What do Elon Musk, Elizabeth Holmes, and Barack Obama have in common?

They exhibit extreme characteristics of the adaptive learning mindset. In this ever evolving world, the human race faces new problems that our ancestors wouldn’t have even imagined; mass famine, drought, clean energy, pollution, and global warming. These leaders are at the forefront of their respective fields, tackling big problems and trying their best to work to resolve the issues we all face. Continue reading Adaptive learning mindset

Retrograde analysis is a technique used by chess players where they determine which moves were played leading up to a given position. As a chess game progresses the chess position gets simpler, there are fewer pieces on the board, until finally there are only a few pieces left in play. According to chess grandmaster Maurice Ashley, when great players play, this final stage determines the winner.

According to Ashley, the two main benefits of studying the end game are: Continue reading How retrograde analysis can increase your effectiveness

Recently I spoke to a friend of mine (let’s say her fictitious name is Jane) who’s currently doing her PhD in engineering immediately after graduating from undergraduate. We were talking about future plans and she told me she felt nervous and scared when thinking about the future. Jane said the job market was scary and she had no idea how to go about getting a job after graduation.

I was surprised that an intelligent and qualified person such as herself felt she didn’t have many options. In this article, I’ll use her example to demonstrate that there is really nothing to fear about the future as long as we are proactive in our approach to life and all her mysteries. Continue reading Thinking proactively increases effectiveness

Recently, I realized that my work space and general living space was messy. The thought of cleaning and arranging everything at once seemed overwhelming. I noticed the clutter was not conducive to creating a studious environment, and this was affecting my productivity. Luckily, I’ve been reading about Kaizen and applied it to get the results I wanted (a tidy living space).

Continue reading How continuous improvement can increase your effectiveness

Almost every day after work, I went to the gym from 6.30 to 8.30 every weekday. Right after the gym, I’d settle down and watch TV for a few hours before going to sleep. I went through a busy period at work, and I noticed I went to the gym less frequently. However, I was watching the same amount of TV or more per week.

I became curious. Why did the frequency of me going to gym decrease, and why was I watching the same amount of TV, or more, per week? I knew it had something to do with my habits and I expected to learn a few things. However, after researching habits, what I found blew my mind and changed my life! Continue reading How to build habits that last

“I was very effective yesterday”

“That was an efficient meeting”

“I’m being productive“ 

You’ve probably heard these terms being used interchangeably. Though these terms sound similar, they have quite different meanings and are not interchangeable at all. Continue reading 5 minutes that will increase your productivity