7 healthy holiday traditions you can start right now

7 healthy holiday traditions you can start right now7 healthy holiday traditions you can start right nowThe holiday season may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it definitely isnt always the healthiest. During this season steeped in indulgence, many of our favorite traditions make choosing healthy options difficult. You cant pass up Grandmas apple pie or your sisters homemadeeggnog, after all, or neglect to sit throughA Christmas Storyfor the umpteenth time. So although theres nothing wrong with digging into your favorite dessert or lounging through a holidaymovie marathon, why not add some healthier traditions into the mix too? Youll counterbalance some of the seasons excesses - and make it a bit easier to get back to regular life come January. Not sure what it would look like to start a healthy holiday habit? Dont worry, were not talking about replacing your cookie exchange with a kale salad competition Here are seven easy ideas to shake it up this season.1. Try a fun ru nHoliday fun runs go by many names - turkey trot, jingle jog, Hannukah hot chocolate run - but no matter the title, the concept remains the same. On a day when youre likely to feast, its a good idea to start with some activity. Even if a fun run doesnt take distributions-mix on an actual holiday, training to participate in a 5K, 10K, or other distance race can keep you working out regularly. Choose a run that supports a cause you care about and make it an annual affair2. Start a family fitness traditionBaby, its cold outside - but that doesnt mean you cant work in some heart-pounding exercise. Depending on where you live, you might establish a yearly post-present hike, a sledding stint on New Years Eve, or just a neighborhood walk after Christmas dinner (caroling not required). Alternatively, stay the fitness course all season long by challenging a friend or family member to a steps competition throughout December.3. Add a healthy recipe to your repertoireHave you perfected the a rt of thesugar cookieor nailed the greatest pot roast? Maybe its time to let your cooking prowess shine in other areas too. Especially if youre headed to a gathering you know wont have many healthy offerings, be the one to bring a tasty, good-for-you dish. Revel in your new reputation as theSalad MasterorQuinoa Queen.4.Give backFor many of us, the struggle for holiday well-being is as much about mental health as physical health. One proven means of boosting good vibes is to give of your time to others. Why not make volunteering an annual commitment? Serve at a food pantry, donate to a womens shelter, or visit older folks at a nursing home. You may find yourself looking forward to this activity even mora than the usual cookie baking and light display viewing. Plus, you might even make some new friends in the process.5. Keep a holiday gratitude journalThanksgiving may have come and gone, but thats no reason to cease counting your blessings. Grab a blankjournaland jot down a handful of things youre thankful for every few days. Youll experience thehealth benefits of gratitude- and finish the year with a record of all the great memories you made throughout the season.6. Take a social media breakWhat, take a social media break when you could be posting your cutest Christmas party photos on Instagram? Yep. Overwhelmingresearchreveals that our favorite online platforms actually do more harm than good for our mental health. Comparing ourselves to others leads to feelings of inadequacy, while FOMO (fear of missing out) makes us high-strung and anxious. Saying a temporary sayonara to social media can allow you to focus on your own experience of the holidays, instead of feeling envious of someone elses.7. Host a healthy New Years brunchWhether or not you hit your health goals during the holidays, you can leise ring in the new year right. A healthy New Years brunch with friends may be just the thing to start fresh in January. Invite attendees to bring their favorite dishe s for a healthy potluck meal and to share resolutions. You might even make a commitment to follow up with each other every month. Its one tradition that could help you (and your besties) stay healthy all year long.This article was originally published on Brit + Co.

How setbacks help us discover what we truly love

How setbacks help us discover what we truly loveHow setbacks help us discover what we truly loveCharles Duhiggis a Pultizer Prize-winning journalist and the bestselling author ofThe Power of Habit Why We Do What We Do in Life and BusinessandSmarter Faster Better The Transformative Power of Real Productivity.He recently sat down withSrinivas Raoon theUnmistakable Creativepodcast to discuss why even the fruchtwein admirable among us are flawed, and how setbacks are crucial signposts on the journey of self-discovery.This conversation has been edited and condensed.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreSriniGrowing up, did you have a hero?CharlesNot really, no. I would actually argue that having a hero is leid a great thing, because its too simplistic. There are certainly people that I admire, people who live with purpose and dedication whose examples I draw a huge amount of inspiration fr om. But Im very cognizant of the fact that those people are not heroic. Because if youre heroic, its not particularly hard to do things. If youre a hero- like a Jedi Knight with a lightsaber- all the obstacles fall away with just a little bit of effort. But thats not how life works.Take Reverend Martin Luther King, who I think is deeply, deeply admirable, and, by the way, welches also a deeply flawed part. He had positives, and he had negatives. And whats most amazing about him is that he dedicated himself to a philosophy of nonviolent protest. Is he a hero? I dont think he is. I think hes something much more impressive- a person who found a purpose, and was willing to make sacrifices and continue working, even when it was not clear that the work was going to be successful.John Lewis was also a major figure of the civil rights movement. In his early 20s, he crossed the bridge out of Selma and was beaten by police officers. But what has actually been most impressive about John Lewis is that since then, since he has been out of the public eye, he has spent the rest of his life serving in Congress, working every single day on things that oftentimes are not successful in order to make the world a better place. Going in and filing some amendment to a bill is not particularly heroic- nobody ever writes, InStar WarsPart Seven, Luke Skywalker files a cloture motion. But thats actually what makes the world change. And those people are deeply admirable, not because theyre heroes, but because they found a purpose, and despite their setbacks, they worked to succeed.SriniI love that. If not heroes then, who would you say had a profound influence on your life?CharlesI dont know- I just dont think that way. I actually think its dangerous to think that way. For people who want aphorisms, or want heroes, or want one figure who solves everything- its a way of telling yourself that you can stop thinking.The only people in this world who are unflawed are super boring people.Let m e give you an example. Theres a guy named windschatten Lorch who led the fight to desegregate Stuyvesant Town, which is a big housing village in New York City. And he got fired again and again and again from universities for standing up for civil rights, particularly for integration of African-Americans into what had previously been segregated environments. And apparently, from everyone who Ive ever spoken to, Lee Lorch was awful to spend time with. He was combative and obsessive and self-aggrandizing- yet he fought for civil rights his whole life, and he got a lot done.Thats why there are lots of people who I admire, and there are lots of people who I look at and say, I want to stealthatelement of who that person is. I want to stealthatelement of their character. But there isnt just one person, because thats too much to put on one person. Thats too much to put on ourselves. It has to be this mosaic.SriniI agree with you- my perspective on life and creativity has been shaped by more than 600 people who Ive interviewed.One of the things that really struck me was when you mentioned how both Martin Luther King and Lee Lorch were deeply flawed. And its funny, because Ive heard that same sentiment echoed about other high-achieving people. Why is it that this deeply flawed nature and the accomplishment of amazing things seem to be birds of a feather?CharlesI dont think its that spectacular people are deeply flawed, and therefore also great. Its that all of us, all human beings, are deeply flawed. People who do great things tend to recognize their flaws, make peace with them, and say, I am flawed in this one way. Let me figure out the situations in which that flaw is a huge strength, and try and put myself in those situations, rather than trying to be an unflawed human being.Because to be honest, the only people in this world who are unflawed are super boring people. You can be unflawed, but that means youre never going to try anything hard. Youre never going to take any risks. Youre never going to make any mistakes. Youre never going to do anything- and thats a recipe for being vanilla.If youre dedicated to believing in something and fighting for it, then by definition, there are going to be flaws in your personality. And once you accept that, then the next step is to say, These flaws are experiments, and Im going to learn where ansicht flaws work, and where theyre drawbacks. And Im going to do everything in my power to maximize the strength and minimize the weakness.SriniSo how do you find the situations in which your flaws become your strengths? This is fresh in my mind because somebody asked me recently about what all the people that I interview have in common. And one thing that I did find is that almost every one of them tooksomething that, on the surface, seemed like a major disadvantage, like dyslexia,and turned it into a disproportionate advantage in their work.The best thing that can happen to us is to encounter some obstacles that te st us, and make us think about that motivation, and push us to continue working.CharlesSo I would push back on that, because I dont think thats true. Theres very little evidence that shows that dyslexia becomes an advantage. What we do know is that people who are dyslexic oftentimes learn ways to push themselves, and to be persistent. They develop more grit because theyve had to show grittiness in order to do everyday activities like reading, and that grit spills over into helping them in other settings. But its not like, The fact that Im dyslexic causes me to be great. Its, The fact that Im dyslexic gave me an obstacle to overcome, and I learned skills in persistence that I can now apply to other problems.Now, one exception to that is Chuck Close, the artist. He did what most people refer to as photorealistic portraits- paintings and drawings of people that look like photographs. And then he suffered a stroke. And as a result of the stroke, he was confined to a wheelchair, and he l ost the ability to do precise brushwork. So at that point, Chuck Close decides to come up with a new form of portraiture, which is to divide the canvas into boxes. He says, Im only going to paint individual two-inch by two-inch boxes, and put these boxes in combination. And if you step back from them, they will look like a portrait of someone. He actually became much more famous because of this new style of portraiture.Now, thats a situation where someone has a disability, and they use that disability to do something new and amazing. But not every person who has a stroke becomes an amazing portraitist. Whats important is that Chuck Close said, When I dont have one set of tools available to me, I will find another set of tools that will allow me to continue doing portraits. But its not because of his disability that he did amazing work- he did amazing work, and his disability shaped that work in another direction.SriniThat reminds me of a story I read about the guy who did all the gl asswork on the ceiling of the Bellagio. He went blind in one eye, and that completely changed the way he shaped the glass, and it actually became much more interesting as a byproduct. So in what seems like a really bad situation, what separates the person who reacts like that from the one who doesnt?CharlesThats Dale Chihuly. And I think actually most people respond that way. There are not a lot of people in history who were super high performers, and then had one setback and everything fell apart. Actually, there are many, many more stories of people for whom everything was always going right, and everyone assumed they were talented, but they had one setback and never recovered- because it turned out that they were just lucky, instead of talented.I think that most people find a motivation that drives their work. And in some ways, the best thing that can happen to us is to encounter some obstacles that test us, and make us think about that motivation, and push us to continue working .The truth is, we just dont know whether we actually are in love with the process until we experience the setbacks.If you look at most politicians who have gotten to the presidency, they often had some period of deep disappointment early in their lives. But its not that they became president because of that setback- its that they had the capacity to become president, and when they encountered setbacks, they knew that they could push through it, because they had this genuine, passionate commitment to the work, as opposed to just the outcome of the work.Theres a huge difference between someone who says, I love making art. I love experimenting with different ways of holding-gesellschaft my brush or blowing glass or writing stories, and someone who says, I would love to write a bestselling book, or, I would love to make a great painting, or, I would love to have a famous piece of sculpture. If all youre focused on is the end product, if thats all that interests you, then its very, very hard to make it through those setbacks. But if youre fascinated by the activity itself, if youre fascinated by the process and the journey, then the setbacks really arent that big of a deal. Its disappointing, but the setback teaches you a new possibility, a new way forward- like, That didnt work, so now Ill try this.The truth is, we just dont know whether we actually are in love with the process until we experience the setbacks. We might tell ourselves, I dont care if people like my art- I just love making artBut until youve been through it, its very hard to test that thesis. If you find that youre going into work, and the work kind of sucks, and nobody ever appreciates you, but you still like going in every day, you discover, I actually do like doing the work.SriniTo me setbacks are the biggest tests that stand between us and the next level of significance. Something good always seems to come from a setback, even though it never seems like it in the moment.CharlesYeah, but again, I think its really important not to fall into these platitudes- Something good always comes from it. You know what? Sometimes nothing good comes from a setback. Its important to be honest with ourselves and say, Sometimes bad things happen, and thats okay. If you still like what youre doing in the midst of the bad thing, then youre doing the right thing. And if you dont like what youre doing, its okay to say, Maybe I should go do something else.I became an editor about two years ago at theTimes. I loved when we were successful, but when we had a setback, I was like, Ah, this job sucks. Whereas when Im reporting and writing stories, even when theres a setback, its like, Oh, that didnt work, but heres another way to try. I just love reporting, and I love writing. And being honest with yourself, and learning that about yourself- thats when you learn where youre going to be successful.This article originally appeared on Heleo.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that w ill make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from kleine Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

27 surprising things that affect whether you get hired

27 surprising things that affect whether you get hired27 surprising things that affect whether you get hiredThere are many pieces to a job interview.Theres the obvious stuff Have you done yur research on the company? Are you polite to the interviewer and eager to join the staff?But theres also the less obvious stuff How do you treat the receptionist? Are you smiling too much?Below, we put together a list of seemingly trivial details that can affect your options of landing the gig - and only some are within your control.Jacquelyn Smith and Vivian Giang contributed to a previous version of this article.1. The time of your interview1030 a.m. on a Tuesday is the best time for you to schedule an interview, reports Glassdoor. People are shown to be fruchtwein productive on Tuesdays and wont feel rushed by the time they meet you. Its also late enough in the day that your interviewer has had time to check their email, have a cup of coffee, and get ready for your arrival.You also dont want t o be someones last meeting of the workday, because theres a good chance the interviewers attention might elend solely be on you. They could be thinking about priorities that they have after work, for example, such as dinner plans, kids homework, etc.Also, avoid interviewing pre or post-lunch because your time with them could either be cut short or you could be left waiting for a long time.2. The weather on the day of your interviewUniversity of Toronto researchers Donald Redelmeier and Simon D. Baxter found that medical school applicants fared worse if they interviewed on a rainy day compared to sunny day interviewees.They say Overall, those interviewed on rainy days received about a 1% lower score than those interviewed on sunny days. This pattern welches consistent for both senior interviewers and junior interviewers. We next used logistic regression to analyze subsequent admission decisions. The difference in scores was equivalent to about a 10% lower total mark on the Medical Co llege Admission Test.The data included nearly 3,000 applicants over a six-year period.3. How early you arriveYou may think itll look good if you arrive early - but if youre excessively early, you could be hurting your chances.Of course arriving a few minutes early is a good idea, and is certainly better than arriving late - but dont show up a half hour before your interview, says Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job.It can make you appear too anxious or put pressure on the interviewer. If you have extra time, gather your thoughts in your car or take a brief walk to get your energy up.4. Whether your rival also interviews on the same dayYes, it may be difficult to know when your rival is interviewing, but if you happen to know, schedule your interview on a different day. Research suggests that whether or not youre considered qualified for a position depends on who else is applying for the job.People are averse to judging too many applicants high or low on a single day, which creates a bias against people who happen to show up on days with especially strong applicants, according to a study in the journal Psychological Science.However, this comparison only lasts for one day, which means that you are only compared to people who are interviewing on the same day as you - not the day before or after.5. When you send your thank-you noteWe all know how important it is to follow up after a job interview with a thank-you note - but not everyone realizes that when they send it can be just as important.If you wait too long, the hiring manager may forget about you or assumeyoure not interested in the job. It may also make you seem like a slacker.The best timeframe to send a thank you email is within 24 hours after your interview, Whitney Purcell, formerly the associate director of Career Development at Susquehanna University, previously told Business Inside r. It should be sent during business hours no 3 a.m. emails that make your schedule seem a little out of whack with the companys traditional hours.For mora on how to craft the perfect thank-you note, check out this handy guide.6. What you do while waiting in the lobbyDrinking coffee, eating, or talking on your cell is not the first impression you want to make with the hiring manager - or the receptionist, says Taylor. You dont know exactly when the interviewer will show up, so be at the ready.She suggests keeping one hand free so that you can quickly shake hands without awkwardly placing all your personal items on a chair or on the floor. You want to appear organized and attentive.Also, as you wait, either make conversation with the receptionist (if he or she is available to talk), review notes from your notebook, or review any company materials for guests. Maintain a pleasant smile and upbeat demeanor.7. How you treat the receptionist or the driverEmployers want to know how you i nteract with others regularly, so a common tactic is to ask the receptionist about you later.Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he will ask the shuttle driver who picks up candidates whether they were impolite or rude.A lot of our job candidates are from out of town, and well pick them up from the airport in a Zappos shuttle, give them a tour, and then theyll spend the rest of the day interviewing, Hsieh says. At the end of the day of interviews, the recruiter will circle back to the shuttle driver and ask how he or she was treated. It doesnt matter how well the day of interviews went, if our shuttle driver wasnt treated well, then we wont hire that person.8. Your handshakeAs in any business or networking situation, a weak, tentative handshake conveys a lack of confidence, Taylor says. And this gesture is a key part of your first impression.Make sure you convey your self-assurance with a firm handshake and a smile on your face - and dont be afraid to take the initiative in reaching out. Some people go overboard, however. You dont need to cause injury to make your point.9. If you accept the offered coffeeIf the interviewer offers you something to drink besides water - especially coffee - dont accept it.Your interviewer doesnt want to spend 10 minutes just to make you a cup of coffee, say authors John B. Molidor and Barbara Parus in their book Crazy Good Interviewing How Acting A Little Crazy Can Get You The Job.This is especially true if they have a busy day ahead, since theyre now spending even mora time than they originally planned just to make you coffee.10. Whether youre a little narcissisticResearch from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggests that narcissists score much higher than others in job interviews, and its because theyre comfortable with self-promoting.Since narcissists typically think theyre fantastic, the interviewer may think so, too.11. The color of your clothingAccording to 2,099 hiring manage rs and human resource professionals who participated in a CareerBuilder survey, blue and black are the best colors to wear to a job interview, and orange is the worst.Conservative colors, such as black, blue, gray, and brown, seem to be the safest bet when meeting someone for the first time in a professional setting, whereas colors that signal mora creativity, like orange, may be too loud for an interview.Red is the most powerful color, but consider whether you want to outshine your interviewer. This, of course, depends on what role youre interviewing for and the culture of the company.12. Whether you glance at your watch or cell phoneAs benign as this might seem, people notice when youre peeking at your watch or phone, and you certainly dont want to convey that youre not engaged in the conversation, Taylor explains.Even having your cell phone in plain sight is disrespectful. Youre not going to text or take calls, so turn it off and put it away. Make sure your hiring manager has you r undivided attention.13. Sitting before youre asked toShow respect for your interviewers space by waiting for them to offer you a seat, or wait for them to sit first.After you sit, Molidor and Parus say to sit tall with squared up shoulders and try to occupy as much space in the chair as possible. Dont be like a shrinking violet with a bowed head, no eye contact, and slouching shoulders.14. Tailoring your answers based on the interviewers ageDifferent generations are most impressed by different values. By being aware of your interviewers age, you can tailor your answers to what you think theyre looking for, advise Molidor and Parus.With a little practice, you can home in on the values that each generation holds most dear. You can shape your answer using the language of their values, they write.15. The way you make eye contact in a panel interviewKeep everyones attention in a panel interview by making eye contact with different people at specific times during your response, say Moli dor and Parus.In a panel interview, always begin your response by making eye contact with the person who asked you the question. Then make random and soft eye contact with each of the other interviewers. As you finish up your response, return your eye contact to the person who asked you the question. Do not mow down the interviewers by going down the line making eye contact after the other. Soft random eye contact does the trick.16. Your postureWhen youre in the interview, your default should be sitting straight and keeping a pleasant smile on your face, Taylor says.Avoid slumping in your chair and remember to lean forward, showing interest in the interviewer. Even if you feel the discussion is going south, maintain your poise, posture and inflection. That can sometimes help you turn things around.17. What you do with your handsMolidor and Parus writeShowing your palms indicates sincerity.unternehmensverbund your palms downward is a sign of dominance. Do not shake hands with your pa lms down.Pressing the fingertips of your hands together to form a church steeple is a display of confidence.Concealing your hands, as in putting them in your pockets, is a sign that you have something to hide.Finger tapping is a sign of impatience.Folding your arms across your chest is a very defensive position, indicating disappointment or disagreement.Overusing hand gestures to the point of distraction.18. The questions you askMaybe youre capable of answering every question sent your way with flying colors, but you also need to leave on a good note by asking smart, thoughtful questions at the end.Below are two questions from Vicky Olivers book 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview QuestionsWhat are some of the problems your company faces right now? And what is your department doing to solve them?What type of employee tends to succeed here? What qualities are the most important for doing well and advancing at the firm?19. Where you grew upIf you spent your childhood in LA and your i nterviewer did, too, you may have a better chance of landing the job.Its clearly unfair (and out of your control), but your interviewer may not even be consciously aware that shes biased toward Californians. Its called the similarity-attraction hypothesis People simply gravitate toward those who are similar to them in some capacity.There are a few potential explanations for this phenomenon. One is that people with a decent level of self-esteem are satisfied with their personalities, so when they see their qualities reflected in someone else, they like that person, too.Another idea is that humans have evolved to like people who look and act the way they do. At one point in human history, the safest bet was to only trust people in your small social group.20. How competent you seemComing across as super-competent can in some cases hurt your success in an interview.Thats because your interviewer might worry that youll threaten his status in the organization. And thats especially true in organizations with highly competitive cultures.Of course, you should still put your best foot forward in any job interview. If the company doesnt hire you because they feel threatened, you might not want to work there anyway.21. The sound of your voiceIn the near future, some companies may begin analyzing candidates voices to determine if theyd be good fits, according to an NPR report.Essentially, an algorithm would determine whether your voice is engaging, calming, or trustworthy - which could be especially important in industries like hospitality and retail.Humans would have the final say on hiring.22. Whether youre smilingIts common sense that flashing a smile makes you look friendlier and more approachable.But research suggests that, for certain professions, smiling too much can undermine your success in a job interview.In one study, published in the Journal of Social Psychology, researchers asked college students to role-play job interviews. They found that students who playe d candidates for the position of newspaper reporter, manager, and research assistant were less likely to get the hypothetical job when they smiled - especially during the middle of the interviews.23. Your accentResearch published in the Journal of Applied Psychology suggests that some employers may discriminate against candidates for executive positions when the candidates have foreign accents. Specifically, the employers may believe that those candidates have less political skill.This is another example of completely unfair discrimination, and the researchers behind the study say companies should add accent-bias awareness training to existing training programs for hiring managers.24. Your weightRecent experiments suggest that were less inclined to hire job candidates when theyre overweight.In the study, published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, men and women rated digital resumes that included photographs of non-obese people and digitally alter ed photographs of those same people as obese. As it turns out, obese candidates were rated significantly less competent than non-obese candidates.Right now, Michigan is the only state that has a law against weight discrimination - theres no protection under federal law. But if you feel that weight discrimination has affected your chances of landing a job, you can get in touch with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the American Civil Liberties Union.25. Whether you have tattoos or piercingsA Salary.com survey found that some 76% of people say tattoos and piercings hurt a job candidates chances of getting hired.Your body art might stand out more in certain fields - for example, the survey found that just 8% of government workers have tattoos, compared to 20% of those in the hospitality, tourism, and recreation industries.26. Your body languageExperts say that when people like each other they mirror each others body posture and movements. In a way, it looks like the two people are dancing.If you dont mirror your interviewers body language, it might seem like youre not interested in what theyre saying or even that youre lying.Obviously, you dont need to go to extremes here - like scratching your nose every time your interviewer does. But if theyre leaning forward in their chair or sitting with their legs crossed, you can subtly mimic these behaviors.27. How sweaty you areOffering a clammy palm to shake the hiring managers hand is the greatest fear of many a job candidate.And for good reason - sweating suggests youre nervous and can undermine the image of cool confidence youre trying to project.One public relations recruiter tells US News that she recommends asking for a cold cup of water while youre waiting to be called in for your interview. That way, youll lower your body temperature and stop some of the sweating.On the other hand, you can just accept that sweating and nervousness are normal in a stressful situation and hope your interviewer fee ls the same way.This article first appeared on Business Insider.