The extent to which you believe in <keyword id="100461" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Free-will">free will</keyword> might seem like a weird factor in work well-being, but new <a href="https://www.academia.edu/33914388/Agency_beliefs_over_time_and_across_cultures_Free_will_beliefs_predict_higher_job_satisfaction">research</a> published in the Personality and Psychology Bulletinsuggests that leaning in to the concept of personal freedom may be key to workplace satisfaction, Quartz <a href="https://qz.com/1042481/to-be-more-satisfied-at-work-start-believing-in-your-free-will/">reports</a>. If hearing the words “free will” does little more than take you back to Philosophy 101, consider that the concept is more than just “philosophical balm,” as Quartz writer Ephrat Livni <a href="https://qz.com/1042481/to-be-more-satisfied-at-work-start-believing-in-your-free-will/">describes</a> it. In fact, a “growing number of studies have shown that the belief in free will is associated with a wide array of cognitive and behavioral outcomes,” the study authors wrote in the paper. Researchers from Maastricht University in the Netherlands and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology designed three different studies to analyze the link between job satisfaction and personal freedom and determine whether that link was impacted by time, the specific kind of work people did or cultural values. Each study was slightly different. In the first study, researchers had 250 real estate agents in Hong Kong rate how much they agreed with statements like “I am satisfied with the kind of work I do in this job” and “I am in charge of my actions even when my <keyword id="6360041" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="life">life</keyword>’s circumstances are difficult,” <a href="https://qz.com/1042481/to-be-more-satisfied-at-work-start-believing-in-your-free-will/">according</a> to Quartz. They answered the same questions three months later and researchers found that both times, there was a strong link between feeling free and being satisfied in work. The second study looked at 135 freelancers in the U.S. and the results supported the first study: even “discounting the added sense of freedom that autonomy gave gig workers,” Livni <a href="https://qz.com/1042481/to-be-more-satisfied-at-work-start-believing-in-your-free-will/">writes</a>, the freelancers’ belief in personal freedom was “strongly correlated to higher job satisfaction...and again, it seemed to persist over time.” In the last study, researchers looked at survey answers from more than 14,000 participants in 16 countries, gathered between 1990 and 2008 as part of the 2008 World Values Survey. They found that overall, belief in free will was linked to greater job satisfaction. But countries that placed a greater cultural value on personal agency reaped the most benefits. Livni compares Mexico and Japan to emphasize this point: in Mexico, free will was seen to be nationally valued and “strongly correlated with personal work satisfaction,” while in Japan, where “choice appeared to be less prized culturally,” the link between work satisfaction and sense of freedom, “while still existent—was not as strong,” Livni <a href="https://qz.com/1042481/to-be-more-satisfied-at-work-start-believing-in-your-free-will/">writes</a>. While there’s more research to be done in regards to why free will might lead to a satisfaction boost, the findings are good news for anyone looking to be happier in their work. Livni offers a few suggestions for how to start reframing your outlook to prioritize personal freedom: “Act like someone who has choices and whose acts matter, rather than a person whose destiny was written in advance,” Livni <a href="https://qz.com/1042481/to-be-more-satisfied-at-work-start-believing-in-your-free-will/">writes</a>. Change your habits for the better, make smarter decisions, and see what happens when you consider yourself in charge of your life. This article is written by Shelby Lorman

The empowering link between free will and work satisfaction

My Aha Moments for your road ahead. When I was a kid, growing up in <keyword id="6355466" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="south-india">South India</keyword>, I learned a few things at my mom’s gigantic dining table. One distinct memory lingers in her voice. “Eat your vendakai (Okra or ladies finger in Tamil), you will stand out in math.” I always felt she cooked the idea along with the vegetable. Little did I know that many other moms shared her view. By sheer chance, I learned over a campfire conversation with friends in my late teen years. Nuances within our hyper competitive middle class homes may vary. We chuckled at how the vendakai brought convergence in shared beliefs. I chuckle every time the vendakai line rears its head again — when my young daughters are at the dining table. I do not know the correlation between this vegetable effect and mathematical skill. What I do know are my own experiences that gave me an edge — both in <keyword id="6360041" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="life">life</keyword> and work. 1. Art of observing dog’s tail When I was young I learned: You cannot straighten a dog’s tail. Somewhere along the way, I believed I could win over people to my point of view with words and actions. The shape of the dog’s tail [people’s behavior in the normal course of the day] is not that important. As I got older, my aha was: There is immense value in studying the dog’s tail. You may not be able to straighten it forever. However, the study of tails opens our eyes on what people are comfortable with — in their natural state. An observation I found worth the weight in gold in the world of influence without authority. 2. The first, formal human touch When I was young I learned: A firm handshake was a rite of passage to strong first impressions. Somewhere along the way, I started to make a mental note of others with weaker handshake. As I got older, one incident changed me: someone squeezed my hands tighter than what I would consider firm. From that day, I understood: The best of them mirror the other person’s pressure in a handshake. Relationships are about making the other person comfortable and less about ourself. It starts with something simple — like a handshake. 3. The value of simple good morning and story of you When I was young I learned: Work is workship. Efficiency is key. I extrapolated it to time spent on conversations and getting things done. Somewhere along the way, I took pride in answering the question — what do you do? I talked about my work with pride and at length — when I had a willing listener. When I got older I felt an invisible line: I am passionate about my work. Not married to it. I learned how a simple good morning and coffee room chitchats can amplify my daily worth. 4. Anger and Frustration Perspectives — Think Different When I was young I learned: Control your anger, breathe. Always felt like a crash diet. Appeals for a few days and unsustainable in the long term. Somewhere along the way, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-moms-revolutionary-approach-success-parent-lessons-karthik-rajan" target="_blank">my mom’s advice resonated</a>: “if you raise your voice, you have to do 10 times in return to make it up.” That algorithm of what is in it for me, made me more self aware during frustrating moments. As I got older I learned about “interesting.” This video illustrates it best. 5. Treat Treats When I was young I learned: Treat others how you like to be treated. Somewhere along the way, I got fixated on how I like to be treated to figure out how I like to treat others. When I got older, I connected the dots: Treat others how they like to be treated. Customize it and thrive. How you like to be treated has less to do with their happiness. 6. More Questions than Answers When I was young I learned: Answer the questions politely and sincerely. Somewhere along the way, I questioned everything. When I got older, I understood: asking the right question is the hard shell to crack. It distinguishes the front runners from the also rans. 7. Do vs. Think When I was young I enjoyed Nike’s tagline, ‘Just do it’ — it sounded awesome. Somewhere along the way, I lost track of where I spent time — do, think or prepare. When I got older, I understood: Sometimes, just showing up works wonders. Closing Remarks As the years roll by, I realize I imbibe a lot from my parents without ever realizing it. Their gentle suggestions on how to stand out in the hyper competitive world covers the range — from vendakai experience to handling anger. And then, I had a chance to top it off with my own journey — hard lessons that gave me wholesome experiences with an edge. Somewhere along the way, I learned a simple thank you is more than anything. Thank you for your read. <a href="https://goo.gl/o3NtuA" target="_blank">Karthik Rajan</a>. While reading this, if a thought crosses your mind, do add a comment. You are welcome to sign up for my “connect the dots” short story-letter at <a href="https://goo.gl/IaqeNV" target="_blank">this link</a>. I enjoy writing at the intersection of analytics and human relationships. Link to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/karthikrajan2" target="_blank">my blogs</a> here. The article is authored by <keyword id="4661181" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="karthik-rajan">Karthik Rajan</keyword>. It was Originally published at <a href="https://medium.com/p/f53fb8df858c">medium.com</a>

7 Mental Shifts That Helped Me Stand Out In Life

<h2> </h2> In today’s highly demanding <keyword id="621615" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="work-environment">work environment</keyword>, organizations often rely upon effective <keyword id="6379846" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="collaboration">collaboration</keyword> among coworkers to achieve desired objectives. Among office coworkers, a tool often used to communicate vital information about the <keyword id="4535" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="team">team</keyword> progress and steps to be taken is Email, which could possibly facilitate team effectiveness and transparency. Yet, in electronic communication, it is common to find certain people consistently copying or “cc’ing” the boss into emails between coworkers (I must admit that I‘ve also done this in my own emails to collaborators a couple of times). Even though this might be done with good intentions, a new research shows that doing so has serious implications, as it can create a culture of distrust in the workplace. In a recent study, <a href="https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/faculty-a-z/david-de-cremer/" target="_blank">David De Cremer</a>, KPMG Professor of Management Studies at Cambridge Judge Business School, and his colleagues conducted a series of experiments and surveys to examine whether and how cc’ing one’s supervisor influences organizational trust. Using data collected from 939 <keyword id="6355058" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="work">work</keyword>ing adults in China, US, UK, and the Netherlands, they found that copying supervisors or superiors into emails between coworkers create distrust between colleagues at work and foster a “culture of fear and low psychological safety” more broadly. The participants felt that Cc-ing the boss signals that the sender (i.e., their coworker) do not trust in their ‘competence,’ ‘integrity,’ and ‘benevolence.’ “The more often you include a supervisor on emails to co-workers, the less trusted those co-workers feel,” says Professor De Cremer in his <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/04/ccing-the-boss-on-email-makes-employees-feel-less-trusted" target="_blank">Harvard Business Review (HBR) piece.</a> This illustrates that “electronic transparency can backfire” and as such, suggests that people in managerial positions may need to offer profound policy on including superiors in email communications at work. As the lead author stated: “Organizations will have to explain the purpose of including everyone involved in a project in the communications around it, so that the transparency is not perceived as a way to assess and monitor the performance and behaviors of the people on the team” So, the next time you think about Cc-ing your supervisor or a superior in an email between coworkers, you might need to ask yourself these two questions “What is the rationale behind this email” and “Is it really worth it.” Remember, we all want to work in an environment where we feel trusted. Do you agree with this study? or do you copy your superior in emails with coworkers? What is your rationale for doing so? Please share your thoughts with us in the comment section below or on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/thrive" target="_blank">@Thrive</a> and wait a minute, remember to Cc me :-) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrMayoBabalola" target="_blank">@DrMayoBabalola</a> This article is authored by Mayowa Babalola, PhD. It was originally published at <a href="https://medium.com/p/9cb66f62ab9f">medium.com</a> <h2><a name="_GoBack"></a></h2>

The Habit That Creates a Culture of Distrust at Work

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 We’re living in a golden age of <keyword id="6358439" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="happiness">happiness</keyword> research. Scientists, economists, philosophers and even heads of state have trained their attention on a subject that not so long ago would have been considered “soft,” as studies increasingly show that happiness is much more than a warm fuzzy feeling – <keyword id="2043739" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Being-happy">being happy</keyword> is a skill with tangible and wide-ranging benefits. Thanks to what The Economist has <a href="https://www.economist.com/blogs/feastandfamine/2012/04/happiness">christened</a> “the happiness industry,” we know more than ever about what causes happiness, how happiness affects our lives and work and even how we can increase our happiness through practice. For example,<a href="https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/new_study_shows/"> a study</a> by economists at the UK’s University of Warwick found that happiness made people about 12 percent more productive at work. Richard Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,<a href="http://www.supportuw.org/wp-content/uploads/wwa_2011_davidson_oprah.pdf"> says he views happiness</a> “not as a trait but as a skill, like tennis. If you want to be a good tennis player, you can’t just pick up a racket – you have to practice.” And indeed, there are concrete steps we can take to increase our happiness;<a href="http://news.wisc.edu/virtue-rewarded-helping-others-at-work-makes-people-happier/"> for example, one study found</a> that when we help others at work, we feel happier ourselves. Additionally, happiness is increasingly being used as an indicator of a nation’s overall well-being –<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/world/asia/bhutan-gross-national-happiness-indicator-.html"> a notion pioneered in Bhutan</a> as an alternative to GDP and other traditional measures of success. In this year’s World Happiness Report, which evaluated 155 countries according to their happiness levels, Norway ranked as the world’s happiest country, while<a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-ranks-a-low-122-among-worlds-happiest-countries-pakistan-nepal-fare-better-4578297/"> India ranked 122</a> – dropping four spots from last year’s report. Possible reasons for India’s evident unhappiness include crises of malnutrition and access to education,<a href="http://mashable.com/2017/03/21/india-lowest-brics-nation-un-happiness-index/#TSYD07Ado5qY"> according to Mashable</a>. And then there’s the problem of overwork and burnout: India is the<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-ranks-4th-most-vacation-deprived-country-globally-report/articleshow/55944087.cms"> fourth most vacation-deprived country in the world</a>. At every level, our newfound understanding of happiness is yielding positive benefits. But there’s also a worrying side effect: all this emphasis on happiness is creating pressure on people to feel and appear happy, even when they’re not. Svend Brinkmann, a Danish psychology professor and author of Stand Firm: Resisting the Self-Improvement Craze, is among those pointing out that the situations we encounter demand a range of emotional responses, and that happiness isn’t always an appropriate option. “I believe our thoughts and emotions should mirror the world. When something bad happens, we should be allowed to have negative thoughts and feelings about it because that’s how we understand the world,”<a href="https://qz.com/924103/happiness-has-become-an-emotional-burden-says-a-danish-psychologist-svend-brinkmann/"> he told Quartz</a>. It’s a sentiment echoed by Brock Bastian, a researcher at the University of Melbourne, who adds that<a href="http://theconversation.com/so-many-in-the-west-are-depressed-because-theyre-expected-not-to-be-79672"> our use of social media</a> encourages us to broadcast feelings of happiness because we associate it with success. In <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550614568682">studies</a>, he and his colleagues found that “when people experienced negative emotions and felt social pressure not to, they felt socially disconnected and experienced more loneliness.” So as new studies and research continue to deepen our understanding of happiness, it’s important that authenticity be part of the equation. Yes, happiness has incredible benefits – but only if we feel it genuinely. What’s truly important is allowing ourselves to feel and express the full range of our emotions, matching our responses to the situation. Because forced happiness is no happiness at all. This article is authored by Gregory Beyer.

The Pressure to Feel Happy All the Time Is Making a Lot of People Unhappy

If you want to perform at your best, both at work and at home, you have to get enough <keyword id="6372996" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sleep">sleep</keyword>. That’s why Thrive Global, a behavior change platform, is focused on lowering stress and increasing well-being and productivity—and sleep is a huge part of that equation. The company, founded by <keyword id="554193" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arianna-Huffington">Arianna Huffington</keyword>, creates lasting change in people’s lives by giving them sustainable, science-backed solutions to enhance their performance and overall well-being. Building on the success of Huffington’s best-selling book The Sleep Revolution, Thrive Global has made sleep a key part of its DNA, helping individuals and organizations give sleep the respect it deserves, with all the benefits that brings. This includes putting a spotlight on all the ways we’re failing to make sleep a priority—and how we can change that. The phrase “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” for example, perfectly captures our collective attitude toward sleep. We tell ourselves that we have to banish sleep from our lives, or at least get a lot less of it than we’d like, in order to be productive, effective and successful. With so much to be done, created, and achieved, why shortchange ourselves by sleeping our lives away? But we’re paying a price for this collective delusion. A mountain of research tells us this simple truth: when it comes to sleep, we’re just not getting enough. (Adults need 7 to 9 hours per night.) And the consequences affect every aspect of our lives, from our health and <keyword id="23080" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="productivity">productivity</keyword> to our relationships and happiness. By skimping on sleep, we actually shortchange ourselves – and when we do, it’s much harder for us to attain peak performance at work, build meaningful relationships and tap into our creativity and ingenuity to solve big problems. The ripple effect of our collective lack of sleep is global, transcending borders, languages and cultures. And it connects to something even bigger: a global epidemic of stress and burnout, driven in large part by our relationship to technology. We’re more connected than ever, plugged-in and reachable 24/7. And even beyond the demands of work, we’re addicted to our devices. When we’re unable to set boundaries with technology, our sleep suffers. That blue light given off by your electronic devices? It suppresses melatonin, making it much harder to fall asleep. And when huge numbers of people are actually <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/06/29/sleep-banks-smartphones/">sleeping with their smartphones</a>, it’s a problem – and one that will only get bigger as<a href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/02/22/smartphone-ownership-and-internet-usage-continues-to-climb-in-emerging-economies/"> smartphone ownership increases</a> around the world. The good news is we’re at a turning point in our relationship with sleep. It’s no exaggeration to say we’re living through a sleep science renaissance. Study after study confirms that far from being empty time, sleep is a period of intense renewal that exponentially enhances the quality of our waking hours. So for anyone who’s ever bragged “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” here are 7 findings that emphasize just how closely sleep is linked to performance – at work and at home, in every phase and aspect of our lives. 1. <keyword id="72481" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sleep-deprivation">Sleep deprivation</keyword> is catastrophic for your productivity. It’s easy to assume that as long as we’re not pulling all-nighters, we won’t suffer any adverse sleep-related consequences. But a study published in the journal Sleep found that participants who were restricted to six hours of sleep a night for a two week period functioned as poorly as those who were made to stay up for two days straight, as Fast Company<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3057465/why-six-hours-of-sleep-is-as-bad-as-none-at-all"> reported</a>. 2. Sleep deprivation makes it almost impossible to excel – at anything. Whatever profession you’re in and however you define success, you have to be able to think critically, connect with others and build productive, meaningful relationships. But when we don’t get enough sleep, all of those areas suffer.<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17765011"> One study</a> found that insufficient sleep can temporarily reduce a range of performance-related abilities including emotional intelligence, impulse control and empathy. 3. Sleep’s importance is apparent even before you’re born. In adults, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is when dreaming occurs and memories are stored. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley’s <a href="https://walkerlab.berkeley.edu/">Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory</a> found that fetuses start exhibiting what looks like REM sleep beginning in the<a href="https://journal.thriveglobal.com/the-science-of-how-sleep-changes-your-brain-from-infancy-to-old-age-3ca4a6857e27"> third trimester of pregnancy</a>. 4. We may be able to learn new things while we sleep. A small but intriguing<a href="https://www.thriveglobal.com/stories/11613-neuroscience-says-you-might-be-able-to-learn-while-you-sleep"> recent study</a> found that our brains can create new memories while we sleep. “We proved that you can learn during sleep, which has been a topic debated for years,” study author Thomas Andrillon, a neuroscientist at PSL Research University in Paris,<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/08/08/your-brain-can-form-new-memories-while-you-are-asleep-neuroscientists-show/?nid&amp;utm_term=.95b92752aa05"> told</a> the Washington Post. 5. Fifty-eight percent of Indians believe lack of sleep is negatively affecting their work. And 15 percent wake up in the night because of work-related stress,<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/World-Sleep-Day-93-Indians-are-sleep-deprived/articleshow/46547288.cms"> according to</a> The Times of India. 6. There is such a thing as a “power nap.” Next time someone questions why you take naps, you can direct them to all the research that shows how naps strengthen some of our key cognitive functions, including memory. In one study, researchers at Germany’s Saarland University had participants learn single words and word pairs. Then, half of the group watched a DVD and the other half napped. Members of the napping group retained significantly more word pairs than their DVD-watching counterparts, resulting,<a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150320091315.htm"> as the lead author put it</a>, in “a five-fold improvement in information retrieval from memory.” 
	
	


 7. Sleep deprivation is fueling a global burnout epidemic And in extreme cases, it can be deadly. In fact, death from overwork even has its own word in Japanese (karoshi), in Chinese (guolaosi), and in Korean (gwarosa). In India, <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/93-deprived-of-sleep-11-fall-asleep-at-work-study/articleshow/5340853.cms?intenttarget=no">according to one study</a> of 25 cities across the country, an astounding 93 percent of respondents reported being sleep deprived. This article is authored by Gregory Beyer

7 Science-Backed Reasons To Rekindle Your Relationship With Sleep

If you want to stay cognitively sharp with age, there’s at least one thing you should start doing today. Engaging in activities like continuing education (like learning a new language) or stepping into a leadership role at work can help fend off cognitive issues like dementia later on, according to a new <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-04/uoe-wts042017.php" target="_blank">study</a> published in PLOS Medicine. The study was led by researchers at the University of Exeter in collaboration with the universities of Bangor, Newcastle and Cambridge. They analyzed the mental fitness of 2,315 people over the age of 65, looking to see if challenging experiences in early or mid-life would make the <keyword id="6361813" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="brain">brain</keyword> “more resilient” to aging, according to the study’s <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-04/uoe-wts042017.php" target="_blank">press release</a>. They found that people who had engaged in intellectually challenging experiences earlier on had higher “cognitive reserve,” which helped them stay “mentally fit for longer.” “Losing mental ability is not inevitable later in <keyword id="6360041" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="life">life</keyword>,” Linda Clare, professor of clinical psychology of aging and dementia at the University of Exeter, <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-04/uoe-wts042017.php" target="_blank">said</a> in the study’s press release. She added that when the brain is “stretched” and challenged, it has to use a “variety of networks” which builds a “buffer” that can help protect against decline. The researchers also found that eating a <keyword id="6354750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="health">health</keyword>y diet, getting more physical activity, moderate alcohol consumption and staying socially active can protect brain health in older age. Overall, these findings support the idea that the future of our health really is in own hands. If we can implement habits and take actions that are good for our mental health, we can help keep our cognition sharp as we age. Read more about the findings <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-04/uoe-wts042017.php" target="_blank">here</a>. This article is authored by Shelby Lorman. It was originally published at <a href="https://journal.thriveglobal.com/heres-one-way-to-keep-your-brain-healthy-into-old-age-8e67234fd261">journal.thriveglobal.com</a>

You Searched For "Thrive2017" and got 6 results

The empowering link between free will and work satisfaction

BI India Partner

7 Mental Shifts That Helped Me Stand Out In Life

BI India Partner

The Habit That Creates a Culture of Distrust at Work

BI India Partner

The Pressure to Feel Happy All the Time Is Making a Lot of People Unhappy

BI India Partner

7 Science-Backed Reasons To Rekindle Your Relationship With Sleep

BI India Partner

Here’s One Way to Keep Your Brain Healthy Into Old Age

BI India Partner