Have You Figured It Out? - Breathing Space Blog

My friend and colleague, Bob Wendover is about to release a new book that should be on your desk:

Figure It Out! Making Smart Decisions in a Dumbed-Down World is a practical guide to everyday decision making. With all the competition for our time and attention these days, it's getting harder and harder to find the concentration to solve problems.  

Figure It Out presents a simple, three- principle system for making better decisions when it so tempting to take the easy way or simply avoid an issue. It's full of practical stories and illustrations. On top of this, you can access 18 short instructional videos that will help you flesh out the concepts in each chapter. 

To watch the preview and read a sample chapter, go to www.bobwendover.com/book

You Can Get Lucky - Breathing Space Blog

Professor Richard Wiseman discusses “How to Get Lucky” in The Skeptical Enquirer:

"Open your mind: consider chance opportunities. Lucky people regularly have them, unlucky people don't. To determine why, I gave lucky and unlucky people a newspaper and asked them to tell me how many photos were inside. On average, unlucky people spent about two minutes on this exercise. Lucky people spent seconds. Why? Because on the second page of the paper, in huge type, was the message ‘Stop counting: There are 43 photographs in this newspaper.’ Lucky people tended to spot the message. Unlucky ones didn't.”

"I put a second message half-way through the paper: ‘Stop counting: tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $250.’ Again, the unlucky people failed to see the message.”

"The lesson: unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too busy looking for something else. Lucky people see what is there rather than just what they are looking for."

What Brings True Happiness? "Ten Keys to True Happiness" - Breathing Space Blog

"Ten Keys to True Happiness" based on a study published in New Scientist include:

1.	Wealth	6.	Friendship
2.	Desire	7.	Marriage
3.	Intelligence	8.	Faith
4.	Genetics	9.	Charity
5.	Beauty	10.	Age

The Power of Asking - Breathing Space Blog

An article in Psychology Today contends that if you want more out of life, ask.  Simply asking for what you want is highly correlated with getting it! Great news or what?

Over-Build, Under-build - Breathing Space Blog

From an article six years ago:

Buildings go up like never before. Haya El Nasser, writing in USA TODAY, reports that “residential and commercial development in the next quarter-century will eclipse anything seen in previous generations as the nation moves to accommodate rapid population growth.” This is based on a report from the Brookings Institution. Other findings:

* About half the homes, office buildings, stores and factories that will be needed by 2030 don't exist today.

* The U.S. population is expected to increase 33% to 376 million by 2030, 76 million more people than today.

* To serve that population, almost millions of new housing units will have to be built.

* About 20 million of these units will replace destroyed or aging homes.

“For generations, Americans favored single-family homes on larger lots. Development spread to where land is cheaper but within commuting distance to jobs. Communities must decide if they "want to develop policies consistent with those preferences or constrain them," says John Kasarda, director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. "Sprawl is a choice."

Too Busy, Again? - Breathing Space Blog

“If you’re too busy to enjoy your life, you are way too busy.” Jeff Davidson

Hey, Don't Just Do Something - Breathing Space Blog

Don't just do something, sit there: Reading or merely looking out the window in contemplation could be the most important and productive activity you do today. Too often, people throw their time at tasks when they should be exerting more brain power.

The single best way to handle several different projects is to begin working on one thing at a time, until its completion, and then go on to the next project, and then the next, until you are finished.