Esther Wojcicki is the founder of the Media Arts programmes at Palo Alto High School and contributed to the launch of the Google Teacher Academy. She’s also the proud mother of three successful women: Susan is the CEO of YouTube; Janet an anthropologist and professor of paediatrics; and Anne is the co-founder and CEO of genetics company 23andMe. These three extraordinary women reached the top with commitment, humour, plus a giant dose of compassionate parenting! Want to know Esther’s secrets for successful education? 1. Lead by Example Want to instil positive values and sound [...]
Kindness is our natural approach to the external world. In fact, we're genetically wired to be kind! Kindness changes the brain, impacts the heart and immune system, and can even be an antidote to depression. Science shows that being kind and compassionate is tremendously good for you! Check out the evidence-based benefits of Kindness here! [CLICK HERE]. And if compassion is amazing for your personal well-being, ever thought what it could actually do for your career and business? Here’s what the clever research says: i. Improved Productivity Maximise your productivity [...]
Relationships – of any nature – consist of a deep exchange of physical, emotional and spiritual energy. Human beings need social interaction for their happiness and well-being. Science says that people living in communities live longer (Kearns et al., 2014) and that married people suffer 5% less cardiovascular diseases than unmarried ones (Alviar, et al., 2014). Want a happy, healthy and harmonic relationship? Kindness has been found by researchers to be the most important predictor of satisfaction and stability in a marriage (Gottman, 2018). Sometimes though life gets in the way [...]
Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness - Seneca We humans are herd animals! Since the beginning of time we have been living and growing in communities. Our brains are biologically wired to connect socially and to connect to personal pain. In fact, the pain we all feel from isolation, rejection and loss is real pain! (Lieberman, 2013). We thrive and prosper among other people and kindness and compassion are fundamental elements of any happy relationship. Evidence illustrates how in fact we actually need social interaction more than even food and shelter (Sato, [...]
New York isn’t the only city that never sleeps! In the US 70 million people are reported to have some kind of sleeping disorder, including insomnia, sleep apnoea and sleep deprivation (American Sleep Association, 2019), Bad sleep affects a startling 1 in 3 people in the US (ASA, 2019). In the UK, 74% of the population sleep less than 7 hours per night, while again, roughly 1 in 3 people suffer a sleep disorder (Sleep Council, 2017). Things don’t look much brighter in the rest of the world: globally over 60% of adults suffer from insomnia or other sleeping issues (Harris Poll, [...]
Sleep is of the brain, by the brain and for the brain! Consider last month. How many times did you work through the night to deliver a project on time or please your boss with that important presentation? But how many times did you reboot your computer or phone to make it work more effectively? If you’re willing to be gentle with your electronic devices, why aren’t you doing the same for your brain?! For a decade I worked in an investment bank, where the culture of sleeping deprivation is tolerated – when not encouraged – as in many other kinds of global businesses [...]
