1 . As to psychological well-being, the comfort zone is frequently perceived as a haven, a familiar location where individuals feel calm and peaceful. Pushing beyond this psychological state might have benefits.

The comfort zone can be understood as a behavioral metaphor. Within a comfort zone, an individual takes on a state of minimal anxiety without a perception of risk, responding predictably to deliver a consistent level of performance. These include behaviors that people do commonly, find relaxing, or that take them away from high-stress situations. Engaging in the same manner over time leads to a predictable and familiar zone of comfort. As creatures of habit, we become dependent on these routines that we know we can complete well to feel secure. However, by stepping outside of our comfort zone, we learn about our ability to handle new situations and control risks, leading to greater self-confidence, and lower levels of anxiety.

One study found that individuals who are more secure in stepping out of their comfort zone are more likely to be excited by and look forward to new experiences, feeling greater confidence in their ability to take them on.

One behavior that demonstrates the benefits of stepping out of a comfort zone is learning to play a musical instrument. When we consider actions outside of our comfort zone, we must assess our desire to engage in that activity. By weighing the pros and cons, we evaluate how uncomfortable a situation may seem, and whether the danger of entering such an unknown situation will be worth the risk.

Music offers a safe way to step out of your initial comfort zone because you can begin by practicing in an isolated setting, which offers a casual, safe way to build a new skill set. By picking up and practicing a new instrument, you have proven to yourself that you are capable of meeting an unfamiliar objective, thus decreasing anxiety.

2 . “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World” by Cal Newport is an exploration of the challenges posed by our modern, digitally-driven environment and the strategies one can employ to achieve focused success. Newport researches the concept of deep work, emphasizing its critical role in an era marked by constant distractions.

The book addresses the common issue of information overload and the impact of shallow tasks on productivity. Newport argues that the ability to engage in deep, concentrated work is essential for success. The author supports his claims with research, including experiments comparing brain connectivity patterns during deep work and shallow tasks.

Newport’s work agrees with earlier studies, confirming that handwritten notes outperform (胜过) typed ones in academic performance. Beyond academia, Newport presents evidence of the cognitive (认知的) benefits of deep work.

The book provides practical strategies for integrating deep work into one’s professional life, advocating for routines and intentional changing of the brain to resist distractions. Newport introduces concepts like productive meditation (冥想) and the craftsman approach to tool selection, offering readers actionable advice to enhance their focus and productivity.

“Deep Work” has won widespread praise for its insights into productivity in a distracted world. Many praise Newport’s thorough research, combining neuroscience with practical advice. Readers appreciate the real-world examples, from Carl Jung’s focused mindset to a social media pioneer’s distraction-free writing journey.

In conclusion, “Deep Work” stands as a valuable guide for navigating the challenges of the digital age. Newport’s exploration of deep work as a catalyst (催化剂) for success, supported by research and concrete strategies, has left a lasting impact on how individuals approach their professional and personal lives. It serves as a timely reminder to prioritize focus and concentration in an era defined by constant connectivity and distractions.

5 . The U. S. is in the midst of a “loneliness epidemic”. For a lot of people, the feeling is even more noticeable during the holidays. In addition to the emotional impact of chronic loneliness, it has some dramatic health consequences: increased risk of heart disease and stroke, infections, cancer, even death.

People may feel lonely when their social needs are not met by the people around them. Laetitia Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, a social cognitive neuroscientist at Princeton University, says loneliness epidemic captures two distinct groups: first, people with a low number of social connections; second, people who feel they have poor quality existing relationships.

Elisa Baek, a social neuroscientist at the University of Southern California, co-authored a study that looked at whether lonely people view the world differently than non-lonely people, specifically among college freshmen. Baek found that while non-lonely people were all similar in their neural responses, lonely people had responses that were really different — not just from the non-lonely group, but also from each other. Baek says that these idiosyncrasies (特性) in how lonely participants process the world, “may pose challenges in how these people are able to achieve social connection and feel connected with others.”

To study these changes to the brain, Baek’s team collected fMRI data — a measure of blood flow changes in the brain — while first-year college students watched short videos to measure how similarly participants’ brains responded to the videos. The videos ranged from dramatic and comedic clips to instructional demonstrations in order to reproduce experiences participants might have in daily life. She says it’s the closest they could get to study people’s brain activity — and how they process the world — while they were going about their lives.

Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, who is not involved in the study, says the research accurately highlights how individual differences affect people in experiencing loneliness. “Trying to connect more deeply with one or two or three other people may be more important than to try to get to know everybody and being on good terms with everybody. It doesn’t have to be someone who is like-minded. It’s more like: How can we get on the same page with people who we might not start off on the same page with, but that might form deeper connections afterwards?” she adds.

6 . Major Sports Leagues in the US

NFL

Formed in 1920, the National Football League has a religious following in the US and around the world. It’s one of the most profitable leagues in the whole world. The NFL consists of 32 teams, which are sub-divided into NFC and AFC, which compete against each other every year to win the Super Bowl, the halftime show of which features major hit musicians.

NBA

Initially formed in 1946 as the BAA (Basketball Association of America), it merged (合并) with National Basketball League in 1949 and changed its name to NBA. The National Basketball Association might not be the biggest sports league financially, but it has a larger international following than other leagues. The keyword “NBA” was among the most googled keywords in 2021, which indicates how popular it is in the world.

MLB

Baseball is considered to be the national pastime activity of the US and the Major League Baseball is its highest level in the country. The MLB might not be popular as NFL in other parts of the world, but international supporters still make a large portion of the total fanbase. Formed in 1903, the MLB is the oldest US sports league and now has 30 teams, which was a merger between the National League and the American League.

NHL

Founded in 1917, the National Hockey League is the second-oldest sports league in the US and Canada and consists of a total of 32 teams. Three of the best performing teams from each division make it to the playoffs plus two wild card teams. All teams compete to win the prestigious Stanley Cup. Most of NHL’s revenue comes from TV and gate receipts with hockey-crazed Canadians being the primary market.

8 . Some people hold the idea that being starving is the most effective way of losing body fat. Remember, if we go on a starvation diet, we lose weight but not much fat. In starvation mode, we use up our energy stores of carbohydrate (碳水化合物) first (in the form of a substance called glycogen). However, the body can store only a little glycogen, and this is used up within two days. Then we start breaking down fat and protein. But we can’t afford to lose body proteins: our muscle mass decreases, we become noticeably weaker, and our immunity is threatened because the lack of protective immunoglobulin proteins (保护性免疫球蛋白) means we are subject to an increased risk of infection.

Sure, we look slimmer, and we certainly weigh less, but we are weaker and becoming unhealthy. There is no point in dieting if it’s going to make us ill. And, of course, because we need our muscles, when we are even slightly distracted from the diet, our bodies immediately rebuild muscle and we regain all of the ‘lost’ weight very quickly. Not only have we gone through a period of reduced immunity and a lack of proteins, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and other essential nutrients, there is evidence that so-called immediately effective dieting is detrimental to health in the longer term.

Quite simply, we are going to virtually eliminate all refined (精制的) carbohydrates and sugars (which are also carbohydrates), leaving us with a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet. On this diet, you will be cutting out virtually all refined carbohydrates so that body fat is burned with priority, to provide energy. Sugar, white flour, cakes, bread, pasta and rice are the usual trouble-makers. These foods have very little nutritional value and, what’s more, can cause medical and fat problems. Of course, there are forms of these carbohydrates — such as wholemeal rice, wholemeal bread and wholemeal pastas — that do have nutritional benefits and which you can reintroduce later, but in the initial stage of the diet, you have to reduce all carbohydrates, to switch on the fat-burning mechanism.

One point to be aware of is that refined carbohydrates can appear in many unexpected sources. You probably know that bread, cakes, biscuits, potato crisps and fried potato chips all contain refined carbohydrates, but pasta, rice, most breakfast cereals, most tinned foods, many pre-packaged foods, and prepared sauces do as well… In fact the list goes on and on. Virtually all ‘fast foods’ contain very high proportion of refined carbohydrates and if your diet is high in refined carbohydrates, you will definitely put on weight. If you’re worried that by cutting out refined carbohydrates you’ll have virtually no foods left to choose from, fear not. In fact, high-protein and nutritious foods such as meat, fish, shellfish and eggs are all open to you, along with vegetables, cheese, spices and herbs, from which you can easily produce delicious, healthy and quick meals. You’ll be relieved to hear that you don’t have to live on a diet of lettuce and tomato. On the contrary, you will be eating virtually limitless quantities of very tasty food with delicious sauces and dressings: in other words, real food!

9 . Biologists Slagsvold and Wiebe have spent years studying tits, flycatchers, and other birds that lay their eggs into holes in trees, walls and even human-made boxes. “Holes are rare, so there’s great competition,” Wiebe said. Birds will sometimes get into fights. Even after a bird gets a hole, it has to watch out: There’s always a chance that a passerby tries to possess it. Owners don’t have many options to wait for and stop thieves. Some police their nest’s entrance hole, but preparing for parenthood is hungry work, and eventually the birds have to leave to get food. So Slagsvold and Wiebe started to look for alternative home-defense systems the birds might be using.

They noticed feathers, usually helping animals keep warm, but that doesn’t seem to be how these particular birds are using them. Blue tits, for instance, get feathers on top of the nest, rather than putting them in. Some other birds dump feathers into holes before gathering other materials. “They’re white, and often noticeable,” Wiebe said, “as if the birds want to send a message.”

To find out, they built nest boxes — some feathery, some not — in Europe and America, and recorded how tits, flycatchers and swallows reacted. The birds entered feather-free boxes quickly. But they froze at the sight of white feathers, sometimes hesitating outside for an hour. Black feathers scared them less, perhaps because they were harder to see. The feathers didn’t stop the birds as most eventually went inside. But even a brief delay can make a huge difference, Wiebe said. “Even 20 minutes can give the owner enough time to circle back, and fight off their competitors.”

The birds’ behavior shows their high-risk lifestyle. They have to think twice as the holes may be hiding danger. The feathers represent possible violence, showing a predator might be inside.

The experiment reflects the lies animals tell where nest sites are rare. They build a scene so horrible to discourage nest stealers. Birds are terrified of death. And they can exploit that reality to safeguard what’s theirs.