ConceptsNest

  Not doing something will always be faster than doing it. The same philosophy applies in other areas of life. For example, there is no meeting that goes faster than not having a meeting at all.This is not to say we should never attend another meeting, but the truth is that we say yes to many things we do not actually want to do . There are many meetings held that do not need to be held. How often do people ask you to do something and you just reply, “Yes, OK.” Three days later, you are overwhelmed by how much is on your to-do list. We become frustrated by our obligations even though we were the ones who said yes to them in the first place. It is worth asking if things are necessary. Many of them are not, and a simple “no” will be more productive than whatever work the most efficient person can muster. But if the benefits of saying no are so obvious, then why do we say yes so often? Why We Say Yes We agree to many requests not because we want to do them, but because we do not wa...

  Navigating Modern Stress—Understanding the 'Fight or Flight' Response Picture this: you are driving when a car suddenly cuts into your lane. Your heart pounds, muscles tense, and you react in a split second to avoid a crash. That is the fight-or-flight response—our brain’s ancient survival system, wired to protect us from immediate threats. While this instinct once served us well, today it can backfire. In a world filled with injustice and constant stress, reacting from the primitive “survive mind” can trigger impulsive, irrational—even dangerous—behaviour. Left unchecked, this survival-driven response can overpower our empathy and fuel actions rooted in fear and division—from hate crimes and violent protests to systemic racism, police brutality, and terrorism. Understanding the 'Survive Mind' and 'Thrive Mind' The 'Survive Mind' The 'Survive Mind' refers to a state dominated by the fight or flight response. In this mode, our reactions are sw...

  ***Continued from Chapter 01 (Covered previously: Decision Making, its styles, different Cognitive Biases) Link to Chapter -01 Common Patterns in Decision Making The upside of understanding various patterns in decision-making is that they lead us to think about how the mind preforms its many complex functions in countless situations and how our awareness of time, space, and the various narrative and cognitive frameworks can help decode the factors that shape our decisions. Here is a graphic presentation of what author Venkatesh Rao puts forward in his book. The graphic shows “Information Location” across the x-axis going from Internal to External and “Visibility of Mental Models” on the y-axis going from Low to High. The distinctions among the four classes of basic decision patterns (above) are not arbitrary. They are based on the distribution and visibility of situational information . Information originates either in the decision-maker’s head or in the environment , and we ei...