steps To Success When Life Gets Hard
We all have to deal with frazzled, harried, extremely stressed-out people… some of whom are unfortunately ourselves. There are days where it feels like life is going to grab you by one ankle and one wrist and just wishbone you. These are the moments in any job, project, or career where you want to quit.
I discussed the issue of quitting in my first book but today we’re gonna focus on the not-quitting option: resilience. We hear this issue get discussed a great deal but that’s usually balderdas...
April 16, 2023
This Is How To Overcome Burnout: 6 Secrets From Research
It feels like just one more minor inconvenience could tip you over into the abyss.
Not so much bad emotions but an erosion of emotions. Reduced energy, enthusiasm and confidence. An incessant buzzing of stress only restrained by exhaustion. Perpetually a half inch from overwhelmed. Life is less meaningful. A negative spiral of not feeling like you can do it, so you do less, which causes more problems that you can’t handle, so you do less. Repeat.
YEESH, that’s dark. Your high school guidance c...
