1. Stop fearing stress.

A couple of years ago, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal made a disturbing discovery. For years she'd been warning people that stress kills. And it does, new research showed--but only if you expect it to. People who experienced a lot of stress and believed that stress was harmful were indeed much likelier to die than those who experienced little stress. But those who experienced great stress but believed it wasn't harming them were in no more danger than the stress-free, she explains in a talk that may change your whole relationship with the stressors in your own life.

Worth watching:

Some notes:

http://pandawhale.com/post/26836/kelly-mcgonigal-how-to-make-stress-your-friend

This is something that's difficult to reconcile in my brain but science supports it. The meaning is more important than the stress that may follow for our health. Thank you! 

You're very welcome. It's hard to put this into practice. It takes patience. And... practice.

Finally, McGonigal referenced a third study from the University of Buffalo that found that every major stressful life experience increased an adult's risk of death by 30% — unless they also spent a significant amount of time helping loved ones and neighbors. Then, there was a 0% increase in risk of death. "When you choose to connect with others under stress, you can create resilience," McGonigal said.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/kelly-mcgonigals-ted-talk-on-stress-2014-3?op=1

Would you like to be smarter, more confident, kinder, more resilient under stress, and more successful? 

Of course you would, and you can. In a fascinating series of TED Talks, social psychologists describe ways we can trick our own brains to make ourselves better in almost every way. Here are some of the most compelling.

More:

http://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/7-mind-expanding-lessons-from-ted-talks-on-how-to-hack-your-own-brain.html

4. Remind yourself to be generous.

A rigged game of Monopoly shows what many have observed in life: The more fortunate and richer you are, the more entitled you feel, and the less likely you are to offer help to those who need it. But, social psychologist Paul Piff tells us, it doesn't have to be that way. A small reminder, such as a 46-second video on child poverty, is enough to reverse that nasty piece of human nature. So provide yourself with those reminders and you'll remain a good person, no matter how rich and successful you become.

Watch:

5. Don't put too much faith in your own memories.

The number of eyewitness accounts and identifications that have been proved wrong by DNA or other evidence is only one example of how unreliable human memory is, as psychologist Elizabeth Loftus describes in her TED Talk. Not only that, it's surprisingly easy to implant false memories in people, as some psychologists have unintentionally done when they thought they were unearthing repressed memories. So think twice next time you're "sure" about something you remember.

Watch: