Interesting Reading

We've combed through videos of best commencement speeches from Steve Jobs to Oprah Winfrey to find invaluable entrepreneurial advice.

Good books are like good friends. Literature is an important subject in school and in life. Although the Common Cores have more emphasis on informational text, literary greats can never be pushed aside. This week’s Learnist Top 10 feature is about some of the great works of literature. Learnist features so many great authors, it was tough to pick ten boards this week.

If you don´t see yourself as part of the problem, you cannot be part of the solution.

Every culture teaches this through a similar story. Joseph Campbell, anthropologist and advisor for Star Wars, called it “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” The hero starts his journey feeling at the mercy of external circumstances. By the end, he realizes he is in control of his destiny. He knows that he can choose how to behave, learn and grow.

Heroes are not just mythical characters. They are examples of you at your best. Here are five suggestions to always remember who you are.

1. No problem -- Take the challenge

There is no such thing as a problem. What you call "a problem" is not a thing independent of you, but a situation you don´t like.

2. Drop “Who's responsible?” – Be response-able

You didn't do it. So what? You are suffering from it. People and things are out of control. It is tempting to blame them and play the part of the innocent victim. Don't. The price of innocence is impotence. That which you blame you empower. Become the hero of the story; focus on what you can do to respond to your challenge.

3. Forget what you don´t want – Focus on what you want.

Consider an issue that troubles you. What would you like to have happen?

4. Take one eye off the ball – Go for the gold.

It’s not about hitting the ball; it’s about winning the game. Set your mind on what you are ultimately trying to achieve. Build a chain from means to ends, taking you from getting the job, to advancing your career, to feeling professionally fulfilled, to being happy. The ultimate goal and measure of success is happiness.

5. Failure is not an option – Succeed beyond success.

Commit fully to achieve what you really want. Know that you deserve it and give it your best.

by Fred Kofman

Feedly is riding high, announcing that it has picked up 500,000 new users in a mere 48 hours. This follows Google’s recent move to shutter its Reader service has helped to boost the RSS service.

Google’s decision to kill off its Reader product led to a storm of complaints. Despite RSS being an aged technology whose best days are firmly in the past, Reader retained a core, active constituency. That userbase was up for grabs the moment that Google decided to end Reader, and many alternatives stood up to accept the fleeing masses.

Think of the last time you struggled to focus on a boring or difficult task. Your wandering attention probably felt like it was outside your control, as if you suddenly lost the ability to focus and didn't know how to regain it. To get focused again, you just need to recharge your willpower.

Your willpower works like a muscle -- it needs to be trained, developed, and maintained. ..and anyone can learn to improve their willpower, so here are five tips to get you started:

1. Remember your goals. If your willpower feels drained, think of the task at hand as a necessary stepping stone to help you achieve your goals.

2. Practice coping with stress. When you're working toward a goal, you are bound to hit tough times. To reach ambitious goals, you need to persist in stressful conditions, even when anxiety, fear, or even boredom threaten to sap your willpower.

3. Forgive your mistakes. You are bound to make mistakes, but your willpower will be stronger if you take those errors in stride. "Forgiving yourself for your mistakes increases motivation and engagement with goals.

4. Connect with colleagues. Willpower naturally rises when we feel recognized and appreciated for our work. "We think of willpower as being so tough and individual, but the more connected people feel, the more willpower they have.

5. Trust that it will get easier. We often struggle to stay engaged during difficult tasks because we imagine, sometimes unconsciously, that they will continue to be just as hard in the future. We feel defeated or hopeless and give up.

by Nadia Goodman

Every success formula ever written or published boils down to these seven steps.

Whether you're studying, prepping a lecture, or just need to focus on something, you should know about some of these secrets to staying motivated.

No, I’m not against helping people and I’ll never be; but sometimes I don’t help others. Yes, it’s absolutely true. I don’t help everyone. Sometimes, even if I want to help someone I don’t help. I don’t give him any kind of advises and I also don’t help him to get his work done. But why?

by Avi Jit

They're charming. They're genuine. And they can make an entire room full of people smile.

When you meet someone, after, "What do you do?" you're out of things to say. You suck at small talk, and those first five minutes are tough because you're a little shy and a little insecure.

But you want to make a good impression. You want people to genuinely like you.

Here's how remarkably likeable people do it:

If you’re unemployed and worried that employers will turn you down for taking on unimpressive work during the recession or for the large employment gaps on your résumé—you needn't panic.

Last year the careers website CareerBuilder.com conducted a survey that found that the vast majority of employers are sympathetic to such circumstances.



Not only did the survey offer unemployed job seekers some hope, but it also provided tips to help them land a new position. Here are 10 things you need to do while you're unemployed.

There are many things we know are bad for us, and some things we thought that are bad for us that are actually good for us. However, there are also quite a few things out there that we thought were perfectly normal, okay things to do, that are actually doing us harm. Listed in the article are ten ways we are hurting ourselves without even knowing it.

by Gregory Myers

Communist Russia was an exemplar of openness and accountability in government. That’s not a sentence you’ll read these days—at least not outside of North Korea. (Although I suppose you’re reading it now, which makes my statement a little void. Unless you’re actually in North Korea, in which case the point stands.)  

Anyway, what we’re getting at through subtle sarcasm is that the Soviets were actually really big on secrets—so here are ten of the most audacious.The Soviet Union was really big on secrets: here are ten of the most audacious.