Grab Bag Get Some Satisfaction:

This brilliant psychologist packs a rapid-fire punch in his 15 minutes on TED. Be prepared…. Shawn squeezes a lot into his time slot…. a faster, yet more entertaining, speaker I have yet to hear. Be sure to go Full Screen to keep up with Shawn.

Shawn Achor is the winner of over a dozen distinguished teaching awards at Harvard University, where he delivered lectures on positive psychology in the most popular class at Harvard.

He is the CEO of Good Think Inc., a Cambridge-based consulting firm which researches positive outliers — people who are well above average — to understand where human potential, success and happiness intersect. Based on his research and 12 years of experience at Harvard, he clearly and humorously describes to organizations how to increase happiness and meaning, raise success rates and profitability, and create positive transformations that ripple into more successful cultures. He is also the author of The Happiness Advantage.

Take away:

To re-wire our brains for happiness and success, Shawn prescribes these 5 habits:

1. Write down 3 things you are grateful for every day for 21 days in a row. Research shows that by 21 days, we will have re-wired our brains to search for life’s positive aspects.

2. Journal about one positive experience you have experienced in the last 24 hours. Doing so allows your brain to re-live it.

3. Exercise. It teaches your brain that your behavior matters.

4. Meditate. It encourages your brain to focus and stop jumping from task to task, which is all too often expected or required in our society.

5. Random acts of kindness. Something as simple as writing an unsolicited email of thanks to someone, or as large as buying a bike for a child who can’t afford one… these efforts put happiness and success in perspective, allowing us to acheive more of both.

Grab Bag Siri Suggestions:

For those with an iPhone, I will share that I am slowly using Siri more and it tickles my senses to interact with her and have her accomplish things for me. I use her most while driving. She is really good at making reminders, setting appointments, reading emails and text messages to me, sending emails and text messages for me,  telling me what the weather is in any given city, telling me all kinds of stuff.

Here are some examples of what she can answer or do:

• What day of the week was November 28, 1980?
• Remind me to order iTunes gift cards two days before Christmas.
• How many days until New Year’s?
• Make an appointment named ‘Post Holiday Call’ for three days after Christmas at 10am with Jason Snell.
• Reschedule my meeting with Jason Snell to January 8 at 2 p.m.
• When is my next meeting?
• What time is it in Dubai?
• What time is sunset in Tucson, Arizona?
• Mail my wife about Dinner tonight and say Would you like me to bring home Chinese?
• Add “The Snuggie Sutra” to my ‘Books to buy’ note.
• Remind me to pick up milk when I leave here.
• What’s the current outside temperature?
• How high did AAPL get today?
• What did the market do today?

In my car I use Siri through my Plantronics K100 bluetooth speaker, which clips to the sun visor in my car. I’ve shared it before here, but it still is such a slick system, it bears repeating. And it is now selling for about $40 (I paid $70 two years ago)

Once you have initially “paired” your phone with the K100, you’re set. Get in the car with your phone (you can even leave it in your pocket or purse), power up the K100, and it will say “Power On”, and when it scans for and senses your phone, it will say, “Connected”.  If the K100 is already on, when you get your phone close to it (probably ~50ft. or so) it will say “Connected” (be aware… best to turn the K100 off every time you leave the car… if left on, it has been known to steal my calls when I unknowingly get too close to the car, and all of a sudden my caller is speaking to an empty car and I don’t know what the hell happened 🙂 ).

To operate Siri through the K100, just hold in the round button on the K100 until you hear the Siri “double-beep” activation sound. Then ask Siri to do all kinds of useful stuff for you, completely hands-free.

And what WOULD Siri look like? Here’s one artist’s vision of her:

Grab Bag Sexy Time:

Why is sex such a problem?

Grab Bag Stain Solver:

From HomemakerChic.com….

I have a few spots I am going to try this on, but want to hear your feedback, too. If you try this, did it work for you or not?

Here’s a REALLY easy way to get stains out of your carpet. This works for organic stains like dirt and food. Be careful if you’re trying this with dyes or ink as the vinegar can make things worse. For stains you’re unsure about it is always best to call in a professional. (Or pretend you are one if you’re like me).

I have no idea where these stains come from, seriously. My husband must be sloshing drinks out of his glass or something because I have no messy kids and hardly any guests. I tried scrubbing and using Resolve carpet cleaner but neither worked. But this handy little tip worked like a charm.

All you need is White Vinegar, Water, a Spray Bottle, A Rag, and an Iron.

Spray the spot with a solution of 1 part vinegar with 2 parts water.

Lay a damp rag over the spot.

Iron on the steam setting for about 30 seconds. If the stain is really stubborn, repeat the steps, but I promise it will work!

Grab Bag Brain Game:

Not a game so much as a quiz and an exercise, from Mind Motivations:

Are You Left or Right Brain Predominant?

Look at the picture below for about 30 seconds and have a think about what you see. Then read below to evaluate the results of what you saw and find out if you are left or right brain orientated.

If you see the lady turning clockwise you are using your right brain

If you see the lady turning counter-clockwise you are using your left brain

 Some people do see both ways, but most people see it only one way. See if you can make her go one way and then the other by shifting the brain’s current. BOTH DIRECTIONS CAN BE SEEN. If you look away, she may switch from one direction to the other. We find that if you just look at her feet or relax and look at the floor where the reflection shows, she will switch direction!

Experimentation has shown that the two different sides, or hemispheres, of the brain are responsible for different manners of thinking.

Differences Between the Left & Right Brain

Left Brain	Right Brain
Logical	Intuitive
Sequential	Random
Analytical	Holistic
Rational	Synthesizing
Objective	Subjective
Looks at part	Looks at whole

Most individuals have a distinct preference for one of these styles of thinking. Some, however, are more whole-brained and equally adept at both modes. In general, schools tend to favor left-brain modes of thinking, while downplaying the right-brain activities.

Left-brain scholastic subjects focus on logical thinking, analysis, and accuracy.

Right-brained subjects, on the other hand, focus on aesthetics, feeling, and creativity.

Additional Information

There is a lot of research showing meditation, hypnosis and brainwave entrainment audios can help create unity between the left and right sides of your brain. This can be quite useful to ‘exercise your mind’ so to speak. Promoting unity of thought can help create more clarity in your decision making processes. This means you will neither ‘over-think’ about things too much with your left brain – or – be ‘too creative’ with decisions that require logical analysis with your right brain.

Note from LK: This exercise can be found on MindMotivations.com, which offers hypnosis recordings in CD and download. If you are interested in training your brain hemispheres in unity, I can also give a personal recommendation for Hemi Sync. I was introduced to them years ago when I needed surgery, and used their surgical recordings before, during and after my surgery, with what I felt to be good results. They have loads of task-specific recordings. While I’m not versed in it enough to really appreciate the differences in the recordings they offer, I can say that listening to these tracks does seem to make you feel different. Check out Brain Sync as well.

Grab Bag Funny Stuff: