Unsolicited Advice
Why wait for readers to ask questions before suggesting solutions? An advice column that cuts out the middleman.
Why you feel worse after a nap and more tired on holiday
When you’re overworked and overstressed, you’re full of adrenaline and cortisol, and that’s masking your fatigue like a bunch of black coffee would.
“Narcissists ruin self-love for the rest of us”
People try so hard to avoid being seen as narcissistic, so only narcissists advocate for themselves at all, which is not a great system for selecting who has power and influence in society.
Develop food rituals for the foods you eat regularly
In an experiment by the University of Minnesota, people enjoyed eating raw carrots more if they knocked on a table before eating it.
Unsolicited recommendations are the same thing as unsolicited advice
Recommendations are advice, you’re literally advising that they watch/listen/read something. Unsolicited advice is obnoxious but tempting.
Concept: “Vulnerability hangover”
It’s the jolt of fear/shame/angst that you get when you do something that exposes yourself a little — which can be anything from telling a loved one a long-hidden secret, to tweeting something mildly honest.
Who gets to decide if something’s 'unforgiveable’?
He never spoke to her again; when she died, half a century later, he refused to visit her deathbed or attend her funeral. “Tell her,” he said, “that she never knew how much I valued what she broke.”
My all-time favourite advice column letter (always reduces me to tears)
"I’m 15, and three years ago I was adopted by my Uncle “John” and his husband “Greg.” I was so happy when they adopted me—and then I kind of lost my mind. I behaved terribly..."
A better way to do 'emotion-processing' journalling
The key difference: destroy the pages immediately afterwards in a very thorough way, and pay attention while you’re doing it so the memory is locked in. Destroy them even if you wrote something bland.
Two ways of holding an opinion: Extreme but easily swayed, moderate but deeply entrenched
If you don't realise which type of opinion-holder you're dealing with, conflict will escalate
Messy spot in your house? Put it on a tray.
Junk, like cats, likes a demarcated space. I bet you could just group everything together on an A4 piece of paper and it would look neater.