38 Adversity, rebound, and negativity bias

Nov 23

No. 38 – 25 August 2023

Welcome to the 38th edition of 4-TP, a weekly newsletter on building resilience, courage, and happiness.

We avoid adversity because it's uncomfortable. But, there's an ancient way to redefine it and face it head-on.

I never saw a wild thing

sorry for itself.

A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough

without ever having felt sorry for itself.

— Source: Self Pity by D.H. Lawrence

The 3 steps to bouncing back up (which I learned the hard way):

Be kind to self: Accept yourself as you are.

Manage your health: Exercise, nutrition, and sleep are all essential ingredients.

Manage expectations: Building any skill takes time.

We tend to focus more on the bad than the good.

However, research from Martin Seligman and his colleagues demonstrates that we can change our way of thinking and become more optimistic.

More optimistic means more positive emotions and better life satisfaction.

It requires daily reflection on the positive things.

What are some positive events that happened to you today and what can you do tomorrow to enable more of this good thing?

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Till next week,
— Carlos & Stef

39 Stoic techniques, Invictus, and maximizing energy