Understanding Psychological Games in Modern Interactions
In “Games People Play,” psychiatrist Eric Berne argues that human interactions often resemble repetitive psychological games rather than honest exchanges, leading to predictable emotional outcomes. Though the arenas have changed, the games themselves persist, ultimately preventing genuine connection. The goal is to achieve autonomy through awareness, spontaneity, and intimacy.
Seven Incredible Advancements You Probably Haven’t Heard About
Global life expectancy has risen to 73 years, with significant declines in child mortality. Scientific advancements promise even longer lives through genetic research. Renewable energy now exceeds coal, and breakthroughs in drug development are speeding up healthcare. Meanwhile, a new non-opioid pain medication may alleviate the opioid crisis, and a treaty protects 99% of ocean…
The Top Ten Rated Non-Fiction Books for Personal Growth and Understanding
This content highlights ten transformative non-fiction books that explore deep human experiences, such as addiction, trauma, and mental health. It emphasizes themes like the impact of trauma, the importance of prevention, the strength in authenticity, healing through connection, and the power of small, consistent changes for lasting improvements.
Are You Playing the Right Games in Your Life?
A fascinating book that I read recently was The Status Game by Will Storr. I have enjoyed reading a few of his prior books too, including Selfie and The Science of Storytelling. In it, Storr says that it is impossible to not be part of some hierarchies. In other words, we can’t go through life…
Ten Timeless Rules for a Fulfilling Life
The book ‘Humankind: A Hopeful History’ by Rutger Bregman, first published in 2019, challenges the negative view of human nature. It emphasizes assumptions of the best in others, win-win scenarios, empathy training, understanding, and avoiding sensationalist news. Bregman advocates for non-violence, embracing positive actions, and maintaining a balanced, realistic outlook.
Debunking Common Misconceptions About Sleep
Many people struggle with sleep due to dysfunctional beliefs, which can worsen insomnia and hyper-arousal. The DBAS-16 questionnaire identifies these misconceptions, such as the need for a rigid amount of sleep or the necessity of medication. By challenging these beliefs and focusing on healthier sleep habits, individuals can improve their sleep quality and overall well-being.
Mapping Your Life’s Journey: Is it a Western, Eastern, Southern, or Northern Story?
The narrative of our lives often positions us as heroes, shaped by various cultural storytelling archetypes: Western tales focus on quests and personal growth; Eastern stories emphasize balance and harmony; Southern narratives highlight community connections; and Northern tales celebrate exploration and resilience. Recognizing your narrative can inform your values and inspire your personal journey.
Rewire Your Brain for Effort-Based Rewards
It is important to value effort over end results if we want to foster a growth mindset. It emphasizes rewiring the brain to associate effort with intrinsic rewards, rather than relying on external motivations. By embracing discomfort and finding satisfaction in the process, individuals can develop resilience and enhance their overall motivation and performance.
Is Humanity Really Doomed, or Are Things Better than What We See in the News?
Is it just me, or have other people also been hearing a similar message with greater frequency lately? “The world is only getting worse. Things will continue to worsen until all of humanity is wiped out. Humanity’s downfall is inevitable at this stage. There is no hope that things can change. There is nothing we…
Part Nine of the Top 100 Non-Fiction Books Countdown: A Curated Guide to Personal Growth (20-11)
The countdown features transformative books that illuminate personal development. From Annie Grace’s approach to alcohol dependency to David Goggins’ intensity in mental toughness, these titles explore themes of acceptance, perspective, and growth. They emphasize evidence-based thinking, offering valuable insights into human behavior and emotional resilience. Each has unique wisdom for personal evolution.
Ten Books for Deep Thinking: Focus, Compassion, and Life’s Big Questions (30-21)
These ten books in the countdown address profound life challenges, focusing on personal growth, wisdom cultivation, and the importance of facing mortality. Featured books explore themes like effective altruism, neuroplasticity, emotional education, and mindfulness, emphasising data-driven insights and compassionate practices to enhance our understanding and approach to life’s complexities.
Ten Books That Could Help Shift Your Mindset and Improve Your Performance: 40-31
In this seventh installment, the author reviews books focused on challenging preconceived notions, primarily in psychology. Key themes include altering expectations, understanding decision-making biases, and enhancing focus for better performance. Each highlighted book offers unique insights into personal growth, societal challenges, and effective decision-making strategies across various contexts.
Part Six of the Top 100 Non-fiction Books: Understanding Human Nature for Personal Growth (50-41)
The countdown highlights notable books focused on personal development, emphasizing themes like focus, integration, and timeless wisdom. Key insights include the value of singular focus for success, the healing power of self-compassion, and viewing obstacles as opportunities. Understanding human nature aids in better decision-making and transformation, fostering deeper self-awareness.
Top 100 Non-Fiction Books Countdown: Part Five (60-51)
The content reviews ten influential books focused on personal growth, emotional intelligence, and relationship-building. It highlights themes such as the importance of mindset, trust, and self-awareness in achieving fulfillment. Key takeaways emphasize that personal development involves small, intentional actions, fostering connections, and understanding emotions to enhance life experiences.
Part Four of My Top 100 Non Fiction Books Countdown: 70-61
The post shares ten influential non-fiction books that address topics such as creativity, confidence, trauma healing, and longevity. It emphasizes accessible insights from various authors, including Rick Rubin and Greg McKeown. The key message across these works focuses on embracing natural processes and altering mindsets for personal growth and resilience.
Top 100 Non-Fiction Books Countdown: 80-71
This post continues the countdown of the top 100 non-fiction books, summarizing titles 80 to 71. Each featured book is personally read by the author and highlights key themes, ratings, and insights. The selections focus on various aspects of contemporary life, including social media, marketing, creativity, personal growth, and understanding human behaviour.
Essential Non-Fiction Books for Personal Development: 90-81
Dr. Damon Ashworth continues his countdown of the top 100 non-fiction books, highlighting titles 90-81. Each book addresses themes such as paranoia, regret, community connection, running, morality, dopamine, evil, conversation strategies, meditation, and ethics. The selections cater to various audiences, emphasizing personal growth and societal engagement through practical insights.
Must-Read Non-Fiction for Personal Growth: 100-91
The author, a Clinical Psychologist, shares insights from their new top 100 non-fiction book recommendations that can help clients seeking change. These summaries aim to connect readers with impactful titles, addressing various psychological issues such as fear, depression, and self-control. The author ranks the books by Goodreads ratings, starting with titles from 100 to 91.
Life Satisfaction vs. Daily Joy: A Global Perspective
The 2024 Gallup Global Emotions report reveals a stark contrast with the World Happiness Report findings. While the latter ranks Nordic and European countries as happiest, the former highlights Central and South American nations as the top in positive daily experiences. This distinction arises from differing measures of life satisfaction and daily enjoyment.
Which Activities Make Us the Happiest?
The app Mappiness pings people twice a day and asks them what they have just been doing, who they are with, and where they are. It can also tell what the temperature and weather are. It then asks people three questions: People can answer anywhere on a scale from “not at all” at one end…
Breaking Free from Fate: Fresh Approaches to Lasting Behavioural Change
In “Determined: Life Without Free Will” by Robert Sapolsky, he argues for hard incompatibilism, claiming that the deterministic world leaves us with no free will or moral responsibility. Despite this, Damon suggests that self-improvement is still possible through healthy habits, a positive environment, and accepting ourselves. These external factors become crucial in shaping our behaviours.
Why 18 is the New 15: The Negative Consequences of Always Wanting Our Children to Feel Special and Safe
In the past, children enjoyed more freedom to explore and learn outside of adult supervision. However, contemporary children are often closely monitored and spend less time engaging in unsupervised activities. This shift has led to concerns about their psychological well-being and development. Research suggests that focusing solely on building self-esteem can have negative consequences, while…
How to Watch the 2024 Paris Olympics Live from Abroad Without Turning Into a Sleep-Deprived Zombie!
The 2024 Paris Olympics have begun, causing sleep disruptions for some due to time differences. Strategies for managing sleep during the Olympics include knowing your body clock, minimizing disruption, planning for recovery, and prioritizing safety. Dr. Matthew Walker highlights four key aspects of a good night’s sleep: quantity, quality, regularity, and timing. Balance is key…
To Trust or Not to Trust?
The author expresses disappointment in encountering self-centered behavior and reflects on the dilemma of trusting others versus acting in self-interest. Exploring game theory, they analyze the rationality of cooperation and explore long-term strategies, emphasizing the importance of swift retaliation and forgiveness. Ultimately, they advocate for trust while being prepared to stand up against exploitation.
Where Are the Happiest Cities in the World?
The 2020 World Happiness Report ranked 186 cities, with Scandinavian cities dominating the list. African and Central Asian cities showed significant improvement in well-being. Central America demonstrated high optimism about the future. South American cities reported the highest positive emotions, whereas Asia and Eastern Europe reported the fewest negative emotions. Finland stands as the happiest…
Which Values Are Most Important in Your Country?
The seventh wave of the World Values Survey reveals insights into cultural values of different countries. Both Australia and the USA prioritize Self-Expression over Survival Values, placing them among the top 2.5% globally. The findings also shed light on the importance of family, friends, leisure time, politics, work, and religion in these countries.
My Top 20 Inspirational Quotes
This content features a collection of inspirational quotes from various individuals, emphasizing the importance of taking action, understanding others, embracing change, and persevering through challenges. Each quote encourages personal growth, empathy, and resilience, emphasizing the significance of character and the transformative power of small acts and collaborative efforts.
Why Bother Overcoming Fears?
The author recently completed the PADI Open Water SCUBA Diver Course, despite a fear of open water and boats. The experience led to introspection on the worth of facing fears. Overcoming fears depends on the level of anxiety, the actual risk, and the impact on quality of life. The process involves gradual exposure and cognitive…
Is it Better to be Completely Honest, a Strategic Truth-Teller or an Occasional Liar?
Growing up, I struggled with lying to fit in, avoid trouble, and protect my ego. But is radical honesty the solution? Jim Carrey’s “Liar Liar” teaches us that tactful truth is often better. Radical honesty may lead to inappropriate situations. Sam Harris argues for always being honest, while Dan Ariely suggests we all lie, but…
Why Do Some People Cheat in Relationships and Others Remain Faithful?
The internet, dating websites, and social media have made it easier for people to cheat, but also easier to get caught due to the digital trail left behind. Infidelity can have devastating consequences on individuals, families, and society. Surprisingly high prevalence rates of infidelity and changing attitudes towards it have been observed. Eight main reasons…
Which Countries Are Becoming Happier Around the World?
The latest World Happiness Report reveals Nordic countries dominating life satisfaction scores. While some countries have seen declines, 58.96% have improved their scores since 2006. Notably, Eastern European youth show significant optimism. Various factors affect happiness, and different countries may be ideal for different individuals. Despite challenges, global well-being has generally improved in the last…
Parenting is Tough, but Science Suggests Clear Strategies that Help You to Raise Emotionally Healthy Children
The American Psychiatric Association’s three primary parenting goals involve health, productivity preparation, and cultural values transmission. Baumrind’s parenting styles – authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive – significantly impact child development. Authoritative parenting has the most benefits, while other styles can lead to negative outcomes. John Gottman’s “The Relationship Cure” offers five steps to enhance relationships, focusing…
10 Bits of Advice I’d Give My 10-Year-Old Self
At age ten, living in Melbourne, I struggled with anxiety and self-doubt due to school and personal challenges. Looking back, I would tell myself: breathe before acting, focus on one thing at a time, challenge negative thoughts, write things down for reflection, enjoy sports without pressure, embrace mistakes, seek knowledge beyond school, value time with…
6 Thinking Traps That We All Fall Into
In December 2008, the author experienced unexpected snow in Las Vegas. The book “The Art of Thinking Clearly” by Rolf Dobelli addresses cognitive biases and offers advice for effective decision-making in work and life, emphasizing the need to challenge ingrained patterns of thought and behaviour.
Positive Psychology – The Secret to Optimal Well-being
Positive Psychology, championed by Martin Seligman, seeks to increase happiness and life satisfaction, rather than just reducing suffering. Seligman’s books like ‘Learned Optimism’ and ‘Authentic Happiness’ focus on changing outlooks and discovering character strengths for emotional well-being. The PERMA model he introduced highlights elements crucial for optimal psychological well-being: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and…
How Can We Effectively Manage Guilt and Shame?
The book “Shame and Guilt” by June Tangney and Ronda Dearing explores shame and guilt as universal human emotions, emphasizing their impact on behavior and relationships. It distinguishes between shame and guilt and provides insights into their psychological implications. The research findings underscore the difference between shame-prone and guilt-prone individuals, highlighting the potential impact on…
10 Traits of Highly Successful People
In “50 Success Classics,” Tom Butler-Bowden presents ten traits of successful people. Key qualities include optimism’s impact on mental and physical health, the importance of clarity and values, perseverance through passion and discipline, and the integration of logic and intuition. Reading, taking calculated risks, understanding expectation, developing mastery, and seeking balance are also crucial.
What Makes Some Things Fade Fast, and Others Stand the Test of Time?
The author reflects on the success trajectory of their blog posts and explores why certain movies, books, songs, and YouTube videos endure over time while others do not. They draw parallels between successful ideas and the SUCCES elements: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and Story. These elements contribute to an idea’s memorability and its potential…
How High is Your Physical Intelligence?
Physical intelligence, as discussed by Thalma Lobel in ‘Sensation’, explores how environmental factors impact our perceptions, emotions, and behaviors. By understanding biases and sensory experiences, we can improve physical intelligence. Factors such as temperature, weight, texture, color, cleanliness, posture, and physical space can influence our emotions and interactions.
Dealing With Toxic People
In this post, the concept of a “toxic” person is explored, describing individuals whose behaviors cause distress and harm to others. It delves into various types of toxic behavior and reasons behind it. Strategies for successfully managing toxic people are outlined, emphasizing the importance of setting boundaries and focusing on one’s own well-being. Additionally, it…
The Need to Belong
Before the industrial revolution, humans lived in small, tight-knit groups. Working together, they built villages and castles for protection. Evolution favored fitting in for survival. In the 21st century, technology and society have evolved rapidly, outpacing our genetic programming. Social pressure still influences behavior, but finding the right group where you can be yourself is…
Nostalgia Feels Nice, But What if the World is Getting Better and Not Worse?
“Midnight in Paris” explores nostalgia and the allure of bygone eras. The protagonist, Gil, yearns for the 1920s, but realizes that every era has its drawbacks. In modern times, society has made remarkable progress, with advancements in health, rights, and well-being, offering hope for a brighter future despite current challenges.
How to Spend Your Money for Optimal Happiness
When in Queenstown, New Zealand, the exhilarating activities come at a cost. Money can buy happiness to an extent, but studies show it doesn’t equate to long-term joy. Consumerism and overwork plague Western society. To increase happiness, prioritize experiences over material items, spend consciously, and consider giving to others.
Do You Love Your Loved Ones How They Want to be Loved?
Many relationships suffer from a lack of feeling loved and appreciated, often due to miscommunication and misinterpretation. To improve relationships, active listening and understanding the other person’s perspective are crucial. Following the principles of humanistic psychology and effective communication, while avoiding destructive behaviors, can also lead to healthier, more fulfilling relationships. Understanding and catering to…
7 Life Lessons That We Can Learn From Hollywood Movies
In ‘Writing Screenplays that Sell’ by Michael Hauge, I discovered how screenwriters create engaging stories and meaningful characters. We can learn valuable life lessons from successful movies. Be the hero of your story, challenge yourself to grow, embrace conflicts, set clear goals, clarify values, seek mentors, and let your actions define you. It’s not just…
25 Ideas That Could Change Your Life
This content encompasses a wide range of life advice, including the virtues of Kaizen, Gandhi’s true quote on change, the importance of being present, designing your life, and embracing fear. It emphasizes discipline, decision-making, and endeavoring for personal growth. The author draws on influential figures and psychological principles to underscore the significance of taking action,…
Can Psychologists and Psychics Read Minds?
Clinical psychologist Dr. Damon Ashworth explores the popular misconception that psychologists can read minds, drawing parallels with psychic predictions and horoscopes. He highlights the Forer effect, where people believe vague and generalized statements specifically apply to them, attributing this to the popularity of astrology and supposed mind-reading. Ashworth urges individuals to communicate openly, as understanding…
How to Be Useful to Others, Get Rich, Like People, and Thrive in an Unknowable Future
Derek Sivers seems like a pretty cool guy. On his website, he calls himself a musician, producer, circus performer, entrepreneur, TED speaker, and book publisher. He started a company called CDBaby and made millions from this. He then gave the company to charity, resulting in millions of dollars subsequently being used to help up-and-coming musical…
If You’re Not Sleeping Well, Your Sleep Hygiene Is Probably Not the Answer
If you’ve ever experienced difficulty getting to sleep at night, you may have heard about the importance of ‘sleep hygiene.’ Just like ‘dental hygiene’ is about recommendations that help you to look after the health of your teeth, sleep hygiene is about doing the right things to ensure a good night’s sleep. The problem with…
What’s a Better Life Goal than Happiness?
When I type ‘Happiness books’ into Amazon.com, over 60,000 results appear. Happiness is clearly a popular topic. However, when I hear people say to me in therapy that they “just want to be happy”, I find it hard to write this down as a goal for them to achieve in therapy. The problem with striving…
What Are the Secrets to Living Longer?
During my summer holidays, I read an interesting book called The Blue Zones: 9 lessons for living longer from the people who’ve lived the longest by Dan Buettner. Buettner travelled to five geographical areas around the world where people lived healthy lives for the longest time. These five areas included Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in…
How Does It Feel to Have Your To-Do List at Zero?
It’s quite strange. Yesterday, I managed to finish off the last thing on my to-do list for the week. For the first time in a long time, I had nothing that I had to do. Sure, there are some things that I would like to do in the future. However, nothing required me to take…
The Importance of Seeing Fully Qualified Professionals
Please consider the following scenario: You require open-heart surgery to fix something that could otherwise severely impact your quality of life or kill you prematurely. I’m guessing that you would have a pretty similar hierarchy to most people of who you would try to book for the surgery: The best heart surgeon in the world…
Five Lessons I Learned After Being Fired
When I was 18, I graduated from high school in Virginia in mid-2004. After a fantastic road trip across the USA, I returned to Australia and needed to find some work until I could attend University in February 2005. My first job after I returned was walking around and doorknocking at people’s houses, trying to…
20 Fascinating Paradoxes About Life
What is a Paradox? According to the Oxford dictionary, a paradox is a noun that has two meanings: 1. A seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which when investigated may prove to be well founded or true. 2. A person or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities. I love paradoxes because they are…
What Things Really Matter to You?
When I think about how to best help someone, I am reminded of what psychiatrist Irvin Yalom found when he asked 20 clients what was most beneficial to them about their time in therapy (Yalom & Leszcz, 2005). The average client had spent an average of 16 months in therapy, and was just about to…
What difference can hearing difficulties make in your life, and can improving them help you to live a better quality of life?
I recently interviewed my brother, Kurt Ashworth, who is an Audiologist in Ballarat, Australia. Here are his answers to some of the main questions I asked him: 1. What does an audiologist do? Audiologists are communication experts. We specialise in testing and diagnosing hearing loss and can also specialise in testing balance function. Audiologists can…
Sleep Medicine Recommends Only Five Strategies for Insomnia
If you have tried my sleeping tips from the prior article and your sleep is still problematic, there are several things that you can do. The safest option is to go and see your medical doctor or GP and get a referral to a Sleep Physician. They will be able to do a more comprehensive…
Exercise is Not Essential for Weight Loss. It is Vital for Your Health
Alongside nutrition and sleep, exercise is one of the three pillars of our health. Before coming up with a realistic and sustainable plan, let’s see what types of exercise are most recommended and how much we should try to do each day or each week. Walking – is there anything to the 10,000 steps recommendation?…
Improving Your Health Begins With Your Nutrition
I am definitely not a nutrition expert. Especially when you look at my behaviours or what I eat and drink daily. I remember several years back when I tried to track my food and drink intake using My Fitness Pal’s phone application. They have a feature where you can share your diary with friends and…
The 10 Truths of Longevity
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” — Isaac Asimov The Longevity Project Over 1,500 of the most promising and brightest boys and girls were recruited in 1921 by Lewis Terman. Unfortunately, he died in 1956, but the study continued for decades afterwards. All participants…
Harvard University studied 700 People’s Health and Happiness from their Teen Years Until They Died
Here Are 10 Fascinating Findings from the Study The Harvard Study of Adult Development began in 1938. It is sometimes also called ‘The Grant Study’. This longitudinal prospective study aimed to identify predictors of healthy ageing in real-time. For 79 years, it has examined the lives of 268 physically and mentally healthy Harvard college sophomores…
Three Steps to an Improved Life
It is possible to understand who you are and what you want in only three steps. STEP ONE: Who am I? To know what we want, we first need to figure out who we are (or, more accurately, what we see ourselves to be). STEP TWO: What do I care about? Once we know who…
The Little Things That We Do Matter Over Time
“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.” – Lao Tzu I love the above quote by Lao Tzu. It highlights that all of the little choices in life are important, especially…
Isolation and Loneliness: Which One Is More Damaging to Our Long-term Health?
Just the other day, I was having a debate with a client about isolation versus loneliness. He believed that social contact with others was a more significant predictor of well-being, whereas I thought how close we felt was more important for long-term health and happiness. In other words, he thought that the number of interactions…
Is Your Screen Time Eating Up Your Free Time?
How Did We Get Here? In the classic Sociology book ‘Bowling Alone’, Robert Putnam argues that social capital (reciprocal connections among people) has been in a steady decline ever since its peak in 1964. By 2000, the average American was 58% less likely to attend a club meeting than an individual only 25 years earlier.…
The World Became Much Less Abundant in 2021
From 2020 to 2021, the global resource abundance plummeted. The drop of 22.6% was double the previous most significant one year drop of 11.3% in 2010. While this highlights the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic globally, look at how our current value is still 448.5% higher than it was in 1980: Yes, it is…
Why Do We Not Celebrate the Positives?
Recently, an article released in The Age newspaper was titled “Dip in thefts, drugs and family violence but police say drop in crime may not last”. In 2021, the number of recorded offences in Victoria, Australia, dropped by 12.6% over the previous year. As a result, the police recorded 70,000 fewer offences. It was the…
Would You Prefer to Enjoy Your Life Now, or Wait Until You Are Retired?
Recently, my girlfriend has been sharing some videos of people who follow the FIRE principle with me. FIRE is an acronym that stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. Some people describe FIRE as a financial movement involving frugality and extreme savings and investments. To do this, you work hard, save up to 70% of your…
How Do We Not Build Up More Regrets?
Those who did make a significant change in their lives reported being happier two months later than those who maintained the status quo. Their happiness was even higher six months after their decision.
Can You Improve Your Gratitude?
Out of the 24 possible character strengths in the VIA Character Strengths Survey, only five are strongly associated with satisfaction with life. People with hope, zest, gratitude, curiosity and the ability to love and be loved as their top strengths seem to have higher life satisfaction. Gratitude has never been a strength of mine. Every…
Is Vanuatu the Happiest Country in the World?
The latest Happy Planet Index puts Vanuatu second in the world in terms of sustainable well-being. To determine a country’s score on the Happy Planet Index, they look at a country’s well-being, multiplied by their life expectancy and then divided by their ecological footprint. The only country with a better Happy Planet Index score is…
The Mental Health Impact of COVID-19
Initially, the pandemic had a significant and negative impact on our mental health. Here is some data that looked at self-reported levels of distress, anxiety, and depression across the USA in 2020: As you can see, anxiety, depression and distress all spiked in March and April but remained relatively consistent from June 2020 to January…
What Qualities Do You Try to Teach Your Children?
Deep in the World Values Survey results, there are some really interesting findings to me based on how people from each country answered questions. Some of the most fascinating ones were around values that parents consider important in trying to pass on to their children. There were 11 values that parents were asked about, and…
How to Predict Whether or Not a Couple Will Break Up
John Gottman is a legendary relationship researcher. He began using “The Love Lab” as his research centre at the University of Washington in 1986. Here, he would have couples stay in the apartment at The Love Lab, and watch as they bring up an old topic that they would typically fight about. During this conflict,…
What if Being a Therapist is Unhealthy?
The Oura ring that I use to track my health gives me three primary scores every day. When I wake up, I receive a readiness score, a sleep score and an activity level score from the day before. All of these are out of 100, with the higher daily score perceived as better. To achieve…
Are You Looking After Both of Your Selves?
Imagine that you could go on a holiday to anywhere that you want to go in the world. However, you couldn’t take any pictures or tell anyone what you got up to while you were away or afterwards? Furthermore, you can only experience the holiday while away and feel all the emotions you do in…
What Are the Virtues and Faults of Your Personality Style?
You may not be the right fit for everyone or everything, but no one is. What is more important is to first try to understand yourself, change what you would like to and are able to, accept what you do not want to or cannot change, and then find the places and people that love…
Feeling Burnt Out? What Would Happen if We Worked Less?
However you decide to manage your workload, please understand that working long hours without regular breaks is not sustainable. We can address this by working fewer hours in a day or fewer days in a week. Or we can merely get up from the desk and walk around a bit more when you notice that…
How to Improve Your Motivation
The problem of just using fear for motivation is that it triggers our fight-or-flight response. It increases our cortisol levels if we trigger this response too often, so in the long run it isn’t so great for our mental and physical health.
Things You Can Do to Stay Mentally Healthy During Self-Isolation
With the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now being told that the most helpful thing we can do is stay at home and remain physically distant from others. Unless you are in an essential profession, this could be a time to slow down. To check in with those that you care most about. To chat for…
The Pro Athlete’s Checklist for Optimal Performance: Part Two
This is the second part of a two-part series exploring a checklist that professional athletes can go through to ensure that they perform at their best. Part One covered the important mental aspects of training for an upcoming competition and preparing yourself right before an event. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend checking out…
The Professional Athlete’s Checklist for Optimal Mental Performance: Part One
My last sports psychology article covered 21 strategies that you can apply to improve your sporting performance. If you struggle to cope with adversity, remain free from worry, tend not to peak under pressure, get offended by what your coaches say to you, or struggle to focus as much as you would like to, I…
What Psychological Strategies Can Improve Your Sporting Performance the Most?
I’ve played a lot of sport in my lifetime. When I was six years old, my first basketball game was on the Diamond Valley mini-courts in Victoria, Australia. My most recent game was this week at Wan Smol Bag in Port Vila, Vanuatu. So that means I’ve been playing organised sport for over 27 years now.…
What Separates a Good Athlete From a Truly Great One?
Could You Be Like Mike? Michael Jordan is potentially the greatest basketball player of all time. He is also thought to be the king of staying laser focused and composed under pressure, and consistently performing at his best. He holds the record of 866 straight games in the NBA scoring at least 10 points, and…
What Values Do You Try to Live Your Life By?
Values are guiding principles for our lives that are endless pursuits. We cannot achieve a value in the same way we can accomplish a goal. However, at any point in time, you can connect with them, act in accordance to them, and receive the vitality, energy, improved self-worth, greater emotional well-being and happiness that are…
Our Environment Makes More of a Difference to Our Health and Mental State Than We Realise
It’s been over 9 months since I moved to Vanuatu to volunteer as a Clinical Psychologist with the Port Vila Central Hospital and the Vanuatu Government’s Ministry of Health. That means that I am over a third of the way through my volunteer experience. The first 1–2 months were challenging and a little overwhelming with…
The Importance of Sleep for Good Mental Health
Sleep difficulties are a feature of nearly every mental health difficulty, including depression, anxiety, trauma, substance use issues, bipolar disorder and psychosis or schizophrenia. Take Depression for example. Up to 90% of individuals with Depression have sleep difficulties, and two out of every three have significant enough sleep problems to also have a diagnosis of…
The Four Ultimate Concerns in Life
I’ve been afraid to say this for a while because of how it will be perceived, but my favourite book of all time is actually a textbook. So before you think that makes me someone you would never want to speak to, I’ll ask if you have ever read anything by Irvin Yalom, American Psychiatrist…
Which Archetype Are You?
Ever notice how any successful story throughout history tends to have a similar cast of characters? If you haven’t bothered counting, I’ll let you know that most characters will fall into one of 12 principal roles, and this explains why and how we can find favourite stories so relatable. Carl Gustav Jung, a famous psychoanalyst,…
33 Thoughts About Turning 33
This will be an unfiltered post. No thinking things through. No edits. Just reflections on life, age, and anything else that pops into my head. Here goes nothing: Turning 33 feels weird. I feel old at times, especially in my body. I still feel like a child at other times, and I wonder whether I will…
It’s Okay to Still Fall into Life Traps… We All Do!
Life traps are self-defeating ways of perceiving, feeling about, interacting with oneself, others, and the world. If you want to get a sense of what your life-traps may be, the book ‘Reinventing your life’ by Jeffrey Young is an excellent place to start, as it goes into 11 different ones. If you want a more…
How Do You Deal With Your Problems?
Throughout my schooling years, I was a horrible procrastinator. I would leave everything to the last minute, sometimes even having to take a day off high school to finish an assignment that was meant to be due that day. Once I got to university, I couldn’t do this anymore, as the due date remained the…
The 5 Lessons I Discovered From Being Kind
On January 1st, 2018 we kickstarted our Deliberately Better movement. Along with other passionate and driven allied health professionals, we aimed to highlight the various ways that people can choose to act if they wish to scientifically improve their health and well-being. In January, we aimed to engage in a random act of kindness each day.…
Can You Improve Your Sleep By Going to a Sleep Retreat?
Just the other week, I was featured in the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun on sleep retreats. It was weird because I had been planning on running some sleep retreats but hadn’t yet. Stranger still, I hadn’t told anyone about my idea yet, and it was the first article that I have been mentioned…
Are You Living the Life That You Want?
In 2016, I decided to take on the challenge of accountability. As a Clinical Psychologist, being accountable was all about evidence-based living — engaging as much as possible in thinking patterns and behaviours that have been shown to lead to a happier, more satisfying, higher quality of life. The following were the five key areas that I…
The 10 Best Laws of Power
A fascinating book that I read towards the end of 2017 was ‘The 48 Laws of Power’ by Robert Greene. Since the book was first released in 1998, it has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has influenced many successful people, from Will Smith to Kanye West, Jay-Z and 50 Cent, who later co-wrote…
10 Things You Need to Know About Adverse Childhood Experiences
1. There are 10 categories of experience that are considered to have adverse consequences on the later development of children These include: Abuse: Emotional Physical Sexual Neglect: Emotional Physical Household Dysfunction: Domestic Violence Substance Abuse Mental Illness Parental Separation/Divorce Crime 2. It is possible to determine your own Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) score The ACE…
Are You Asking the Right Questions In Your Search For a Therapist?
If you were searching the web as a consumer, looking for the best Psychologist, would you know what to search for? If you said that you would look for someone experienced, it is a good guess, but years of experience don’t seem to make too much of a difference in improving therapeutic outcomes (Minami et…
The Top 20 Movies of My Lifetime (10-1)
Looking at the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest American Films of All Time list that came out in 1998, most films are super old. For example, ‘Citizen Kane’ (1941) ranked at #1, ‘Casablanca’ (1942) ranked at #2, ‘The Godfather’ (1972) ranked at #3, ‘Gone With the Wind’ (1939) ranked at #4 and ‘Lawrence of Arabia’…
The Top 20 Movies of My Lifetime (20-11)
A list like this will always be subjective, and I don’t expect others to agree with it. However, I still think it is worth highlighting the movies that have significantly impacted my life and why this is the case. If you believe something amazing is missing from the list, please let me know in the…
Trauma – What is it and what can we do about it?
What is Trauma? The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-V) describes a traumatic experience as exposure to an event that involves death, serious injury (actual or threatened), or sexual violence (actual or threatened). It usually creates intense feelings of helplessness, horror, or fear in the individual. It is direct exposure to an event…
Do You Want To Be Deliberately Better?
“Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.” — Izaak Walton It was 2016 when I first decided to take on the challenge of being accountable to myself. I later wrote this blog to take responsibility for my actions in an open, transparent way, do what I said I was going to do,…
How Should We Define Success As A Nation?
The Olympic Slide Following the completion of the Rio Olympic Games, a theme of concern became evident across the various media platforms in Australia. Our overall medal tally at the Olympic Games has declined since its peak of 58 in Sydney in 2000, with 49 in Athens in 2004, 46 in Beijing in 2008, 35 in…
What Do Clients Find Most Helpful About Therapy?
When clients first begin their therapy journey, they often ask to be taught specific skills to help them achieve their particular goals. Clients believe that if they can be taught these skills, they will overcome their difficulties or the problems that led to them entering therapy. They will then have no subsequent complications or need…
How Have Intimate Relationships Changed Over the Years, and Where Does It Leave Us Now?
I just finished reading the book ‘Modern Romance: An Investigation’ by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg and was pleasantly surprised to see such a well-researched book written predominantly by a Stand-up Comedian (with a helping hand from a Sociologist). For those of you who don’t know Aziz, his stand-up shows typically consist of interesting observations…
My Top 5 Psychology TED Talks
In order of fewest views to most, I will present my favourite TED talks, along with a brief description of what they are about, why I think they are great and where you can find out more information about these concepts if you are interested. Enjoy! 5. The Surprising Science of Happiness by Dan Gilbert…
Personality Assessments – The Way to Figure Out Who We Are
There are many different assessments tools that Psychologists can use to help you answer the big question — “Who am I?” I will introduce these to you now so that you can determine if you’d like to give any of them a try: #1 — Psychiatric Assessment Many Psychologists will take a clinical history during the first session, which…
Damon Ashworth Psychology 
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