What do you argue about with the people in your life? Maybe you have argued with your romantic partner about the division of household tasks, sex, fidelity and jealousy, or communication. Perhaps you’ve had past disagreements with family members or close friends over their behaviour or your behaviour.

Sometimes, the desire to be proven right and the other person wrong can become so strong that people can lose perspective. Thankfully, … Read more

Years ago, I remember working on a client project that I thought was going really well. Then a colleague asked to have a chat with me – when he revealed that a client had given him a list of things that I had got wrong. First of all, it was a big shock. Secondly, I felt really dejected. But after a while, I realised that there were important lessons to … Read more

Do you ever get into arguments? Perhaps you and someone at home don’t agree about who should do how much housework and when. Or you and a colleague disagree about the best way to tackle a new project.

Culled from psychological research, here are 5 straightforward tips to winning more arguments.

1. Check your emotional state
Strong emotions such as anger, sadness or excitement may impair your ability to negotiate. … Read more

Management writers often talk about the fact that we live in an increasingly VUCA world (which stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) and I think that few people would disagree with that. In this chaotic and every-changing world, one of the best things we can do to future-proof our careers is to keep learning.

So that may be about doing more reading or doing some of the excellent (and … Read more

When it comes to reading psychological advice, how you can know what will work and what won’t?

To explain, let me tell you about my last cold. I just got over a cold and cough that lasted around two weeks. When I met a friend for coffee at the weekend, she said that she hardly ever gets colds because she gargles with water regularly – and she suggested that I … Read more

Psychologists have spent decades researching ways that we can boost our chances of achieving whatever goals we set ourselves. Here are 7 proven tips and tricks to boost your chances of success:

1. Set yourself manageable, specific actions.
Rather than saying something like “I want to lose weight” or “I want to be more outgoing,” decide on particular behaviours that you will demonstrate in certain circumstances.

For weight loss, you … Read more

People are notoriously bad at taking advice. I’m sure you can think of plenty of people who ignore advice that they should eat more healthily, exercise more, stop smoking, find a new job, end a bad relationship, etc. Life would be so much easier if only everyone else would listen to good advice!

But let’s be honest here. There are almost certainly times when you probably don’t listen to good … Read more

Things don’t always go well in life. Your team may have been planning something for months – say a conference, a client pitch or any kind of major project – but it ends up going wrong. Of course things can go wrong away from the office too. A medical procedure accidentally endangers a patient’s life. A manoeuvre by the armed forces ends up in defeat. A mistake on an oil … Read more