Work can be stressful, and the glorification of hustle culture doesn’t help — in fact, it’s been proven to reduce productivity and lead to burnout.
Taking breaks throughout the day — even small ones — is a great way to take some of that pressure off. Studies have shown that microbreaks lasting anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes can improve workers’ concentration and outlook.
Amanda Breen
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When you find yourself in need of good advice or a second opinion, chances are you turn to those you think you can trust — be it a family member, close friend or trained professional.
But what happens when we have too much faith in others, and how can we recognize the tell-tale signs before it’s too late?
Amanda Breen
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The United States is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee paid time off.
“You have entire cultures like France … where pretty much everybody takes August off, and it’s just part of the culture there,” said Shawn Fremstad, director of law and political economy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “You don’t really see that here in the United States.”
The European Union Working Time Directive, which was passed in the early 1990s, requires at least 20 working days of paid vacation in all EU countries.
France provides a minimum of 30 paid vacation days per year. What’s more, many European countries have paid holidays as well, giving workers there even more paid days off.
“When I came to France, I noticed that vacation is a way of life,” said Fatima Cadet-Diaby, an American who has been living in Paris for nearly seven years. “People are constantly talking about their vacations.”
More vacation time could also equate to overall economic gains in the U.S.
“I think people have a stereotype of France in their mind as this kind of lazy culture,” Fremstad said. “But if you look at the employment rate there for prime age workers, so basically 25 through 54, it’s higher than in the U.S. So, they have more people working and they’re much more productive per hour.”
Even though a majority of Americans do have some kind of paid time off, nearly half of workers report not using all of those days. About half worry they might fall behind on their work if they take time off, with close to 20% thinking it could hurt their career growth and 16% saying they fear losing their job, according to data from the Pew Research Center.
“There’s a certain fear we don’t have any legal protections and people have been fired for taking vacation time,” said John de Graaf, author of the book “Take Back Your Time.”
Watch the video above to learn more about why American’s aren’t going on vacation even though they have the days off and what we can learn from our counterparts in France.
Once you realize you’re pouring time into an unsuccessful venture, project or partnership, why is it so hard to exit and invest your time elsewhere?
Entrepreneur Staff
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
I saw Cirque du Soleil’s “Love” in Las Vegas recently — a show that combines the troupe’s famed dance and performance athleticism with reinventions of various Beatles hits — and two messages came through that I thought leaders needed to remember.
First is the song title, “All You Need Is Love,” and the second is a famed Lennon lyric from “Strawberry Fields Forever,” which goes, “Living is easy with eyes closed.”
Why bring these up?
My job is to strategize with leaders so that they can adapt to necessary organizational, environmental and societal shifts toward the UN’s 2030 “Countdown” environmental agenda. Now, you may have already switched to “living with your eyes closed” just reading that, considered moving on to a topic less confronting instead, yet the takeaway messages remain: Love, denial and avoidance.
Put simply: To survive, we need to start anew
Many people are struggling with work. Polycrises, seemingly never-ending stop-start change, return-to-office fears, injustice, new market forces, impending layoffs and reliably depressing climate reports have resulted in too many of us living in a “survival mode,” and that’s not good for business. But, in truth, love is all we need if we want to thrive in the world of work. When we fall “in love” with a tangible, aligned company that’s mission is connected to our reality, we all come together — and the result feels a lot like, well… love. We commit, we grow, fight for what’s right, and generate a feeling that we can accomplish anything, whatever the weather. Add an organizational environment of psychological safety, and you have geometrically enhanced the ability to collaborate and innovate in their very best forms.
Related: 10 Billionaires Stepping Up to Fight Climate Change
My job is to help leaders move from “eyes closed” to “invigorated.” Executive coaches like myself (with a career of navigating economic shifts since the ’90s) naturally turn to a tactic of providing leadership “stem cells” (aka a renewed sense of energy) to organizations ready to reinvent themselves.
To help in that effort, companies like McKinsey, PWC and EY provide data about new economic realities for organizations to adapt and move forward. And at least one aspect of our future is clear: The era of hypergrowth during Covid-19 has passed. We are now in an environment in which it’s vital to create a business that can sustain itself through new and harder times.
I’m currently working with Francois (not his real name) — a senior leader in a major global energy company who is driving innovation amid significant post-pandemic global forces and through a disruptive reorganization. As I learned during my MIT program in 2022, energy is everything, so I knew only too well that his work is important to every person on the planet. In our discussions, Francois described a former boss as narcissistic and gaslighting — seemingly caught in a loop of creating disharmony in his team and organization. Critically speaking, this boss’s narcissistic behavior loop actually set the world back.
Then along came a restructuring, including more internal staff mobility. Francois is now with a new team that uses the OGSM (for “objective, goals, strategies and measures”) framework to make critical strategic moves so that the re-formed organization can deliver across various horizontal sectors.
With this new role, Francois feels like he belongs. He is feeling “love,” is happy to contribute and is in a psychologically safe environment that fosters competition-busting and market-leading plans. It now feels completely authentic for him to be in a “quadruple-espresso mode” of future-proofing — both for his global organization and its customers. Being free to communicate with “radical candor” and strategic rigor enables him to do what he always wanted: make a difference.
Related: Is ‘Green Hydrogen’ the Future? This Minnesota Gas Utility Thinks So.
The OGSM model is simple and scalable and in essence, is a reminder for a whole organization to rally behind the CEO. Important components include:
• Objectives from the CEO
• Goals from the executive leadership team
• Strategies from that same executive leadership team, alongside directors and managers
It’s vital to keep in mind that OGSM actions need to be interconnected, each piece feeding into the other, so an organization can move forward as one. The “O” (objective) also needs to be announced by the CEO so that every C-leader is accountable for driving this mandate. This “O” runs right through every goal, strategy and measurable outcome.
Leaders make a leadership style choice every day, and their behaviors indicate their style. The narcissistic leader defends legacy processes, systems, products and methodologies to stay gainfully employed, and their teams often feel disrespected and confused about the direction of the company. Authoritative, servant, transactional and empathetic leaders, meanwhile, prefer to grow and identify key objectives to be successful, while socializing it at pace and revolutionizing their organization for the environment it’s functioning in. The problem is, with so many conflicting objectives in an era of perma-crises, it’s time leaders got back to basics — and this is not a task to be scoffed at.
Ever since my career at Sony’s PlayStation division in the ’90s, I found the most successful leaders have a sense of urgency in adapting to a new environment. They provide evidence that their goals will be correct in the coming years, and demonstrate that they are aligned with the primary objective of the CEO. Such a person drives change and will relate with every business group to evangelize and socialize — ensuring people understand both tasks and focus.
Related: Smart Tips for Setting and Actually Achieving Your Business Goals
The OGSM cycle is a delightfully simple yet exquisitely effective approach, the result of which is everyone being in synch to move an organization along the right trajectory.
Key facets:
• Understanding the prime objective of the CEO
• Creating strategies that are aligned with (or go beyond) that objective to achieve competitive advantage and long-term sustainability
• Being highly transparent about goals and how to measure them every quarter
• Reviewing them with a coach and C-leader every 30 days to see if they need to be adjusted
• Reporting market forces that will impact an organization’s “big O”
• Repeating the above steps after the introduction of every important new idea and/or piece of data
• Supporting other colleagues in understanding the prime objective, and a willingness to debate fearlessly to avoid defensive and derailing thoughts and behaviors (watch out for people defending old beliefs that are no longer relevant to the CEO’s objective)
Now, get your mission, get back to loving your work and do it with eyes wide open!
Be advised that common OGSM side-effects may include: an engaged, motivated and loyal workforce; an uptick in customer sentiment; a renewed sense of purpose; a sense of happiness (even love); and saving the planet.
Related: 7 Tips for Loving Your Career and Working With Passion
Caroline Stokes
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CNN
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Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill Thursday to ban certain gender-affirming care for minors, joining a growing number of GOP-led states looking to restrict the treatments across the country.
Senate Bill 140 will bar licensed medical professionals in Georgia from providing patients under the age of 18 with hormone therapy or surgery related to gender transition. Violations of the legislation could lead to the revocation of a health practitioner’s license.
Kemp announced the signing in a tweet, saying that the law would “ensure we protect the health and wellbeing of Georgia’s children.”
“As Georgians, parents, and elected leaders, it is our highest responsibility to safeguard the bright, promising futures of our kids – and SB 140 takes an important step in fulfilling that mission,” he said.
LGBTQ advocates, however, have expressed concern over restricting access to such treatment, which is medically necessary, evidence-based care that uses a multidisciplinary approach to help a person from their assigned gender – the one the person was designated at birth – to their affirmed gender, the gender by which one wants to be known.
“SB 140 will outlaw the care necessary to save children’s lives,” Rep. Nikema Williams, who chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia, said in a statement after the signing. “It is not only cruel, but it flies in the face of medical science, standards of patient care, and the lived experiences of those whom it impacts.”
Democratic state Sen. Josh McLaurin shared similar concerns about the bill’s consequences for Georgia’s youth, after it passed in Georgia’s Senate Tuesday with a 31-21 vote.
“Kids will commit suicide. Kids will feel like they’re not being heard, that their basic existence is being invalidated and erased,” McLaurin said.
The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth, noted in a 2022 report that 55% of transgender and nonbinary youth in Georgia “seriously considered suicide in the past year” and 16% attempted suicide in the same timeframe.
While the bill grants exemptions to the law “for individuals born with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development” and other medical conditions, it does not count gender dysphoria – a psychological distress that may result when a person’s gender identity and sex assigned at birth do not align, according to the American Psychiatric Association – among them.
Minors who started hormone replacement therapy before July 1, 2023, will be allowed to continue the treatment under the new legislation.
Cory Isaacson, a legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, warned ahead of the signing that the legal organization would sue the state over the law, claiming that Georgia’s politicians are “interfering with the rights of Georgia parents to get life-saving medical treatment for their children and preventing physicians from properly caring for their patients.”
“The ACLU of Georgia and our partners will now consider all available legal options in order to protect the rights of parents, young people, and medical providers in our state,” she said
Major medical associations agree that gender-affirming care is clinically appropriate for children and adults with gender dysphoria.
Though the care is highly individualized, some children may decide to use reversible puberty suppression therapy. This part of the process may also include hormone therapy that can lead to gender-affirming physical change. Surgical interventions, however, are not typically done on children and many health care providers do not offer them to minors.
The Georgia bill does not explicitly prohibit puberty blockers, breaking with similar bans across the country. Instead, the bill takes aim at hormone therapy that comes with more permanent effects than puberty blockers, according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which notes the treatment is shown to help transgender people with depression and boost self-esteem.
Georgia’s legislation is similar in its goal to dozens of bills seeking to restrict access to gender-affirming care across the country, according to data compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union and shared with CNN.
Some GOP-led states have already made restrictions on transgender youth’s access to health care in their states. On Wednesday, Iowa enacted its own ban on all forms of gender affirming care for minors, joining Tennessee, Mississippi, Utah and South Dakota, which passed their own bans earlier this year. Alabama, Arizona and Arkansas also enacted bans on gender-affirming care in recent years, though the laws in Alabama and Arkansas have been temporarily blocked by federal courts.
Other potential bans are waiting in the wings, with Missouri’s Republican attorney general Monday announcing he would seek to implement an emergency regulation restricting gender-affirming care. Kentucky’s Republican-led legislature passed its own ban earlier this month while boasting a majority that could overturn the likely veto of its Democratic governor. That bill would also allow educators to refuse to refer to transgender students by their preferred pronouns and would not allow schools to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity with students of any age.
This story has been updated with additional information.
Washington
CNN
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Ted Lasso and President Joe Biden are teaming up to – as the television football coach would say – “believe” in the importance of mental health.
Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden will host actor Jason Sudeikis and other members of the cast of “Ted Lasso” at the White House on Monday for a conversation on mental health, AppleTV+ announced Sunday.
Cast members joining the discussion include Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Toheeb Jimoh, Cristo Fernandez, Kola Bokinni, Billy Harris and James Lance.
A White House official said the meeting will focus on discussing “the importance of addressing your mental health to promote overall wellbeing.”
The president on Sunday tweeted a photo of a yellow poster bearing the word “BELIEVE” above a door leading to the Oval Office. The sign is reminiscent of one affixed above Lasso’s office door in the AFC Richmond locker room on the show.
The Emmy Award-winning show, which is now streaming its third season on AppleTV+, has tackled mental health issues in its storyline, chiefly through its title character played by Sudeikis, an affable coach who seeks therapy after grappling with panic attacks.
“In regard to the mental health stuff, it was just there. It’s been there forever, but it’s really come up a lot in just knowing where the characters were headed and how important it is to work on yourself to help your team,” Sudeikis told Us Weekly in 2021. “And I think that we were trying to explore that and personify it in a way and kind of trojan horse that there’s bigger issues in this fun, silly little comedy show.”
“People have really responded to that,” Sudeikis continued “And myself and other people in the cast and the writing staff get messages daily from people thanking them for really opening their eyes to what it means to go to therapy and what it means for someone in their own life to go to therapy and just speaking about these things and taking the stigma off of any form of health whether it be nutrition or mental, emotional health.”
“Ted Lasso” is produced by Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company.
Biden has made improving mental health a key portion of the “unity agenda” he debuted in his 2022 State of the Union address when he urged the country to “take on mental health.”
“Let’s do more on mental health, especially for our children,” Biden also said in this year’s State of the Union address. “When millions of young people are struggling with bullying, violence, trauma, we owe them greater access to mental health care in their schools.”
The Biden administration has focused on “training more providers, making care more affordable and accessible, and creating healthier and safer communities, including online,” the White House official said.
A 2022 survey by CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 9 in ten adults believe a mental health crisis exists in the United States.
The White House has enlisted celebrities on several occasions to raise awareness about key issues, including mental health. Actress and singer Selena Gomez, who has shared her own struggles with bipolar disorder, appeared with the first lady at a Mental Health Youth Action Forum hosted by MTV at the White House last year. Gomez also talked about using her platform to promote mental health awareness in a video with the president, first lady and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy.
Content from the Bidens’ meeting with the cast of “Ted Lasso” will appear on the White House’s social medial channels, according to Apple TV+.
Every parent is capable of raising happy, healthy and emotionally grounded kids. But many struggle along the way.
In my two decades of experience as a child psychologist, I’ve found that when parents aren’t attuned to their child’s temperament and unique traits, they fail to honor and celebrate their kid’s authentic self.
There are six most extraordinary and gifted types of kids. Your child may be more of one than the others, or a mix of all. Knowing their type will strengthen your relationship with each other and help them understand themselves better.
Anxious Exploders are often fussy, irritable and get triggered by the slightest thing.
Their beauty is that they’re highly sensitive and porous. But this means they tend to absorb the anxiety around them. And what to do they do with all of it? They explode!
Parenting tip: Be grounded, firm and calm. If you become reactive, either in anger or anxiety, it can set off a tsunami of emotions.
Praise them for their abilities to process their environment, but teach them to create the solace they need: “When you feel nervous, close your eyes and repeat to yourself, ‘I am safe, I am home, and I am going to be okay.’”
Hyperactive Explorers can’t sit still and are and never where you last left them.
These kids are often labeled as “troublesome” by parents and teachers because they can be overwhelmingly active in their mind and body. But their superpower is that they are incredibly curious and engaged.
Parenting tip: Hyperactive Explorers need to be honored and not shamed for their passionate spirit.
Show them unconditional acceptance so that they can accept themselves in a world that may repeatedly shun them: “I admire you for your creativity and imagination. Your different ways of thinking can help you do amazing things.”
Overpleasers are like butter — soft and pliable, easy to mold and shape — and they are the perfect prey for parents who have a strong need for control.
They fill in gaps, take over chores, and get gold stars. But because they’re eager to help, they often overstep and take over parental responsibilities, becoming the “parentified” adult in the home.
Parenting tip: Honor and teach them how to protect their boundaries.
Remind them that their needs come first: “You are a giver, and you may encounter many who will keep taking from you. Remember that it’s okay to say ‘no.’”
Dreamer-Recluse kids tend to be shy and introverted, and can struggle with social and conversational skills.
You may often catch them staring into space, doodling in their notebook, or spending so much time alone that you wonder if they’re even in the house.
Parenting tip: Society may try to tell them they should be the opposite, that they should be more extroverted.
Help them feel secure and highlight their strengths: “Don’t let people tell you how to be. Remember, those who are able to be by themselves are strong people. I admire you just the way you are.”
Rebel Nonconformists have the will of an ox. They won’t comply until they’re convinced it’s something they wish to do.
I know how challenging these kids can be. My daughter, Maia, is a Rebel, and she has the type of confidence that makes her unafraid of authority.
Parenting tip: These kids need to feel respected for their determination.
Release control and judgment: “I love your ability to follow your own voice and not be influenced by popular opinions. However, don’t fight rules simply for the sake of fighting, or you will burn yourself out.”
These kids are always laughing and in a good mood. They’re not fussy, demanding or bossy.
The only downside is that they can be too relaxed and seem unmotivated. As a result, some parents may perceive them as not being ambitious enough.
Parenting tip: What parents don’t realize is that Happy-Go-Lucky kids are actually the gurus of living in the present.
Celebrate their positive approach to the world: “You always bring such peace and joy into every situation. Preserve this beat, because it’s a lost rhythm that more of the world need to adopt.”
Dr. Shefali Tsabary, PhD, is a child psychologist and bestselling author of “The Parenting Map,” “The Conscious Parent,” and “The Awakened Family.” She received her PhD from Columbia University and is a wisdom teacher who integrates Eastern spirituality with Western psychology. An expert in family dynamics and relationships, she is also the founder of the Conscious Parenting Coaching Institute. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
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Editor’s Note: If you or a loved one are facing mental health issues or substance abuse disorders, call The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 or visit SAMHSA’s website for treatment referral and information services.
CNN
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In the spring of 2019, Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota was busy putting the finishing touches on a bill that sought to expand mental health care access for kids in schools.
But she couldn’t shake the feeling she was being less than honest about just how personal the issue of mental health was for her.
Smith was on the precipice of an election. She had no obligation to open up about her own depression that she says happened twice – once in college and once as a young mom. But in May 2019, on the floor of the US Senate, Smith, delivered a speech about mental health and admitted, “The other reason I want to focus on mental health care while I’m here is that I’m one of them.”
“I remember being nervous,” Smith recalled of delivering the speech. “I was concerned that people would think that I was trying to like make it be about myself, but once I got beyond that, and I realized that there was power in me telling the story – me particularly being a United States senator, somebody who supposedly has everything all together all the time, then it started to feel really interesting, and I could see right away the value of it.”
The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that one in five adults in the US – nearly 53 million Americans – experience mental illness every year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 50% of Americans will experience mental illness in their lifetime. But for politicians – often far away from home, under high levels of stress and pressure, all risk factors for mental illnesses like depression and anxiety – talking about their own mental health is still a relatively rare admission.
It’s why in February when Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman announced he was seeking inpatient treatment for clinical depression, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle celebrated not only his decision, but his transparency.
“It’s tough in politics, there’s a lot of scrutiny, you’re clearly in the public eye a lot. There are consequences to the things you say and talk about, but I think in a circumstance like this, it helps the conversation,” Senate Republican Whip John Thune said. “It helps people realize and understand the impact that this disease has on people across the country.”
Years after coming forward with her own experience, Smith said she doesn’t have any regrets. In light of the Fetterman news, she feels even more the importance to share.
“I think that every time a somebody like John or me is open about their own experiences with mental illness or you know, mental health challenges, it just breaks down that wall a little bit more about people saying, ‘Oh, it’s possible to be open and honest and not have the whole world come crashing down on you,’” Smith said.
It’s been decades since Smith experienced depression, but she said she still remembers so much about that time.
“I thought I was just off,” Smith said. “Something is wrong with me. I’m not with it. I’m not doing well enough and then you start to sort of blame yourself, and I was sort of in that cycle,” Smith said.
It was her roommate in college who first suggested she talk to someone. Reluctantly, Smith took herself over to student health services and started talking to a counselor. She said she started to feel better and eventually noticed her depression abated.
But as Smith tells it, mental health is a continuum and about a decade later, as a young mom with two kids, she found herself experiencing depression once again. At the time, she said she was caught completely off guard.
“This is the thing that’s so treacherous about depression in particular. You think that the thing that is wrong with you is you,” Smith said. “I’ll never forget my therapist telling me, she said ‘You’re clinically depressed. That’s my diagnosis. I think that you’d benefit from medication to help you.’”
Smith said she initially resisted. But, after a continued conversation, she agreed to start medication as part of her treatment. She remembers it took time to work, but eventually she noticed a major improvement.
When she emerged from her depression, Smith was in her early 30s. She said she hasn’t had a resurgence of depression since then, but that she does pay very close attention to her mental health now.
There are 535 members of Congress and just a handful of them have shared personal stories related to mental illness. Most of those who have talked about their experiences publicly are Democrats. Most of the men who have shared their stories talk about them in the context of military service. In part, it’s a risk for lawmakers to get too personal. The history of reactions to politicians being open about their mental illness has been checkered in the last several decades.
“People still remember Tom Eagleton,” Smith told CNN.
In 1972, Eagleton was newly selected to be the running mate for Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern. He admitted to being treated for clinical depression and receiving electroshock therapy. Days later, he withdrew from the ticket even as he continued to serve for years in the Senate.
Memories of those kinds of episodes impact members in how they approach talking about mental health, even in recent memory.
“When I was in Congress, I did everything I could to keep everybody from finding out that I needed help,” former Rep. Patrick Kennedy told CNN.
Kennedy represented Rhode Island in Congress from 1995 to 2011. He suffered from addiction and bipolar disorder. While he was there in 2006, he crashed his green Mustang convertible into a barrier outside the Capitol in the early morning. Following the crash, he pointed to sleeping pills as the culprit and checked himself into the Mayo Clinic for treatment.
“And is the case with anybody with these illnesses is it is the worst kept secret in town and you are often the last one to realize in what bad shape you are. People won’t tell it to your face because you are a member of Congress, your staff is walking around on eggshells,” Kennedy said.
“When I did go to treatment. I kind of did it after I had been revealed to be in trouble like I’d gotten in a car accident.”
But when he got back, Kennedy heard from many colleagues about their own struggles with issues related to mental health.
Kennedy predicts when Fetterman returns to the Senate, that might also happen to him.
“I think he is going to have our colleagues from both the House and the Senate look for him in order to tell him what is going on with them. He’s the only one they know,” Kennedy said. “While stigma is going away, there is a less forgiving attitude toward people who suffer from mental illness and addiction.”
The aftermath of January 6, 2021, was another moment where the conversation around mental health started to shift on the Hill. Suddenly, members and their staff had undergone a traumatic and shared experience in the workplace.
Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of California was just four days into being a new member of Congress on January 6th when she was trapped in the gallery above the House floor with several other members of her party. The experience – the sound of gas masks being deployed, the frenzy to escape, the echo of a gunshot – left her reeling. Jacobs said she considered herself well positioned to seek help. She already had a therapist. But, she noticed some of her older colleagues didn’t have the same tools.
“I remember actually, after January 6, talking to some of my colleagues here who were a bit older and encouraging them to seek therapy and to get help because it was just something that that wasn’t as accustomed for them,” she said.
The group of lawmakers who were trapped in the gallery also sought therapy together via Zoom and kept in touch via a text chain.
For Jacobs, the trauma of January 6 manifested itself in unexpected ways. Suddenly, fireworks – something she once loved – were triggering. Loud people chanting or gathering somewhere made her tense up. She said a lot of her colleagues also dealt with anger, “lots of anger toward colleagues who went back that night and continued to deny the election.”
When her brother got married in the fall and had fireworks, she had to excuse herself to another room because “it was stressing my body, my nervous system so much.”
Rep. Dan Kildee, a Democrat from Michigan, also came forward after January 6 to talk about his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder after that day.
It wasn’t easy.
“There is still a stigma. People still make their own judgments and that was one of the reasons I decided to talk about it so that people would see that it can happen to anybody. You just have to get the care that you need.”
“Not everybody was accepting when I sought treatment. My former opponent ridiculed it,” Kildee said.
For Jacobs, who has been taking medication for anxiety and depression since 2013, stories like Fetterman’s are a sign that maybe the discussions around mental health are beginning to change on the Hill and maybe even in the rest of the country.
“I think there’s absolutely a generational divide. And there’s also a gender divide and that’s why I think it’s so incredibly brave that Fetterman not only got the treatment needed, but talk about it,” Jacobs told CNN. “I think for me as a young woman, I spent a lot of time with my friends and peers talking about mental health, talking about therapists and what we’re learning in therapy, but I know that that is not something that other generations really have felt open to do.”
It’s not clear, ultimately, how Fetterman’s openness around his mental health will impact the Hill going forward. It’s not clear what resonance it will have in the rest of the country or even back home for voters. But for lawmakers who’ve taken steps already to share their stories, there is some hope that it could make a major difference.
“It doesn’t take a statistician to tell you that of the 100 of us in the United States Senate, mental health issues are going to have touched every single one of us in one way or another,” Smith said. “I think it gives people some permission to maybe speak a little bit more openly about it.”
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Adept and nimble leadership is essential in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing business world. Those in such positions are responsible for setting the tone, driving innovation and inspiring others to achieve. This is a heady mix of tasks, but how to perfect them? One powerful way is by leveraging Rene Girard’s mimetic theory.
Girard, a French historian, literary critic and philosopher, developed a theory of human behavior that emphasizes the role of imitation and desire in social interactions. His concepts were based on the idea that, from a very young age, human beings are fundamentally imitative creatures, and that our desires and behaviors are largely shaped by the desires and behaviors of those around us. The resulting theory has gained a significant amount of attention in recent years, particularly among business leaders and entrepreneurs, not least because it provides a powerful framework for understanding both employee and consumer behavior.
The process plays out simply: When we see someone else achieve or acquire something we desire, we are more likely to imitate their behavior in the hopes of doing the same. And leaders might be well advised to apply this incite in the process of motivating and inspiring teams.
Related: To Be Heard and To be Admired
In a sense, we are always in competition with others, trying to outdo them in our pursuit of shared desires. However, this competition can often lead to conflict and rivalry, especially in a business setting where individuals may have different goals and aspirations. Mimetic theory helps leaders understand this, and ideally to find ways of channeling it positively, such as promoting healthy competition and collaboration in which team members work together to achieve shared goals. In such a culture of camaraderie and innovation, employees can feel valued, engaged and motivated to achieve their full potential.
To leverage Girard’s theory, leaders can choose from several strategies (or apply them all):
• Lead by example and demonstrate the behaviors and attitudes that they want others to emulate in an organization.
• Identify shared desires and goals, and align those with the goals of the organization as a whole.
• Create a culture of collaboration that values teamwork, open communication and shared ownership.
• Encourage innovation and creativity by creating an environment that values pioneering ideas.
Related: 9 Ways Your Company Can Encourage Innovation
To put these strategies into action, follow these steps:
1: Evaluate the current company culture and identify areas for improvement.
2: Set goals and objectives that align with the company’s vision and mission.
3: Communicate this new approach to employees and provide training and resources to support their success.
4: Monitor progress and make adjustments as needed.
To illustrate a few key aspects of mimetic theory, consider the example of Microsoft. In 2014, the company’s new CEO, Satya Nadella, adopted a “growth mindset” that emphasized collaboration, creativity and innovation. He encouraged employees to work together to achieve shared goals and provided platforms for them to exchange ideas. Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft’s stock price nearly tripled, and the company’s market capitalization grew to more than $2 trillion.
An example of a different kind can be found in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, The Great Gatsby. The character of Jay Gatsby, who supposedly embodies the American Dream, becomes the object of desire for many other characters in the novel, including narrator Nick Carraway and Gatsby’s former lover, Daisy Buchanan. They imitate his behaviors and embrace similar desires, hoping to achieve the same success and happiness. Ultimately, however, the desire for imitation and competition leads to conflict and tragedy, which helps highlight the dangerous potential of unchecked mimetic desire. Business leaders can learn from this, too, by finding ways to channel desire positively — fostering healthy competition and collaboration.
Related: Entrepreneurship and Eudaimonia: The Pursuit Of Lasting Happiness
Giraud’s theory offers a roadmap for understanding the power of imitation, and so achieving success. With the right strategies, leaders can leverage it to their teams to achieve greatness and take companies to the next level.
Christopher Myers
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Managers are expected to be resilient and take bad feedback gracefully, but these are skills that don’t come naturally to everyone, of course. Being criticized by a team, for example, can be particularly hard for managers to swallow.
These practical steps will guide you through that challenging process, and help turn the tide toward learning and professional betterment.
Joanna Kulbacka
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We’re more than halfway through March Break, and at this point, many parents may be scrambling to find things to keep kids, and themselves, busy. Here are 55 things you can do to keep busy over March Break:
Melissa Migueis is a student at Dawson College in the profile Cinema-Communications. She loves to lead a healthy lifestyle by eating clean, being active and keeping a healthy mindset! Oh, and you can always find her somewhere in nature!
CNN
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For four days this week, home for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was a pitch-black room. There were no phones, no television, no lights or distractions. Just Rodgers, alone with his thoughts, in a cabin built specifically for prolonged isolation in the dark.
When the four-time NFL MVP announced plans earlier this month to contemplate his NFL future in isolation at a “darkness retreat,” many were left scratching their heads.
“It’s just sitting in isolation, meditation, dealing with your thoughts,” Rodgers said earlier this month. “We rarely even turn our phone off or put the blinds down to sleep in darkness. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Rodgers is no stranger to alternative therapies. He credits psychedelics like psilocybin and ayahuasca for helping to alleviate his fear of death and deepening a sense of self-love. The football star said he has done “many meditation and yoga retreats” in the past and defended his decision to try darkness therapy as one of several practices “that have stimulated my mind and helped me get in a better headspace and have a greater peace in my life.”
But what exactly happens in a darkness retreat? And is it just another new-age fad or perhaps something that could benefit the rest of us?
A darkness retreat is exactly what it sounds like: a prolonged stay in a space completely devoid of light. One of the centers offering the practice is Sky Cave Retreats, nestled in the Cascade-Siskiyou wilderness, in Southern Oregon, near Klamath Falls.
“The reasons for doing this range from people wanting to know themselves more, to people who want to rest, reset and relax, to those who want to explore consciousness and deepen their meditation practice,” said Scott Berman, who owns Sky Cave Retreats along with his wife Jill, adding the darkness helps illuminate what really matters by stripping away the constant bombardment of sensory input and stimulation many people experience in their hectic modern lives.
“When someone goes into the darkness, all these things that were important to them like money, fame, power, status, being worthy – they all become insignificant and meaningless in the dark,” Berman said. “In the dark, all you have is the present moment which reveals what is truly meaningful – whether it’s love, forgiveness, peace – and it begins to transform you as you truly authentically touch what is most important to you.”
The center currently operates three stand-alone cabins built specifically for prolonged isolation in the dark – earth-sheltered caves, which on the outside are somewhat reminiscent of a Hobbit home. Each space contains a bed, a toilet, sink and a bathtub, as well as a low table for eating and a carpeted area for yoga and meditation. Participants can leave at any time – the doors are never locked – and there is a light switch for emergencies which is protected by a childproof guard so it isn’t flipped on by accident.
The cost includes three meals a day, which Berman delivers personally all at once in the evening (through a lightproof double-sided food box) to minimize the disturbance. This is when participants have an opportunity for a conversation, which could be 10 seconds or 30 minutes, according to Berman, depending on the person’s needs.
Participants typically spend three to four days in the darkness at a cost of $250 a night and are encouraged to take an extra day before and after to integrate the experience.
Burak Dalcik, a 27-year-old salesman from Arlington, Virginia, said the four days he spent in the dark at Sky Caves Retreats in January gave him clarity about his priorities. He found he no longer labeled experiences as positive or negative, but rather allowed them to come and to go, which led to less stress and anxiety at work and in his personal life. He also said he started calling his mom, who lives back in Turkey, more frequently.
“It just really trims all the unnecessary fat and allows you to focus on some of the most important things and really allows you to understand who you are,” said Dalcik. “There’s nothing New Age about this – it boils down to can you just sit by yourself with yourself? And if you can’t, you should probably get pretty curious about why.”
Berman cautions the retreat isn’t for everyone, nor should it be seen as a quick fix to one’s troubles.
“It’s not like this magical, mind-blowing, amazing experience – it can be extremely difficult and uncomfortable,” Berman said. “But in the darkness, discomfort is the door to transformation. There’s an acceptance and a profound love that people start to experience when they’re no longer resisting that part of themselves.”
For now, there is limited research on how darkness retreats impact the human brain and body. Some centers claim the experience can help heal traumas or activate the pineal glad, another claim is darkness therapy increases melatonin production in the brain.
“That’s totally false,” said Dr. David Blask, the head of the Laboratory of Chrono-Neuroendocrine Oncology at Tulane University School of Medicine. “There may be some psychological benefits that people derive from a darkness retreat that they feel are important for them, but certainly not from a strict endocrine neuroendocrine or biochemical physiological standpoint.”
Dr. Marek Malůš, a psychologist at the University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic who has been studying darkness therapies since 2010, sees the technique as a promising therapeutic tool.
“Your thoughts, memories, emotions, inner world and mental processes become much more balanced and integrated,” Malůš said.
While he and his colleagues are working to secure funding for additional studies, Malůš said preliminary research showed just four days in a darkness chamber was enough to help increase mindfulness and self-esteem, lower symptoms of depression and anxiety, while improving parasympathetic nervous system functions, which helps with stress management and lowering burnout symptoms. Subjects reported feeling the benefits three weeks after the experience.
Berman said he hopes to see more scientific research into the benefits of darkness retreats, but cautions against anyone seeking to use the retreat for some sort of natural high.
“If somebody’s coming here because they want to have a so-called DMT experience, you’ve come into the wrong place,” he said. “But there is a lot of benefit in not looking outside of ourselves for confirmation of our worth and using the darkness to illuminate our true nature.”
For those who aren’t able to commit the time or money for a darkness retreat but want a taste of some of the benefits, Berman suggests starting small at home.
“It’s about becoming accustomed to authentically slowing down, putting the phone away, turning out the lights, closing the blinds and just resting,” he said. “Not to get somewhere, not to heal but just to be curious about what’s actually happening within yourself.”
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions?
“Why can’t I earn more?”
“Why does it seem as though less capable people wind up making so much money?”
“Why do I feel stuck?”
I’ve been asking myself an associated question lately: “How do I help my high-performing, highly capable entrepreneur friends break through their money-making and self-improvement barriers?” It simply amazes me how often I see creative and hard-working friends struggle to generate the kind of income they are deserving of.
So I tasked myself to help and came up with actionable pieces of advice that not only identify problems but offer ways onward and upward.
Fortunately, I’ve got a good friend who specializes in addressing these types of issues. Dr. Alok Trivedi (also known as “Dr. Rewire“) has spent the last 27 years of his professional life studying the deep connections between human minds’ “wiring” and personal performance. He’s identified no fewer than 92 scientifically backed techniques to help, quite literally, rewire the brain to become the best version of yourself.
Here are a few I considered particularly pivotal in addressing the divide between abilities and success.
Related: The Best Entrepreneurs Are Experts at Self-Improvement. Here’s How to Master That Skill.
You have likely heard a “villain origin story,” that trajectory-defining point in the life of a wrongdoer that put them on that path. Well, those of us who struggle with making money often have a negative story of our own.
Dr. Trivedi explains: “Most individuals’ brains have default wiring that needs to be overcome to find greater success. This typically comes from earlier in our lives (it may be a moment or a string of moments) that created a pattern (or patterns) that ultimately becomes our behavior. Sometimes, this default wiring has created fear, paranoia, anxiety and/or chaos. Perhaps it was a divorce. Maybe it was bankruptcy or the way we were raised. Whatever the case, this wiring has resulted in an emotion, typically one of resentment, which plays out as our primary expression towards money. Because of this resentment, we’ll push away deals, opportunities or work, thus creating a money-making barrier.”
Trivedi adds that the best way to know if you have such default wiring is to analyze your feelings and circumstances. Do you feel stuck? Have you hit an income plateau? Do you fear the future? These are all dynamics that need to be taken seriously, and once they are recognized, it’s vital to search for related past experiences. Typically, you can identify these on your own, though it may be wise to seek out a professional’s assistance.
Related: Show Me the Money. The 4 Principles of Success and Wealth Accumulation
Once you’ve identified what’s created negative wiring, it’s time to confront it. While this can create uncomfortable feelings, that step is critical to begin the process of change.
“Once we’ve identified [that] source, it’s time to get clarity,” Trivedi says, “and we get that by looking at both sides of the experience, positive and negative. We must ask ourselves these questions: What negative feelings have I been holding onto as a result of this experience? How [has] this resentment actually helped me grow in life (if at all)? What good may have come from it? It’s incredibly important to realize that these experiences can be just as much a good thing as bad.”
If we can examine past events in this way, from both sides, we give ourselves perspective, which is a key element in helping our brains rise above emotions — detaching them from the fallout of experience.
Related: How to Develop Mental Resilience for Greater Success
This step may seem odd initially (it did to me at first), but a powerful question to consider is, “Should I feel gratitude for these sources of resentment?” The more I understood the power of gratitude, the more I appreciated it as a catalyst that allows us to move on to money-making goals.
“Finding gratitude quite literally changes our DNA,” Trivedi says. “It begins with our emotions, which are freed from whatever negative pattern they’ve been in — but only once we find and feel gratitude. This changes our beliefs — moving our brains out of the amygdala (fight-or-flight center) and reconnecting them to the executive center of the brain. The moment this happens, a switch flips and organization occurs: We begin planning, creating and changing. The future suddenly looks bright, and we understand what path we need to walk to get there.”
This is the beautiful process, Trivedi adds, of rewiring the brain through integration. Once this is done successfully, old patterns end, and new ones start. And, hopefully, your new pattern will be one of creativity, wealth creation and ceiling-shattering.
Randy Garn
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In 1938, Harvard researchers embarked on a decades-long study to find out: What makes us happy in life?
The researchers gathered health records from 724 participants from all over the world and asked detailed questions about their lives at two-year intervals.
Contrary to what you might think, it’s not career achievement, money, exercise, or a healthy diet. The most consistent finding we’ve learned through 85 years of study is: Positive relationships keep us happier, healthier, and help us live longer. Period.
Relationships affect us physically. Ever notice the invigoration you feel when you believe someone has really understood you during a good conversation? Or a lack of sleep during a period of romantic strife?
To make sure your relationships are healthy and balanced, it’s important to practice “social fitness.”
We tend to think that once we establish friendships and intimate relationships, they will take care of themselves. But our social life is a living system, and it needs exercise.
Marloes De Vries for CNBC Make It
Social fitness requires taking stock of our relationships, and being honest with ourselves about where we’re devoting our time and whether we are tending to the connections that help us thrive.
Humans are social creatures. Each of us as individuals cannot provide everything we need for ourselves. We need others to interact with and to help us.
In our relational lives, there are seven keystones of support:
Below you’ll find a table arranged around the seven keystones. The first column is for the relationships you think have the greatest impact on you.
Place a plus (+) symbol in the appropriate columns if a relationship seems to add to that type of support in your life, and a minus (-) symbol if a relationship lacks that type of support.
Remember, it’s okay if not all — or even most — relationships offer you all these types of support.
Think of this exercise like an X-ray — a tool that helps you see below the surface of your social universe. Not all of these types of support will feel important to you, but consider which of them do, and ask yourself if you’re getting enough support in those areas.
Looking at the gaps on the chart, you might realize that you have plenty of people you have fun with, but no one to confide in. Or maybe you only have one person you go to for help, or that a person you take for granted actually makes you feel safe and secure.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to the people in your life. Whether it’s a thoughtful question or a moment of devoted attention, it’s never too late to deepen the connections that matter to you.
Robert Waldinger, MD, is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, and director of Psychodynamic Therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a practicing psychiatrist and also a Zen master and author of “The Good Life.” Follow Robert on Twitter @robertwaldinger.
Marc Shulz, PhD, is the associate director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, and a practicing therapist with postdoctoral training in health and clinical psychology at Harvard Medical School. He is also the author of “The Good Life.”
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Short-term trading can be a thrilling and potentially profitable endeavor, but it also requires a deep understanding of not only the markets and strategies but also of one’s own trading psychology.
The fast-paced nature of short-term trading (scalping, day trading, and to some extent, swing trading) can lead to significant stress and emotional turmoil, which can negatively impact a trader’s performance if not properly managed. In this article, we will explore some key aspects of trading psychology and discuss strategies for managing emotions and achieving success in the trading arena:
Related: 6 Important Tips for Improving Your Emotional Control
One of the most challenging things about trading is the ability to remain emotionally detached from our trades. This means that you should strive to separate your emotions from your trading decisions and focus on the facts and data. This can be difficult to do, especially when the market is moving against you or when you’ve already experienced losses. But this detachment is crucial for maintaining a rational perspective and making sound trading decisions.
At all times, you must get into the habit of asking yourself the question, “Am I just projecting onto the market what I want to see happen or not see happen, or am I looking at things objectively?”
This is a very powerful way to notice when you’re getting carried away in rash emotional decisions.
Another important aspect of trading psychology is having a positive attitude. Attitudes are different than emotions in that they’re the mindset you decide to cultivate day in and day out, in the face of challenges and difficulties.
Trading can be incredibly challenging, and it’s easy to get discouraged when things aren’t going well. So, traders must be able to stay positive and maintain a long-term perspective, even when faced with short-term losses.
This can include things like focusing on the lessons that can be learned from losing trades, rather than dwelling on the losses themselves. It’s also crucial to have realistic expectations — not expecting to become a millionaire overnight, but being patient and consistent in your approach while keeping an open mind to learn and evolve with time.
It’s also crucial for traders to stay disciplined. Even the most successful traders can fall into the trap of getting caught up in the hype of a new trend. There’s nothing wrong with onboarding a new trend, but generally speaking, traders need to learn to think for themselves and not blindly follow what’s hot at the moment.
To avoid these trading psychology pitfalls, traders should focus on a well-researched strategy and stick to it, even when things aren’t going their way. This can be achieved by developing and following a trading plan, which outlines your risk management, entry and exit criteria, as well as other important elements of your approach.
Additionally, traders should also set specific goals and hold themselves accountable for achieving them.
One of the key elements of a winning trading psychology is self-awareness. This includes being aware of your own strengths and weaknesses, as well as your emotional triggers and tendencies. By understanding these things about yourself, you can take steps to manage your emotions and make better trading decisions.
The best way to develop self-awareness, on purpose, is via meditation. It takes 10-20 minutes per day. That’s it. Observe your thoughts and your feelings objectively and non-judgementally, and when you notice that you get carried away by thinking, mentally detach yourself from the thinking process and observe it objectively again.
Doing this for 10-20 minutes per day is enough to begin exercising your awareness muscle. This greater level of awareness will positively impact the way you trade, guaranteed.
Related: How Mindfulness Can Help Traders Succeed
Having confidence in yourself, your abilities and your strategies is crucial to being a successful trader. However, it’s also important to recognize the difference between confidence and overconfidence. The latter could lead to taking unnecessary risks and not managing the risks properly, while the former allows traders to make the right decisions even in adverse situations.
The best way to develop confidence is by practicing it. Be decisive when you trade. Good or bad, when you make a decision, stick with it. And whether the outcome is favorable or unfavorable, keep practicing that decisiveness muscle, and your confidence will grow.
Always remember: Be flexible in what you expect, but be decisive about what you do.
One of the biggest obstacles that traders face is fear and greed. Fear can lead to missed opportunities and profits, while greed can cause traders to hold onto losing positions for too long, hoping for a rebound that may never happen.
To combat these emotions, traders must first recognize them and then take steps to manage them by acknowledging the fact of uncertainty. Markets are constantly changing, and what works today may not work tomorrow. Traders must embrace that fact and constantly adopt a mindset that adapts to these changes. This requires flexibility and an open mind, and the willingness to learn and evolve over time.
One technique to embrace uncertainty is to journal about it. Examine the patterns you revert to when something unexpected happens in the market. Do you get emotional and impulsive? Do you worry? Understand what you do and why you do it, and you’ll have an easier time changing those things.
Preparation is essential for trading success. This includes setting clear trading rules like stop-losses and profit targets, as well as having a plan for how to exit a trade in the case of a black swan event (an adverse event that is completely unexpected). Ideally, this preparation should be done outside of market hours when traders are at their most rational.
Preparation also includes doing certain exercises that promote focus, concentration and equanimity under pressure. Traders can prepare mentally through mindfulness, visualization or another form of mental training.
Finally, it’s important for traders to take time away from the markets to relax and recharge their trading psychology. This can include things like taking occasional breaks from trading and engaging in activities that are unrelated to trading altogether. This can help traders stay focused and refreshed, and it can also serve as a reminder that there’s more to life than the markets. Taking care of physical, emotional and mental well-being will help traders to have a healthier mindset while approaching the markets.
Related: What Kind Of Trader Are You? An Introduction To Trading Behaviors
In conclusion, short-term trading requires not only knowledge of the markets and strategies, but also a deep understanding of one’s own trading psychology. By recognizing and managing emotions, maintaining a positive attitude, staying disciplined and taking time to relax and recharge, traders can improve their performance and achieve greater success in the trading arena.
It’s also important to remember that as traders, you are in it for the long term, and you need to be patient and persistent. Successful trading requires consistent effort and learning over a period of time, and you should be prepared to put in the time, energy and dedication required to build your skills, knowledge and perspective.
Yvan Byeajee
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Understanding the fundamentals of marketing psychology can help entrepreneurs create effective customer experiences and build customer loyalty. It can sound a bit complicated if you’re new to the term — and don’t get me wrong, it is — but in this article, I’ll break down the six key mindsets every entrepreneur must adopt to maximize the power of marketing psychology and reach their goals.
Marketing psychology, sometimes called “neuromarketing,” is the practice of understanding consumer behavior and utilizing psychological principles to influence that behavior. It’s based on the belief that consumers’ buying decisions are influenced by a variety of factors, including personal experiences, beliefs, preferences, motivations and emotions.
By understanding how these elements affect decision-making processes, marketers can create effective campaigns to reach their target audiences (even if those target audiences don’t necessarily behave logically). Here are six key mindsets I believe every entrepreneur needs to reach their business goals:
Related: The Intersection of Psychology and Marketing
Being able to put yourself in your customer’s shoes is essential when it comes to understanding what they want and need from your business. Empathy allows you to understand how your customers think, feel and behave so you can create experiences tailored to them.
It also helps you understand why they make certain decisions, which can be invaluable when it comes to developing effective marketing campaigns.
Telling stories is a great way to captivate your audience and draw them into your narrative. Stories are an effective tool for creating emotional connections with customers because they allow you to show rather than tell why people should care about your product or service.
Additionally, stories are memorable and can help differentiate your brand from competitors by making it stand out in customers’ minds.
Being curious about your customers’ needs helps you better understand what drives them and how best to engage with them on an individual level. Asking questions allows you to further develop relationships with customers and discover opportunities for improvement within your business model or customer experience strategy.
Additionally, curiosity helps spark creative ideas, which can provide new insights into how you deliver value through your products or services.
Related: 6 Ways You Can Leverage Consumer Psychology to Drive More Sales
When it comes to building trust with potential customers, authenticity is key as people want genuine interactions with brands they interact with online or in person.
It’s important for entrepreneurs to be honest about who they are as a brand and what value they offer their customers so that those looking for solutions know exactly where to turn when making purchasing decisions. This also ensures that any content created reflects the true essence of the brand instead of generic messaging that won’t resonate with its target audience.
Nothing beats testing different strategies when trying something new or evaluating existing tactics used by competitors. The more data gathered during experiments, the better-informed decisions entrepreneurs can make regarding their own offerings.
Experimentation also provides valuable insight into customer preferences, which helps inform further marketing strategies down the line.
Ultimately, user experience is at the heart of successful marketing campaigns, as people are more likely to buy from brands they trust and find easy to use. Focusing on creating positive experiences throughout every interaction builds loyalty among customers, increases engagement and boosts conversions over time.
Taking the time necessary to ensure users have a seamless journey across all touchpoints pays off in spades over time.
Related: 5 Insights Into Human Behavior That Will Boost Your Sales and Marketing
The key mindsets discussed above form the foundation for any successful entrepreneur’s use of marketing psychology in their business pursuits. By adopting these mindsets, entrepreneurs will be one step closer to reaching their goals as each mindset provides unique insight into understanding customer behavior, engaging effectively with current or potential clients, delivering exceptional user experiences and ultimately providing valuable solutions through storytelling or experimentation.
With these six essential mindsets at hand, entrepreneurs will be well on their way toward leveraging marketing psychology effectively within their businesses!
Jacinda Santora
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According to a January 2022 article from the American Psychological Association, employee burnout is hitting record highs around the globe, and in every industry — with “…nearly 3 in 5 employees report[ing] negative impacts of work-related stress, including lack of interest, motivation or energy.” This not only harms employees but your business will likely be hit hard too, in the form of reduced productivity, errors, healthcare costs, incivility and attrition. To recession-proof your business, you need to help your people heal from burnout, and then shift your culture to eliminate the causes using the science-backed strategies provided.
Put simply, this term is defined as a medically diagnosable condition of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion due to long-term stress. Authors of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle (Ballantine Books, 2019), sisters Emily Nagoski, Ph.D. and Amelia Nagoski, D.M.A. have identified its three main components:
Britt Andreatta
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You’ve probably heard it said that the greatest investment anyone can make is in themselves, and this is unquestionably true. Certainly with respect to business, before you can effectively engage in anything or with anyone, investing in yourself is mandatory. This process can consist of reading and attending conferences and seminars that cater to your niche or industry — learning from people who are already crushing it and/or enrolling into a mastermind of like-minded individuals who have the same or similar goals.
We all know that growing any business is not an easy feat. However, there are several ways to make incredible things happen along the way, and they all start from within.
Jose Flores
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