It wasn’t your fault, you just didn’t know who you were

Macgyver’s most memorable episode was when he was hanging out of car going eighty miles an hour, by his foot, while the communists chased him to the border with guns and army trucks. His task, of course, was to transfer the power steering fluid into the brake cylinder before the car crashed into the fence and killed everybody. Pretty standard day at work for that guy. But even though this scene is exciting and hilarious to watch, it’s also a...

Sometimes something alien arrives and throws your whole paradigm out of whack. Could be a piece of art, an email from a customer, or a simple conversation with a friend or family member. But whatever that alien thing is, it swoops in and totally shifts the lens through which you view everything familiar. You see yourself through a new set of eyes, possibly not even yours. And the scary part is, that alien thing makes you doubt your own habits....

Optimism doesn’t increase our success, but it does increase our field of vision, which is what allows us to better notice and build upon the opportunities that lead to success. Cynicism, on the other hand, narrows our vision. The reason it doesn’t seem to make anything better because we’re not in the mindset of looking for ways to make them better. It builds negative momentum, which only makes us better at being cynical. And so, if we're interested in forging...

Mayo published a study about the comparative relevance of physical fitness on life expectancy. Nearly half a million people were surveyed, and they found that fast walking participants lived longer than those who walked at a slower pace. Turns out, if you want be around longer, try speeding it up while you’re on a stroll. Who knew that walking a little faster might add years to your life? Personally, I’d like to lay dispute at the foot of these spurious claims. But...

Sometimes it's difficult to tell if your experience is a dream, a memory or a lie. Like when you wake up from a nightmare feeling convinced that the event really happened to you. Or when you've fantasized about a person so many times, you actually have to stop and ask yourself, wait, did we really meet up in that hotel room, or was it just my imagination? What about when you're recounting your favorite childhood memory and it suddenly dawns...