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Do I Belong Here?

From “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol S. Dweck, PhD Aside from hijacking people’s abilities, stereotypes also do damage by making people feel they don’t belong. Many minorities drop out of college and many women drop out of math and science because they just don’t feel they fit in. To find out how […]

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when you look at innovation from the long-zoom perspective, competition turns out to be less central to the history of good ideas than we generally think

From “Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation” by Steven Johnson The pattern of “competition” is an excellent case in point. Every economics textbook will tell you that competition between rival firms leads to innovation in their products and services. But when you look at innovation from the long-zoom perspective, competition turns

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“A Fool for Thee”

From “Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner” by Frederick Buechner OH LORD, THE coolness of the river’s touch! The way it mirrored back the clouds as if I bathed in sky. I waded out to where the water reached my neck, my beard outspread, my garments floating free. I let my hands

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resistance to change is so common

From “Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life” by Richard Rohr The second insight about steps and stages is that from your own level of development, you can only stretch yourself to comprehend people just a bit beyond yourself. Some theorists say you cannot stretch more than one step above your own

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People and questions

From “The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of Our Hearts” by Jeff Crosby  In the years since first reading The Grand Essentials I’ve worked with Patterson on other writing projects and shared meals with him. In a recent conversation, he conveyed his late-career reflections on Chalmer’s “grand essentials of happiness,” distilling

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Writing everything online, where it’s eternally visible to everyone, forever, has value.

From “Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith Writing everything online, where it’s eternally visible to everyone, forever, has value. Even if each video you post or each article you write convinces only a few people, that’s a pretty great way to build

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Why does God use you?

From “Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment” by J. Brent Bill Put your spiritual imagination to work: Why does God use you? What good qualities can you place at God’s disposal? What quirks? Using our imagination and spirit enables us to see ourselves as pilgrims entrusted by God to do noble work.

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he’d saved one billion lives

From “Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Help Others, Do Work that Matters, and Make Smarter Choices About Giving Back” by William Macaskill When Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, the committee suggested that he’d saved one billion lives. Was he a politician? Or a military leader? Or

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