Featured conversations
Read about the conversations we’re having and learn tips on how to improve your life
Our ego exists to help us protect our status in a social group. This was very valuable and necessary in the early days of human existence when our status in the tribe determined our survival. We could not survive on our own and there were no other tribes we could easily join. So our ego evolved from our lizard brain, or amygdala, as an early tool driving us to do what is required to maintain our position in the pack.
It would be a great story if I had some kind of post-college life-long dream to be a track athlete again in my 40s. I could tell you all about how I set goals and worked hard to achieve them. However, being able to participate as a Masters track & field athlete now happened sort of by chance. There were some goals along the way, and I did work hard, but I think, at least in the beginning, I was just trying to survive being a mom.
I am neurosurgery resident at UC-San Diego who recently had the privilege of rotating as a research fellow with Dr. Jonathan Russin at the USC Center for Neurorestoration. This elective, supported in part by donor funding, significantly increased my exposure to the technical considerations and ongoing innovations in complex cerebrovascular surgery. In this role, I studied the utility and clinical outcomes of novel revascularization strategies, imaging predictors and pharmacologic treatments of vasospasm, and intra-operative vascular imaging technologies.
Did you just steal a couple of Cadbury Crème eggs from your child’s Easter basket? Then did you check the latest infographic on social media to see how many miles you have to run to burn off those seasonal treats?
If you did, you’re not unusual, but I think those infographics reflect an unhealthy mindset—one that pits food and exercise against each other as warriors on a battlefield.
Australian Luke Tyburski, whose 2,000K trek from Morocco to Monaco in 12 days is documented in The Ultimate Triathlon, ends the movie with the comment “If it Doesn’t Challenge You, It Doesn’t Change You.”
The miles that Luke swam, biked, and ran in that short period of time—and the injuries that he endured along the way—are far beyond anything most of us can imagine: strong currents on the swim across the Strait of Gibraltar, bike rides in the mountains of southern France, days of running double marathons, a torn quad muscle, blisters the size of silver dollars….
The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything. ~Warren Buffett
That might work if success is your goal. To be happier however, I say try the opposite. If you find yourself too often saying no to things, resolve to just say yes. Of course, as with any resolution, there has to be some ground rules. So here they are. What you say yes to has to provide the potential for one or more of the following:
