Mentoring a Gifted Child

We tend to donate our time and money to “the least among us.”  But if the goal is to make the biggest difference, we might want to focus on people with unusually good potential to profit. My favorite example: Mentor or fund the mentoring of a kid(s) from families with modest income who are high performers. Why can that be so potent?

• Of course, some not-high-performers become late bloomers. But current high-performers are more likely to grow up to cure our diseases, create better products, be wise leaders, etc.
• The rich are more likely to help their high-performing kids to live up to their potential. That’s less likely with kids from lower-income backgrounds.
• One-on-one efforts are likely to yield significant benefit because the engagements are individualized and they bring the emotional connection that can foster motivation.

My PsychologyToday.com article today shows how to recruit and make the most of such a mentoring relationship, for the child and for you.
Of course, in today's era of suspicion especially about sexual predators, you may be limited to being a participant in an existing at-school program, but maybe not. In either case, the following should be helpful.

Thinking Cosmically: The wisest approach to life?

he concept I've learned in school that has most affected my day-to-day thinking is Kohlberg's six stages of moral development. At the highest stage, decisions are based on what's universally, cosmically, wisest. 

 My PsychologyToday.com article today encourages you to do the same.

Choosing a Counselor

When choosing a therapist, counselor, or coach, it’s tempting to just get a referral from a trusted friend. But it’s highly unlikely that with all the counselors out there, that your friend’s practitioner is the best and most cost-effective fit you could find without undue effort.

It's also overly restrictive to rely on a reference from a professional such as your physician—they rarely see a recommended practitioner in action.

You’re seeing a counselor because you have a serious issue, so it's wise to treat the selection process seriously. I offer my best advice on how to do so in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Pruning the Dead Wood From Your Life

When pruning a rose bush, you remove weak canes (the branches) so all the plant’s energy can go into the strong canes, yielding more beautiful flowers.

In improving our lives, we tend to think of adding, but sometimes pruning the weak wood is wiser. Yes, less can be more. Or to invoke another metaphor, when a cook sautes mushrooms, the water evaporates, leaving richer flavor.

My PsychologyToday.com article today offers pruning opportunities for your worklife, relationships, charity, and more. 

Making Tasks More Pleasant An under-discussed key to reducing procrastination.

If you hit a dog a few times, s/he’ll learn to avoid you. Similarly, if your experience in doing tasks is often painful, you’ll soon avoid them. In other words, you’ll become a procrastinator.

My Psychologytoday.com article today may help replace your mindset that 
task = odious with task = neutral or even pleasant.

Training Hachi: A doggie diary

Just five days ago, I adopted my latest in a lifetime of having a doggie. I share lessons learned (and a nice story) in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

10 More Self-Improvement Musts

Fads come and go. Yesterday’s magic pills, for example, “Grit” and “Growth Mindset” are being replaced by the next crop wannabe bestsellers, for example, "Slowing Down to Get Ahead,”  "Burning Bright," and "The Little Work."

But a few self-improvement tactics have survived the most rigorous test, the test of time. A while back I described ten.  My PsychologyToday.com article today offers ten more.