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Traits of Longer Life – Tips to Live longer and Healthier

Old is Gold, well yes or no both. We spend most of our lives lost in our reactive mind—worrying about the future, regretting the past. This way of living brings about the opposite of the personality traits associated with a long life. If we are alert and rooted in the present moment, we’ll be more conscientious, open, emotionally stable, friendly, and emotionally expressive, which are the five traits of leading a long and healthy life. Mindfulness is one of the trait which can bring out the other fundamentals found in people who tend to live long, healthy lives.

There is a delimma though, throughout history, elderly people were seen as respected leaders, pillars of wisdom for the community. And yet today, seniors are largely relegated to the corners of our society, marginalized and disrespected, which is partly because growing old is equated with becoming sick, decrepit, and senile.

Five key traits for longevity

1. Conscientiousness – Thorough and efficient people who are less likely to take risks lived longer.

2. Openness – You should be quick to listen to others. Always give a open ear to listen to other person’s feelings and ideas. This will ensure longer life span.

3. Emotional stability – Be emotionally stable which can be the strongest links to living a long life.

4. Friendliness – For women, friendliness is the second highest character quality associated with a long life.

5. Emotional expression – People who lived longer were openly expressed their emotions.

How Do Leaders Deal With Disruption and Changes in Life?

President Kennedy wrote: “Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are sure to miss the future.”

Change simply means that something is different than it was a minute, a day, a week, a month, a year or a decade or more ago. Some trigger has modified the details of your life, the organization you work for, even global economic conditions.

Change can be caused by evolving external forces, such as the rise of ISIS. Most people did nothing to start this phase of terror perpetrated on the world. But that doesn’t mean they can avoid its ramifications.

And then some change is fostered internally, by the change in the way you see your life going, by new perspectives on your employment, education, relationships, and your health.

Change is disruptive and can even be turbulent — especially when it hits close to home and plays with our emotions. But then leadership today is all about managing disruption. And disruption is an hourly occurrence. Leaders are people who don’t just learn to live with or manage change — they actually create change and help others successfully navigate it.

Listen carefully to catch the change behind the change. Change can be tricky and misleading. Be careful not to make a superficial translation of some trend only to be led down some dead end. Not all change is what it seems on the surface.

If you don’t truly get under the change and analyze it before you react to it, you may miss something — like the critical time to quit your job and move on. You are not the only person in the world affected by change. You may be stuck in a trap where you think that you caused the change in your life and that it is harmful to you alone.

Targeted actions for managing Change for Leaders like CEO’s

Targeting pockets of opportunity: CEOs should focus on a few well chosen initiatives, primarily in their existing markets, to stimulate organic growth.

Concentrating on the customer – CEOs are creating new ways to demand and foster customer loyalty. Few could be capitalizing on digital marketing platforms and involving customers in product/service development. But does not mean they have a open budget. They need to cut down cost of R&D and take care of innovation.

Improving operational effectiveness – CEOs should be balancing efficiency with agility.

A New Way to Understand the Narcissistic Male

though many people can be selfish and conceited from time to time, some individuals take it to a whole other level. When these traits define the person – and they negatively impact everyone who is part of their life for as long as they are a part of it – they usually signal a mental health condition known as Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Like all personality disorders, naricissism can have far-reaching consequences for both the one suffering from it and the people who care about them.

Some typical characteristics of Narcissistic Males

Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder have a very distorted sense of self. They are generally “grandiose”, which means they have an inflated or exaggerated opinion of their positive traits and / or abilities. Even though some are very attractive, highly intelligent, or exceptionally talented, narcissists typically regard themselves as elite or exceptional compared to everyone else.

The Statistics of Narcissism

There are no firm statistics available in regard to the frequency of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). Psychologists state that 1% of the population is diagnosed with NPD, and that 75% of the cases in therapy are men. Remind yourself that this 1% statistic is gathered only from individuals diagnosed in therapy.

By definition, narcissists severely lack humility and will avoid admitting there’s something wrong with them at all costs. Most narcissists in therapy are forced there by the courts, or have arrived for ‘other’ reasons such as alcoholism or a divorce. They usually don’t show up to deal with ‘narcissistic’ behaviour.

According to experts estimates there are up to 16% of society who are severely narcissistic. This is almost 1 in every 6 people. I believe this is a much more accurate assessment. What is frightening is: narcissists are extremely emotionally insecure.

Narcissists thrive on the praise and admiration of others. Their air of superiority is exaggerated often quite obvious, although some narcissists are very skilled at pretending to be humble when necessary.

Symptoms of Narcissistic Persons

  1. Exaggerated sense regarding their accomplishments and talents
  2. Use of others to get what they want in life
  3. Belittlement of others to boost their fragile self-esteem
  4. Obsessive self-involvement
  5. Inability to feel empathy; lack of a sincere interest in others
  6. Slightest criticism is met with rage and/or shame
  7. Inability to maintain healthy relationships
  8. Unreasonable expectations of favoritism
  9. Striving for constant admiration and attention
  10. Fantasies revolving around personal success and attractiveness

Treatment or Handling options

While medication can help treat symptoms of depression or anxiety that may also be present, there is no medication that is effective for the treatment of narcissistic personality disorder.

7 Strengths for 7 Stressors of Today

The modern world today has been the worst all across human history for the stress effects on our daily life. There are many people who are feeling the psychological burden. Lot of us are feeling very tired and withdrawn from everyday routine and daily activities. The constant exposure to media is aggravating the situation towards the downward spiral because of the environmental and social events happening all around us and in the world we live.

Here are some of the top stressors in the current times and how we can overcome them to live a simple yet fulfilling life. Following these tips will mobilize your strengths towards achieving greater resilience and buoyancy in daily life.

1. The world is going through tough times and going to a shallow bottom – there are many horrific events like fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, and flooding. The political environment all around is also not giving any sense of stability either.

To cope up, remember that in all the times of despair and calamity, we see many resources being mobilized by people to care for others whom they do not know or never met. This is the human nature which has made us coexist since so long. The feeling of altruism, sympathy, and empathy are still in all of us fundamentally. Be helpful and provide hope for yourself and others.

2. Are we destroying our planet and making it inhabitable – The population of the world has been growing ad currently it is over populated, due to which we are consuming more and more resources. This causes Earth to suffer due to waste, deterioration of resources, oil reserves, etc.

Well, think that the basic step starts from you. We must do all that we can individually and collectively to make our planet better.

3. Feeling Lonely – We are living in a mobile world where people are moving constantly for school, work, leisure, etc. Therefore, we are often lonely with extended family living at distance, whether hundred miles or thousands of miles. Disintegration of community and relatives is making us get lesser and lesser emotional support.

To cope up with feeling of loneliness, we do need to be with others and feel part of a group. Invite friends over for dinner or extended an invitation to someone for coffee. Be inspired and extend yourself to an activity or an invitation and savor some connection.

4. There is so much anger around us with people upset naturally always. – The frustrations of life comes out in any form at any time with minimal or no provocation at all. Well, you might have heard it million times before, but the coping mechanisms remain same – exercise, meditation, friends and family, vacation time, etc are all the ways to reduce the daily life frustration. Do what you enjoyed once and stopped doing it due to time and its relevance.

5. How can I help or how can I get help – Healthy stepping back from your own world can take you to the longer road of good and destressed life. Keep in mind that grief and loss are part of life. What does loss or grief mean to you? How have you managed your own loss or grief in life? What helped, what didn’t? How can you cultivate them? Time to introspect and help others introspect.

6. Accept that stress is part of life – When stressful situations arise, remind yourself that they are part of life and will come and go. Nothing in this life is permanant – neither does your stress. So take a relaxed approch towards stress in life.

7. Have a realistic outlook about everything in your life. Do not see the world through rose-colored glasses rather have your own outlook which is realistic. You also need to check the silver lining in the tough circumstances. Stressful circumstances are there to make you become stronger and better.

Brain’s Alertness Circuitry Conserved Through Evolution

NIH-funded scientists revealed the types of neurons supporting alertness, using a molecular method called MultiMAP in transparent larval zebrafish. Multiple types of neurons communicate by secreting the same major chemical messengers: serotonin (red), dopamine and norepinephrine (yellow) and acetylcholine (cyan).

Using a molecular method likely to become widely adopted by the field, researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health have discovered brain circuitry essential for alertness, or vigilance – and for brain states more generally. Strikingly, the same cell types and circuits are engaged during alertness in zebra fish and mice, species whose evolutionary forebears parted ways hundreds of millions of years ago. This suggests that the human brain is likely similarly wired for this state critical to survival.

“Vigilance gone awry marks states such as mania and those seen in post-traumatic stress disorder and depression,” explained Joshua Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., director of the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), which along with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, co-funded the study. “Gaining familiarity with the molecular players in a behavior – as this new tool promises – may someday lead to clinical interventions targeting dysfunctional brain states.”

Karl Deisseroth, M.D., Ph.D., Matthew Lovett-Barron, Ph.D., and Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, colleagues, report on findings using a neural activity screening technology they call Multi-MAP (Multiplexed-alignment of Molecular and Activity Phenotypes) online Nov. 2, 2017 in the journal Cell.

For the first time, Multi-MAP makes it possible to see which neurons are activated in a behaving animal during a particular brain state – and subsequently molecularly analyze just those neurons to identify the subtypes and circuits involved.

In this case, the researchers used the technique to screen activity of neurons visible through the transparent heads of genetically-engineered larval zebra fish. They gauged vigilance by measuring how long it took the animals to swish their tails in response to a threatening stimulus.

A molecular analysis revealing subtypes led to identification of six suspect circuits composed of distinct populations of neurons that modulate neuronal activity, only one of which had previously been linked to vigilance. Virtually the same players were operative in follow-up experiments examining such reaction time-related circuitry in mouse brain. Using optogenetics – another breakthrough exploratory tool developed by Deisseroth and colleagues — the researchers narrowed the field to three circuits that definitively boost alertness in mice, including the one previously known. The other three are thought to play a reportorial rather than regulatory role.

Depression’s Transcriptional Signatures Differ in Men vs. Women

Divergent illness processes may point to sex-specific treatments

Brain gene expression associated with depression differed markedly between men and women in a study by NIMH-funded researchers. Such divergent “transcriptional signatures” may signal divergent underlying illness processes that may require sex-specific treatments, they suggest. Experiments in chronically-stressed male and female mice that developed depression-like behaviors largely confirmed the human findings.

NIMH grantee Eric Nestler, M.D., Ph.D., of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and colleagues, reported their findings online August 21, 2017 in the journal Nature Medicine.

Discovering the likely differing causes of “depression” may lead to more precise diagnosis and treatment. Sex differences could hold clues. Women are 2-3 times more likely than men to develop depression. Evidence has been mounting of sex differences in symptoms, treatment responsiveness and brain changes associated with the disorder. But, until now, little was known about molecular mechanisms in specific brain regions that might underlie such differences.

To explore these, Nestler’s team sequenced the transcriptomes of six suspect brain regions in postmortem brains of 13 males and 13 females who had depression and 22 unaffected people.

In both sexes, all six regions showed illness-linked changes in transcription, when compared to brains of controls. But there was little overlap (5-10 percent) between male and female brains in depression-linked gene expression patterns across the regions. Upon further analysis, males showed only 31 percent of illness-linked modules of co-expressed genes seen in females, and females shared only 26 percent of such modules with males. Moreover, functions of the depression-associated modules largely differed between the sexes. The transcriptional changes affected several brain cell types in males, but mostly neurons in females. Yet, despite the lack of overlap at the level of gene transcripts, several of the same overall molecular pathways were ultimately implicated in depression in both men and women.

Similarly, genetically identical male and female mice showed little (20-25 percent) overlap in transcriptional signatures associated with depression-like behaviors experimentally induced by chronic stress. In the brain’s executive hub and reward center, expression of dozens of the same implicated genes increased and decreased in the same sex-specific directions in both humans and mice. This indicated that both species may share sex-specific stress-induced pathology, converging on several of the same biological pathways.

“The mouse work allows investigation into the cellular mechanisms by which the observed changes in gene expression lead to changes in neural circuit function and behavior,” explained Laurie Nadler, Ph.D., chief of the NIMH Neuropharmacology Program, which co-funded the study.

Using genetic engineering, the researchers uncovered molecular mechanisms underlying the sex-specific effects of changes in activity of two genes never previously linked to depression or stress responses.

The study results suggest that depression-related stress susceptibility is mediated by mostly different genes and partly different pathways across the sexes, although these converge in some common outputs. Since genome-wide studies have not turned up sex differences in genetic variation (DNA) associated with depression, the researchers suggest that the differences instead take place at the level of gene transcription. Such changes in similar gene modules organized and expressed differently across brain regions in males and females may disrupt coordinated neural activity needed to cope with stress, they propose.

These findings illustrate the importance of examining sex differences in neuropsychiatric phenomena,” said Dr. Nestler. “They also provide insight into possible approaches for the treatment of depression that selectively target women or men.

Researchers found little overlap between illness-related gene expression changes in postmortem prefrontal cortex (an executive decision-making hub) of depressed men (blue) compared to those found in depressed women (pink). They found more, but still limited, overlap between gene expression changes in the comparable brain region of chronically stressed male and female mice. They say the latter finding is particularly striking, given that the mice were genetically identical, exposed to identical stresses, and subsequently showed equivalent depression-related behavioral abnormalities. The study suggests that depression appears to involve fundamentally different molecular abnormalities in men versus women.

7 Strengths for 7 Stressors of Today

The modern world today has been the worst all across human history for the stress effects on our daily life. There are many people who are feeling the psychological burden. Lot of us are feeling very tired and withdrawn from everyday routine and daily activities. The constant exposure to media is aggravating the situation towards the downward spiral because of the environmental and social events happening all around us and in the world we live.

Here are some of the top stressors in the current times and how we can overcome them to live a simple yet fulfilling life. Following the tips will mobilize your strengths towards achieving greater resilience and buoyancy in daily life.

1. The world is going through tough times and going to a shallow bottom – there are many horrific events like fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, and flooding. The political environment all around is also not giving any sense of stability either.

To cope up, remember that in all the times of despair and calamity, we see many resources being mobilized by people to care for others whom they do not know or never met. This is the human nature which has made us coexist since so long. The feeling of altruism, sympathy, and empathy are still in all of us fundamentally. Be helpful and provide hope for yourself and others.

2. Are we destroying our planet and making it inhabitable – The population of the world has been growing ad currently it is over populated, due to which we are consuming more and more resources. This causes Earth to suffer due to waste, deterioration of resources, oil reserves, etc.

Well, think that the basic step starts from you. We must do all that we can individually and collectively to make our planet better.

3. Feeling Lonely – We are living in a mobile world where people are moving constantly for school, work, leisure, etc. Therefore, we are often lonely with extended family living at distance, whether hundred miles or thousands of miles. Disintegration of community and relatives is making us get lesser and lesser emotional support.

To cope up with feeling of loneliness, we do need to be with others and feel part of a group. Invite friends over for dinner or extended an invitation to someone for coffee. Be inspired and extend yourself to an activity or an invitation and savor some connection.

4. There is so much anger around us with people upset naturally always. – The frustrations of life comes out in any form at any time with minimal or no provocation at all. Well, you might have heard it million times before, but the coping mechanisms remain same – exercise, meditation, friends and family, vacation time, etc are all the ways to reduce the daily life frustration. Do what you enjoyed once and stopped doing it due to time and its relevance.

5. How can I help or how can I get help – Healthy stepping back from your own world can take you to the longer road of good and destressed life. Keep in mind that grief and loss are part of life. What does loss or grief mean to you? How have you managed your own loss or grief in life? What helped, what didn’t? How can you cultivate them? Time to introspect and help others introspect.

6. Accept that stress is part of life – When stressful situations arise, remind yourself that they are part of life and will come and go. Nothing in this life is permanant – neither does your stress. So take a relaxed approch towards stress in life.

7. Have a realistic outlook about everything in your life. Do not see the world through rose-coloured glasses rather have your own outlook which is realistic. You also need to check the silver lining in the tough circumstances. Stressful circumstances are there to make you become stronger and better.

The Art of Nostalgia

“The Art Of Nostalgia” is a elaborate collection of nine personal essays of Lauren. These essays aim to capture nostalgia’s essence on how does it effects the person and the thought process. The essays bring the reader on a journey as Lauren crafts a timeline of memories that reflect a deep-rooted nostalgia for places, people, and transient phases of life. She, inadvertently, strings together pieces of herself, pieces that shape who she is at her core, daring us to ponder our own stories, our own past that vitally remains within us.

Here is some insight on how to tame the phenomenon that is nostalgia.

The cycle of Nostalgia

Keep in mind that you’ve missed things a thousand times before, and it always becomes easier. It may take weeks, or months, but it always does. Whether it’s a place, a person, or your favorite food that you can no longer eat because you just found out you’re gluten free, it always gets easier.

Be Realistic: The most dangerous part of nostalgia is the tendency to romanticize. When you look back, look back on the past as it actually was. Doing so will prevent you from ranking the past as better than the present.

Look Forward: Avoid excessive planning, but when that new movie tells you how enlightening your twenty-something years are, or how incredible your forties are, listen. Your grandmother is right when she says you have a lot to look forward to. Be excited for, and do not fear, what lies ahead.

Always Live In The Moment – Try to embrace how exciting life can be when you truly live in the moment. Respect the epitomic Cards and try new things everyday.

Balance – Try to find a balance between the past and the present. Keep in touch with old friends, and remember the events that made you the person you are today. Most importantly, always participate in Instagram’s “throwback Thursday.”

The first and probably the most important consideration is the attitude with which we approach our material. Since nostalgia serves no immediate purpose besides providing pleasure it is a fundamentally aesthetic memory experience, which means we should approach our material with the mindset of an artist.

Stress Makes It Harder to Recognize Danger

Have you ever felt stress in your daily life or on any special occasion? I am sure the answer is Yes for all of us and we all go through it in our daily lives. It can be at some instances positive feeling which can help us perform better and take action at the right time. When this stress becomes chronic, things can get out of control and it can impact the daily life. When you experience the sweaty hands when there is an important event or speech, this is stress. When your heart pounds while going for a first date is what stress is. You can feel it in both mind as well as body.

This automatic response developed in our ancient ancestors as a way to protect them from predators and other threats. Faced with danger, the body kicks into gear, flooding the body with hormones that elevate your heart rate, increase your blood pressure, boost your energy and prepare you to deal with the problem.

Emotional signs of stress

There are many different ways in which stress is manifested in a healthy individual. There are some reactions which a body performs to handle some stressful or unfamiliar situation. These reactions are nothing but the stress effects on the body and while undergoing such things, our body becomes more and more prone to ddangerous situations. With constant pressure, the ability of the brain to respond to dangerous situations become weaker and can also effect the ability to identify a prevailing dangerous or imminent situation. Some of the vital symptoms of stress due to which the situation becomes out of control are as follows:

Irritation
No sense of humor
Frustration
Feeling overworked
Feeling overwhelmed
Sense of helplessness
Apathy

Some of the Behavioral signs of stress causing Danger are as follows:

– decreased contact with family and friends
– poor work relations
– sense of loneliness
– decreased sex drive

Tips to overcome affects of stress in Dangerous setup

Stress is your daily life ingredient. It cannot be skipped and only can be handled – with care. If you or a loved one is feeling overwhelmed by stress, talk to your doctor. Many symptoms of stress can also be signs of other health problems. Your doctor can evaluate your symptoms and rule out other conditions. If stress is to blame, your doctor can recommend a therapist or counselor to help you better handle your stress.

It is important to recognize when the stress in your life is causing negative consequences. Stress and anxiety can cause mental or emotional symptoms in addition to physical ones. Some of the them are as follows:

– feelings of impending doom
– panic or nervousness, especially in social settings
– difficulty concentrating
– irrational anger
– restlessness

Mental Accounting and Self-Control

Have you ever heard about Mental Accounting and Self Control? This topic has become my personal favorite concept. Richard Thaler’s work on the idea of mental accounting is that people have separate accounts in their mental being for everything and they spend everything from that account treating different things differently. People don’t treat all of their money or time or effort or other resources as if they have one big pool of it. Instead, they have separate mental accounts, and when they spend money or time or effort they keep track of it based on the mental account it came from. These accounts are typically very much individual in nature and majorly based on people’s goals for their own lives.

This concept of Mental Accounting was first named by Richard Thaler (1980). In this theory people code, categorise and evaluate economic outcomes. Mental accounting theorists argue that people group their assets into a number of non-replaceable mental accounts. One detailed application of mental accounting, the behavioural life cycle hypothesis (Shefrin & 1992), theorizes that people mentally frame assets as belonging to either current income, current wealth or future income and this has implications for their behaviour as the accounts are largely non-interchangeable.

Nobel prize for the Richard Thaler’s theory

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Richard Thaler from the University of Chicago and works at the intersection cynosure of psychology and economics. One of the things that Thaler has become known for is the concept of the “nudge,” which is a small change to someone’s environment that can have a big influence on their behavior in economic situations. The most famous example of a nudge is forcing people to “opt out” of default options. Research suggests that people typically stick with the default option on a form. That means policy makers can decide which option they want most people to choose and make that one the default.

Another very important concept used to understand mental accounting is that of modified utility function. There are 2 values attached to any transaction – acquisition value and transaction value.

How Mental Accounting is related to Self Control

The idea is by keeping separate mental accounts, it is easier to engage in self-control. When you start to spend too much against one of your mental accounts, it makes it easier to walk away from new purchases. Many of Thaler’s studies focus on these decision processes like these.