Mythology and Folklore

I really liked reading the article How to Give Feedback Without Sounding Like a Jerk   by Adam Grant because it gave tips on a more practical ways to give feedback without beating around the bush with unnecessary praise. No one likes being a "feedback sandwhich", where the meat of the criticism is given in between two slices of praise. Instead, there needs to be equal communication, and Grant identifies the ways to do his are: expalin why you're giving feedback, take yourself off the pedestal, ask if the person wants feedback, and having a transparent not manipulative dialogue. This is great, especially for college kids. I think too often we are overly considerate of the other person's feelings, which can come across putting their emotions over their intelligence. Being deliberate about feedback and letting the person know it comes from a place of support, not criticism, is most effective in delivering ways to improve.  The second article I read came from Parents m...

The two articles I read this week were Make Good Art: Neil Gaman's Advice on the Creative Life   by Maria Popova and Rewire Your Self-Critical Brain   by Joel Alemida. Popova's article was essentially a reiteration of Gaman's book which encorages reader to make good mistakes. Making mistakes means trying something you haven't done before, doing things and pushing yourself. I was really encouraged by his notion of turning mistakes into art. Everything we do has the potential to be turned into something wonderful and artistic if we can approach it with the correct mindset. Mistakes only mean that we are growing, the day we stop making mistakes is the day we stop trying anything new. Popova's article addressed how to comeback from setbacks in the pursuit to achieve a goal. She practices what she calls REBS, reality based self-congratulations. Rather than seeing mistakes as a reason to be self-critical, the normal everyday habits should be considered small victories. ...