Convincing Ourselves

  Investing is not an overly complicated process if you have the basics right. Everyone wants to be like a techie, sitting in front of the computer, clicking or typing away, and making money. But the reality, as many have already said, is quite boring. It requires research, grit, and also knowing one’s own preferred style of investing which can be based on the ability to take the risk, family background, available resources, aims, and so on. I myself have always been interested in seeing opportunities arise through reading macroeconomics and wider trends in the economy. Without a doubt, I read a lot and my intuition (the ability to see patterns) plays a role as well. This doesn’t mean I am Nostradamus, or that I can actually make money in the markets. However, I can write about what I feel are good opportunities. In 2012, it was quite obvious to me that the US is a great market for real estate investment. At the same time I predicted that by the end of the decade, Pakistan’s water ...

  We know high performers, in the field of management, sports, art, academia and other crafts, have to go through a considerable level of daily stressors. In fact, it is often thought that stress and anxiety are inevitable when achieving high-quality results in a competitive environment, especially one where the margin of error is small or there are time constraints.   This is a common stream of thinking, in high-performance fields as well as everyday perception. We have all seen Gordon Ramsay screaming at his staff when things go wrong at a Michelin starred restaurant. We have seen Serena Williams erupt into a bullying frenzy when she lost. We all know of stern bosses who have no problem in confronting and resolving problems, even if requires a considerable amount of screaming.   But the question is, is that how one is supposed to feel in a high-performance situation? Is there a correct ‘feeling to feel’ in a high-performance situation?   Well, as is usually the cas...

  I was about to buy this book that I came across, Atomic Habits: An Easy And Proven Way To Build Good Habits And Break Bad Ones By :  James Clear The title of the book if obviously catchy and I was about to buy it, HOWEVER, I went through a few Amazon reviews and found out that this book is probably one of those 'filler books', with an ounce of knowledge spread exhaustively across approx 2-300 pages. The idea of 'Atomic Habits', is simply what every Behavioural therapist or CBT practitioner already knows. Taking baby steps towards a particular goal. The idea is that a) sometimes that's all it takes b) its a precursor to a bigger change which itself can seem challenging. Now the idea of taking baby steps is nothing new, and there are many variations on the idea as well. Some emphasize the frequency of practice eg a daily practice if one if a singer to practice that increases in intensity in order to create a new lasting habit. Then there is the idea of 'derailin...

While going through a wonderful book written by H.E Stanton about the psychology of trading, I came across a simple concept. Dr H.E Stanton himself has had considerable experience as a performance coach and is a clinical psychologist himself. In short, he knows how to apply theory to practice, something that I am very interested in. In one of the chapters, Dr Stanton goes on to discuss the psychology of change, and rather than going full-on theoretical, he discusses a very simple to understand, practical, and from the viewpoint of an academic, unconventional idea. He discusses the model of change as described by Tony Robbins. His choice to use Tony Robbin's ideas, someone who has no academic background of psychology is intriguing. It speaks to Dr. Stanton's pragmatism if anything. The model is simple a) decide what you want b) identify what is stopping you c) associate pain to not changing and pleasure to enable change, d) interrupt the existing pattern e) create a ...

Introduction Influencing the general public is a hotly debated topic in the policy. In any form of government reforms and agendas have to be 'sold' to the public. The government has traditionally been done through information dissemination through the media and done so quite effectively. An example can be of course selling wars or military interventions to the public. When the intent, however, is misinformation on a large scale, it becomes 'propaganda'. Despite its negative connotations, it is surely been present in democracies, as much as in dictatorships. A few years ago we have seen a move towards 'Nudging' individuals also called the Nudge Theory. This was popularized by Book by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler in their book ' Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness '. An example of this could be the wording on a referendum to discourage a certain outcome or perhaps limiting choices for the consumers on the type o...

Whenever we go to therapists or doctors, as to assume we are walking into someones' office who, unlike us mere mortals, knows better and behaves better. It seems like we are the ones who need a flu shot or a prescription for sleep, but the doctors, the therapists, the coaches, always seem to have it together. Is that even possible? A 2008 study "Doctors as patients: a systematic review of doctors' health access and the barriers they experience" by Kay et al , describes how there is little research on the area, but acknowledged that they have as much access to healthcare, especially mental health care, as the general population. There truly exists this 'veneer' that our dentist, our doctors, our upper management, our coaches, anyone we deem more knowledgable, skilled or authority, does not have the problem that we suffer from. The reality I believe is different. Psychologists need help too, and they need it on an ongoing basis, to help solve their o...

Before reading the passage below, please take three long, calm, deep breaths. Read the passage below, calmly and slowly. Once you have taken your time to read through the passage, it will leave you with a feeling of stillness and beauty. Anna loved to go outside and talk long walks when she was bored or wanted to relax. She lived among the hilly plains of lush green Irish country side, so nature was her best friend. On this beautiful sunny day, she stepped out of her old wooden, but cozy cottage and started walking along the road towards the river banks. The old road towards the river banks was surrounded by lush green land and a clear blue sky. Today, it looked particularly breathtaking as Anna could see as far as her sight. The air was crisp and clear, and everything around her was green. There was a slight breeze in the air and the grass around her would sway every now and then. The air was cool,  sun was warm, and the sky was blue creating a perfect day to take a walk. An...

After Happiness, there is Sadness Life is not always a party. It rains, clouds over over the sky and from time to time storms come and pass by. No one is immune from the rhythm of life and it is not something anyone can escape. No matter where you live, how much money you have or what you have become, problems will come and go. After happiness, comes sadness and that is how life is and the one who denies it, is the one who is unhappy. The problem It is imperative that we convince ourselves about this reality. Once we are convinced that this is how normal life flows, we can be prepared with tools, techniques and resources in order to cope with and deal with any problem or challenge life throws at us. We can have a close friend to fall back on after a bad day, or have savings in the bank for a rainy day or perhaps learn to let it go when we have a confrontation with someone.  Whatever the case only if we convince ourselves that life will keep throwing problems at...

The Scam: Ah, law of attraction and other similar self help scams. So common now on the internet and the self help section of any book store. They have tonnes of money by playing on people's emotions. Tell people its easy and they will buy it! This is the same trick used by fitness product promoters and TV commercials and it has worked well for decades. As soon as you find out that this is not the 'answer to everything', you start seeking the next 'quick or easy fix''. Its a dirty trick and plays on our search for easy answers, the magic pills, and the easy answers. They say losing weight is as easy as a few minutes on this machine, or getting rich is as easy as visualizing, and before you know it, you have giving out your cash and realized soon enough that this is not the answer you were looking for. So what gives? is this all fake? is law of attraction or the self help motivational books nothing but a waster of time? Yes and No: There is a lot o...

Having followed Dr Philip Zimbardo since sometime, I was thrilled to know that Rosemary Sword had come up with a therapy based on the "Time perspective", how individuals relate to time and how that relates pure perspective on everything from past events, to future hopes and present behavior. Following on from their work, Rosemary Sword and her team went to create meditation apps. I had been talking to Rosemary after the app was launched on iOS and I was lucky enough to buy the Aetas 2 minute meditation app as soon as it came out on the playstore on android phones. After having tried several meditation and hypnosis tracks and apps, I was excited to see what Aetas 2 was going to be like. What is it?  The purpose of the app is to provide a small, handy, 2 minute meditation tool that one can use anywhere, anytime. 2 minute meditations are well known and understood, however very few apps, or tracks exist for individuals to use these meditations through out the day.  Aetas...

Let us get fit!!! Everyone wants to get fit nowadays. If they are thin, they want to bulk up. If they are fat, they want to slim down. Whatever the issue, no one is really happy with their body. Now I can take the very common 'New Age' concept and say that we should be happy with our body, however sometimes changing our bodies become necessary.I myself was obese and suffered greatly. Many in families had to get heart surgery, because of their lifestyle choices, which included bad eating habits and obesity. However, even when we know that something is bad for us and can actually kill us, we might not change our habits. This is true. Even when smokers known that smoking causes cancer, they know that is long way of and they go for the immediate pleasure and discount the risk. What to do? What to do when you feel you really cannot do anything? your will, your idea of time/delay of pain and pleasure, simply do not let you get through that barrier. The Solution I believe...

Wish they were different Don't we just wish we could change some of the people around us. We wish for all sorts of things to happen. We wish our kid starts acting like a grown up, or our teacher treats us with a bit less harshness, or that neighbor we thought of saying hello to but looks so mean. Whatever the case, be it your friends, your boss or family, we would certainly like to change one thing or the other. However there is one, smart tool to get the change you want in the people around you. Start treating them as if they were already as you want! Another path to change You see, you do not have to wish for someone to change, you can actually make it happen. Now this does not mean that I am claiming this tool to be the 'end all be all' method of getting the girl of your dreams or tackling your problem teenage, however I think its a clever technique to have in your tool kit or skill set to use when required. You can start treating a subordinate as if they can h...