up your lingo. Language games stimulate your brain to understand, remember, and recognize words. The more you practice fluency in language, the more quickly your brain will retrieve old words and embrace new ones. Taking the time to understand new words in context especially trains your brain to remember them, since you increase the associations linked with the definition. A simple way to engage this process is to read articles outside your normal realm of interest. Rather than reading the business section of the newspaper, read the sports or science section instead.' 6. Synthesize, synthesize, synthesize. According to Keir Bloomer, chair of the Higher Order Skills Excellence Gro... posted on Oct 20 2014 (165,532 reads)

depletes soil, wastes fossil fuels and adds greatly to the world’s carbon footprint. What is your solution? Food Shift is working with Oakland schools to ensure surplus food from the cafeteria is redistributed to students and families rather than thrown in the garbage. We are working with a local grocer who has expressed interest in paying Food Shift to recover food from their stores. This would allow us to employ someone in the process while reducing waste disposal costs for the business. We are interested in developing food recovery and redistribution models that increase access to more nutrition food, reduce waste and generate revenue in some way so they can sustain and sca... posted on Dec 3 2014 (18,950 reads)

Local women and men prepared the wall-capping material, locally available earthen plaster (marl), to apply onto the mudbrick walls. (Photo Courtesy of GHF) How do you ensure that the local populations have buy in? We will not do a project unless conservation will be carried out by local workers and the overall project is keyed into local community development. Often this involves training or education as an important part of our work, whether it is in conservation, tourism, or local business development. Wat Phu (Laos) is still important to the local community, which conducts ceremonies at the site (Photo Courtesy of GHF). Why do you think preservation is so... posted on Dec 26 2014 (13,677 reads)

and aims to bring in at least $3 million in 2014. “I’ve known David for 40 years as fellow entrepreneurs,” says Ernest Keet, founder and President of Vanguard Atlantic Ltd., who has donated more than $1 million to All Hands. “David is exactly my age, so it was actually quite shocking to see him take a huge risk — both financially and in personal safety. It’s been amazing to see what he’s been able to do.” According to Keet, Campbell’s business savvy has helped All Hands achieve the lowest administrative overhead of any other similar organization. Beyond helping disaster victims, All Hands transforms the lives of volunteers, who ... posted on Dec 10 2014 (20,468 reads)

have never put a price tag on their labor. Their presence speaks to a life-long practice of equanimity, trust and compassion. And so do their stories. "Nine years ago, we were gifted this house," Arun Dada told us. The week they moved in, they discovered that their neighbor was a drunkard, prone to fits of violence. Just a couple days after their move, they noticed that their front-yard was filled with food items and alcohol. It turned out that the neighbor also ran a catering business, and thought he could use Arun Dada's front yard for storage space. Arun Dada naturally protested. "Sir, this is our home now, we don't drink or take non-vegetarian food, and thi... posted on Nov 27 2014 (36,219 reads)

Gentle housekeeping or gardening are excellent activities of silence, or a long walk in nature. 5. Listen to the silence, all the time enjoying this hour-long respite from thinking, reviewing, planning, and imagining. Stay in the present moment. 6. Breathe deeply and mindfully, bringing in the silence and expelling mental “noise.” 7. At the end of your hour of silence, let your first word be an expression of gratitude or love; then put out the candle and go about your business. ... posted on Nov 18 2014 (37,554 reads)

such a beautiful painting, you really think you want to put up advertisements over this particular painting?” Gitanjali asked.  He said, “No, it's government rule.” I said, “Yeah, Okay. We'll put that.” And then Gitanjali lightheartedly inquired, “Do you want us to come paint your police station?” “No!” “Okay. We'll not do that. Whatever you say.” “Keep this business out of the police station. We don't want all this.”  “Okay. Can you just say some motivating words for our volunteers?”  “Yeah, yeah. I'm comin... posted on Dec 12 2014 (42,110 reads)

and adventure, art and creativity, and connection and community. But no matter what topic we’re talking about, they all require consistency. No matter what your definition is of a “healthy life,” you’ll have to battle procrastination to make it a reality. Hopefully, the Seinfeld Strategy helps to put that battle in perspective. Don’t break the chain on your workouts and you’ll find that you get fit rather quickly. Don’t break the chain in your business and you’ll find that results come much faster. Don’t break the chain in your artistic pursuits and you’ll find that you will produce creative work on a regular basis. ... posted on Dec 31 2014 (74,868 reads)

this guy did. I don’t know why, and I don’t know how, but he chose to rise to the occasion. And this is the part I’m not sure if I can communicate. Just the broad strokes of the situation rattled my cage. But there was a way he was doing it. There was something about the flavor of his activities. There was no hint of asking for anything from me. He didn’t need a nod of reassurance or a gesture of support. As normal as walking, he was just taking care of business. And maybe that was what hit me in the body - not in my mind. I was suddenly stopped in my tracks, trying to find an appropriate response amid the respect and care I was feeling for the ma... posted on Dec 29 2014 (24,489 reads)

heard of “empathy marketing”? It’s the latest business buzzword. The idea is that if companies can look through their clients’ eyes and understand their desires, they will be better able to tailor their offerings and gain a competitive advantage. To me, this is stepping into someone else’s shoes just to sell them another pair. I believe that the best use of empathy is not in the commercial world but in the social one, where it allows us to challenge prejudices and create political change. And if you look through history, there are some extraordinary figures who have harnessed this power by engaging in what I think of as “experiential empa... posted on Jan 15 2015 (29,468 reads)

a decision” with astounding elegance: I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit. In my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to Society. But it sometimes happens that I cannot easily shake off the village. The thought of some work will run in my head and I am not where my body is — I am out of my senses. In my walks I would fain return to my senses. What business have I in the woods, if I am thinking of something out of the woods? Illustration by Emily Hughes from 'Wild.' Walking, which is available as a free ebo... posted on Jan 2 2015 (30,465 reads)

Day phone call in which Sue gave her the news: I just listened for a long time; she went from crushed to defiant. “I have what everyone wants,” she said. “But no one would be willing to pay.” “What do you have?” “The two most important things. I got forced into loving myself. And I’m not afraid of dying anymore.” With her signature blend of piercing wisdom administered via piercing wit, Lamott writes: This business of having been issued a body is deeply confusing… Bodies are so messy and disappointing. Every time I see the bumper sticker that says “We think we’re humans having spiritu... posted on Dec 30 2014 (37,290 reads)

creature, the smaller by choosing to be a human. And having returned from the woods, we remember with regret its restfulness. For all creatures there are in place, hence at rest. In their most strenuous striving, sleeping and waking, dead and living, they are at rest. In the circle of the human we are weary with striving, and are without rest. Indeed, so deep is our pathology of human striving that even Thoreau, a century and a half ago, memorably despaired: “What business have I in the woods, if I am thinking of something out of the woods?” But the value of such recalibration of our connectedness in solitude, Berry suggests, is that it reminds us of the ... posted on Feb 1 2015 (27,532 reads)

distinguished aristocratic families. Her chauffeur picked me up in a Mercedes from the dusty city centre and drove me to the sanctuary of one of Guatemala City’s exclusive gated communities for the super-rich. We parked in front of her mansion besides several sleek sportscars.A uniformed maid showed me inside, where Adela,sun-tanned and chic, was busy booking a flight to Miami. Family portraits hung on the walls in gilded frames. She spoke about the pressures on her family’s business interests, the terrible state of the Guatemalan economy, and the difficulties of booking overseas flights. I felt little desire to commiserate with her problems, and felt compelled to contras... posted on Mar 2 2015 (24,456 reads)

my 2013 presentation to global corporate leaders at the Xynteo Foundation’s annual Performance Theatre event held in Istanbul, I thanked these high-ranking corporate executives and board members for having globalized the economy through competition and creative initiative, as that was a necessary evolutionary step for humanity, inviting them to lead the way now to a sustainable future based on peaceful cooperation. I then apologized for my field of science, for providing economists and business leaders only the Darwinian story that has guided them throughout this expansive industrial and globalizing phase, while giving no guidance for the necessary next phase that must now be create... posted on Feb 26 2015 (22,461 reads)

/ or does it matter? / The sunflowers blaze, maybe That's their way. / Maybe the cats are sound asleep. Maybe not. / While I was thinking this I happened to be standing / just outside my door, with my notebook open, / which is the way I begin every morning. / Then a wren in the privet began to sing. / He was positively drenched in enthusiasm, / I don't know why. And yet, why not. / I wouldn't persuade you from whatever you believe / or whatever you don't. That's your business. / But I thought, of the wren"s singing, what could this be / if it isn't a prayer? / So I just listened, my pen in the air." Well, the poems keep coming. MS. TIPPETT: [la... posted on Mar 18 2015 (28,754 reads)

couple thousand press inquiries later, coupled with Ferose's creative weaving within the company, another bold commitment was brewing. More than 20 organizations started hiring autistic employees, and SAP soon announced a major commitment: 1% of its hires would be people on the autism spectrum. Ferose recalls this moment with teary eyes, "Someone came and told me, 'Ferose, your son has just created 650 jobs at SAP.'" UN Secretary General, Ban-ki Moon, is now nudging other business leaders to all make similar public commitments. [A meeting for this is set to happen in early April in New York.]  Everybody is Good at Something. Ferose's journey with that mantr... posted on May 27 2015 (28,103 reads)

meditation or relaxation skills over an eight-week period and were tested on how they handled complex multitasking. Participants who received mindfulness training remained more on task, with less task-switching, and reported better moods, than those who underwent relaxation training or were on a wait-list to receive training. This suggests that mindfulness helps us focus more efficiently on a task. In a 2013 study by Erik Dane and Bradley Brummel, service workers in the restaurant business were measured on mindfulness levels, engagement at work, and their commitment to staying at their present job, with their job performance independently assessed by managers. The researchers f... posted on Apr 13 2015 (31,449 reads)

of Rick Hanson's Just One Thing (JOT) newsletter, which each week offers a simple practice designed to bring you more joy and more fulfilling relationships. We all have issues—including demands upon us, stresses, illnesses, losses, vulnerabilities, and pain. (As Alan Watts put it: “Life is wiggly.”) Of course, many of our issues—in the broad sense I’m using the word here—are related to important sources of fulfillment, such as starting a business or raising a family. Still, there’s some kind of challenge. This “Just One Thing” offers a basic road map for how to deal with issues—for healing, well-being and ef... posted on May 20 2015 (16,401 reads)

an estimated 175 homeless people sleep every night. They won. The decision set a crucial judicial precedent nationwide. Similar food-sharing bans in cities in Colorado, Texas and California have since been challenged, using the Philadelphia example. “It was a good thing because it brought awareness,” Little says. “The folks on the Parkway felt like they had a voice.” The next big project for the Welcome Church is a social enterprise called Welcome Threads, a business run by church members that will create and sell silk-screen products with inspiring messages. The idea is modeled on programs like Thistle Farms in Nashville, where former prostitutes and rec... posted on May 6 2015 (15,534 reads)