The Yerkes-Dodson Law

Why do deadlines improve performance? It makes no sense because deadlines create anxiety, which is the enemy of focus and productivity. For that, we need to understand Yerkes-Dodson law. When we have a deadline, our brain releases an alerting chemical called...

Pain is Private While Success is Public

What happens when you take a risk? If you succeed, people will sing folklore about you on LinkedIn. And if you get really lucky, Harvard will write a case study, which MBA students will interpret in all kinds of funny ways. But if you fail, you will bear the pain all...

Not Everything Can Be Intellectualized

Today, I saw an article in ‘The Print’ in which the author explained why he quit the 10-day Vipassana course run by Sri SN Goenka’s organization. He criticized many aspects of the program such as the ‘noble silence’ and the lack of...

Patience Beats Quick Fixes

Every financial scam says: ‘Get rich quickly.’ Every weight loss scam says: ‘Burn fat quickly.’ Every fitness scam says: ‘Have this supplement and bulk up quickly.’ Do you see the common theme? It is ‘quickly.’ Nearly...