New Neuroscience Reveals 7 Secrets That Will Make You Persuasive

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by Eric Barker


You can painstakingly show somebody tons of bulletproof evidence and present flawless logical arguments but often they still won't change their mind. What gives?

The problem is that the human brain is not a purely rational computer. And when we ignore that, even the best of efforts to convince others can fall flat.

From The Influential Mind:

As it turns out, while we adore data, the currency by which our brains assess said data and make decisions is very different from the currency many of us believe our brains should use. The problem with an approach that prioritizes information and logic is that it ignores the core of what makes you and me human: our motives, our fears, our hopes and desires. As we will see, this presents a serious problem; it means that data has only a limited capacity to alter the strong opinions of others.

So the human brain doesn't work by strictly logical rules -- but it does work by rules. And if we know what they are, we have a much better shot of framing our arguments in ways that other people will find convincing.

So what are these rules? Don't look at me -- I'm the guy who presents heaps of data all the time thinking that makes a difference. (Sigh.) That said, I know where we might be able to get some answers...

Tali Sharot is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London and her new book is The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others.

She's identified 7 factors that influence our ability to influence. (I hope you don't mind if I try to change your mind about how to get others to change their mind.)

Let's get to it...


1) Prior Beliefs

Don't ignore a person's current stance when trying to persuade. Military strategy says direct assaults against fortified defenses are stupid. The human brain is no different. Start off by telling people they're wrong and you're already in trouble.

When our brains hear new info that agrees with our beliefs, we eagerly accept it. When we hear things that contradict our beliefs, our minds suddenly morph into defense lawyers looking for any conceivable flaw.

So a few rounds of back-and-forth jousting doesn't weaken people's opposition. Often it has a "boomerang effect" that ironically causes them to double down.

From The Influential Mind:

When you provide someone with new data, they quickly accept evidence that confirms their preconceived notions (what are known as prior beliefs) and assess counterevidence with a critical eye. Because we are often exposed to contradicting information and opinions, this tendency will generate polarization, which will expand with time as people receive more and more information. In fact, presenting people with information that contradicts their opinion can cause them to come up with altogether new counterarguments that further strengthen their original view; this is known as the "boomerang effect."

You're a pretty smart person, right?

Well, that means you're more likely to boomerang, not less. (If you responded by saying, "No, I'm a moron" then you're off the hook.)

From The Influential Mind:

...the greater your cognitive capacity, the greater your ability to rationalize and interpret information at will, and to creatively twist data to fit your opinions. Ironically, then, people may use their intelligence not to draw more accurate conclusions but to find fault in data they are unhappy with.

So how do we overcome this natural neuroscientific resistance? Don't begin by trying to prove others wrong. Start by finding common ground.

When people who believe childhood vaccination is dangerous were presented with evidence that it's not, the discussion went nowhere. When the focus was shifted to "improving the health of children" the conversation made progress.

From The Influential Mind:

Influence behavior by building on common ground instead of trying to prove others wrong. Our instinct is to try to alter people’s beliefs and actions by introducing data to prove that we are right and they are wrong. It often fails, because in the face of facts that clash with their prior beliefs, people tend to come up with counterarguments or turn away. Instead, find arguments that rely on common ground. For example, telling parents who refuse to vaccinate their children that science has shown that vaccines do not cause autism did not alter the parents’ behavior. Instead, saying that vaccines would protect their children from deadly diseases was more effective—the argument did not contradict their prior beliefs and was compatible with the common goal of keeping children healthy.

(To learn more about the science of a successful life, check out my bestselling book here.)

So taking the right angle with your logic can be critical. But there's also a way to succeed that is usually considered the exact opposite of logic...


2) Emotion

We all know that our mood affects our judgment. Neuroscience research shows that we actually understand each other better when our brains are "in sync" emotionally.

I tell a joke. You laugh. I laugh. And then the conversation seems to go more smoothly. The positive emotion synced our grey matter. This is one of the reasons that stories can be so powerful in convincing people even when rational arguments fail.

You can have the best evidence in the world, but if you're emotionally out of sync with the other person they might not even really be hearing what you're saying.

From The Influential Mind:

Lauri Nummenmaa, a Finnish neuroscientist who studies brain synchronization, writes that this may be one of the roles of emotion in neural synchronization—to promote social interaction and understanding, and to therefore enhance our ability to predict each other’s actions… Emotion equates the physiological state of the listener with that of the speaker, which makes it more likely that the listener will process incoming information in a similar manner to how the speaker sees it. This is why eliciting emotion can help in communicating your ideas and having others share your point of view, whether you are conversing with just one individual or talking to thousands.

So don't neglect to share feelings. Make a joke. Tell a story. Don't try and connect with reason until you've connected with emotion.

From The Influential Mind:

One of the most powerful ways to communicate ideas effectively is to share feelings. Emotions are especially contagious; by expressing feelings ourselves we are shaping other people’s emotional states, and by doing so we make it more likely that the people in front of us will take on our point of view.

(To learn the science of how to take naps that will make you smarter and happier, click here.)

This is all great for ideas. But how do we get people to change their behavior?


3) Incentives

If you want people to do something, emphasizing rewards is powerful.

In one hospital the staff was only washing their hands thoroughly 10% of the time. (I'll pause a second to let your horror die down a bit.)

But when researchers set up an electronic scoreboard that congratulated employees after a good scrubbing, compliance went up to 90%.

From The Influential Mind:

The researchers placed an electronic board in each room giving the staff immediate feedback on how they were doing. Every time a doctor, nurse, or other worker washed their hands, the numbers on the board went up. These figures indicated how well the current shift was going: what percentage of workers were currently washing their hands and what the weekly rate was. What happened? Compliance soared to almost 90 percent!

Anticipation of rewards usually beats fear when it comes to getting people's brains to act. This is one of the reasons why video games can be so addictive.

From The Influential Mind:

If you want someone to act quickly, promising a reward that elicits an anticipation of pleasure may be better than threatening them with a punishment that elicits an anticipation of pain. Whether you are trying to motivate your team to work harder or your child to tidy their room, remember the brain’s “Go” reaction. Creating positive anticipation in others—perhaps a weekly acknowledgment on the company website of the most productive employee or the possibility of finding a beloved toy under a pile of clothing—may be more effective at motivating action than the threat of a pay cut or a time-out.

But it's also vital to keep the other side of this equation in mind. When you want people to stop doing something, warnings about negatives prove more powerful than incentives.

From The Influential Mind:

...when your goal is to cause someone else not to do something—a child to avoid eating a cookie or an employee to avoid communicating confidential information to unauthorized individuals—warning of bad consequences may be more effective than promising rewards.

(To learn how to best use caffeine — from a neuroscientist — click here.)

Focusing on rewards is a much better way to tell people what to do. But, then again, people hate to be told what to do. So the answer to getting people to do what they're told is not to tell them what to do...


4) Agency

People like to feel in control. This isn't just a personal preference; we're biologically wired to seek control. It makes us happier and healthier across a number of dimensions.

From The Influential Mind:

...all else being equal, cancer patients who have a greater perception of control survive longer. Lower risk of cardiovascular disease has also been associated with a greater perception of control. This is not surprising; the sense of control reduces fear, anxiety, and stress—all things that have a detrimental effect on our bodies.

Former FBI lead international hostage negotiator Chris Voss says it's critical in any negotiation to give the other side a feeling of control. And the research agrees.

So when you want to persuade, don’t give orders; give options. Don’t tell; ask and guide.

From The Influential Mind:

...giving people an opportunity to advise how their taxes should be allocated increased the likelihood that they would pay them in full. To produce impact, we often need to overcome our instinct to control and instead offer a choice… What is interesting is that the sense of control need only be that—a perception. It is better to guide people toward ultimate solutions while at the same time maintaining their sense of agency, rather than to give orders.

(To learn how to use FBI hostage negotiation techniques to lower your bills, click here.)

All of this stuff is great but it'll be useless if they're not really paying attention in the first place. So how do you make people want to listen to you?


5) Curiosity

In general, our brains seek positive information and avoid negative information. This is true to an absolutely terrifying degree...

When doctors tell people they may have Huntington's Disease, very few actually follow through on getting tested. Other studies have shown similar results when it comes to HIV testing and breast cancer screening. When the news could be bad, people often don't want to hear it.

From The Influential Mind:

When potential carriers are asked if they intend to take the test, between 45 and 70 percent say yes. Yet most of them do not follow up on their explicitly stated intention. In fact, one study reported that when approached by the registries of testing centers, only 10 to 20 percent of people at risk for Huntington’s choose to register for the test...

So if we frame the info we have as bad, people will often tune out. But if the same information is presented as positive, others often get curious. But how do you make them really curious?

When we hear something that sounds good, but the information is incomplete, your brain wants to "fill the gap." Best example?

"Here are 7 clickbait headlines that will make you more curious."

From The Influential Mind:

...consider online clickbait such as “The ten celebrities you never knew were enthusiastic gardeners” or “The three politicians you never knew got a nose job.” Those create gaps of knowledge in people’s mind that were not there to begin with. I never considered which celebrity adores plants or which politician used to have a crooked nose, but now that this gap of knowledge had been pointed out to me, I have an urge to fill it. Once we are told what we do not know, we want to know.

So to draw people in emphasize the possibility of improvement and highlight the informational gap so they start asking questions.

From The Influential Mind:

Reframe the message to highlight the possibility for progress, rather than doom. Our intuition is that if we have something important to convey, others will want to know it. This instinct is wrong. In particular, if the information is tied to a bleak message, many will actively avoid it—as was the case with preflight safety briefings. Reframe your message so that the information you provide will induce positive feelings (as the airlines did), highlight the informational gap you are filling, and show how the knowledge can be used for the better.

(To learn 6 rituals from ancient wisdom that will make you happy, click here.)

So you're emphasizing the positive benefits that can come from listening to you. That's great. Unless it's not. Because there's an exception to this rule...


6) State Of Mind

When we feel threatened, we're much more sensitive to negative information.

From The Influential Mind:

We found that under threat, people were much more inclined to take in negative information—such as learning that the likelihood of being robbed is higher than they’d thought—than when they were relaxed. The more stressed they were, the greater their tendency to alter their views in response to unexpected bad news. (Stress did not affect the ability of good news to change their beliefs.) Under threat, we automatically absorb cues about danger.

When we feel bad, our instinct is to play it safe -- even if this isn't the smart move. Research shows that when underdog football teams start losing, they play more conservatively. And this is a terrible strategy when the competition is better than you are.

From The Influential Mind:

Examining over one thousand football games from 2002 to 2006, Brian Burke, the creator of Advanced NFL Stats, a website about football and game theory, found that underdog teams, like Tedford’s, were less likely to vary their play. When they begin failing, they start minimizing risk. …a conservative strategy means underdog teams are less likely to fail grandiosely, but they are also less likely to win.

On the other hand, when we feel good we're more inclined to take risks. Researchers theorize that positive emotions make people buy more lottery tickets. When you feel good, you feel lucky.

From The Influential Mind:

Examining lottery sales in New York City, Ross Otto and his colleagues from New York University stumbled on a peculiar pattern. When unexpected good events happened, more people bought lottery tickets. A local sports team unexpectedly won a game? Purchases escalated. An atypical sunny day in the midst of winter? Sales went up. This study is correlational—it shows a relationship between variables, but we do not know whether one factor is driving another. However, one theory is that an unexpected positive event, such as a bright, sunny day, makes people feel good. When you are joyful and relaxed, your mind is more likely to focus on how things may go your way. You may then overestimate your luck and be more inclined to take a risk.

So align your presentation with the other person's mood. When they're feeling down, they'll be more receptive to suggestions that seem safe. When they're up, they'll be responsive to riskier ideas that have a big payoff.

From The Influential Mind:

A person’s emotional mind-set will affect how they react to what you have to say. There needs to be a match between the opinions we are offering and the state of the individual in front of us. The same person will ignore your guidance one day but welcome it with open arms another, simply because their favorite football team lost last night or because the sun is shining on a winter day.

(To see the schedule that very successful people follow every day, click here.)

Finally, it's important to keep in mind that when you're trying to persuade someone the two of you aren't the only ones who can affect the result...


7) Other People

We're social creatures. We love to think we act independently and aren't affected by the opinions of others, but we are. Always and forever.

This is so powerful that we follow the lead of others even when it can be life-threatening.

From The Influential Mind:

...every year, 10 percent of kidney donations in the United States go unused. It turns out that when a donation is declined by one patient, whether because of the patient’s specific medical condition or their religious beliefs, the next patient on the list is informed that the organ was previously declined but is not told the reason. That patient then assumes that the organ is faulty and passes up a potentially lifesaving operation—as will the next patient, and the next.

The flip side is just as true. When others are positive about something, we're more likely to see it positively as well.

From The Influential Mind:

Sean Taylor, who received his PhD from NYU and now works for Facebook, has studied how existing ratings and comments influence subsequent ratings. He found that if you manipulate the ratings so that the first review is glowing, the likelihood of other positive reviews increases by 32 percent and the final rating is enhanced by 25 percent!

When we frame our position as a positive and popular one it gives it more weight because, hey, all the cool kids are doing it.

(To learn the four Stoic secrets to being more productive, click here.)

Okay, we've covered a lot. Time to round it all up...


Sum Up

Here's how to use neuroscience to be more persuasive:

Prior Beliefs: Don't start with how they're wrong, start with common ground. (You may disagree with me on this but we both want to get better at persuasion, don't we?)

Emotion: Make them feel and get your brains in sync. (Look! Smiling puppies!)

Incentives: Focus on rewards, not warnings. (Incentives will get you what you want, I promise.)

Agency: Give options, not orders. (Would you like to offer them two possibilities or three? Totally up to you.)

Curiosity: "Fill the gap" and focus on the positive. (The headline of this blog post was not chosen at random, my friend.)

State of Mind: If they're feeling down, present the conservative option. If they're feeling good, focus on the riskier upside. (Before I explain this further, how are you feeling today?)

Other People: Showing the popularity of your position helps. (Every smart person I know follows this rule.)

That's all the data you need to stop being reliant on data. We didn't have statistics and research thousands of years ago but people still convinced one another.

We get the answers we need when we think like a computer.

But we get the help we need when we don't forget we're human.

How To Have More Energy: 3 Powerful Secrets From Research

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by Eric Barker




The world might be all go-go-go but that doesn't mean we are...

When Gallup researcher Tom Rath surveyed 10,000 people only 11% said they felt like they had a lot of energy.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

When we surveyed more than 10,000 people to see how they were doing across these three areas, we found that most people struggle on a daily basis. For example, when we asked them to think about their entire day yesterday, a mere 11 percent reported having a great deal of energy.

Luckily, Tom and his team didn't go take a nap. Instead, they poured over studies and talked to experts to get some answers on why renewable energy is a big thing everywhere but inside our bodies.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

To discover what creates a full charge, my team and I reviewed countless articles and academic studies, and interviewed some of the world’s leading social scientists. We identified and catalogued more than 2,600 ideas for improving daily experience.

They found there were three factors that separated your supercharged days from your "low battery" ones. Tom summed up their results in his book, Are You Fully Charged?: The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life.

We're going to look at some of what he found and learn how to have more energy.

Alrighty, let's get to it...


Meaning

Everybody wants happiness -- but that little bugger can be quite elusive and fleeting. As Viktor Frankl once said, "Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to 'be happy.'"

But if we seek meaning in life, we often get happiness as a bonus. So what's "meaning"?

It comes down to doing stuff that benefits other people. Research shows what makes us happy in the moment is often kinda selfish. And here's where things get a little weird...

Because neuroscience studies demonstrate that while focusing on meaning ends up making us happier, pursuing our own happiness can make us -- believe it or not -- unhappy.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

A 2014 study followed a group of teenagers for a full year to see how their brains reacted to self-fulfilling (hedonic) acts versus acts that created meaning (eudaimonic) using fMRI scans and questionnaires. While the participants were in the fMRI scanner, researchers posed scenarios to them about keeping money for themselves versus donating it to their families. The researchers also followed up at the end of the year to review any changes from the teens’ baseline levels of depressive symptoms. The results revealed that teenagers who had the greatest brain response to meaningful actions had the greatest declines in depressive symptoms over time. In contrast, teens who made more self-fulfilling decisions were more likely to have an increase in risk of depression. Meaningful activity essentially protects the brain from dark thoughts.

But happiness feels good, right? Isn't that why they call it happiness? Well, oddly enough, it doesn't feel good to your body if there's no meaning. The bodies of people who are cheery but lack anything deeper actually show higher levels of inflammation.

Happiness without meaning is the physical equivalent of being stressed out.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

When participants in a study led by the University of North Carolina’s Barbara Fredrickson were happy but lacked meaning in their lives (defined as pursuing a purpose bigger than self), they exhibited a stress-related gene pattern that is known to activate an inflammatory response. They had the same gene expression pattern as people dealing with constant adversity have. Over time, this pattern leads to chronic inflammation, which is related to a host of illnesses, like heart disease and cancer. Fredrickson noted, “Empty positive emotions... are about as good for you as adversity.” Unfortunately, 75 percent of participants in Fredrickson’s study fell into this category; their happiness levels outpaced their levels of meaningfulness. In contrast, participants who had meaning in their lives, whether or not they characterized themselves as happy, showed a deactivation in this stress-related gene pattern.

And when we feel we're making progress in meaningful work we're 250% more likely to be engaged at the office.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

My research suggests that the odds of being completely engaged in your job increase by more than 250 percent if you spend a lot of time doing meaningful work throughout the day. To discover what leads to better work and lives, Harvard Business School’s Teresa Amabile and psychologist Steven Kramer sorted through 12,000 diary entries and 64,000 specific workday events collected from 238 workers across seven different companies. Their conclusion from this research was: “Of all the events that engage people at work, the single most important — by far — is simply making progress in meaningful work.”

Okay, so how do we find this meaning stuff? Well, you don't find it. You create it. Research in the area of "job-crafting" shows that if we tweak how we work, we can enjoy a lot more meaning in those hours at the office.

What activities give you a feeling of engagement, warmth and pride in what you do? Find a way to spend more of your time doing that stuff and less of the other stuff. Talk to your boss and co-workers to try and shift duties around if you need to.

And speaking of co-workers, who makes you feel good versus stressed? How can you spend more time with the former and less time with the latter?

Small changes in how you work can make a big difference in how you feel.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

This research, led by a team at the University of Michigan, found that you can craft existing jobs to significantly improve the meaningfulness of your work. Effective “job crafting” starts by looking at how much time you dedicate to specific tasks that give you energy each day. It also entails looking at the way your relationships at work and your perception of what you do create meaning for others.

I know what some people are thinking... they can't change a thing about what they do or who they work with. No, you're not screwed.

The most important factor here is perception -- how you feel. And everyone's work benefits someone else. By thinking more about who your work helps and making a little effort to see those results, you can dramatically increase the level of meaning in your life.

When university call center employees who were asking alums for donations got to meet the scholarship students who benefited from their work, productivity, enthusiasm and the amount of money coming in went up dramatically.

We're often focused on our well-being above all else. Put a little more effort into your well-doing and your well-being often takes care of itself.

(To learn more about the science of a successful life, check out my bestselling book here.)

Okay, so meaning can help fill your tank. What else do we need?


Interaction

When Tom looked at the research something became quite clear: across the board, people greatly underestimated how much little daily interactions affected how they felt.

You may dream about winning Oscars or slaying dragons but those won't be the moments in life that you'll look back on most fondly. People consistently said that the most positive times in their lives all had to do with belonging and connecting -- not achieving.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

When researchers ask people to reconstruct the most positive and negative experiences of their lives, they consistently describe social events as their most influential memories over a lifetime. Across a series of four studies, participants recalled the moments when close relationships began or ended, when they fell in love, or when the loss of another person broke their heart. One of the study’s co-authors summarized, “In short, it was the moments of connecting to others that touched people’s lives the most.” Participants consistently rated events with other people as more influential than solitary experiences. Independent events or individual achievements, such as winning awards or completing tasks, did not affect participants the most. Instead, the researchers concluded, social experiences "gain their emotional punch from our need to belong."

And this is true day-to-day as well. When you have positive interactions with people throughout the day your chance of feeling good quadruples.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

My team’s research found that people who reported having great interactions throughout the day were nearly four times as likely to have very high well-being.

How can you guarantee that? Make close pals at work. But how do you know if you're really friends with someone at the office?

Ask yourself how much you share your personal problems with each other.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

Gallup’s research has shown that people who have “best friend”-caliber relationships at work are seven times as likely to be engaged in their job. When researchers asked employees how they formed a close workplace friendship, they found that it takes about a year for an acquaintance at work to become a friend. The telltale sign of a friendship between co-workers was the amount of time they spent talking about topics unrelated to work. Then the next phase, a very close friendship at work, was marked by something less intuitive: sharing problems from one another’s personal and work lives. This self-disclosure was the central element of the strongest relationships.

And how do you improve all of your interactions? Be 80% positive. Make sure 4 out of 5 things you say or do are about the good stuff, not the bad stuff.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

We need at least three to five positive interactions to outweigh every one negative exchange. Bad moments simply outweigh good ones. Whether you’re having a one-on-one conversation with a colleague or a group discussion, keep this simple shortcut in mind: At least 80 percent of your conversations should be focused on what’s going right. Workplaces, for example, often have this backward. During performance reviews, managers routinely spend 80 percent of their time on weaknesses, gaps, and “areas for improvement.”

Yeah, I know: evaluating and counting interactions isn't very realistic. Fine. Fine. Then just take a second and do your best to make someone smile. Yes, it's that simple.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

...according to a recent study from Stanford and Harvard Business School. As part of a series of experiments, one group of participants was assigned a goal of making another person happy, while a second group was told to simply do something that made another person smile. The results showed that small, straightforward actions to make someone smile were far more effective than broad, nebulous attempts to improve overall happiness. The study’s authors wrote, “Acts with small, concrete goals designed to improve the well-being of others are more likely to lead to happiness for the giver than are acts with large, abstract goals — despite people’s intuitions to the contrary.”

(To learn the two-word morning ritual that will make you happy all day, click here.)

So your life is meaningful and your life is filled with positive interactions... What else? Well, doing things to make sure your life doesn't end prematurely is quite powerful too...


Health

Eat better. Move more. Sleep longer and deeper. That's what it takes.

We talk a lot about eating too much, but turns out the quality of food is important too. Just because you don't eat too many Pop-Tarts doesn't mean you should be eating Pop-Tarts.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

A landmark Harvard University study that tracked more than 100,000 people over two decades makes it clear that the quality of what you eat is more important than quantity alone. This study revealed that the types of food you consume influence your health more than your total caloric intake. Consuming 300 calories’ worth of spinach is not the same as eating a sugar cookie with 300 calories. Yet most people I speak with continue to believe the age-old myth of “everything in moderation.” As the study’s lead author Dariush Mozaffarian put it, the moderation myth is really “just an excuse to eat whatever we want.”

And the type of food you eat also affects your mood. Studies show processed foods with lots of sugar increase laziness. Trans-fats increased aggression.

And "comfort foods" don't comfort you -- they can make you depressed.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

A 2014 study suggests that highly processed foods with added sugar may also contribute to laziness. One experiment on this topic found that people who consumed more trans-fatty acids were more aggressive and irritable as a result. These findings were so pronounced, one of the researchers suggested that places like schools and prisons should reconsider serving unhealthy foods because they might be dangerous for others in these environments. Even “comfort foods” like baked goods actually have the opposite effect of comfort and are likely to make people more depressed.

Most people now spend more hours sitting (9.3 on average) than they do sleeping. The NIH says that even if you did 7 hours a week of exercise that much time on your butt still doubles your chance of a heart attack.

Get up and move. Right now. I'll still be here when you get back, I promise.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

A 2014 study estimates that every two hours of sitting cancels out the benefits of 20 minutes of exercise. When researchers from the National Institutes of Health followed more than 200,000 people for a decade, they found that even seven hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week was not enough to protect against the hazards of excessive sitting. Even the most active group they studied — people who exercised more than seven hours every week — had a 50 percent greater risk of death and doubled their odds of dying from heart disease if they were also in the group that sat the most throughout the day.

When people exercised moderately for 20 minutes they felt better... for up to 12 hours. So get to the gym early and you can boost your mood for almost the entire day.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

When researchers assigned one group of participants in a study to do 20 minutes of a moderate-intensity workout, they found that the participants had a much better mood immediately following the exercise than a control group who did not exercise. What surprised researchers was how long this increase in mood lasted. Those who exercised continued to feel better throughout the day. Even two, four, eight, and twelve hours later, they were in a better mood than the control group.

Everybody knows about Anders Ericsson's research that showed it takes (roughly) 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. But that's not all the study showed. The experts also slept. A lot.

Yes, I literally just said that spending more time in bed is one of the keys to expertise. You're welcome.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

While many concentrated on his findings relevant to 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, the other factor that differentiated top performance was sleep. The best performers in these studies slept for 8 hours and 36 minutes per night on average. The average American, in contrast, gets just 6 hours and 51 minutes of sleep on weeknights.

But it's not merely an issue of sleeping more. You also want to sleep well. When people cut back on hours of sleep they tripled their likelihood of getting sick. But people who had poor quality sleep more than quintupled their chance of catching a cold.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

Study participants who had lower sleep efficiency over the 14-day period before exposure to the rhinovirus were 5.5 times as likely to develop a cold. This compares with the threefold increase based solely on duration of sleep. As with other areas of health, quality of sleep beats quantity by a wide margin.

(To learn the secret to never being frustrated again, click here.)

Okay, we've covered a lot. Time to round it all up and learn one more thing you can do to help all of the above boost your energy even more...


Sum Up

This is how to have more energy:
Meaning: Do things that benefit others. (It doesn't have to be me but I appreciate the thought.)
Interaction: Be 80% positive. (I am 99% certain of this.)
Health: Eat better, move more, sleep long and well. (And if I did all those things I'd have enough energy to write a funnier joke here. Blogger, heal thyself.)
Want to turn the above into habits that stick? Then help someone else start doing them. Supporting others in their goals isn't just awfully neighborly of you; it also makes you more likely to achieve them yourself.

From Are You Fully Charged?:

Research from one of the largest clinical trials in alcohol research found that 40 percent of alcoholics who helped other alcoholics during their recovery were successful and avoided drinking in the year following treatment. In contrast, only 22 percent of those who did not help others were able to stay sober. Helping someone else with a similar problem nearly doubled success rates. A subsequent study found that 94 percent of alcoholics who helped other alcoholics experienced lower levels of depression.

So being healthy produces energy. And part of that means good sleep. But other than those two, did you notice what everything else has in common?

To have more energy, don't do less. Do more. Of the right things.

And for you to feel more alive, you shouldn't focus on you. Focus on others.

Rest is only a small part of why you feel energized.

It's more about what you do and how those around you make you feel.

Miracles for everyone

That moment when a child raise 1 million dollars for the top researchers to find the cure for his friend illness.

Read about it here.

As they said, you are never to young to make a difference.

Researching enlightenment through neuroimaging studies

This is one of the few that we need to keep an eye on him, in the future. He is researching enlightenment and benefits resulting from this. His last book seems to check on most of the multi-secular spiritual traditions. 

Dr. Andrew Newberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology and Psychiatry and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the Andrew Newberg University of Pennsylvania. He has published a variety of neuroimaging studies related to aging and dementia. He has also researched the neurophysiological correlates of meditation, prayer, and how brain function is associated with mystical and religious experiences.

One of his older interviews: Link here

SuperBetter, depression and how to become a superhero

I stard to use SuperBetter app 2 days ago, and i am totally hooked with this. Following my previous post about Jane McGonigal abd the gameful mindset, i will provide you with the research behind this project. Click here to read it, it is mind-blowing.

Ely Lilly, Biogen and other financial mushrooms

In between them two seems that Ely Lilly is the real deal.

Look for a moment at the short version of their research and at few numbers related to their shares.

Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly), incorporated on January 17, 1901, is engaged in drug manufacturing business. The Company discovers, develops, manufactures and market products in two segments: human pharmaceutical products and animal health products. Its products are sold in approximately 120 countries. The Company’s human pharmaceutical business segment sells medicines, which are discovered or developed by its scientists. Its animal health business segment operates through the Company’s Elanco division, which develops, manufactures and markets products for both food animals and companion animals. The Company manufactures and distributes its products through facilities in the United States, Puerto Rico and 11 other countries.
Human Pharmaceutical Products
The Company’s human pharmaceutical products include endocrinology products, neuroscience products, oncology products and cardiovascular products. The Company’s endocrinology products include Humalog, Humalog M ix 75/25 and Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin analogs for the treatment of diabetes; Humulin, human insulin of recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) origin for the treatment of diabetes; Trajenta, for the treatment of type II diabetes; Jentadueto, which is a combination tablet of linagliptin (Trajenta) and metformin hydrochloride for use in the treatment of type II diabetes; Jardiance, which is used for the treatment of type II diabetes (approved in the United States, Europe and Japan); Trulicity for the treatment of type II diabetes (approved in the United States and Europe); Glyxambi, which is a combination tablet of linagliptin and empagliflozin (Jardiance) for the treatment of type II diabetes (approved in the United States); Forteo for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and men at high risk for fracture and for glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis in men and postmenopausal women; Evista, which is used for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and for the reduction of the risk of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and postmenopausal women at high risk for invasive breast cancer; Humatrope for the treatment of human growth hormone deficiency and certain pediatric growth conditions, and Axiron, which is a topical solution of testosterone, applied by underarm applicator, for replacement therapy in men for certain conditions associated with a deficiency or absence of testosterone.
The Company’s neuroscience products include Cymbalta, Zyprexa, Strattera, Prozac and Amyvid. Cymbalta is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, generalized anxiety disorder, and in the United States for the management of fibromyalgia and of chronic musculoskeletal pain due to chronic low back pain or chronic pain due to osteoarthritis. Zyprexa is used for the treatment of schizophrenia, acute mixed or manic episodes associated with bipolar I disorder and bipolar maintenance. The Company’s Strattera is used for the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Prozac is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa and panic disorder. Amyvid is a radioactive diagnostic agent, which is used for positron emission tomography imaging of beta-amyloid neuritic plaques in the brains of adult patients with cognitive impairment who are being evaluated for Alzheimer's disease and other causes of cognitive decline.
The Company’s oncology products include Alimta, Erbitux, Gemzar and Cyramza. Its product, Alimta, is used for the first-line treatment, in combination with another agent, of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for patients with non-squamous cell histology; for the second-line treatment of non-squamous NSCLC; monotherapy for the maintenance treatment of non-squamous NSCLC in patients, and in combination with another agent, for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Erbitux is indicated both as a single agent and with another chemotherapy agent for the treatment of certain types of colorectal cancers. It is used as a single agent or in combination with radiation therapy for the treatment of certain types of head and neck cancers. Gemzar is used for the treatment of pancreatic cancer; in combination with other agents, for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, NSCLC, advanced or recurrent ovarian cancer, and in the European Union (EU) for the treatment of bladder cancer. Cyramza is approved in the United States and the European Union both as a single agent and in combination with another agent for advanced or metastatic gastric cancer, and approved in the United States in combination with another agent as a second-line treatment of metastatic NSCLC.
The Company’s cardiovascular products include Cialis, Effient and ReoPro. Cialis is used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Effient is used for the reduction of thrombotic cardiovascular events (including stent thrombosis) in patients with acute coronary syndrome, including patients undergoing angioplasty, atherectomy or stent placement. ReoPro is for use as an adjunct to PCI for the prevention of cardiac ischemic complications. And i will not speak about their animal health products.

Biogen Inc., formerly Biogen Idec Inc., incorporated on April 1, 1997, is a global biopharmaceutical company. The Company is focused on discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering therapies for neurological, autoimmune and hematologic disorders. The Company's marketed products include AVONEX, PLEGRIDY, TECFIDERA, TYSABRI, FAMPYRA for multiple sclerosis (MS), ALPROLIX for hemophilia B, and ELOCTATE for hemophilia A, among others. It also collaborates on the development and commercialization of RITUXAN for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other conditions and for GAZYVA, which is for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Multiple Sclerosis Products
The Company develops, manufactures and markets a number of products designed to treat patients with MS. Its MS products include AVONEX, PLEGRIDY, TECFIDERA, TYSABRI and FAMPYRA. AVONEX (interferon beta-1a) is an intramuscular injectable therapy, indicated for the treatment of patients with relapsing forms of MS. AVONEX is a recombinant form of the interferon beta protein produced in the body in response to viral infection. The principal markets for AVONEX are the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. PLEGRIDY (peginterferon beta-1a) is a subcutaneous injectable therapy, indicated in the United States for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS and in the European Union (E.U.) for relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). TECFIDERA (dimethyl fumarate) is an oral therapy indicated in the United States for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS and in the EU for people with RRMS. TYSABRI (natalizumab) is a monoclonal antibody, which is a monotherapy for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS. TYSABRI is also used to treat Crohn's disease, an inflammatory disease of the intestines. The principal markets for TYSABRI in MS are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. FAMPYRA (prolonged-release fampridine tablets), is indicated for the improvement of walking ability in adult patients with MS. FAMPYRA is a prolonged-release tablet formulation of the drug fampridine. Its principal markets for FAMPRYA are France, Germany, Spain and Canada.
Hemophilia Products
The Company develops, manufactures and markets products designed to treat patients with hemophilia A and B. Its products for hemophilia A and B include ALPROLIX and ELOCTATE. ALPROLIX [Coagulation Factor IX (Recombinant), Fc Fusion Protein] is a recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid-derived (DNA-derived), coagulation Factor IX concentrate indicated in the United States for treatment in adults and children with hemophilia B for control and prevention of bleeding episodes, perioperative management and routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes. ELOCTATE (Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant), Fc Fusion Protein) is a recombinant DNA-derived, antihemophilic factor indicated in the United States for treatment in adults and children with hemophilia A for control and prevention of bleeding episodes, perioperative management and routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes. It collaborates with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) to jointly develop and commercialize Factor VIII and Factor IX hemophilia products, including ELOCTATE and ALPROLIX.
Genentech Collaboration
The Company collaborates with Genentech, Inc. (Genentech), a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, on the development and commercialization of RITUXAN. The Roche Group and its sub-licensees maintain sole responsibility for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of GAZYVA in the United States. RITUXAN (rituximab) is a monoclonal antibody used to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and two forms of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis. GAZYVA (obinutuzumab), in combination with chlorambucil, is indicated for the treatment of patients with previously untreated CLL. FUMADERM (fumaric acid esters) is a prolonged-release tablet formulation for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.
Other
The product candidate FUMADERM (fumaric acid esters) is a prolonged-release tablet formulation. FUMADERM is approved in Germany only for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.
Late Stage Product Candidates
The Company's late-stage product candidates include programs in Phase III development or in registration stage. Its late-stage products include ZINBRYTA, TYSABRI, ELOCTATE, ALPROLIX, GAZYVA and ISIS-SMN. ZINBRYTA is a monoclonal antibody that is being tested in relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS). The Phase III DECIDE clinical trial demonstrated positive top-line results, which investigated ZINBRYTA as a once-monthly, subcutaneous treatment for RRMS. Results showed that ZINBRYTA was superior on the study's primary endpoint, demonstrating a statistically significant reduction in annualized relapse rates when compared to interferon beta-1a (AVONEX). The Company completed patient enrollment in a Phase III study of TYSABRI in secondary progressive Multiple Sclerosis, known as ASCEND. The study involves approximately 875 patients. The Company's product ELOCTATE, a recombinant factor VIII Fc fusion protein (rFVIIIFc), is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of hemophilia A. The Company has completed a Phase III clinical study that examined the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of rFVIIIFc in males 12 years of age and older with severe hemophilia A and a Phase III clinical study that evaluated the efficacy and safety of rFVIIIFc in children with hemophilia A under the age of 12. The product ALPROLIX was approved by the FDA for the treatment of hemophilia B. The Company is conducting a global pediatric study, Kids B-LONG, evaluating the efficacy and safety of recombinant factor IX Fc fusion protein (rFIXFc) in children with hemophilia B under the age of 12.
The Company is conducting Phase III clinical studies in collaboration with the Roche Group for the development of the product GAZYVA, including GOYA, a study investigating the efficacy and safety of GAZYVA in combination with CHOP chemotherapy compared to RITUXAN with CHOP chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with CD20-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; GALLIUM, a clinical study investigating the efficacy and safety of GAZYVA in combination with chemotherapy followed by maintenance with GAZYVA compared to RITUXAN in combination with chemotherapy followed by maintenance with RITUXAN in previously untreated patients with indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and GADOLIN, a study investigating the efficacy and safety of GAZYVA plus bendamustine compared with bendamustine alone in patients with RITUXAN-refractory, indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The Phase III GADOLIN study demonstrated positive results showing that the study met its primary endpoint early when treated with GAZYVA plus bendamustine followed by GAZYVA alone, compared to bendamustine alone.
The Company is collaboration with Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Isis), is conducting a pivotal Phase III study evaluating ISIS-SMN in infants with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). This Phase III study, known as ENDEAR, is a randomized, double-blind, sham-procedure controlled thirteen month study in approximately 110 infants diagnosed with SMA. The study is being conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a 12 milligrams dose of ISIS-SMN with a primary endpoint of survival or permanent ventilation. The Company is also conducting a pivotal Phase III study evaluating the efficacy and safety of ISIS-SMN in non-ambulatory children with SMA. This Phase 3 study, known as CHERISH, is a randomized, double-blind, sham-procedure controlled fifteen month study in approximately 120 children with SMA. The study is being conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a 12 milligram dose of ISIS-SMN with a primary endpoint of a change in the Hammersmith Functional Motor Scale-Expanded, a validated method to measure changes in muscle function in patients with SMA.
The Company competes with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Merck KGaA, Pfizer Inc. Bayer Group, Novartis AG, Sanofi, GenMab, GlaxoSmithKline, Pharmacyclics and Janssen, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, Amgen, UCB, S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Roche Group, Baxter, Bayer and CSL Behring.

And some almost random numbers about their shares.

LLY.N on New York Stock Exchange

86.76USD
4:02pm EDT
Change (% chg)
$0.38 (+0.44%)
Prev Close
$86.38
Open
$89.01
Day's High
$89.87
Day's Low
$85.62
Volume
1,481,711
Avg. Vol
1,498,417
52-wk High
$90.17
52-wk Low
$60.14

BIIB.O on Nasdaq 

385.05USD

23 Jul 2015

Change (% chg)

$-6.69 (-1.71%)

Prev Close 

$391.74

Open 

$394.17

Day's High 

$396.23

Day's Low 

$384.51

Volume 

2,602,459

Avg. Vol 

1,668,137

52-wk High 

$480.18

52-wk Low 

$290.85
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Bibliography:
1.NASDAQ
2.New York Stock Exchange
3.Reuters
4.youinvest.co.uk
5.BBC.co.uk