Here's What Your Handwriting Says About You

Your handwriting reveals much more than you might imagine.

There's a whole science behind analyzing handwriting for personality traits called graphology, which has been around since the days of Aristotle. Today, it's used for a variety of purposes, from criminal investigations to understanding your health. Some employers even use handwriting analysis to screen potential employees for compatibility.

We talked to  master graphologist Kathi McKnight   about what the seemingly insignificant details in your writing say about you. "Just from analyzing your handwriting, experts can find over 5,000 personality traits," she says. 

McKnight readily admits that the information she provides below is a basic overview, so it won't apply to everyone in every situation. Yet these factors can show you aspects about yourself that you may not have considered before. 

Try writing out a sentence (may we suggest "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"?) and keep reading to see what your handwriting says about you.

Mike Nudelman / Business Insider

Source: https://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-handwriting-says-143659286.html

This guy is impossible.......!!

A guy was cutting the tail off his dog. His neighbor asked, "What the hell are you doing?" 

“My mother-in-law is coming to visit and I don't want any sign of welcome" He replied.

Source: ajokeaday.com

A stupid question

A guy was walking along the street when he saw a crowd of people running towards him. He stopped one of the runners and asked: “What’s happening?” The runner replied breathlessly: “A lion has escaped from the zoo.” “Oh my, which way is it heading?” “Well you don’t think we are chasing it, do you?” 

Source: ajokeaday.com

Burn Fat Faster with these exercises

Here's a video that I found on burning fat faster.....try it out maybe it'll work for you

Share your results

Source: http://bcove.me/w2ura51n

The Top 5 exercises for bigger biceps

When people start working out, the first thing they flex is their biceps muscles. In fact, most guys are obsessed with getting bigger guns. Here are the top five exercises that should help you build bigger biceps:

Concentration Curl

A great beginner exercise for building bigger biceps, this exercise can be done while sitting or standing, though the standing variation should be avoided by those with lower back problems.

How to do

Sit on the edge of the bench. Use your right arm to pick the dumbbell up and place the back of your upper left arm on the top of your left thigh. Rotate the palm of your hand until it’s facing away from the thigh. Extend your arm so that the dumbbell is just above the floor. This is your starting position. Curl the dumbbell while contracting your biceps as you breathe out. Make sure your upper arm is stationary. Continue this movement until the dumbbell reaches your shoulders; hold the position for a second and then return to the starting position. This is one rep. Do the desired number of the sets. And then repeat with the left hand.

Preacher Curl

Another popular biceps building exercise, the preacher curl is done on a preacher bench and can be done using a small barbell, a dumbbell or an E-Z bar.

How to do

Position yourself on the preacher bench with an E-Z bar in your hands, your palm facing up. With your upper arms and chest positioned against the preacher bench pad, hold the bar at shoulder level. This will be your starting position. Inhale as you slowly lower the weight, until your arm is almost fully extended. Exhale, using your biceps muscle to curl the weight back up until your arm is fully contracted at the starting position. Squeeze the biceps and hold for a brief moment at the contracted position to get the maximum benefit. Once you have completed the exercise with the left arm, do the same with the right.

Chin Ups

Or rather a pull-up with your palms facing inwards is the best bodyweight exercise for biceps out there. While it works your lats, it will also add to your upper body strength and help you build bigger biceps. How to do:

Stand straight with your arm fully extended while gripping the pull-up bar. Keeping your knees bent, pull yourself up to the point where your chin clears the bar. Return to your original position. Once you get used to it you can add weights to your feet to increase the challenge.

 Incline Dumbbell Curl

This is a variation of the classic biceps curl in which you lie back on a high-incline bench with your arms facing forward. Keeping them forward at all times, curl each arm alternately with a full range of motion. Keep in mind that while doing this exercise, you might have to use less weights than you usually do while standing, but this will stimulate your biceps more.  

E-Z Bar Biceps Curl

The standard biceps curl is an old school favourite, but there’s a huge debate about which equipment is the best for doing the curl. Should you use dumbbells, barbells, the cable machine or an E-Z bar? We’ve found the E-Z bar to be the best since there’s less scope of ‘cheating’ and it also puts less pressure on your wrists and more on your biceps. Stand up straight holding an E-Z bar with a shoulder-width grip. The palms of your hands should be facing towards each other and your elbows should be close to your torso. This will be your starting position. Exhale and curl the E-Z bar upward by contracting your biceps. Be sure to keep your upper arms stationary; continue raising the E-Z bar until it reaches shoulder level. Hold the contracted position for a brief moment. Inhale as you slowly lower the bar to the starting position. Repeat the desired number of steps and make sure that you’re using only your biceps and the rest of your upper body is stationary.

So which is your favourite biceps exercise?

Source: https://in.lifestyle.yahoo.com/top-5-exercises-bigger-biceps-085323707.html

Believe It Or Not!

A cockroach will live nine days without its head, before it starves to death.

A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

A pig's orgasm lasts for 30 minutes.

A snail can sleep for three years.

All Polar bears are left-handed.

American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.

Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

Butterflies taste with their feet.

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, dogs only have about ten.

Cat's urine glows under a black light.

China has more English speakers than the United States.

Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.

Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.

I am. is the shortest complete sentence in the English language

If Barbie were life-size, her measurements would be 39-23-33. She would stand seven feet, two inches tall and have a neck twice the length of a normal human's neck.

If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.

If you keep a goldfish in a dark room, it will eventually turn white.

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

In ancient Egypt, priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies, including their eyebrows and eyelashes.

In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

Marilyn Monroe had six toes.

Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.

More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plane crashes.

No word in the English language rhymes with month.

Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.

On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.

One of the reasons marijuana is illegal today is because cotton growers in the '30s lobbied 
against hemp farmers, they saw it as competition.

Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do.

Shakespeare invented the word "assassination" and "bump."

Some lions mate over 50 times a day.

Starfish haven't got brains.

Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.

The average human eats eight spiders in their lifetime at night.

The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.

The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.

The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.

The most common name in the world is Mohammed.

The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.

The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan."

The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, has twice as many bathrooms as is necessary. When it was built in the 1940s, the state of Virginia still had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities for blacks and whites.

The sentence, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English language.

The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.

The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

The word racecar and kayak are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left.

There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters on only one row of the keyboard.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

You are more likely to be killed by a Champagne cork than by a poisonous spider.

You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.

You share your birthday with at least nine million other people in the world.

Source: http://www.short-funny-stories.com/funny-stories/story-77.html

It Took Me Over 50 Years To Learn

Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

You should not confuse your career with your life.

Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

Never lick a steak knife.

The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.

The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers.

A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

Your friends love you anyway.

Thought for the day: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

Source: http://www.short-funny-stories.com/funny-stories/story-86.html

Never EVER love the organisation you work for

by Pramod Kumar Srivastava 

Pramod Kumar Srivastava runs a business management consulting firm.

In the 15 years he's worked in the field, he's learnt a few lessons (sometimes the hard way too) about life, jobs and careers.

A secure job, he says, is a myth.

And so in the pages to follow he offers these tips to 'future-proof' your life and career.

The last time someone gave you an honest career advice was probably when you were looking for a new job.

However, in most cases, people learn their best life and career lessons either when they are in the firing line or after they have lost a job.

Before you get to that unfortunate moment and scramble for advice, here are some things all of us must do irrespective of whether you think you have a secure job or not.

1. Never ever love the organisation you work for…

…because no organisation loves you.

Employees are hired by the organisation for a purpose.

They pay you for the job you do.

Once the purpose is met, they no longer need you or your services.

Instead, love your job and give it your 100 per cent, irrespective of which organisation you are working for.

2. Always update your knowledge

Most of us after reaching a comfortable phase of our careers undervalue the power of information and knowledge.

It is never a bad idea to enrol into a new course, learn new technologies, and improve your communication and presentation skills.

Always be up-to-date with the demands of the industry.

So that when you are given the pink slip, these skills will help you sail through and find a new job soon.

3. Always remember that your job was secure till yesterday only

Every day, we go to office assuming everything to be alright.

Until one afternoon a set of employees (which may or may not include you) are called in a town hall meeting and given the bad news.

Always bear in mind that your job was secure only till yesterday.

Today, anything can happen.

In a positive way, you need to be prepared for the bad news every day.

4. Think like an entrepreneur

Most organisations believe in the give-and-take policy.

The employer pays you a salary for a certain job or project while you are expected to deliver the results.

Think that you're an entrepreneur selling skills or talent and the organisation as the buyer.

This will help you understand and sort your relationship with the organisation better.

5. Do not interfere; never argue with your boss

While it is important to be pro-active and give healthy suggestions, you must not stretch it too far and get in the way of your bosses.

Sometimes it is better to mind your own business.

Do not try and fix all the problems of your department and your organisation.

More important, never argue with your boss.

It will only worsen the situation for you -- if there is a trouble situation, you'll be the first in the firing line.

6. Your boss is not your friend

Most of us feel that if we party and spend time with our bosses, they become our best friends.

There's nothing wrong about being social and friendly, but don't forget that the boss is there to manage you and s/he can never be your friend.

Similarly, out of ten colleagues that you're friends with, one might turn out to be the black sheep -- and surprise you with their actions.

Something you say in a less harmful way might end up reaching the wrong ears and you'll face the music for it.

This could also be a reason for you to be fired by the organisation.

Demarcate your personal and professional lives. Don't mix the two.

7. Always look for better jobs and be ready to hop

There is no harm in being selfish.

Always keep your CV up-to-date and keep a tab on the latest job openings in the domain you’re interested in.

Stay in touch with your job consultant and make networking a regular habit.

The moment you find a better opportunity than your existing one, grab it.

Do not always wait for something bad to happen to make a wise career decision.

8. Live within your means

The young crop of professionals are least guilty about their extravagant lifestyles.

Again, nothing wrong about splurging when you can, but it would not be a bad idea to endorse a lifestyle that is one or two levels lower than what you earn.

If your monthly take-away salary is Rs 50,000, live as if you are earning only Rs 35,000 a month.

Always save enough for a wet day.

That way, even if you are unsuccessful in finding a job for the six months, you need not panic.

9. Have a spouse who earns too

For men who think educated women should stay at home and only take care of kids, think of a situation when the economic burden of the family falls entirely upon you.

In this era of high inflation, it's not a bad idea to encourage your spouse to build her career.

Even if one of you lose your job, the other is always there to keep the hearth burning.

This will also give you the confidence and help you focus on finding the right job rather feel pressurised to take up anything that comes your way.

10. Start a parallel business in the name of your spouse or grown-up children

If you have another source of income, it will always be helpful.

While you’re still on the job, with help from your spouse or children, invest in a small business -- start a restaurant, a career consultancy, or anything you can invest your time and interest in outside of office.

Why wait for something unfortunate to happen for you to take charge of your own life?

If you imbibe the above as part of your life, you'll not face bad news.

And even if you do, you'll navigate through it all and emerge a winner.

Always remember not to allow someone else to pull the strings of your life.

Take control of your life and be the master of your own destiny.

Source: http://www.rediff.com/getahead/slide-show/slide-show-1-career-10-tips-to-future-proof-your-career/20140710.htm#1

5 reasons you didn't get a job even after a great interview

1. The recruiter didn't like you

Likeability is a subjective matter and you can't please everyone. However, there is no denying this fact that likeability matters at workplace.

The phenomenon is going beyond the college-popularity contest as your ability to come across as likeable is shaping how people are sized up and treated by bosses and co-workers.

Likeable people are more likely to get hired.

There is little that you can control about it, and neither it is too useful to put up a personality you think others will like. So as they say, just be yourself.

If the interviewer fails to understand or get you, it's better to keep looking for a place you'll be comfortable.

2. You are less of a networker

There are plenty of job seekers applying for the same position and on most occasions there will be more than two suitors, both equally good as a potential candidate.

Having to choose from the two, the person who has been referred by an employee will always have a greater chance of getting selected against the unknown candidate as the referral is considered a 'low-risk hire'.

The only solution for this is to increase your network.

3. Recruiter resorted to internal hiring

Many times recruiters find a suitable match for the position from within the organisation, even after advertising for the position.

Known as internal hire, these people are more likely to be transferred to new roles and responsibilities against choosing a candidate from outside, since such internal hires are typically low-risk for the recruiter.

Internal hires are easier to blend in the new role as they are already familiar with the work culture and people at the organisation. Plus, the new manager can be sure of person's capabilities, personality and work ethics through the colleagues.

4. The position is no longer relevant

Many a times, owing to budgetary concerns or other market dynamics, the position is no longer deemed relevant and thus hiring process for it is scrapped.

There are so many things that can lead to cancellation or revision of the job, right from a drop in profit to a market crisis, that it is sometimes hard to guess why the interviewer didn't extend an offer letter.

But there is little you can actually do about it. Revision of job can include revising compensations to a lower level, or changing the job description which can disqualify you from the job itself.

5. You might not be attractive enough

Sounds silly, right? But full marks whoever said that a book is best judged by its cover.

Well, it might sound a little not-so-right to recruiters, but like all humans they also get swayed by superficial elements. This is not to say that all HR people are like this, but yes, many HR professionals pay more attention to pretty faces and neat looks.

What you can do from your end is try and look the sharpest you can.

Wear a perfectly ironed pair of formals, gel your hair together, shave off your beard and look confident.

After all, first impression is the last impression.

Source: http://www.rediff.com/getahead/slide-show/slide-show-1-career-5-reasons-you-didnt-get-a-job-even-after-a-great-interview/20140717.htm#1

23 Daily Habits That Will Make You Smarter

Courtesy of Bradley Page

Getting smarter isn't something that happens overnight. Instead, you have to build your intelligence every day  through intentional daily habits.

In a recent Quora thread, "What would you do to be a little smarter every single day?", readers shared their advice on good habits you can establish.

Here are some simple actions that could help you become a smarter person.

1. Come up with 10 ideas every day. Think about how to reduce poverty, how to solve a daily problem you have, interesting movie ideas, or anything. It doesn't matter what subject your ideas fall into, as long as you're working your brain and your idea muscles. Your list might even lead to a new startup idea or writing subject. — Claudia Azula Altucher

2. Read the newspaper. It will help you become more aware of the important things happening around the word. You'll learn to form your own opinions and connect the dots between seemingly unrelated things. You'll also have a lot more to talk about at parties or with friends. — Manas J Saloi

3. Play devil's advocate. Take something you recently learned and generate a unique opinion on it that wouldn't immediately come to mind. Try to support it with evidence, and be open to the idea that new evidence will change your opinion. Repeat this every day, and you'll become much better at thinking outside the box.

If you're feeling stuck, try reading and critically evaluating the editorial section of papers . They will help you understand how other people form arguments and express their opinions. — Peter DePaulo

4. Read a chapter in a fiction or non-fiction book. Aim t o read a b oo k a week. Yo u can al ways find pockets of time to read, whether on your daily commute or while you're waiting in line. Goodreads is a great way to keep track of everything you read and to also find a community of other readers.

Fiction books are great for understanding characters and getting absorbed into another perspective, while non-fiction books are great for introducing you to new topics, from politics to psychology. —Claudia Azula Altucher

5. Instead of watching TV, watch educational videos. Sometimes, it's more fun to watch things about a subject you love than to read about it, and you can learn a lot from other people's experiences.

You can find fun, educational videos on Khan Academy or watch TED talks. You can also find good ones on Youtube's channel SmarterEveryDay. In videos, the information is often presented in a digestible, memorable way, so you can be assured they'll stick. — Hendrik Sleeckx

6. Subscribe to feeds of interesting information. Follow interesting voices on Facebook and Twitter, so you'll always learn something new when you look at your newsfeed or dashboard.  For example, if you want to keep up with the latest news in science and technology, subscribe to the "I Fucking Love Science" page on Facebook.  You can also follow email newsletters, such as Cal Newport's Study Hacks and Today I Found Out. — Saurabh Shah

7. Check in with your favorite knowledge sources. Ever y day, scroll through Quora, Stack Overflow, specialty blogs, or any other sources that satiate your hunger for knowledge. This is an extremely easy habit, because other users are curating the content for you, so all you have to do is follow the ones who write about topics interesting to you. Try using Pocket to save articles for later reading, and then try to get through them before going to sleep at night. — Manas J Saloi

8. Share what you learn with other people. If you find someone to debate and analyze ideas with, you can add to each other's knowledge and gain new perspectives. Also, when you can explain ideas to someone else, it means you've definitely mastered the concept . You can even share what you learn without directly talking to someone. Many people like to start blogs so they can engage others in online dialogue. — Mike Xie

9. Make two lists: a list of work-related skills you want to learn now and a list for things you want to achieve in the future. Google Docs is a  convenient way to keep track of your lists. For both, decide what you want to learn, compile sources that will teach you these skills, and then work on them each day.

For example, if you work in a computer-science related field, your first list might suggest you learn something new in Python one day or that you try using MongoDB another day.

For your second list, you can think about long-term goals, such as whether you want to go into marketing or architecture. Write down the small steps you need to take to reach that goal, whether it's by reading the experts in those fields or taking classes at a local college. — Manas J Saloi

10. Make an "I Did" list. At the end of each day, write down what you completed. This will help you feel better about all the things you accomplished, especially if you're feeling discouraged. It will also help you reflect on how productive you were and how you can re-structure your to-do lists for the next day. — Claudia Azula Altucher

11. Write down what you learn. You can start a blog or use an app like Inkpad to help you keep track of everything you learn. Not only will this be a great way to keep a record of everything you're doing, but it's also a good source of motivation to keep you accountable. You will want to learn more if you know that at the end of the day you'll have to write about it. — Manas J Saloi

12. Stimulate your mind. Going on a daily run is a great way to get your brain flowing and to keep your mental health in shape. It's also a great way to think through difficult decisions or process new information. — Rick Bruno

13. Take online courses. Check out this list of the most popular online courses for professionals. Make sure you don't overload yourself; commit to one to two and truly focus on them. The syllabi will also keep you on track, so you know you will be doing something every day, whether it's listening to a lecture or working on an assignment.   — Manas J Saloi

14. Talk to someone you find interesting. Even if they're strangers, don't be afraid to approach them. Ask about their interests and how they discovered them. Oftentimes, you learn the most from people you barely know. — Manas J Saloi

15. Hang out with people who are smarter than you. Spend as much time as you can with smart people. Every day, you should strive to have a coffee date or walk with someone who inspires you.

Always be humble and willing to learn. Ask as many questions as possible. If you are always around people who are more knowledgeable than you, you'll have no choice but to learn more. — Manas J Saloi

16. Follow your questions. If you see or hear about something cool, don't just let the moment pass. Follow up — pursue your curiosity and find the answer to your question. — Mike Xie

17. Use a word-of-the-day app. You will increase your vocabulary, which can help you in competitive tests like the SAT or GRE, or even just sound more eloquent in daily interactions.

You can also try to learn new vocabulary in a different language. Every day, try to add five to 10 more words to the foreign language you are trying to pursue. You can use LiveMocha, Basuu, or DuoLingo.  — Manas J Saloi

18. Do something scary. "Getting out of our comfort zone always makes us wiser." Every day, push yourself a little further. Try public speaking by joining a ToastMasters class, lead a meeting by volunteering a proposal at work, or reach out to someone you really admire by sending a quick letter or email. — Claudia Azula Altucher

19. Explore new areas. If you can't travel every day, at least try to find something new within your hometown. You'll meet different people, learn new facts, and understand something new about the world. It's a lot more productive than staying at home and watching TV. — Manas J Saloi

20. Play "smart" games. Some games, like  chess and Scrabble,  expand your mind. Challenge yourself when you play them. For example, play Scrabble without a dictionary. You can also solve puzzles via games like Sudoku, 2048, and Doors. — Saurabh Shah

21. Set aside some time to do nothing. Oftentimes, sitting in silence can help you get inspiration and reflect on your day. — Claudia Azula Altucher

22. Adopt a productive hobby. If you have something you can work on every day, from knitting to fly fishing, you can actively learn more just from doing. For instance, you may try to play a new piece of music every day, read a physics textbook, write a few more pages in your novel, or learn a new computer skill. — Mayank Rajput

23. Apply what you learn. If you recently learned a new coding skill or how to play an instrument, make sure you are using that skill in your life as often as possible. Learning by doing is one of the most effective ways to become smarter. — Himanshu Pal

Source: https://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/23-daily-habits-smarter-174229976.html

This Simple Daily Exercise Boosts Employee Performance

Flickr/Shane Adams

The "Dear Diary" technique helps employees reflect on and absorb what they've learned.

Want an easy way to help your employees become more effective? Ask them to spend the end of each workday reflecting on their performance, research suggests.

A recent study found that "employees who spent the last 15 minutes of each day of their training period writing and reflecting on what they had learned did 23% better in the final training test than other employees," the Harvard Business Review reports.

The study, "Learning by Thinking: How Reflection Aids Performance," was conducted by Giada Di Stefano of HEC Paris, Francesca Gino and Gary P. Pisano of Harvard Business School, and Bradley Staats of the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School.

It found that employees who practice a skill and then reflect on their progress learn it better than those who just practiced.

If you have new employees or want a team-building exercise, you can use the "Dear Diary" technique, as the Harvard Business Review calls it, with your team. Employees simply spend 15 minutes or less at the end of the day writing one or two short paragraphs about how well they performed that day and what they learned. You can customize it by using a rating system, where they rate their performance on a scale from 1-5 or 1-10.

Asking them to share the results with you or the team can aid communication, but the researchers noted that employees who shared their results did not perform significantly better than those who only reflected by themselves.

To draw this conclusion, the researchers performed two experiments in a lab, where paid participants solved brain teasers. In both cases, the employees who were told to reflect on the strategy they used to solve the first problem did better than those who didn't. Those who both reflected and explained their techniques to other participants also did better than those who did nothing extra but had essentially the same results as those who only reflected, within the margin of error.

Then the team decided to test their findings in a real-world setting. They went to Wipro BPO, a leading business-process outsourcing company in India.

At the end of employee training, Wipro gives new employees a test, which is graded on a scale of 0-100. The employees who took 15 minutes to reflect at the end of training for 10 days scored 23% higher on average than those who didn't. Those who both reflected and shared their reflections with fellow trainees scored 25% higher than those who didn't, but the team determined this difference to be negligible.

The research team notes that the findings can be used to improve employee performance even when they progress beyond trainees.

Source: https://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/simple-daily-exercise-boosts-employee-144232076.html

This Trait Predicts Success Better Than Your IQ

Daniel Goodman/Business Insider

We all strive to become smarter — whether by changing our daily habits or perusing a new website— with the hope it will make us more successful. 

However, the trait that takes you from average to spectacular comes from your measure of cognitive control, not your IQ, says Daniel Goleman, author of "FOCUS: The Hidden Driver Of Excellence," in a recent LinkedIn post. 

Cognitive control refers to abilities such as controlling impulses, managing negative emotions, and delaying gratification in pursuit of long-term goals, Goleman explains.

He points to studies from the University of Pennsylvania to exemplify the importance of these skills: Students that earned the highest grades weren't necessarily the ones with the highest IQs, but rather those that kept trying despite setbacks and failures. 

Another study Goleman analyzed monitored over 1,000 children for a 30-year period, and found that those who were most successful in their 30s where the same people that had the best cognitive control as kids. 

"IQ and technical skills matter, of course, they are crucial threshold abilities, what you need to get the job done," Goleman says. "But everyone you compete with at work has those same skill sets."

It's how you use your intelligence, in the form of cognitive control, that distinguishes you in the workplace. These distinguishing characteristics, including confidence, striving for goals despite setbacks, staying cool under pressure, collaboration, persuasion, and influence are the crucial factors in building a successful career, Goleman says. 

In fact, he believes that 80% to 90% of succeeding in top leadership positions comes down to these distinguishing competencies. "It's your expertise and intelligence that get you the job — but your emotional intelligence that makes you a success," he says. 

Source: https://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/trait-predicts-success-better-iq-183813283.html