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read here: FastCompany.com/3050319/ how-giving-up-refined-sugar-changed- my-brain . In short, he calls the process of cutting sugar from his diet a “roller-coaster ride” of emotion and concentration. Eventually, the author shifted from craving sugar to feeling better than ever. It wasn’t easy, but in the end, making the effort to cut down on sugar was worth it. It’s something you can do too! Reducing sugar in your diet can do wonders for your health, mentally and physically. The hardest part is getting started and taking that first, all-important step. One of the best ways to lower your sugar intake is to make meals and snacks from scratch. A bulk of the sugar we consume daily is in pre-made foods — including just about anything you buy from the grocery store.
While sugar negatively affects our bodies overall, it can have a much more severe impact on our brains. Have you ever noticed that shortly after eating or drinking something high in sugar, you get a rush of good feelings? Sugar triggers the release of dopamine in your brain, and this reward of feel-good chemicals is a major symptom of addiction. Some researchers have compared sugar to illicit drugs, such as heroin and cocaine. Scientists at Princeton University put this theory to the test by performing experiments on rats. They increased the rats’ sugar intakes over time as they became more accustomed to it. Then, the scientists reduced or removed sugar from the rats’ diets. Shortly after, the rats began exhibiting withdrawal symptoms. This exact phenomenon has been observed in humans. When you cut sugar out of your diet, it’s not uncommon to experience headaches, low energy, and cravings. One author put sugar addiction to the test and chronicled the experience, which you can
you put in your food and your body. For busy people, this can sound challenging, but all it takes is a small, dedicated change in routine. For example, plan a day to meal prep. Among the meal-prep community — which is prospering online with many subgroups dedicated to slow cookers and pressure cookers — Sunday is the most popular day. You gather your ingredients, do the necessary cooking, and assemble your meals for the week, organizing everything in neat containers. You can prep for just the week and refrigerate your food or plan for multiple weeks and freeze meals so they don’t go bad as time goes on. You’ll save time on preparation and cooking, and you’re left with healthy meals and snacks when you’re done. There is no doubt that cutting down or eliminating sugar from your diet is hard. It takes time and effort, but the end result is more energy and greater mental clarity. Get out from under the shadow of sugar!
Making your own meals and snacks gives you 100 percent control over the ingredients
Business majors and longtime entrepreneurs will be very familiar with this work. And in an age when many shiny new theories on leadership and personal development come out every year, it’s refreshing to revisit a classic that has stood the test of time. Thirty-five years after its original publication, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” should still be required reading for marketers, small-business owners, and anyone else looking to improve their negotiation skills. Written by Dr. Robert Cialdini, “Influence” explores why people say yes. A professor of business and psychology, Dr. Cialdini is uniquely qualified to tackle this question, combining scientific data with practical applications. “Influence” is still a subject of praise, with marketing research groups and journals of psychology lauding the book as a “proverbial gold mine.”You don’t have to get too far into “Influence” to see why. Dr. Cialdini lays out six “universal principles” of the human psyche. These include “Reciprocity,” our tendency to want to return perceived kindness or concessions; “Commitment and Consistency,” our tendency to cling to past decisions; and “Scarcity,” our tendency to assign value to things based on their rarity. While these may sound like surface level business concepts, the way Dr. Cialdini uses these principles as a launching point gives “Influence” value. ‘Influence’ A Road Map to Closing Deals
With each principle, the author dives into examples of how these psychological elements can be used by you or against you in any negotiation. Take “Commitment and Consistency” for example. If you are able to get a person to agree with you on several small points, you lay the groundwork for them to agree with you in the future. Conversely, you can be more alert when people try to use this tactic on you.
One of the most powerful results of reading “Influence” is that it helps you recognize behaviors you yourself were unaware of. Indeed, that’s the whole underlying thesis of Dr. Cialdini’s work: As social creatures, we all have habitual behaviors geared towards finding common ground with others. Once you are aware of these behaviors, you’ll begin to see conversations and negotiations in a whole new light.
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