OG Tuesday Issue #134

YOU DO YOU

Some Fun Facts About Talent

All the factoids below add up to one central takeaway: Talent, like flowers, can only bloom beautifully when properly nurtured.

• Myelin, a protective layer surrounding our nerves, controls the speed and precision in which signals travel through our systems and therefore plays a key role in the development of skills.
• People can strengthen myelin by repeatedly practicing a skill, making mistakes in the execution of said skill, and then fixing said mistakes.
• Talent cannot be attributed entirely to genes or environment but actually emerges as an interaction between the two. Both innate advantages and practice contribute to talent.
• The “experience producing drive theory” asserts that genes play a role in motivation, attitudes, attentional focus, and values—all factors which create the magical spark that inspires talented individuals to improve their natural skills.
• The acquisition of prodigious talent often depends on an ideal interplay between an outrageously complex range of factors, including geography, social/emotional development, educational opportunities, recognition, family, a willingness to practice, and a lifestyle that supports hours of practice.

TOGETHER WITH GROUPTOGETHER

Juggling a million tasks?

GET MORE SH*T DONE

Redirect your anxiety toward creativity

“What if you could take all of that energy racing around your brain and your body and transform it into something helpful?”

Wendy Suzuki, neuroscientist and author, poses this question in the introduction to her Ted Talk, where she walks listeners through two evidence-based approaches that soothe anxiety and produce calm creativity:

1- Breath work
Suzuki recommends a boxed breathing approach:

• Inhale slowly and deeply for a count of four
• Hold for a count of four
• Exhale slowly and fully for a count of four
• Hold for a count of four
• Repeat

2 – Movement
Suzuki says as little as ten minutes of nearly any kind of movement can have mood-boosting effects. She also encourages listeners to be creative in their movement choices. Her recommendations include:

• Dancing to your two favorite songs
• Vacuuming (while dancing like Mrs. Doubtfire)
• Doing jumping jacks
• Walking — it doesn’t get more simple than that

TOGETHER WITH MIRO

Seriously though, Where’s Waldo?

• Visit the Where’s Waldo template page
• Click on the blue “Use template” button
• Log into or create your Miro account (it’s free!)
• Open the template and look for Waldo
• When you find Waldo, take one of the circle icons and place it on Waldo

Find Waldo Here

LEVEL UP

What is cultural literacy?

Cultural literacy is having a strong enough understanding of the different cultures (including their assumed knowledge and values) comprising one’s population to effectively communicate and coexist within that population.

The term was first popularized by E. D. Hirsch in Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.

How to cultivate it:

• Complete the cultural iceberg activity.
• Visit cultural centers in your area, such as museums or art galleries.
• Enjoy some fun, easy-reading middle-grade books that foster cultural literacy.
• Read Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (Caveat: It was published in the 80s and has since been critiqued for a lack of inclusion.)

WATERCOOLER TALK

Earth Day is April 22

• Skip the liquid soap in plastic bottles and treat yourself to a sweet-scented bar.
• Scrape your dishes before loading the dishwasher instead of rinsing them. According to the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University, pre-rinsing might run your household up 6,000 gallons of water a year.
• Double check the label on your seafood and make sure it’s sustainable.
• Give yesterday’s leftovers a makeover to ensure they don’t go to waste.
• Buy yourself a tea infuser and say goodbye to the bags.
• Accept a crafting challenge: Set aside one item you were about to toss and turn it into something beautiful.
• Pick up one piece of litter you find on the ground.
• Go thrift shopping.

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