2 . Recently, after I gave a virtual presentation on my book Indistractable, a listener wrote something in the Zoom chat that drove me crazy, “This is great but wouldn’t work for me. I’m a Gemini (双子星座的人).”

Ironically, the Zoom listener is right. If she thinks she’s incapable, she’ll prove it correct — whether it has anything to do with the stars and moon or not. Her inflexible self-identification denies her the chance to improve her life. It’s incredibly self-limiting.

That’s why we should stop defining ourselves as fixed identities and nouns, and instead start describing ourselves using verbs.

Words are powerful. Linguistic research shows that language shapes people and culture; it can also give us insight into ourselves and our behavior. In a well-known study, researchers Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobsen had all students in the same elementary school take a standard IQ test. Then they randomly selected a group of students, regardless of their test results, and told teachers the group would show “dramatic intellectual growth”. Eight months later, those students scored significantly higher on an IQ test. The study concluded that teachers’ positive perception of students correlated to those students’ high performance on intellectual and academic tests. The labels the children received became a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy (预言).

That’s because language shapes expectations, which shape our reality. If we have experiences that lead us to label ourselves with specific nouns during our life, then we are likely to stick with those labels and the behaviors that go with them.

Using verbs to identify ourselves is an effective method for releasing “trapped priors”—a term in psychology for a perception of reality that’s affected or trapped by past experiences. Verbs are action words well suited to describing short-lived behaviors that can and do change. They don’t lay claim to our entire identity, but they acknowledge that we are people first and foremost, not whatever a singular noun may say we are. So, instead of saying, “I am a procrastinator (拖拉者)”, you should say, “I am a person who often procrastinates.”

By focusing on our behaviors, not fixed characteristics, we can release harmful perceptions of ourselves that hold us back from trying methods that might improve our lives — like those that can help us achieve the critical skill of being indistractable.

3 . In recent years, much of my life as a consumer has shifted to what I like to call background. As I’ve subscribed to more apps and streaming platforms, significant sums of my money tend to slip away each month without my ever thinking about it.

Think of it as an automated trade. Spending without the trouble of spending. Acquaint ion without action. Or thought.

But while this flood of subscriptions was sold to me on the condition that it would make my life more trouble-free, there was a certain shock I felt upon discovering how much I was spending without realizing each month ($179.45).

You see, the thing about background spending is that it tends to happen, well, in the background without your full attention. And there lies the point.

“Hand over your credit card details and let us take care of the rest,” these companies promote. But by again sing their name, we’ve become lazy, positive consumers. And this laziness breeds (导致) more laziness because most of us can’t be bothered with conducting regular reviews of our subscription spending. We’re too lazy to even notice or cancel it!

I know it’s not just me who is suddenly living life as a smart-braised subscriber. The average consumer spends $273 per month on subscriptions, according to a 2021 study of 2,500 by digital services firm West Morose. Not a single person surveyed knew what his actually monthly spending was.

It’s understandable why this model is so attractive to businesses. As companies questioned traditional advertising models, subscription offered the promise of “selling once and earning forever.” And while subscription services have been around for decades (think Wine of the Month Club), more customers have been willing to sign up thanks to the widespread availability of smartphones and the increasing ease of home delivery.

While these subscription promise ease and happiness, not all of us are satisfied. Last year, the Kameny Institute found 40 percent of consumer believe they have too many subscriptions. Almost half of us also think we pay too much for streaming video-on-demand subscriptions.

In today’s world, technology has become a necessary part of our lives. However, with the increasing     1     (present) of technology, we also face challenges     2     arise from its use.

One of the concerns that technology poses (造成)     3     (be) the use of persuasive design techniques. Today, many apps and platforms     4     (design) to keep us engaged for as long as possible, often leading to addictive behavior. To navigate this dilemma (窘境), we need to be aware     5     these techniques and take intentional steps     6     (limit) our usage. Setting time limits for app usage, disabling unnecessary notifications (通知), and     7     (practise) mindfulness when using technology can help us break free from the grip of persuasive design.

Another concern comes from balancing our virtual and real relationships. We can     8     (easy) get caught up in the virtual world while ignoring our face-to-face interactions. To address this, we must set aside time for real-life connections and prioritize (优先考虑)     9     (meaning) interactions with those around us.

Navigating responsible technology use is     10     ongoing journey in our ever-changing digital landscape. We should use technology for the greater good while looking out for its potential traps. Together, we can shape a more responsible technological future.

8 . Gina Kiroff was a very creative child. “I loved helping my mom create dishes and the process of cooking with her, seasoning, changing the form of ingredients (原料) and using different skills. All ended up with a finished dish,” says Kiroff.

Kiroff took that creation into her job. She joined Unilever leading marketing of many different foods and other products. Now, her focus is to help to take steps towards carrying out regenerative (再生的) practices for the ingredients used in their products.

The importance of creating and keeping healthy soil has taken a leading position. In 2013 the United Nations General Assembly recognized World Soil Day, which is celebrated yearly on December 5th. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 95% of our food comes from soil. However, 33% of soils’ quality has been reduced. And over the last 70 years, the quantity of nutrients (营养物的量) in food has greatly dropped off.

In honor of World Soil Day and to know about what the food industry can do to help keep healthy agricultural practices to improve food safety, Kiroff was joined by former White House cook Sam Kass at a special dinner to show the power of regenerative agriculture. “The dinner you are about to eat costs $72 tonight. In 2050, this exact same meal will cost $566 as there will not be enough of the ingredients that we can depend on, which makes me worried,” said Kass.

Kass and Kiroff explained how rice and other key ingredients would likely become rarities (稀缺品), if we continued to carry out today’s traditional agricultural practices. “If we stay on our existing path, our kids and grandkids won’t be able to enjoy what we’re eating here,” said Kass. “Our duty is to make nutritious food accessible to everyone, everywhere.”

9 . Even before Molly Johnson-Jones graduated from Oxford University in 2015, she felt professional pressure to land a “prestigious (享有声望的)” job in a high-powered industry. She says she and her university friends felt there were professions that carried prestige—particularly the fields of finance, medicine and law. That’s why Johnson-Jones ended up in investment banking for two years once she graduated, even though it didn’t feel like quite the right fit.

These kinds of “very traditional industries” have indeed carried prestige, says Jonah Stillman, co-founder of GenGuru, a firm that focuses on different generations in the workplace. As Gen Z joins the workforce, however, experts and younger workers say what’s considered a “prestigious” job may be expanding. Some younger workers do still report making money is prestigious, especially as cost of living shoots up; and working for certain firms or in specific industries can make a career. But many also place equal stress on other elements, such as values of the company, flexibility, and freedom from long, intense work hours.

And some data indicates that Gen Z are indeed turning to more meaningful work. April 2023 data from LinkedIn of more than 7,000 global workers shows 64% of Gen Zers in the UK, Germany and Ireland now consider it important to work for companies that share their values. The data also shows these young workers highlight work-life balance and career growth as top draws for potential workplaces.

This change in Gen Z’s attitude towards work may be in part because mechanisms (机制) behind finding jobs and seeing other possible career paths are changing, says Josh Graff, managing director of EMEA and LATAM at LinkedIn. With a greater number of jobs being posted online, “people have so much more access to information today than we did when we were applying for a job 20-plus years ago … This allows you to have much better visibility into a wealth of roles,” he says. “That change in the workplace, in the workforce … is leading people to understand there’s a wider range of options out there.”