心乱乱的猪

猪心乱乱，可惜此心乱乱不为爱情。

猪乃为生活心乱乱。

是，猪多希望这心乱乱是为那醉人的爱情。

猪现有的工作，越发看不见出路。

而猪现在有一新工作机会。

可惜却需要猪拔根离开生于斯长于斯的狗窝。

怎么都不能得到两全其美的方法呢？

又或许是猪太贪了，得了寸了还要进尺。

猪害怕这样贪心的猪，会否最后两手空空。

失去了这一次机会，猪不知道下次是否还会有机会？

所以猪心很乱。

等结婚的猪

一个猪认识的阿婶问猪：“怎么还不找个人结婚去？”

结婚如果真的有那么容易的话，那猪也不必等到今时今日。

婚真的不是想结就结。

结婚需要两个人，而猪就是到现在还没有找到那样一个人。

猪还是那句话：“如果有，还未找到。”

所以还是一直那样的等。

而显然越等，希望越渺茫。

猪甚至开始怀疑，今生今世可能就是一个人了。

从开始到现在猪都没有要抱持任何一丁点单身主义。

可时间这大轮就这样把猪推相单身的行列。

猪没得选择。

阿红与猪

做女人好不辛苦。

12岁时惊慌失措的与阿红第一次见面，此后每个月更都得见一见。

从起初的懵懂无知，到现在与阿红熟口熟面，成了最好的朋友。

从前遮遮盖盖的买卫生用品，到现在很从容的提着装卫生棉的透明塑料袋到处走，不脸红心跳。

阿红让女人欢喜也让女人忧。

每个女人大概都饱受经前症候群的搅扰。

直到阿红正式报到，又是一番折磨；疼痛、疲倦、腹泻、失眠等等，因各人体质而异。

不仅这样，阿红是早来、迟来或不来，都会叫人担心十足。

还有阿红来时的量呀质呀，来多久，都同样叫人心乱乱。

女人对阿红又爱又恨。

阿红来时，嫌她碍手碍交不方便。

等阿红不来时，又分外可惜，因为表明女人步入了另一个时期老年期。

乞丐猪

猪巴望自己能经济独立。

猪现在仍得接受他人的资助，方能继续生活。

生活虽然不至于无米下锅，可情况也是差不多。

猪的焦虑也可能源自缺钱。

真的，假如猪经济没问题，猪大可辞职，做自己喜欢的事。

现在工资虽然少，可是它至少供应了我生活的基本需求。

猪死守这分工作，不敢有任何行动，就是害怕会断粮。

打工一族就是这样，没有一丁点额外收入。

所以依猪现在这样的经济状况，也不允有任何额外开销。

猪舅舅试过做农夫，他说这工作太辛苦；而且所赚不多。

赚的都是些绳头小利，小的犹如小猫的大便。

真的没有工作是不辛苦的。

蠢猪与老恐龙

猪买了老恐龙，也有三个多月了。

其间猪应该才洗过它一次。

因为是猪自己的车嘛，管它脏不脏；之前借用姐姐的车，每个星期都会洗车。

务必确保车是干净的。

今天早上，猪特地早早起床，将老恐龙从头洗到脚。

这些日子以来，还的确累积了太多的污垢。

猪很用心的一寸一寸的擦拭它，然后用水冲洗，再抹干它。

真的换老恐龙一副清爽样。

昨晚，猪与老恐龙出门时，已经发觉怎么车里的冷气都不冷。

加大号，风吹的呼呼声，可是却是热风。

猪还以为是白天天气太热，热气累积在车里还未散掉。

今天早上上班，外面空气还是冷冷的，开了车里的空调，发觉一样吹热风。

猪心里说：“惨！二手就是二手，老恐龙莫非你病了？”

猪想天气太热，汽车没空调，怎么耐；中午一定要送去车房检查。

到了半路，猪眼睛瞄了瞄车头上的按键，突然发觉怎么AC的红灯没有发亮。

猪赶快按一下。哈！车里立刻冷起来。

原来是猪不知道几时将按钮给关上了。

还亏猪昨晚就是这样吹着热气到处跑，太热了，还要开着车窗。

也还好让猪早发觉，不然送到车房，还真会闹笑话。

那时恐怕真的会被骂：蠢猪。

朋友C

猪有一女性朋友C，十足是捐友。

一张嘴虽不多话，可讲起话来句句话中有话。

句句话带刺，所以猪即便寂寞到流泪，还是情愿一个人。

真的，话不投机半句多。

猪甘愿紧闭着嘴巴不说话以至于嘴巴发臭，也不要跟C讲话。

猪做不到见人说人话，见鬼说鬼话。

你放任她去讲，她会对你疲劳轰炸个不停。

C时时三不五时的来办公室，一心想看猪落到井里去，然后向猪丢石头。

猪应对的方法就是一问三不知。

女人就是爱八卦，不关她的事，她也爱插一脚。

所以这种女人会长命百岁，因为好奇心特强。

这样的人，利了她自己，可是却苦了她旁边的人。

工作

猪渴望有一份可以让猪付出努力的工作。

一分耕耘，一分收获。

少种的少收，多种的多收。

猪过了大半辈子很清楚这是天地间不变的定律。

可是呀可是，猪满腔的努力和热忱，却无用武之地。

是猪怀才不遇，还是猪只看见自己所没有的，而看不见自己所有的？

猪身处问题公司，真觉得自己什么价值都没有。

被人呼来喝去，猪都说算了，一双眼目只望向月尾的发粮日。

上司、同事再无礼，猪都能忍。

猪大可学人那样的潇洒，“一气之下，拂袖而去”。

此处不留人，自有留人处。

东家不打打西家。

但猪自从上次遇过一次换职失败后，已经懦弱的一蹶不枕。

十足一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井蛇。

猪仍旧守着旧职，真的感觉自己正在发霉中。

即便如此，猪始终感恩，至少现在猪还有一职。

猪心中还是有一个梗，怕那日失业了。

那时工作找不到，伴侣也找不到的惨窘样。

猪现在一听到有人有一份好工作，却三天两头旷工，都会在心中不平。

真是不识相。

阿有

猪一直觉的自己一无所有，是个阿无。

可是网络里却有那么一句话：“我只看我所有的，不看我所沒有的。”

所以猪真的是相反的：“我只看我所没有的，不看我所有的。”

心理学家也一直鼓励心理有疾病的人，把一天里值得感恩的事写下来。

猪想，猪也该有所改变。

嗯，猪也不是那么一无所有。

每早晨太阳为猪而升起，带给猪无限的希望。

猪早晨喜欢在屋后的空地上种菜，玩泥巴。

从除草松土撒种子，到发芽长大收割。

望着绿油油的青菜，猪觉得很疗愈。

虽然猪不是绿手指，菜园也很多时候杂草丛生，可是只要有一分耕耘就必定有一分收获。

损友

猪还有一班损友。

眼睛看不得你过好日子。

看到你遭遇不顺时，不但不会给你安慰；还会落井下石。

就是看见你掉到井里去了，还要向你仍石头。

好让你苦上加苦，他们才会心满意足。

对付这种人最好的办法就是疏远他们。

偏偏他们都爱靠近猪。

时不时，讲几句风凉话。

而猪这双猪耳又特别软，听了又特别会记在心里。

猪会发起一连串的反应，就是担心焦虑；把自己搞的很难受。

而对方好似就会特别开心。

真是一堆惹人厌的损友。

How To Overcome Your Fear + Start Feeling Powerful, Alive & Worthy

by Kelly McNelisJuly 19, 2017 5:35 AM
 
It’s everywhere I turn—on the news, on my social-media feed, and in my daily conversations. It’s in the questions that keep me up at night, tossing and turning in an ocean of paranoid what-ifs. It’s in the words and labels we use when we’re sizing up ideas and people who might be a little different from us, who take us to that uncomfortable place just outside of our comfort zone. It’s also that nagging voice that continues to convince us that, as individuals and communities and nations, we are always going to be separate from one another. It’s that insidious belief that we are powerless to change any of this, so we may as well lock our doors, our minds, and our hearts.
I’m talking about fear.
We live in a fear-based culture. It’s in our daily lives. It’s in our political sphere. Hell, it may as well be in our drinking water. And we’re constantly making the choice to drink it.
Fear is a trickster, so it’s not always easy to recognize. It’s really good at camouflaging itself: as information, power, discernment, superiority, righteousness, or the voice of reason.
In order for us to truly recognize fear, to see it for what it is, we have to get incredibly honest with ourselves. And often, we need to be taken out of our usual environment to really grasp the hold that fear has over us.

We don’t have to let fear-based thoughts determine our destiny.

A recent trip to an impoverished Peruvian village high in the Andes is what offered me this revelation. There was a stark contrast between the slice of paradise I experienced—where people didn’t collar their dogs, "helicopter parent" their kids, obsess over the toxins in their environment, or wring their hands over how dangerous and violent the world is—and the reality I am steeped in as an American—where everyone seems to be drinking the Kool-Aid of fear.

I'm not saying that in the developed world, we have simply made up all these complications, nor am I suggesting that tragic devastation doesn’t occur in other parts of the world. Obviously, it does. However, our tendency to fixate on apocalyptic horror and to sweat the small stuff can make everything feel overwhelming and impossible to take any action around, when it absolutely does not have to be this way.

Fear is really good at camouflaging itself as information, power, discernment, superiority, righteousness, or the voice of reason.

Philosophers, politicians, and world travelers have all marveled at the fact that people who seem to have very little by Western standards have an indomitable capacity to be happy in ways that most of us cannot even fathom. Why is this?
I strongly believe that our obvious lack of joy, despite all the "stuff" we have in comparison to those poor villagers in Peru, is a result of the poison of fear.

Fear is the thing that makes us feel like we aren't enough.

We tend to project our basic internal fear onto the world in various ways. And, at the same time, fear is shoved onto us by our culture from a very early age. Played out on a larger stage, this dance between the fear we carry both within and without can look like everything from nasty internet trolls who cut into our deepest insecurities to self-help gurus who capitalize on our inherent sense of inadequacy. It can take the form of marketing folks who tell us that we need to keep buying stuff in order to feel and be better and politicians who convince us that the world is on fire.
When our sense of self is so fragile, everything around us can be perceived as a potential threat. And I’m talking about every single thing.
But, let’s face it, this perception is our own doing. Few of us understand that we are largely responsible for the "threats" that seem to surround us on all sides. Instead, we are shocked by media monstrosities and we point our fingers in blame and anger—at everyone but ourselves.
When we succumb over and over again to fear-based narratives, when we keep perpetuating the story that some unspeakable evil is out to get us, we actually contribute to creating a climate of fear.
When we are spoon-fed fear and trauma from infancy, other possibilities don’t seem to be within our grasp. But they are! It is totally within our power to step outside the matrix of fear.

It begins with simple awareness.

Even when we don’t think fear has a hold on us, it seeps into the way we perceive the world around us. For example, many women I know who are on a "personal development path" have been led to it because of trauma they’ve previously experienced. While I respect their desire for transformation, many of them fixate on their wounds until their pain has become their identity.
I know so many people who wear their battle scars with pride. But what if we honored ourselves in a different way?
Now, I absolutely understand the value of diving into our stories and experiences to discover who we are and to gain valuable insight, as well as strength. There is great power in acknowledging struggles that we have overcome and in celebrating our personal healing. However, what if we also acknowledged the ways that fear has affected the way we look at these experiences?
To me, fear is the thing that makes our most awful and painful moments stand out. When we define ourselves primarily on the basis of our wounds—even when we are recognizing the gifts we received as a result of those experiences—we are limiting ourselves. Often, we are acting from our unconscious fear of the same thing happening again. Many times we are still blaming the people and circumstances that led to our suffering. We are reliving the trauma in some way. We are continuing to get caught up in our own victimhood and giving credence to that big, bad monster of fear.
Most importantly, let’s remember that we are truly worth so much more than our wounds and self-imposed labels.

Focus on the here and now.

When we decide to peel ourselves from the bodysuit of fear that has strangled our possibilities, we make the powerful choice to see our reality for what it is—not for the stories that others have told us or the things we decided to believe about life at some distant point in the past. We start building the muscle to discern what is true and what is not, based on attention to the here and now—and a willingness to be with it, no matter what is happening.
When I was thousands of miles up in the mountains of Peru, I was struck by moments of severe panic in which I could barely breathe due to the high altitude. While I might have defaulted to getting immediate medical attention back home, I didn’t have that option here. "Relax, it’s going to be OK," people said. "You try relaxing!" I wanted to yell. I was pissed that nobody seemed to be taking my panic and fear as seriously as I was.
But eventually, I realized this attitude was actually a good thing.
Because nobody was reacting to my breathing troubles with the same panic as I was, it actually made me see that what I was experiencing—while not at all comfortable—was normal. I really was going to be fine.
I had this great a-ha moment. I realized that when fear arises, we automatically believe the stories it tells us are true. Our reptilian brain—hard-wired by hundreds of thousands of years of evolution to detect danger—still picks up the warning signals that we send it when we’re afraid, whether we are in imminent danger or not.

But fear makes no sense unless we are responding to imminent danger. It serves no purpose.

Now, many of us think that chronic worrying—about our kids, the environment, and the state of the world—means that we care. And some of us even subconsciously believe that if we do it enough, our world will change and our fear will dissipate. But buying into the climate of fear and adding fuel to its fire shouldn’t be mistaken for an effective way of "dealing: with it. It paralyzes our ability to take mindful action. It contributes to the very thing that robs us of true joy and the capacity to be present.
We can choose a different way. We can consciously apply our awareness, our knowledge, and our power of choice—in the moment when we can actually experience our power: now.

Choose to let go of fear.

We all have the power to rise beyond our learned helplessness. All it takes is the realization that we are fully accountable for our experience of life. We may not choose all the circumstances, but we can certainly choose how we react.
We are constantly defining our reality by virtue of past experiences and everything other people, especially authority figures, have told us.
So, with this realization, we have the choice to take a good, long look at our fear and to decide whether or not it serves us. This doesn’t require putting on rose-colored glasses or denying that we are scared. It just means that we don’t have to let fear-based thoughts determine our destiny.
Our fear doesn’t make us more powerful. It doesn’t make us more well-informed or more capable of instigating change. You can choose to be the kind of person who focuses on the latest act of random violence and laments how terrible things are. Or you can choose not to fall prey to fear-based information that keeps people stuck in a fight-or-flight response. You can take it a step further and choose to direct your energy into more meaningful pursuits that help make you, your community, and the world a better place.
I don’t care if you’re a certified hypochondriac. You are not your fear. Repeat after me: "I am not my fear."
Fear is not some absolute truth that you have to build your life around; it is merely the lens through which you have chosen to see your reality. And you have the choice to try on a different lens, to let your perception shift and your quality of life increase. You, too, can experience the same unadulterated joy that my friends in the Andes, who helped move me from severe panic into a state of serenity simply by modeling it to me, already know is well within our reach.
Fear takes so much out of us. Who could we be, what could we experience if we learned to let go of needless fear? What undreamed-of possibilities could we create in our lives? What seemingly insurmountable obstacles could we overcome? If we freed up our energy so that we could express our deepest core truths, what kind of beautiful world could we create together?
Want more insights on how to level up your life? Check out your July horoscope, then find out why holding on to past relationships is the worst thing you can do for yourself.

Beat Stress Like a Navy SEAL With This Ridiculously Easy Exercise

Control your breath, rule the day.

By Melody Wilding

Adjunct instructor, human behavior, City University of New York@MelodyWilding

 

Like most people, you probably deal with your fair share of workplace annoyances. From the meeting that gets rescheduled yet again to managing your overflowing inbox or navigating the tricky world of team dynamics, your stress levels may spike multiple times throughout a single day.
How are some people able to stay calm and productive in response to challenges while others are easily rattled?
To find answers, let's look to those who have mastered the art of composure under pressure: The U.S. Navy SEALs.

How Navy SEALS reduce stress.

There's no question that U.S. Navy SEALs face some of the most difficult situations any human could encounter. Because of this, they've developed ways to apply the emerging science of grit, resilience, and emotional regulation to effectively manage stress.
In fact, neural scans show that some SEALs have a remarkable ability to remain calm in response to threatening situations. Their brains respond differently to stress, activating neural centers related to emotional control instead of ones related to anxiety and fear.
Their secret? SEALs manage their physiology to better to control their psychology.
Researchers at Veterans Affairs put it this way:

Learning to control your physiology, to control your anticipatory responses as you remain in that situation, are the first steps to controlling your brain's response.

If you're thinking this is the result of some superhuman ability, think again. It may come down to managing one important aspect of well-being: your breathing.

A simple exercise to help you stay calm.

A practice that SEAL teams use in times of trouble is one you can borrow at your desk.
It's called box breathing or four-square breathing.
Here's how it works:

1. Breathe in for four seconds.
2. Hold air in your lungs for four seconds.
3. Exhale for four seconds.
4. Hold your breath, lungs emptied, for four seconds.

You can even find guided visualizations online to assist you in a box breathing practice if you're just getting started. The beauty of box breathing is that it's inconspicuous, meaning you can practice it anywhere, at anytime -- during negotiations, before delivering tough feedback, or even in the middle of a frustrating conversation, for example.
Recently I shared this tool with a client who is navigating her team through a rocky leadership transition. Meetings were fraught with chaos and morale was slipping, which my client felt responsible for as a manager. These worries were beginning to take a toll on her. The anxiety followed her home at night. She found herself becoming increasingly irritable, and knew she had to address it in a more productive way.
After practicing box breathing for just a few days, she experienced a major shift. Because box breathing improved her ability to regulate her emotions, she felt more in control and able to deal with challenges.
With renewed levelheadedness, she could communicate more effectively to advocate for her team during the transition -- even when upstream dynamics threatened to throw their progress off-course.
Give box breathing a try. Even though you're not on the battlefield, you may find this time-tested Navy SEAL technique helps you rule the day.

我们都很寂寞

猪单身。

单身猪有一群和猪一样单身的朋友。

我们这一班单身的人都很自爱。

无不良嗜好，努力工作，辛苦赚钱，孝顺父母，爱护弟妹，尊敬长辈。

猪觉得单身的我们是被命运遗漏掉了的一班人。

不然这样好的我们，为什么就没有人垂青呢？那些人真是走宝了。

闲时我们努力运动健身，确保自己有健康的身体。

屋子打扫的一尘不染，因为我们几乎都有洁癖，容不得脏乱。

每天也会亲自小厨，也有一手好厨艺，煎炸暴炒样样都行。

猪有一个同龄单身朋友N。

虽然自己住，但每天晚上固定往父母家跑，煮晚餐陪他们进食。

末了，传统的两老还嫌弃女儿老大不小了，还未能把自己嫁出去，实在有辱家门。

唯一可取的是女儿经济独立，有自主权，父母家中一切大小开销均由她包办。

所以N在家中虽有嫁不出罪名，不过仍拥极高地位，仍可大声讲话。

所以N说一定要有健康身体。

一日，她身体不舒服，低血压头晕，无法驾车去医院求医。

只好致电侄女，侄女回一句话：“没空。”

可怜N只能待头晕稍退后，自己开慢车上医院。

单身的我们很爱自己，我们会懂得如何好好照顾自己。

我们自供自足，还能照顾身边的人。

可是呀可是，我们很常被身体里的何尔蒙给出卖了。

每一个月在某个时段里，我们的身体会告诉自己：“我寂寞了。”

我们渴望一个伴侣。

那样的寂寞并不是我们自己可以决解的。

单身的我们很好，可是再好，我们都很寂寞。

物以类聚

当单身猪遇到单身朋友，因为两个人都有共同点，所以彼此之间都几乎分外亲切。

这些单身朋友还包括了已婚又离婚或丧偶的。

物以类聚，所以额外投缘。

都说一个人最自由，无需顾到旁人，可以做自己喜欢的任何事。

可是一个人时间太多，当忙完了一切，仍会剩下填不完的时间。

都非得找些事情来做。

所以就有人醉心运动、追剧、缝纫等各种爱好。

猪有一位朋友疯运动，在家里置上各种运动健身器材。

本来都会到公园跑步，但碍于一个单身女人，报纸上负面新闻太多。

加上自己工作时间总与其他朋友有别。

七早八早的公园人烟稀少。

害怕成为报纸新闻的主角，朋友都在家中进行运动。

早上一小时，晚上一小时，练成一副标准身材。

不是努力，而是时间太多。

I Was Depressed & Anxious Until I Started Doing These 4 Things

by Kaia RomanJuly 17, 2017 5:40 AM

A few years back, I faced a devastating setback in my career that left me riddled with anxiety and overcome with depression. My self-esteem hit an all-time low when the business I had built went under.
As I sunk to rock bottom, my friend proposed a crazy idea. She suggested that if I made joy my top priority for one month, my entire life would turn around. At that point, joy seemed like a distant dream, but with no job, no plan, and no other ideas, I decided to give it a try.

The difference between joy and happiness.

You’ve maybe never thought about it before, but there is a distinct difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is a cognitive experience based in the brain’s cortex. It’s a state of mind, which comes and goes easily. Happiness activates the sympathetic nervous system, which activates the brain’s fight-or-flight response—it feels exciting and stimulating to the body.
Joy, on the other hand, is a subconscious experience, an emotion based in the brain’s limbic system. Joy activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls rest and relaxation—it feels calming and soothing to the body. Joy affects the entire body, down to the DNA, and can lower inflammation and increase immunity. Since the experience of joy has such a strong physical component, there are proven things you can do to help create it—almost like a formula.

My formula for joy.

For 30 days, I conducted an experiment in which I was the subject. I dedicated my daily actions for one month to the singular pursuit of joy by calling on the science behind hormones, mindfulness, and manifestation, synthesizing my findings into a calculated plan. I went after joy from all angles—from the scientific to the spiritual and everything in between. Here are my top four practices from the month of radical transformation:

1. Gratitude: Frequent appreciation increases dopamine and soothes the amygdala (fear sensor) in the brain.
2. Simple pleasures: Engaging in pleasant actions that stimulate all five senses brings attention to the body and away from stressful thoughts.
3. Mindfulness: Bringing attention to the present moment can release stress and increase calm.
4. Movement: Adopting a more active lifestyle is a proven way to increase the brain chemicals associated with well-being.

My "joy plan" (which eventually led me to write a book on joy; go figure) required simple steps every day and was not a quick fix. In order to make these small shifts effective long-term, they must become a lifestyle. Repetition is the key to forming new habits of thought in the brain, which then become new feelings, new actions, and eventually a new experience of life. Thirty days is just long enough to form new habits and put this lifestyle into place.
After spending a month with the sole purpose of creating joy in my life, I discovered that finding joy in my current state of affairs could change the actual circumstances in my life. I found joy despite my external conditions, and then those conditions morphed to match my joy.
My life changed in wonderful ways I never could have imagined. I’m now a mindfulness teacher for elementary school students. I make a living as a writer, doing work that I love from anywhere in the world.
Was this magic? A miracle? It could appear that way, but I believe it was simply science.
By intentionally practicing thinking new thoughts, which lead to new behaviors, we create new patterns in our brains, which ultimately translate into a new experience of life. Quantum physics has proved that, at the subatomic level, all matter is made of energy, and our thoughts influence the behavior of that energy. Essentially, our thoughts shift subatomic particles and create our physical world.
This is not just philosophy; this is physics. And I have tested this principle and seen the proof in my own life. By taking small steps to change my very negative state of mind, I created a radical shift in my emotional experience and—very quickly—a significant change in my reality.
You don’t have to set aside a whole month for the sole purpose of joy in order to create a Joy Plan in your life. It may sound like a crazy idea, but often crazy ideas are the ones you should listen to.
Another key to happiness is something that you've been taught NOT to do. Intrigued? Check out what it is here.

Science Says This 15-Minute Exercise Could Make You Happier and More Successful

Researchers gave students one assignment that may have put them on the track for greater success and it's something we should all take the time to do. 

By Eric Mack

Columnist, Inc.com@EricCMack

 

Taking as little as ten or fifteen minutes to write about what you value most and why could be the key to reducing stress and having a happier, healthier and more successful life overall.
It sounds too easy to be true, but research published this week in the journal Plos One found that's essentially what happened in a study of 221 undergraduate college students at Ohio State University.
Students in an undergraduate psychology statistics course were asked to complete a values affirmation exercise that asks them to rank a half dozen values such as relationships with family/friends, spiritual/religious values and science/pursuit of knowledge in order of personal importance.
Half of those students then spent ten to fifteen minutes writing about why their number one value was meaningful to them. The other half served as a control group that was instead asked to write about how their lowest ranked value could be important to someone else.
This exercise was completed once near the beginning of the course and repeated before the students' first exam.

Positive Results

The researchers found that students who completed the exercise and wrote about their core value did better on a test of their math literacy at the end of the course, compared to those in the control group. The control group also saw declines in their self-perception of their own math skills compared to the other group.
So what does taking the time to ponder your personal values have to do with math skills? According to the researchers, other studies have shown similar results and they believe the key is that when students take the time to consider their core priorities and identity, they are less stressed and find the unpopular math course to be less daunting.
"It has a snowball effect. Values affirmation is thought to help students get some early wins in class. That leads them to try harder and get more achievements and it creates a cycle of success," said Ellen Peters, lead author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State.
This compound effect was also found to carry-over outside the classroom, as the students with higher math literacy also scored higher on a financial literacy test and had healthier habits in life.

The Most Important Ten Minutes of Your Life

The study focuses on the benefits of higher levels of math literacy beyond just a college statistics course, but perhaps the most interesting finding for the rest of us beyond our university years is how the cascade of positive effects (or, more accurately, positive correlations) began with a simple psychological intervention.
The exercise of intentionally determining core priorities and taking the time to work out which priority is paramount above all others and why is something many of us probably have never even thought to do.
And yet the research finds that the simple clarity this can bring to your life might directly lead to more success and better decision-making.
It's logical really. If you think of your life like a skyscraper being built one story or one achievement upon the last, it only makes sense to take some time -- perhaps as little as ten minutes -- to make sure you've laid down a stable foundation to build upon.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.