Jumpstart Your Dream Life

Why Uncertainty is Killing Your Future

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Do you know what’s worse than knowing something bad will happen?

Not knowing whether something bad will happen. The state of being stuck in limbo, uncertain about an outcome, is the worst state to be in. We would rather know with absolute certainty that something bad will happen than maybe have it happen.

In 2016, researchers performed a study on the stress levels of participants about to receive a painful electric shock. In situations where subjects had a 50 percent chance of receiving a shock, they experienced much higher stress than subjects who had a 0 or 100 percent chance of shock. That means participants who knew they would definitely get a shock felt calmer than participants who only had a 50 percent chance of shock.

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ProWritingAid: Grammar Check Your Writing, Improve Your Style, and Become a Better Writer

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Have you ever felt that you were just naturally good at something?

It didn’t matter whether you were a fresh beginner or a seasoned expert. You had practiced a skill, gotten the hang of it, and since then, kept doing things the same way. Maybe you were learning to swim, cook, or perform a task at work.

Then someone comes along and tries to help. They offer a suggestion, advice, or some insight. Being used to your way, you brush the person off.

But after awhile, you hit a roadblock. You start to realize that you don’t know everything. You try implementing the person’s advice. And it works!

You begin looking at things in a different light. Gradually, it dawns on you that there is a whole other level… one you had no idea existed.

This is what writing is like. Easy to learn but hard to master, writing often takes a second pair of eyes to help you figure out what you’re doing right, and what needs fixing.

Today, I’m going to discuss ProWritingAid, a popular online grammar checker and style editor. I’ll cover what it does, how to use it, and whether it’s right for you.

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How to Promote Your Writing

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Going viral can be a fluky process.

Once in awhile, you write a piece that seems so-so, which ends up popular with readers. But more often, you think an article is going to be a hit, only for it to be a dud. You pour hours of work into something you think is brilliant. And yet it goes by unnoticed and unappreciated.

All that wasted time and effort feels disappointing.

Why does it happen? How can something that seems promising end up going nowhere? Is there a way to keep that from happening?

Let’s dive in.

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How to Write a Full-Length Article

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Imagine it’s the start of a car race.

All the cars are lined up, people are cheering, and engines are roaring. Everyone’s waiting for the race to begin. The tension is high.

Bang! goes the pistol. The cars speed off, leaving only a cloud of fumes that dissipates into the sky. The drivers feel the adrenaline through their veins as they accelerate.

They know exactly what to do. Hopefully, that’s the feeling you get when you write, too. You sit down, open up a document, and start typing away furiously.

Except that’s probably not what happens.

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How to Never Run Out of Writing Ideas

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There’s nothing worse than the dreaded blank page.

Clean and pristine it may be, but an empty document isn’t exactly what you’re aiming for. So how do you go from having no idea, no thoughts, no words, to a fully fleshed out article?

To do so requires some effort. But before we go into that, let’s first talk about the legendary sourdough bread in San Francisco.

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Now Is the Time to Start Fresh

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In 1918, a 15-year-old named Violet Harris decided to keep a diary. To prevent the spread of Spanish Flu, all schools, churches, and public venues in Seattle were closed until further notice. Her response to not having to go to school was that of pure joy: “Good idea? I’ll say it is!”

Despite the lockdown, the disease spread. Vi, as her family called her, heard news of her friend Rena when she went to return her umbrella. Rena’s father met Vi and informed her that both Rena’s mother and Rena were sick with the flu.

Eventually, they both recovered. Sometime later, Rena called Vi on the phone. When Vi asked her what it felt like to have the flu, Rena said, “Don’t get it.”

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5 Ways You Can Increase Your Intelligence, According to Science

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We often assume intelligence is fixed from birth.

If you’re born with it, you have it. And if you aren’t? That’s too bad. End of story.

Previously, neuroscientists believed that our brains were “fixed”. No matter what someone did, there was nothing they could do to change their brains. If anything, our brain functions would become worse over time.

However, more recent research shows otherwise.

But before we get to that, let’s answer the question: what is intelligence?

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Before You Judge, Seek to Understand

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Have you ever looked at something and thought, “That’s crazy!”?

Maybe someone paid exorbitant amounts of money to buy a jacket when you could have gotten something similar for a fraction of the price. Or a company launched a product that seemed so strange, so unlike anything you had seen before, that you wondered what they were thinking. To you, it seemed illogical, maybe even stupid.

But to them, it made perfect sense.

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10 Signs You Need to Let Go of Someone

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A strong social network is important to our well-being.

But what if components of that network fail us? What if instead of uplifting us, supporting us, and making us better, they make us feel worse and drag us down?

The obvious answer would be to cut those people out. Stop talking to them altogether. But sometimes the answer isn’t so obvious. There are gray areas.

Maybe a friend pushes you into doing things you’re uncomfortable with, but has a great sense of humor and is fun to be around. Or a partner is thoughtful and means well, but simply isn’t relatable. It’s hard to cut the cord for a number of reasons.

So when is it time to say goodbye?

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The Streisand Effect: Why Censorship Leads to the Spread of Information

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In 2003, Barbra Streisand made a grave miscalculation.

She attempted to sue photographer Kenneth Adelman for invasion of privacy. In the process of documenting the California coastline, he photographed her Malibu mansion. Adelman then included the photo as part of the California Coastal Records Project.

Adelman created the publicly available 12,000 photo collection in order to document coastal erosion. His aim was to influence government policymakers. No matter the intent, Streisand didn’t take kindly to the inclusion of an image of her home. She launched a $50 million lawsuit.

Before the lawsuit, “Image 3850” had only been downloaded from Adelman’s site six times, two of which were by Streisand’s attorneys. Afterward? Over 420,000 people visited the site in a month due to the resulting publicity.

As for the lawsuit, things didn’t go well for Barbra Streisand. The case was dismissed and Streisand subsequently had to pay Adelman’s legal fees totaling $155,567.

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