823: The Question Trap

Many of us consider ourselves avid supporters of gender equality...so why are our relationships still so unequal? The best way to guarantee a marriage of equals is a rejection of gender norms from the beginning.

Jack Canfield struck gold as a co-author of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, but it took years for him to achieve success. In The Success Principles, he details 67 principles to help anyone achieve their goals and dreams, based on his study and interviews with hundreds of successful people. The basic formula for success is to identify what you want, know that you deserve to have it, and use the book’s principles to get you there.

The book's Principles include taking responsibility for your life, setting goals and visualizing success, facing your fears, forgiving others so you can move forward, asking for and graciously receiving feedback, and appreciating your successes.

Lean In, by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, explores the professional, personal and societal hurdles holding women back from leadership positions in the workforce. The hurdles include discrimination, family-unfriendly policies, and a lack of help at home. To get more women into leadership positions and make true changes, Sandberg urges women to “lean in” to their careers, taking risks and being ambitious in their professional goals, while demanding more help at home. To do this, women must fight a lack of self-confidence and internalized gender stereotypes to forge fulfilling and rewarding personal and professional lives.

From sibling arguments to temper tantrums, parents constantly have to manage conflict. These challenging moments are pivotal opportunities to promote your child’s psychological development. The Whole-Brain Child explains the neurological and developmental reasons for many of your child’s meltdowns and misbehaviors. When the different parts of your child’s brain—such as the logical left brain and the emotional right brain—are not integrated, it makes your child mentally and emotionally off-balance, which causes her to act out.

The book teaches you how to diagnose signs of dis-integration, as well as strategies to help your child to re-integrate her mind. With these tools, your child will develop a stronger relationship with you, increase her self-awareness and emotional self-control, and build the foundation for a lifetime of healthy relationships and mental and emotional stability.

When neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor suffered a stroke on the left side of her brain, she was uniquely qualified to observe and report on the experience of losing her cognitive functions. However, she was surprised to learn that as her stroke silenced her mind, she developed feelings of deep inner peace and connection that had lain dormant in the right half of her brain. Taylor’s newfound capacity for empathy and stillness redefined her awareness of herself and the world, and led her to believe that we can all find that peace if we become aware of how our brains function and consciously tap its hidden resources.

In this guide, we’ll cover Taylor’s account of her stroke, her recovery, and her insights on mental and emotional self-care. We’ll discuss Taylor’s recommendations on how best to support stroke survivors, and we’ll compare her experience to the findings of experts on neuroscience, psychology, and mental well-being.

Explore the journey of cultivating resilience with Mel Robbins in "The Mel Robbins Podcast," as she delves into the quintessence of navigating life's challenges with hope and strength. Through personal anecdotes and shared vulnerabilities, Robbins invites us to confront our own emotional states with honesty and solidarity. In this episode, the self-help guru undrapes the significance of spiritual practices and the serene embrace of nature to maintain optimism in the face of stress and anxiety. Through her poignant reflections and practical advice, Mel Robbins stands as a compassionate guide to finding peace in our inner tumult.

Mel extends her insights on human connection, regaling us with stories such as her encounter with Ernest, a cheerful minister with a mission to spark joy. She introduces the "10-5 rule" to combat isolation and foster community, underscoring the nurturing power of simple acts of kindness. Spanning emotional support that crosses borders to the importance of balancing media consumption for mental well-being, Robbins encourages listeners to become beacons of hope, akin to the reassuring lighthouse in her memories. Sign off with the empowering affirmation from Robbins, knowing her wisdom is designed to educate and entertain, while encouraging each listener to make a positive impact in their corner of the world.

Elite colleges and universities in the US typically accept less than 10% of applicants, but their influence stretches far beyond this small group. In Excellent Sheep, author and former Yale professor William Deresiewicz makes the case that these institutions’ influence is negative. He argues that they’re so selective and profit-oriented that they contribute to social inequality and deprive students of high-quality learning.

In this guide, we’ll examine two problems with elite US colleges and universities and explain why Deresiewicz claims they harm both society and students. Then, we’ll explore solutions by describing how governments, schools, and parents can collectively overhaul US higher education—and how today’s students can make the most of their college years in the meantime. As we explore these ideas, we’ll fact-check the author’s claims by providing both supportive evidence and counterexamples. We’ll also discuss ways in which some elite US schools have changed since the publication of Excellent Sheep in 2014. Furthermore, we’ll supplement the author’s ideas with actionable steps.

Since the 2016 election, America has witnessed college campus protests against “controversial” or “dangerous” speakers. The Coddling of the American Mind explores this phenomenon, showing how a set of dangerous and false beliefs have taken root in the minds of today’s college students, convincing these young people that they are inherently fragile and must be protected from the allegedly harmful impacts of speech with which they disagree. This attitude threatens academic freedom, undermines democracy, and is ultimately harmful to the social and emotional development of today’s youth.