Invest in Your Network

More than ever, your network is the most valuable asset you have. So then why has “networking” become a dirty word? Why do we envision sleazy conference goers or slick salesmen when we think of networking?

In this 99U talk, hacker and author Joshua Klein shares how technology and growing “black markets” are optimizing our world for relationships. But building authentic relationships takes work. As a result, we need to be generous with our talents and time and invest in those around us (and then they’ll invest in us). Think of your customers as actual people and think of your product in the term of the relationship it creates. Because it will be your customers that become your next investor, your next employee, and your next opportunity. Humanize your work and the “networking” will follow. !

http://99u.com/

The Negative Path to Happiness and Success

"Get motivated!" and "stay positive!" are common bits of self-help advice. But have we gone too far in our penchant for positivity? Leaning on research (including a story about Mount Everest climbers), reporter and author Oliver Burkeman shares the counterintuitive insight of how abandoning goals and allowing some negativity in can actually be helpful. "Theres a real benefit to find ways to loosen our grip as goal driven people. When you look at successful entrepreneurs...you find they don't follow this stereotype." We should instead remain ready to adapt where we are heading and embrace uncertainty. !

http://99u.com/

The Willpower Instinct

Neuroscientists talk about how we have one brain but two minds. We have a mind that acts on impulse and seeks immediate gratification, and we have another mind that controls our impulses and delays gratification to fulfill our long-term goals. We face willpower challenges when the two minds have competing goals. Learn what influences us to procrastinate or why we fail to resist temptation, and learn about small interventions that can have large, positive outcomes.

And as a bonus, this video is going to give you a bit of a test in this area of your life - as the video is 54 minues long!

The key to success?

Leaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success.