The Unfinished Business Experiment
In the 1920s, psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik noticed something interesting. Waiters in a café could remember unpaid orders in detail—but once the bill was settled, they forgot them almost instantly. Curious about this, she ran a study to dig deeper. In her experiment, a group of people was given simple tasks like solving puzzles or assembling […]
The Piano Stairs Experiment
In 2009, Volkswagen ran a social experiment in Stockholm to see if adding some fun to a mundane or even reluctant task could change behavior. They installed motion-sensitive musical steps on a staircase next to an escalator in a subway station, turning it into a giant piano. The result was an amazing 66% increase in […]
The Scar Experiment
In 1997, Harvard researchers ran a study that revealed something surprising about self-perception—what we believe about ourselves changes how we think others see us. Participants were told the study was about how facial scars influence social interactions. Makeup artists applied a realistic-looking scar to each participant’s face, making them believe they had a noticeable disfigurement. […]
The Mind-Set Matters Experiment
In 2007, researchers Alia Crum and Ellen Langer conducted an experiment that changed how we think about exercise. They studied a group of hotel housekeepers—people who spent their workdays vacuuming, scrubbing, lifting, and moving nonstop. But when asked, most of them didn’t see their work as exercise. They believed they weren’t active enough. So, the […]
SHAME – Should Have Already Mastered Everything
I’ve taken yoga classes where I felt fantastic. My flow was strong, my body moved with ease, and I left feeling like I had nailed it. But after knee surgery, everything changed. I had to relearn how to use my leg, starting with physical therapy and slow, careful steps. When I was finally able to […]
FINE – Feelings Inside Not Expressed
There have been times when I’ve felt so low, but I didn’t ask for anything. Not because I didn’t need it, but because I couldn’t bring myself to say it. It felt embarrassing to admit something as simple as I need love and affection right now. I wanted the comfort, but I also wanted the […]
HOPE – Hold On, Pain Ends
Pain rarely comes one piece at a time. It usually arrives in waves, piling up until it feels impossible to catch a breath. It’s not just one bad day at work—it’s an argument with someone you love, a financial hit, and a phone call with terrible news, all landing at once. A few years ago, […]
FEAR – False Evidence Appearing Real
Fear has a way of making things seem way bigger than they actually are. I’ve avoided so many things—not because they were impossible, but because they felt impossible. But looking back, most of the time, what I feared wasn’t reality. It was just False Evidence Appearing Real. One example that sticks with me is when […]
WAIT – Why Am I Talking?
I had to find a way to stop myself from getting trapped in the same frustrating cycle—repeating myself, saying the same things over and over, desperately trying to get someone I love to finally understand me. I’d catch myself in the middle of a monologue, saying it again for the 58th time, hoping that this […]
Master Pressure Like a Game
When I’m under pressure, my first instinct isn’t always the best one. I catch myself rushing, overthinking, or reacting too fast—like I’m button-mashing in a game, hoping something works. But that usually just makes things worse. (And no one likes playing with the button-smasher.) Good players don’t just hit buttons at random. They move with […]
