Most people think that sparking creativity is all about adding things[1]. They tend to think that the more they add to a particular venture or product or service, the better. More features-sure that will add to the creative element of the offering! More options? Yes, please! That will add choice, which will lead to better outcomes. We tend to associate more with being better. But when it comes to creativity, less is more.
As Valentine's Day approaches, finding the perfect words to express your feelings for that special someone can seem like a daunting task - so much so that you may feel tempted to ask ChatGPT for an assist. After all, within seconds it can dash off a well-written, romantic message. Even a short, personalized limerick or poem is no sweat. But before you copy and paste that AI-generated love note, you might want to consider how it could make you feel about yourself.
Actually, it makes perfect sense once you understand what's really happening in your brain. After spending months unemployed following media layoffs, I became intimately familiar with this paradox. Days spent scrolling job boards and refreshing email left me more drained than my busiest workdays ever had. The exhaustion wasn't physical-it was something deeper, something that sleep couldn't fix.
Or maybe you've found yourself picking apart why someone's success "isn't that impressive" when deep down, you know you're just feeling bitter about it? I've been there. More times than I'd like to admit. And after years of digging into the psychology behind human behavior and interviewing over 200 people about their professional journeys, I've discovered something fascinating: that resentment we feel toward others' success? It's rarely about them. It's almost always about the uncomfortable truths we're avoiding about ourselves.
You know that moment when you're walking away from a conversation, and suddenly the perfect comeback hits you? Or when you're lying in bed at night, replaying an argument from earlier, and you finally think of exactly what you should have said? The French have a beautiful term for this: "l'esprit de l'escalier" - literally "staircase wit" - that brilliant response that comes to you as you're walking down the stairs, leaving the party.
Complementary research conducted mostly with cisgender sexual minority men suggests that those who are high on anxious attachment-those most worried that people will not love them or find them good enough-are generally more likely to have anal sex without using a condom (Starks et al., 2017; Starks & Parsons, 2014). In other words, guys who are worried that a boyfriend or partner will think they are not good enough are more likely to agree to have sex "bareback."
Personality traits are simply labels that summarize typical patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. For example, some people tend to interpret situations pessimistically, while others naturally expect things to work out. Some react quickly with irritation when they're inconvenienced, whereas others are more inclined to assume good intentions. Some people plan ahead meticulously, while others rely on last-minute bursts of effort.
Have you ever sat across from someone who you felt was challenging or having a funny reaction to you? These are emotional reactions that are probably not fully under conscious control. Otherwise, you would probably just be amused by other people's quirks and reactions and not "feel" any particular way about them. (And, no, I am not saying to ignore your serial killer vibes-if you get those, run away!)
In the "Arabian Nights" ( The Thousand and One Nights) story collection, a young Persian queen named Scheherazade prevents the king's plans to execute her by telling a succession of stories so enthralling that the king doesn't want to miss the endings. In "The Crow and the Pitcher," one of Aesop's fables, a thirsty crow can't reach the water in a tall jug, so it drops pebbles into the jug until the water rises to its beak.
Research shows that 70 percent of workers believe they're above average at multitasking. Here's the problem: that's statistically impossible. And this delusion is killing our productivity. I've fallen for this trap myself. During my years in corporate, I prided myself on juggling multiple projects, answering emails during meetings, and keeping dozens of browser tabs open. Running my own company later taught me a harsh truth-what I thought was efficiency was actually just organized chaos.
Nobody tells you that getting laid off might be one of the best things that ever happened to you. When I lost my job during those brutal media industry cuts, I spent four months in my pajamas, eating cereal for dinner, and questioning every career choice I'd ever made. But here's the strange part: looking back now, that experience fundamentally changed who I am as a person. And I mean that in the best possible way.
Growing up, I heard it constantly: "Oh, you must have been so lonely as an only child." People would look at my friend Emma with this mix of pity and concern, as if she'd been raised by wolves instead of loving parents. They'd ask if she wished for siblings, assuming her childhood was some tragic tale of isolation and imaginary friends.
Several factors affect the likelihood of bystander intervention. Situational awareness helps bystanders identify problematic behaviour quickly, so they're ready to intervene. Feeling responsible for others makes people more likely to step in and help. Moral courage and trusting your intuition are important factors in the decision to intervene.
Ever notice how some people at the grocery store meticulously return their cart to the corral, while others abandon it in the parking spot? I started paying attention to this after watching a heated debate unfold on social media about "cart returners" versus "cart leavers." What struck me was how passionately people defended their position, as if this simple act touched something much deeper.
The truth is, those seemingly innocent preferences about towel folding, dishwasher loading, or desk organization often reveal deeper patterns about how we relate to control in every aspect of our lives. And according to psychology, there are specific traits that tie these behaviors together in fascinating ways. 1) They need predictability in their environment to feel safe Have you ever met someone who gets anxious when their morning routine gets disrupted?
Emotional intelligence is all the rage and, many would argue, it has been for some time. Ask any psychology professor and they'll likely tell you that it's one of their students' favorite topics. There's certainly no question that it's incredibly necessary and relevant today. Given consistent psychological findings that humans desire to avoid suffering, emotional intelligence is what we all want in our partners, our friends, our colleagues, and... the world.
You know that split-second pause when someone asks what you do for a living at a party? That momentary calculation where you decide whether to say "I'm a writer" or "I work in content creation" or maybe throw in something about "behavioral analysis"? I've been there more times than I can count, and it got me thinking about all the tiny choices we make that secretly broadcast who we are, or who we want people to think we are.
Before became the dominant lens through which we interpret human suffering-and before resilience became the preferred word for recovery- adaptation was one of the central concepts used to understand how human beings survive, change, prepare, and continue developing under pressure. In early psychology, psychiatry, ethology, and evolutionary biology, adaptation was not a moral term. It was descriptive, not prescriptive. It referred to the organism's capacity to reorganize itself-biologically, emotionally, cognitively, and socially-in response to changing conditions.
Continuous learning, adaptability, and strong support networks are the foundations for thriving teams, Matthew Card mentioned in his presentation about inclusive leadership at Qcon London. Trust is built through consistent, fair leadership and addressing toxic behaviour, bias, and microaggressions early. By fostering growth, psychological safety, and accountability, people-first leadership drives resilience, collaboration, and performance. Building an organisation where people can truly thrive starts with intention, Card said.
Ability is thought of as being an internal stable factor over which a person may not think they have any control. However, one should consider that the ability to control one's own learning may become available to an individual if they actively engage in their learning. This active learning engagement has the potential to change neurological pathways, leading to changes in cognitive and skill-acquisition capacities, as well as advances in knowledge, potential, insight, and creativity(Arrowsmith-Young, 2012; Coyle, 2009; Doidge, 2010, 2015).
Ever since our ancestors first stood upright and squinted at the horizon, we've been wired to notice patterns. A rustle in the grass might have meant a stalking predator. Dark clouds often meant rain. Those who made these connections and guessed that one thing caused another tended to survive. Over time, this ability to link events became one of our most significant evolutionary advantages. It's how we built tools, tamed fire, and eventually invented Wi-Fi.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately, especially after reading Rudá Iandê's new book " Laughing in the Face of Chaos: A Politically Incorrect Shamanic Guide for Modern Life ". His insights about how "our emotions are not barriers, but profound gateways to the soul-portals to the vast, uncharted landscapes of our inner being" got me reflecting on imagination and how it shapes our inner worlds.
The origin of the word "identity" comes from the Latin identitas and suggests "sameness with others," that is, our identity is both an individual self-concept and a collective one. Identity forms early in life and is fluid, evolving, and contextual. This is my hand, my foot, my voice, my dream, but I am also a we. I identify with an ethnicity, a gender or non-binary, a nationality, politics, class, occupation, and sexual identity.
Last month, I sat across from one of the brightest people I know as he explained how he'd lost nearly everything to a sophisticated scam. This wasn't some naive teenager or technophobe. This was my friend from university days, a retired executive who'd navigated corporate politics for decades and made shrewd investment decisions his whole life. Watching him piece together how it happened was like watching someone solve a puzzle in reverse.
When Serena Williams strode onto the Wimbledon grass, her legendary power was never in question. Her serve was crushing. Her backhand was unstoppable. But she wouldn't go to the net. She'd see a short ball, the kind that screams "approach," and she would hesitate to volley and miss the point. Serena was not playing at her full potential because of a story in her head.
Have you ever walked into a room and immediately sensed tension, even though everyone was smiling and chatting normally? That's because you're picking up on microexpressions, body language, and energy shifts that others might miss. Research from the University of Cambridge shows that people who spend more time observing develop stronger emotional recognition abilities. They become experts at reading between the lines, catching those fleeting expressions that reveal what someone really thinks or feels.
