Shorts Reflections

History, philosophy, self-help & biz in short and thought-provoking reflections. 📖📚New articles on #MondayHistory, #WednesdayVariety, and #FridaySelf

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

The Question Behavior Effect: How to Better Organize Your Life with the Reminder.

#WednesdayVariety

Have you ever set a reminder to do something, like
Go for a run,
Read a book, or
Meditate before bed? …
But then you end up ignoring it and not doing it?

After reading the book The Diary of CEO, I was inspired to change the way I set reminders.’

Instead of "I will read a book for 30 minutes before bed," ask yourself "Will I read a book for 30 minutes before bed?"
Instead of "I will go for a run," ask yourself "Will I go for a run?”

The difference is subtle, but it's important. A statement is just a statement. It's a declaration of intent, but it doesn't necessarily lead to action.
A question, on the other hand, is a call to action. It requires a response.
This is referred to as “the question behavior effect”, a simple but powerful tool that can help you achieve your goals.

When we ask ourselves a question, we are forced to confront our intentions. We have to decide whether we are really committed to doing what we said we would do.

In the case of a yes-or-no question, we are only left with two choices: yes or no. This makes it easier to make a decision and to take action.

So the next time you set a reminder, try asking yourself a question instead of making a statement. You may be surprised at how much more likely you are to follow through.

#AuthorsOfTwitter #self #productivity #books #writers

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

Seneca’s words did not merely remind us of the sequences of principles. It also refrigerates to one particular quote, which you must give before taking. Give yourself to the job; then life will give you lemonade.

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

Luck is?

A Thread

#MondayHistory

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

There is no higher being, divine intervention, or imaginary friends who are able to help and guide you if you are not determined enough to learn the suffering path.

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

As the core message of "Inside Out" suggests, all emotions have value. Anxiety is a natural human experience, but we can manage and reduce it. Don't be afraid to feel anxious at times.

#Self #selfhelp #selfimprovement #personalgrowth #motivation #business #entrepreneurship

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

Inside Anxiety: It’s Not Always Bad
I recently had the opportunity to watch "Inside Out 2" and was deeply impressed by its portrayal of the various emotions we experience. One of the emotions I'd like to discuss today is "Anxiety," the blue ball that represents worry and fear.

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

By gradually practicing confronting my anxiety according to these steps, I gained confidence, improved my ability to express myself, and became more effective at presenting in front of others.

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

Enchanted Traps: The Historiography of Art and Colonialism in Eighteenth-century India

#MondayHistory

Natasha Eaton's work, "Enchanted Traps: The Historiography of Art and Colonialism in Eighteenth-century India," examines the visual culture of 18th-century India in the light of recent historiographical debates in art history, postcolonial discourses and anthropological arguments to highlight the exciting new developments in this long-neglected field to explore how and why scholars of the visual are now rising to the challenge of the ‘imperial turn’.
She offers a comprehensive exploration of the intersection between art, colonialism, and historiography in eighteenth-century India. Eaton unearths how colonial powers utilized art as a tool for domination and control the mass. Colonial artists, on the one hand, depicted Indian landscapes, people, and culture through their own cultural and ideological lenses. These depictions often served to exoticize and essentialize Indian society, reinforcing colonial narratives of superiority and otherness. On the other, Indian artists responded to colonial influences in their own work. However, they had subverted those colonial elements into a vocabulary of resistance, resilience, and agency.

#history #historybuff #historygram #historical #onthisdayinhistory #throwbackthursday #learninghistory #historylovers #historyfacts #historychannel #educational

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

The Origins of Totalitarianism

#MondayHistory

Published in 1951, this book was Hannah Arendt's first major work, where she describes and analyzes Nazism and Stalinism as the major totalitarian political movements of the first half of the 20th century. Here, Arendt discusses the transformation of classes into masses, the role of propaganda, and the use of terror essential to this form of government. Totalitarian movements are fundamentally different from autocratic regimes, says Arendt, insofar as autocratic regimes seek only to gain absolute political power and outlaw opposition. In contrast, totalitarian regimes seek to dominate every aspect of everyone's life.

Total domination, which totalitarian regime hopes so, does not allow for free initiative in any field of life for any activity that is not entirely predictable. Spreading suspicious, hostile, and jealous among the masses, totalitarianism who in power invariably replace all first-rate talents, regardless of argumentation, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty. According to Hannah, the last sentiment that totalitarian regimes employ is loneliness, as it has a social power by which the society can be isolated the masses, making it easier to be attracted to totalitarian ideology as their social and sentimental refuge.

#history #historybuff #historygram #historical #onthisdayinhistory #throwbackthursday #learninghistory #historylovers #historyfacts #historychannel #educational

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

We All Think We're Invincible (But We're Not): The Biggest Risk We Ignore

#WednesdayVariety

We spend hours analyzing potential problems, feeling invincible in our planning.
We meticulously plan, and meticulously predict…
yet the biggest risk often goes unnoticed.
Think about many events in history – natural disasters, wars. There ar many of them no one expected.
Just like Morgan Housel suggests in “Same as Ever”, the biggest risks are often the unknown unknowns and the biggest risk is that we are overlooking them.
I reflected on the link of this blindness to Robert Greene's "Laws of Human Nature": we often ignore our mortality. We spend hours planning, feeling invincible, but as Greene reminds us, impermanence is a universal law.
The biggest risk is the one we can't predict, but impermanence is the one constant we can expect.
We must accept that we can't predict everything, and focusing solely on specific threats blinds us to the unexpected. Embrace adaptability and broad preparedness. Build resilience that can weather any storm, be it a personal setback or a global crisis.
We All Think We're Invincible (But We're Not): The Biggest Risk We Ignore
We spend hours analyzing potential problems, feeling invincible in our planning.
We meticulously plan, and meticulously predict…
yet the biggest risk often goes unnoticed.
Think about many events in history – natural disasters, wars. There ar many of them no one expected.
Just like Morgan Housel suggests in “Same as Ever”, the biggest risks are often the unknown unknowns and the biggest risk is that we are overlooking them.
I reflected on the link of this blindness to Robert Greene's "Laws of Human Nature": we often ignore our mortality. We spend hours planning, feeling invincible, but as Greene reminds us, impermanence is a universal law.
The biggest risk is the one we can't predict, but impermanence is the one constant we can expect.
We must accept that we can't predict everything, and focusing solely on specific threats blinds us to the unexpected. Embrace adaptability and broad preparedness. Build resilience that can weather any storm, be it a personal setback or a global crisis.

#Self #selfhelp #selfimprovement #personalgrowth #motivation #business #entrepreneurship #success #mindset #productivity #career #goals #positivity

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

The Spirit of Secularism
#MondayHistory
Derived from the Latin word saeculum, which meant "of a generation, belonging to an age, or worldly", however, the word "Secularism" has been used by the Western Christian doctrine in a sense to indicate separation from specifically religious affairs and involvement in temporal ones. Secularity, nowadays, is best understood not as being "anti-religious" but as being "religiously neutral" since many activities in religious bodies are secular themselves, and though there are multiple types of secularities or secularization, most do not lead to religiosity.
Charles Taylor, a Canadian Philosopher, in his 2007 book A Secular Age, discusses the secularity of Western societies as less in role religion plays in public life, or how religion becomes society's individual members choices, rather than a "backdrop" or social context in which religious belief is no longer taken as a given. For Taylor, the privatization of religious practices, is the unique historical condition in which virtually all individuals – religious or not – have to contend with the fact that communally accepted religious facts no longer underpin their values, morality or sense of life's meaning.
The points that Charles Taylor has raised are pivotal to the concept of universal molarity, which does not entwine with religious-based doctrine, which becomes increasingly significant in mitigating the current global conflict sufficiently. All religious beliefs or irreligious philosophical positions are, in a secular society, held with an awareness that there is a wide range of other contradictory positions available to any individual; belief, in general, becomes a different type of experience when all particular beliefs are optional.
#history #historybuff #historygram #historical #onthisdayinhistory #throwbackthursday #learninghistory #historylovers #historyfacts #historychannel #educational

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

Consistent and Flexible Daily Routine: Insights from Jocko Willink

#FridaySelf

One of my recent favorite podcast interviews was about creating a daily routine. The guest, Jocko Willink, a former Navy SEAL and businessman, emphasized the importance of consistency coupled with flexibility. This was reflected in the first thing Willink mentioned about building good habits:
Sleep is the most important thing.
Numerous studies have shown that consistent sleep is essential for our energy levels and productivity throughout the day. Therefore, sleep should be the top priority when creating our habits.
Whether you're a night owl or an early bird, you need to adjust your sleep schedule to ensure you get enough rest.
We should figure out how many hours of sleep we need to feel our best.
If you're a night owl, you may need to sleep in later to get enough sleep, but this also needs to align with your work schedule.
This principle of adjusting our sleep habits suggests that creating a daily routine is not about following a rigid framework but rather creating a framework that helps us succeed. No one can define it for us except ourselves. It's our responsibility to find the right balance and what works best for us.

#Self #selfhelp #selfimprovement #personalgrowth #motivation #business #entrepreneurship #success #mindset #productivity #career #goals #positivity #Habits #Investing

[Shorts Reflections @ShrtReflects]

What is your financial freedom?

#WednesdayVariety

Some people want to have billions of dollars in savings, some want peace of mind in the case of an emergency, and some want a steady stream of cash flow. All of these are "options."
For me, financial freedom is not just about saving for retirement, but about creating a life full of choices.
The first step is to understand what is important to you.
This will be the foundation of your financial philosophy. Once you understand yourself, you can start planning to achieve your goals.
Of course, increasing the gap between your income and expenses is one of the first things you should think about if you want to be financially free.
You can do this by earning more money, saving more money, or both.
But before you start looking for ways to make the most money, you need to understand your expenses.
Some people may have expenses such as car payments or mortgage payments. Others may spend money on food or shopping.
If you're bleeding, you need to find the wound first, right? So that you can treat it properly.
If you don't know what your monthly expenses are, it's like letting the blood flow without seeing where it's coming from.
Understanding your expenses and listing them out will help you see what you're spending money on and analyze later whether what you are spending on is necessary or not.

#Self #selfhelp #selfimprovement #personalgrowth #motivation #business #entrepreneurship #success #mindset #productivity #career #goals #positivity #Habits #Investing