“Beatrix Potter was a dutiful Victorian daughter who grew into a plain-spoken and determined artist and entrepreneur.” That quote comes from a book review by Regina Marler, who continues, “She was good, but she was not always nice. Between the lines of Linda Lear’s sympathetic biography, “Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature,” can be glimpsed [...]
“At twenty-five, I was a television literary agent.. I had an office with a view, an assistant, an expense account, power lunches, clients, and business cards… From the outside, my life looked great… There was just one problem: I was absolutely miserable.” Christine Hassler The big questions of vocation, identity, relationships, how we use our [...]
By Jenna Avery A chat with my Writer’s Circle participants inspired today’s post. So often we wait for the right conditions before we write or start our other creative projects. Although we’d like to imagine otherwise, waiting doesn’t get us very far. Are you waiting for the right mood to strike before you work on [...]
The ‘gifted’ label & the pressure to deliver In his book “Your Own Worst Enemy..” psychologist Kenneth W. Christian, PhD delineates some of the most prominent patterns of thinking and behavior he has found that may lead to undermining and underachievement as adults. He notes, “Without explicit demands and support, being labeled ‘bright’ or ‘gifted’ [...]
Just find your passion and get to work on creating your art or creative business venture, right? It isn’t always so easy or straightforward. Once they reach a certain level of achievement and acclaim, artists such as Michelangelo – or David Lynch or Lady Gaga – may be more free to be passionate and contrary or [...]
“You wait until the last minute to buy Christmas presents. You put off seeing the dentist, or getting that thing checked out by the doctor, or filing your taxes…. “Perhaps the stakes are higher than choosing to play Angry Birds instead of doing sit-ups. You might have a deadline for a grant proposal, or a [...]
A Los Angeles Times headline today reads: Bernanke sees a jobless ‘crisis’. Here is an excerpt from an article by Valerie Young related to meaningful job-creation: While traveling in northern California a few years ago, I happened to tune into a local newscast. The newscaster was telling his co-anchor that the speaker at that morning’s [...]
Over the years since it was developed by Freud, psychoanalysis has been fodder for many jokes and dismissive ideas about the value of therapy and even psychology in general. But many writers and other artists choose the experience of analysis and other forms of therapy as a way to both become healthier and to better [...]
A profile by the Institute of Noetic Sciences notes that Morty Lefkoe “made a series of discoveries that allowed him to help people make permanent changes in their emotions and behavior.” His program, The Lefkoe Method, is based on overcoming beliefs that impact our self-esteem, anxiety, confidence, fear of public speaking and other challenges. Based [...]
Writer Charlie Kaufman [Nicolas Cage]: “To begin…To begin…How to start? I’m hungry. I should get coffee. Coffee would help me think. “Maybe I should write something first, then reward myself with coffee. Coffee and a muffin. So I need to establish the themes. Maybe a banana nut. That’s a good muffin.” From “Adaptation” – written [...]
Among his many wise and witty observations on being human, Mark Twain commented about some of our thinking: “What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know. It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.” Morty Lefkoe addresses the nature of self-limiting beliefs and how to overcome them in programs of [...]
Career change expert Valerie Young notes she put herself through college “the way a lot of young people do, by waitressing” – and the place she worked holds value as a lesson in developing business ventures. She writes: One wild summer my sister Susan and I worked at the then famous Thompson’s Clam Bar in [...]
Do you hold yourself back in order to get along, make others feel good, or for other reasons? Mary-Elaine Jacobsen, Psy.D. – author of The Gifted Adult – notes, “There are millions of unidentified individuals of high potential lost within the fabric of a society that seems to have issued an edict against knowing oneself, [...]
Books can be valuable tools for self-understanding and change, but are they always worth the investment of time and money? One of the top selling self-help titles has been Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny! by Anthony Robbins. In their Scientific American Mind article [...]
By guest author Morty Lefkoe Why do so many people believe that they have to put in a lot of time and effort—and then need a lot of reinforcement—in order to produce a lasting change in their life? People hold this belief because they have tried unsuccessfully to change a variety of things in their [...]
Many workplaces and jobs can be exciting, creatively stimulating and emotionally rewarding, and a means to realize and expand your abilities. Others can feel like being sentenced to a sweatshop. Especially if you’re dealing with anxiety or sensory overwhelm as a highly sensitive person. And being highly sensitive can increase our vulnerability to anxiety, as [...]
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Site author: Douglas Eby, M.A./Psychology, is a writer and researcher on the psychology of creative expression and personal growth, especially for high ability adults. He is publisher of the Talent Development Resources series of sites.
