Knowingwhen to shut up. Sure, it can feel so good to unload on somebodyandletthemknowwhatyoureallythink,butthatgoodfeeling is temporary. Whathappensthenextday,thenextweek, or thenextyear?It’shumannature to want to provethatyou’reright,butit’srarelyeffective. In conflict,uncheckedemotionmakesyoudigyourheels in andfightthekind of battlethatcanleaveyouandtherelationshipseverelydamaged.Whenyoureadandrespond to youremotions,you’reable to chooseyourbattleswiselyandonlystandyourgroundwhenthetime is right.Thevastmajority of thetime,thatmeansbitingyourtongue.
Takinginitiative. Initiative is a skillthatwilltakeyoufar in life. In theory,initiative is easy - thedesire to takeaction is alwaysthere - but in therealworld,otherthingsget in theway.There’s a bigdifferencebetweenknowingwhat to do andbeingtooscared or lazy to actually do it.Thatrequiresinitiative.Youhave to takerisksandpushyourselfout of yourcomfortzone,untiltakinginitiative is secondnature.
Stayingpositive. We'veallreceivedthewell-meaningadvice to " stay positive." It'shard to findthemotivation to focus on thepositivewhenpositivityseemslikenothingmorethanwishfulthinking.Therealobstacle to positivity is thatourbrainsarehard-wired to lookforandfocus on threats.Thissurvivalmechanismservedhumankindwell,backwhen we werehuntersandgatherersandlivingeachdaywiththeveryrealthreat of beingkilled by someone or something in ourimmediatesurroundings.
Thatwaslongago.Today,thismechanismbreedspessimismandnegativitythroughthemind'stendency to wanderuntil it finds a threat.These"threats"magnifytheperceivedlikelihoodthatthingsaregoing - and / or aregoing to go - poorly.Whenthethreat is realandlurking in thebushesdownthepath,thismechanismservesyouwell.Whenthethreat is imaginedandyouspendtwomonthsconvincedthattheprojectyou'reworking on is going to flop,thismechanismleavesyouwith a souredview of realitythatwreakshavoc in yourlife.Maintainingpositivity is a dailychallengethatrequiresfocusandattention.Youmust be intentionalaboutstayingpositive if you'regoing to overcomethebrain'stendency to focus on threats.
Answer the following questions:
Is the information TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN?
Match the words and the translation.
Match the words and their synonyms.
Read about linking verbs and mark correct sentences.