How and why do we get conned? According to Paul J. Zak neuro-economist, and columnist for Psychology Today it’s about brain chemicals
A COLLEAGUE of mine got caught in a Nigerian money scam before much was known about them. And he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was bright, head of a leading company, and savvy. None of his friends understood how he could have been roped in. Continue Reading →
Envy is our best friends. It can tell us what we really want under all that resentment, so we can go get it
SEVERAL years ago, I noticed I was feeling very unfavourable towards a certain friend.
Every time I talked to her, I felt out of sorts. I began noticing things I didn’t like and avoided talking to her.
Because I like to self-reflect, I gave the matter some thought. Why was I suddenly pulling away from someone I dearly loved? And it came to me. Jealousy.
Rather than let the friendship go, I decided to list all the things that were making me feel jealous of her. And only one came up.
Although she is gorgeous and very talented, my red light was that she travelled a lot for work. Just back from London, just off to Paris, just back from Vietnam, just off to America. I wanted to slap dat bi-atch down.
The Australian
BALANCING ACT
I WAS at an appointment the other day with a person from whom I required graphics work.
I asked if I could have a discount as I’d only allocated a certain amount of money to the job and at her rates, we were going to run over budget. “No,” she replied, simply and without emotion. “I don’t do discounts.”
She went on to explain why. I found it a most interesting observation. “People tell you they need a discount because they’re short of cash, or they haven’t budgeted on such an amount. But here’s the truth. Most people have some spare cash lying around, it’s just that they prioritise how they’re going to spend it. You might say you only have $50 an hour to give me, then go and spend $200 on a new dress. Continue Reading →
