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Category: Personal Development

Speakers to grads: Go forth and fail

Last year brought a batch of good commencement addresses, often on how failure can lead to success. For example, J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, told Harvard grads that seven years after her own graduation, she had “failed on an epic scale.” She said, “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default.”

No self-control? Trick yourself

The problem of self-control goes back to Adam and Eve, says Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational: We would all like to be in the Garden of Eden, but eating an apple right this moment may be too tempting to avoid. Next time you’re trying to accomplish a long-term goal, consider these two strategies for “tricking” yourself into sticking with your plan:

Got an idea? Make it happen

“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration,” Thomas Edison once said. Making ideas happen is usually more difficult and time-consuming than announcing it in the first place. Jack Dorsey, creator and co-founder of Twitter, offers these tips for making ideas happen:

Re-evaluating an extra 10 pounds

This should come as good news to anyone struggling to keep up with a demanding daily exercise schedule—and feeling guilty when schedule conflicts get in the way of gym time: A body of research suggests that there’s little risk to carrying a few extra pounds—and there may even be some benefit. Still, there’s a big difference between carrying a few extra pounds and being obese.

Top 5 reasons job hunters fail

Many of the mistakes people make when job hunting could be avoided, says Robin Ryan, a vocational counselor. “I divide my time between talking to hiring executives, HR folks and working with job search clients. This gives me a very broad view of what people do that works, and what trips them up—often without realizing it,” Ryan says. The top reasons job hunters fail:

Not a supertasker?

Only some brains can multitask, says a new study from the University of Utah. In the study, only 2.5% of the participants could talk on the phone while navigating a driving simulator. Everyone else’s performance dropped by 20% to 30%.

Jump on the trend toward certification

Trend alert: The Wall Street Journal recently noted, “Many companies … are encouraging employees to sit for certification exams—and some are flat-out requiring the effort. Companies say the certifications are proof that their current or prospective employees meet an industrywide standard.” Which certification is right for you? It depends on your career goals.