Bestselling Author · Investor · Speaker. Author of 'Hooked' and & 'Indistractable'. The blog is about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business.
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2024-05-18 21:00:27
Typing in “longevity” into Amazon reveals over 40,000 books on the topic. Each author purports their own cure, typically involving a special diet, miracle supplement, or painful practice. However, there is one often overlooked factor that studies have found increases lifespan by seven years or more.
The post Want to Live Longer? Change Your Mind About Aging appeared first on Nir and Far.
2024-05-08 16:25:59
Winston Churchill predicted three to four million people might be forced to flee metropolitan centers after the first bombing raids of WWII. Tens of thousands of police officers were requested to prevent the stampeding exodus from trampling one another... Yet these predictions were wrong.
The post How to Overcome Anxiety Forever appeared first on Nir and Far.
2024-04-22 21:00:59
Forget prestige and corner offices, forget gentle parenting—the real power of effective leaders and parents is their behavior. It’s no secret that our behavior influences those around us. It gives us the power to make a difference—to influence the behavior of others and shape environments.
The post Referent Power: The Ultimate Form of Influence appeared first on Nir and Far.
2024-04-08 16:31:59
Pushing ourselves and holding ourselves accountable are how we achieve success. Unfortunately, many of us mistake harsh self-criticism and self-castigation for “pushing ourselves.” And that has the opposite of the desired effect.
The post Studies Show Self-Compassion is the Motivator You’re Missing appeared first on Nir and Far.
2024-03-25 21:00:37
It’s one thing to eliminate distractions in meetings. It’s another to do the same in virtual meetings. Now that virtual teams are becoming a norm, many coworkers have never met each other in person. Yet, they’re expected to work every day toward a shared goal.
The post How to Banish Virtual Meeting Boredom appeared first on Nir and Far.
2024-03-11 21:00:41
You’re probably not going to fulfill all your goals this year. And if you don’t, it likely won’t be because you’re incapable; it will be because you got in your own way. A slew of self-limiting beliefs will distract you from your goals and New Year’s resolutions. Below are four ways you’re likely to shoot yourself in the foot with self-limiting beliefs, plus ways you can learn to get out of your own way.
The post Limiting Beliefs: Ditch the 4 Dream Killers Holding You Back appeared first on Nir and Far.
2024-02-26 22:00:36
Did the load of gift returns you made in January make you realize that you need to be a smarter shopper? During the holidays, we’re bombarded with ads and sales pitches that use psychological tactics to grab our attention. These messages make it tough for us to make smart shopping choices.
The post Sales Psychology: Why You Make Terrible Buying Choices appeared first on Nir and Far.
2024-02-12 22:00:47
You could feel the excitement buzzing through the WhatsApp channel. An A-list fitness guru reportedly spending millions of dollars yearly to reverse aging was in town to hold an in-person workout. Without hesitating, I signed up. I was interested in seeing Mr. Guru in action and eager to be inspired by his approach.
The post Listening to Fitness Gurus is Making You Fat appeared first on Nir and Far.
2024-01-30 22:00:55
Airbnb began as a weekend project when the founders sent an email offering their living-room air mattress to hotelless attendees of a major design conference. Facebook started when Mark Zuckerberg built a clone of ConnectU over the weekend and told everyone in his dorm about it. Most of us think we are never ready for what we want: being in a relationship, living in another country, or starting a business. But the best way to make it happen is to start immediately.
The post The Magic of Now, Not How appeared first on Nir and Far.
2024-01-22 22:00:23
As a child of two parents who both struggled with alcoholism, Nick Allen had a choice to make when it came to his own drinking. He could follow the same destructive path his parents took, or he could swear off drinking altogether. But for Allen, and millions of others like him, all or nothing wasn’t much of a choice. Instead, Allen found a third way and co-founded a multimillion-dollar company in the process: Sunnyside.
The post The App that Transforms Drinking Habits: a Case Study appeared first on Nir and Far.
2024-01-08 22:00:26
You won’t evolve if you ignore your emotions. Mastering them is the best hack for becoming your best self at work and at home. I discovered the power of managing emotions when I set out to find a cure for my chronic distraction. I was struggling to the point that it was affecting my relationship with my daughter: whenever we spent quality time together, I found myself fiddling with my phone, my mind elsewhere.
The post 3 Steps to Master Your Emotions and Be Your Best Self appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-12-26 22:00:04
The Pacific Crest Trail is renowned as one of the most arduous—and sometimes dangerous—hiking trails in America. Every summer, thousands of intrepid walkers set off on the trail, beginning in spring and knowing they won’t arrive at the Canadian border until five months later. For most people, this sounds like a hellish feat of endurance. For University of Missouri professor Kennon Sheldon, it sounded like a perfect opportunity for a psychological experiment.
The post The Ultimate Guide to Unstoppable Motivation appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-12-11 22:01:21
When I moved from a Google sales team in New York City to a Google operations team in Boulder, Colorado several years ago, I expected to find differences in culture and team norms. But one particular practice took me by surprise. Multitasking during meetings was rampant. Everyone was so distracted. This became grossly apparent during my first presentation in my new role.
The post Multitasking During Meetings? How to Make Your Colleagues Indistractable appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-11-27 17:52:05
For companies building products for enterprise customers, increasing customer retention by just 5 percent increases profits by 25 to 95 percent. Yet keeping customers isn’t easy. Eighty percent of B2B buyers say they switch suppliers at least once in two years. User retention is perhaps the most important metric for SaaS providers, who offer products or services that must engage customers regularly to ensure they don’t churn.
The post How to Build a Habit-Forming Enterprise Product appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-11-13 22:00:21
I got this message from Shane Parrish: “Oh I meant to tell you... I remember something you told me that I now share with everyone. It's made a difference for so many.” The “something” he’s referring to is a simple question that my wife and I have posed to each other throughout our 22-year marriage. We’ve been using this method for so long, I assumed it was common practice. Here’s the gist: Whenever you have a disagreement with someone you care about and who cares about you, pose this straightforward question...
The post Score Your Spats: How to Stop Arguing and Enhance Your Relationships appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-10-30 21:00:31
Think you’ll explode if you try one more ineffective productivity hack? Here’s what you need to know to actually hack back distraction: there are only three causes of any distraction: an internal trigger, an external trigger, or a planning problem. A distraction tracker is the only way to help you figure out which of those is causing you to get distracted so you can do something about it. Download ours here.
The post Unlocking Focus with the Distraction Tracker appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-10-17 18:28:29
Because I write about distraction and how to avoid it, I often get asked the question “Aren’t distractions sometimes a good thing? Don’t we all need some distraction in our lives?” Nope!
The post The Crucial Difference Between Distraction and Diversion appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-10-03 21:00:05
One Sunday morning early in my career, I arrived at work to find a colleague of mine already there. We were working on a critical piece of software for an upcoming covert operation. He approached me shortly after I sat down at my desk. “That code you were writing was supposed to be done two days ago,” he said. “The operation is tonight, and we can’t go without you. You’ve put the whole thing in jeopardy.”
The post Decoding Self-Serving Bias: A Spy’s Guide to Clear Thinking appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-09-25 21:00:51
We’ve all been in a dumb meeting—one that makes you think, “This doesn’t even apply to me,” “I’m learning nothing from this,” or, worst of all, “This meeting could have been an email.” I’m sure you’ve commiserated with colleagues over what a time suck dumb meetings can be. Still, you might have resigned yourself to dumb meetings, accepting them as an inevitable facet of the workplace. But dumb meetings are not inevitable; they’re totally avoidable.
The post This Meeting Could have Been an Email: From Time Suck to Unstuck appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-09-11 21:00:53
More times than I can count, I’ve slid under the bedsheets, turned off the light, and shut my eyes…only to have a great idea pop into my head. I’ll toss and turn for a while, hoping I’ll forget the thought. But if it’s a good one, I’ll turn on the light and, eyes bleary, scribble it down.
The post When Do You Feel Most Creative? Why Ideas Bloom at Bedtime appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-08-28 21:00:40
Even if you’re not sure about the power of morning affirmations, the science behind them is: When used correctly, self-affirmations can significantly affect your mindset and behavior. They have the power to rewire your brain, helping you break free from negative thought patterns and instill healthier habits.
The post 32 Morning Affirmations: Rise & Shine! [Science-Backed] appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-08-14 21:00:35
Some days, the world seems intent on sabotaging your timeboxed calendar. A meeting goes longer than expected. The daycare center calls to say that your child is ill and has to be picked up ASAP. A project you thought would take an hour to complete instead took three. Before you know it, the end of the day arrives, and you’ve barely given time to the tasks you had wanted to do. But what can you do? Some events are just outside your control... right?
The post Scheduling for Life’s Surprises: When Timeboxing is Toast appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-07-31 21:00:46
When they came on the scene in the 2010s, enterprise messaging apps delivered the fast collaboration companies craved. A new world of internal messaging dawned in which anyone could ping anyone and get a near-immediate response. But in offering a potent solution, group messaging apps also introduced a problem: constant distraction at work. We’re drowning in notifications that lure us to diversion and degrade productivity.
The post Messaging App Madness: How To Stay Productive [and Sane] appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-07-17 21:00:26
Venture capital (VC) is a great opportunity for new entrepreneurs seeking to bring a product to life—but the funding is incredibly difficult to secure. A survey of almost 900 VC firms found that they consider 101 opportunities on average for every deal they close. Still, the benefits of VC funding are clear.
The post How to Build an Irresistible Product for VC Investors appeared first on Nir and Far.
2023-07-03 21:00:11
Numerous articles detail the routines of the most successful people in the world: Apple CEO Tim Cook wakes up at 3:45 a.m. and exercises. Actor and producer Reese Witherspoon eats the same healthy breakfast. Society has become so focused on increasing productivity and packing the most into every day that we think of long-term, consistent routines as the gold standard for spending our time.
The post You Don’t Have to Follow the Same Routines Forever appeared first on Nir and Far.