【推荐1】Four ways to find humour in everyday life

If you think your life is too boring to be funny, joke’s on you: humour is all around us.

    1     It sparks energy, improves mood and increases overall health. Adding humour to life also leads to social benefits. When you experience humour with somebody, you bond with them. When people are bonded, they feel more relaxed and comfortable. Doctor Sultanoff offered the following tips.

● Figure out what makes you laugh

Think about what kind of humour appeals to you, then seek it out as often as possible. Go to comedy shows and spend more time with people who make you laugh.     2     Store some funny videos on Instagram or TikTok, and then return to them when you need to relax.

●     3    

We’re often not aware of what’s in front of us until we start looking for it, so set a daily intention to look for humour. “When you wake up in the morning, say, ‘I’m going to find one thing today that I can giggle at,’” suggests Sultanoff. You’ll find the funny in unexpected places and laugh a lot more.

● Master one joke

Many of us innately (天生的) love to make others laugh, and doing so doesn’t require great comedic skill. “I tell people to learn one simple, good joke,” Sultanoff says. “It doesn’t have to be long.”     4    

● Train yourself to be quick-witted

Sultanoff always combines humour with his medical practice. On a rainy day a man came to his clinic with a baby, and as he was leaving. Sultanoff said, “Be sure to cover up the baby.”     5     What would you say if you were the man? Well, after a moment’s embarrassment, the man said, “Don’t worry about my son. He hasn’t had a shower yet today.” Brainstorm quips (俏皮话), and you’ll “train yourself to at some point be able to do them in the moment they occur.”

【推荐2】If you want to make a good first impression in that important business meeting, it is no longer about wearing the sharpest suit or the firmest handshake but about making sure that the little Zoom window with your face in it projects professionalism. But this isn’t always easy.     1     Here are some tips.

• Don’t hold your phone.

If you absolutely must join the meeting on your phone, then don’t hold it in your hand.     2     Your colleagues won’t see your picture swinging about wildly. And the camera won’t suddenly look up your nose when you naturally pull your phone closer to your face.

•     3    

How the light falls on our faces counts. So make sure that you don’t have a big, direct source of light behind you, because all it will do is make your face dark and hard to see — and that’s the most important part!

• A professional microphone makes up for bad video.

The built-in microphones inside our computers can be pretty good, but they’re never truly great.     4     What matters is that people should be able to hear what you’re saying.

• Don’t rely on the default (默认) camera.

    5     This could help create the illusion of eye contact. However, this isn’t always easy, especially if you’re using a laptop and are sitting at a desk, towering above it. It might be worth getting an external camera you can put on top of a monitor.

【推荐1】Develop Positive Relationships

One of the most profound experiences we can have in our lives is the connection we have with other human beings. Positive and supportive relationships will help us to feel healthier, happier, and more satisfied with our lives.     1    

●Accept and celebrate differences.

    2     Yet when we try to build relationships, we expect that people will think like we do. In this way, it is so much easier to create a friendly relationship. However, while we may find it initially easier, the novelty of sameness soon would wear off. So accepting that we are all different is a great starting point.

●Listen effectively.

Listening is a crucial skill in boosting another person’s self-esteem.    3    In active listening, we also are genuinely interested in understanding what the other person is thinking, feeling, wanting, or what the message means, and we are active in checking out our understanding before we respond with our own new message. This process is what distinguishes active listening and makes it effective.

●    4    

In a world where time is of the essence, we don’t always have the time to give to our loved ones. Being present in the time you give to people is important. In other words, when you are with someone, you are truly with someone and not living in the past or worrying about the future. Devoting time, energy, and effort to building relationships is one of the most valuable life skills.

●Manage mobile technology.

By now, everyone has a mobile phone and many people have two or more. While they are a lifesaver in an emergency, and an effective tool for communication, they also can be a complete distraction when people exhibit a lack of mobile phone etiquette (礼仪).    5    

【推荐3】Trust—the Foundation of Relationships

Can you imagine an organization without trust, where the workers are suspicious(怀疑的)of one another? Are you willing to work with a manager who is quick to put down any potential worker that might take his place? As a leader, you must do your best to build trust in your followers. It is not about mastering techniques to win people over; it is about living a life full of honor and gaining the respect of your followers.     1    .

·Build your character

Trust is based on a very simple foundation. Will you do what you say? Do your words count for something?     2    . If you’re a person who cannot seem to live up to what you say, you have to work on it first. Before you can expect others to trust you, you have to do what you Say.

·    3    

Another thing that a leader should have is to trust others first. Laozi, a Chinese philosopher, once said, “He who does not trust enough, will not be trusted.” Trusting others means you don’t micromanage their behavior or activities.     4    . All these actions give your followers an assurance that you are indeed trusting their ability and character.

·Just take your time

    5    . Building trust is like making small deposits in a bank account; you make small deposits every month that add up to a considerable amount at the end of many years. Similarly, as you lead, it is in the small events that you will display your credibility as a leader that will accumulate that trust for you. Gradually, you will find you have in your hands an effective team that moves fast and works closely together.

Learn to trust, and learn to be trusted.

【推荐1】U. S. teens spend more than eight hours a day on screens, and there’s growing concern over it. Now, a new study published by the American Psychological (心理的) Association, confirms that teens seem to feel better about themselves when they cut back.

“Social media can feel like a comparison trap (陷阱),” says study author Helen Thai, a doctoral student in psychology at McGill University. Her research found that limiting screen time to about one hour a day helped anxious teens and young adults feel better about their body image and their appearance. “What I noticed in social media was that I couldn’t help but compare myself.” Thai says. Reading posts from famous people and influencers, as well as people in her own social network, led to a lack of self-confidence.

So, Thai and a team of researchers decided to test whether reducing time on social media would improve body image. They gathered a few hundred volunteers, aged 17-25. all of whom had experienced symptoms (症状) of anxiety or depression — which could make them easily influenced by social media. Half of the volunteers were asked to reduce their social media to 60 minutes a day for three weeks. The other half continued to use social media with no limits.

The researchers gave the volunteers surveys at the beginning and end of the study, including statements such as “I’m pretty happy about the way I look,” and “I am satisfied with my weight.” Among the group that cut social media use, the overall score on appearance improved from 2.95 to 3.15 on a 5-point scale. The change may seem small, but any change in such a short period of time is worth noticing.

“It’s encouraging that college students were willing to cut back screen time, even for three weeks,” psychologist Andrea Graham says. While this study included people with symptoms of anxiety or depression, Graham says it’s worth applying this approach to other groups, such as people with eating problems.