What's on Your Mind?

Here’s a common pattern in my house. See if it seems familiar to you. After my husband showers, he often forgets to put his dirty clothes in the hamper. This drives me batty, so I remind him to please pick them up. Again and again and again. We’ve been married for 15 years now and the result of all my nagging appears to be exactly zilch. Half the time I go in the bathroom there is a ball of socks and underwear on the floor. My husband is an otherwise thoughtful and considerate guy. So what’s going on? According to psychology research, the problem likely isn’t him. It’s my belief that nagging is an effective strategy to get another person to change their behavior…

Instacart’s artificial intelligence-enabled pricing may be increasing the cost of your groceries by as much as $1,200 a year, according to a new study published on Monday. Instacart is an online grocery delivery and pickup service that allows customers to order groceries from local stores by using its technology platform, via app or its website, and then fulfills those orders through a personal shopper. The investigation from Consumer Reports and Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive policy group, found that some identical products were priced differently from one customer to the next—sometimes by as much as 23%. One company executive reportedly called the tacti…

Our cognition and mental well-being are crucial factors for our quality of life and put us in a good position to contribute to society. Ultimately, it can be near impossible to achieve physical goals and demanding life challenges if our brain health is not optimal. Yet most of us appear to be more concerned with physical health than brain health. According to the YouGov website, the most popular New Year’s resolutions in the U.K. in 2024 were doing more exercise, saving money, losing weight and dieting—with about 20% reporting they were failing some resolutions just six days into the year. A large study of approximately 1,000 participants showed that mental health fea…

Back in November 2025, Business Insider reported that job applicants have roughly a 0.4% chance of landing the job they’re applying for—something that isn’t exactly news to anyone who has been forced to navigate waves of hirings, firings, and everything in between. Employers have reported being overwhelmed by applicants for open positions, and would-be employees have reported something else. There’s a kind of résumé black hole, wherein information is sent out but nothing—not even a rejection—ever comes back. According to new data from the Hays 2026 U.S. Salary & Hiring Trends Guide, the overabundance of qualified applicants isn’t the only reason you’re not he…

Two decades of coaching leaders and developing myself as a leader have taught me a key lesson: Leadership isn’t a destination. Just when you think you’ve reached the top of the mountain, look up—you’ll see another peak waiting. The truth is, there’s no secret sauce for leading yourself or others. Leadership is an ever-evolving process of learning and growing. The best leaders never stop evolving. Here are four lessons every great leader eventually learns. 1. Humility is a strength Humility is often mistaken for weakness. In one survey, more than half of fifth and sixth graders described humility as “embarrassed, sad, or shy.” Adults often confuse it with hu…

Leaders of today’s workplace recognize coaching as a core leadership skill. More and more companies are expecting managers to actively develop their employees and support their growth through regular development conversations. For leaders who embrace this responsibility, coaching can be incredibly rewarding. But it’s not always clear how to do it well. Most managers feel comfortable helping employees build technical skills or prepare them for their next role. But when it comes to coaching social and emotional skills, leadership qualities, or behavioral changes, many leaders get stuck. Because the path to success is less clear-cut, more complex, and requires sustained …

When asked, 88% of Americans will say they’re above average drivers. In the ability to get along with others, 25% of students rate themselves in the top 1%. When couples are asked to estimate their individual contributions to household work, the combined total routinely exceeds 100%. These are all statistical impossibilities. They’re also great examples of how we’re predisposed to overrate our abilities and contributions. As an aspiring CEO candidate, it’s important to have the humility to recognize your inherent, self-serving bias and counteract it through the following steps: Objectively assess your capabilities versus what’s needed Fill your skill gaps and gaug…

I’ve always been a doer. I move fast, I love learning new things, and I don’t sit still for long. Productivity has been a faithful companion throughout my career, and I attribute much of my success to one key trait: the courage to take action—even when things seem uncertain or complex. I trace this mentality back to a moment in my childhood. I was about 11 years old, growing up in the Netherlands, where a bicycle isn’t just a toy—it’s your main mode of transportation. One day, I had my first flat tire and it was raining (as it always is). I felt defeated and immobile. No bike meant no freedom, no way to get from A to B. I walked home, and my dad, calm as ever, lo…

If you’ve ever dreamed of sitting behind the wheel of a giant hot dog, then you’re in luck. Oscar Mayer’s Wienermobile is in need of Gen Z drivers known as “Hotdoggers,” as the company opens its applications. The iconic vehicle is about to roll into its 90th year. The job is truly unique and, if you’re a hot dog enthusiast with a keen sense of adventure, could be an absolute thrill, especially if you’re looking to avoid a nine-to-five desk job and love to travel. The Hotdogger Program has been around since 1988 and according to Oscar Mayer is likely to be a fit for recent college graduates who are hoping to make a “positive impact” on the communities the Wienerdog cr…

More than two decades of research—from Harvard professor Amy Edmondson’s pioneering studies to Google’s landmark Project Aristotle—have found that the strongest predictor of high-performing teams isn’t talent or strategy, but psychological safety. As Edmondson defines, it’s “a shared belief held by team members that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.” It’s what gives people the confidence to speak up, take creative risks, and learn from failure—and it’s foundational to innovation. But one critical truth is often overlooked: Leaders can’t create psychological safety for others if they haven’t first cultivated it within themselves. I learned this the h…

The next big meeting on your calendar might not have any other attendees—it might just be you. A growing number of high-performing leaders, including managers at Google and other Fortune 100 companies, are carving out protected “focus blocks” and treating them like mission-critical meetings. With constant pings, shallow tasks, and back-to-back calls, this might be the only way to produce strategic, high-value work. Google and Microsoft have even rolled out Focus Time features that automatically block off calendars to protect deep work. Paige Donahue is a product marketing leader at Google who helps YouTube creators grow their communities and monetize their followi…

While we’d like to think the secret to a fast promotion is all about doing a good job, your relationship with your boss can make or break your career. Understanding how to handle a narcissistic boss or one who plays favorites can save your job. And perfecting the art of managing up can be the key to thriving and growing your career. Often this boils down to knowing how to communicate effectively with your boss. Here are three tips to keep in mind: Understand your boss’s communication style Ever had a frustrating conversation where it seems like your boss is brushing off all your ideas? It might not be you, or even your ideas. It might be the way you’re communic…

When building relationships, at work and beyond, most people search for deep commonalities. That may be wrong. It is undeniably true that interpersonal chemistry exists between people who are similar in important ways, particularly in values, which represent our most treasured ideas about what is good in the world. But if we limit ourselves to relationships with others who share our core values, we cut ourselves off from most of humankind, the vast majority of whom are pursuing good values, even if those values do not match our own. There are real benefits to connecting with others whose worldview differs from our own, particularly in professional life. When we re…

In this economy, job seekers face a tough market, despite strong job growth. Some apply for more than a hundred jobs before landing one. Many are looking for any edge they can get—to secure a coveted interview, and eventually, land a position they’re excited about. In his book, Sell Yourself Like a CEO, headhunter Ryan Sheppard provides valuable guidelines for anyone wanting to advance in their career. Sheppard, who works closely with CEOs, argues that top leaders have skills that anyone in the job market would do well to emulate. Here are five ways to sell yourself like a successful CEO would: 1. DEVELOP A CEO MINDSET A strong CEO is able to convey their v…

What if everything you believe about leadership is holding you back? A 2024 study by Gartner found that 69% of HR leaders don’t think their leaders are fully equipped to lead. And according to Gallup, only 21% of employees strongly agree that their leaders actually inspire them to do their best. That’s a big gap between what leaders intend and what employees experience. The problem? A lot of leaders are following outdated advice. In the pursuit of excellence, they unknowingly buy into myths that hold them back, limit their teams, and stifle real innovation. Whether it’s the belief that speed always wins or that innovation is all about technology, these myths quiet…

You want to be happier. You want to feel more fulfilled. You want to live a longer, healthier life. Hold that thought. Lewis Terman, a Stanford University psychologist, was a pioneer in I.Q. testing. His revisions of the Stanford-Binet test helped it become a widespread tool for measuring general intelligence. In 1921, he identified 1,500 children who had scored 135 or higher on the test and began one of the longest longitudinal studies ever conducted. (The New York Times calls Terman and his study of “Termites,” as the kids called themselves, the “grandfather of all lifespan research.”) Terman’s study was guaranteed to outlive him, but that was the point…

I’ve tried them all. A fancy planner, “perfect” workout routines, ambitious ways to read more, and writing rituals to get more done. I did the research. But what ultimately worked is something called the kaizen incremental method. An idea is from Japanese manufacturing, of all places. It means “continuous improvement.” The practice of tiny actions. A step so small your brain’s resistance (a built-in fight-or-flight response to big, scary changes) doesn’t even bother to fight it. I use the kaizen approach as a backdoor to building new neural pathways. I’m not forcing change; I’m gently guiding my brain into new habits, one step at a time. That’s how I started writ…

All writing is autobiographical. Even if you’re not explicitly writing about your own experience, it shows up in the topics you choose, the details you focus on, even the things you leave out. Key example from my trove of nearly 3,000 articles here on Inc. over the years: a study I latched onto a decade ago about the single thing wealthy families do to give their kids a leg up on the world. The answer, drawn from University of Southern California research, was straightforward: They buy the neighborhood. The insight wasn’t so much about money as it was about what money makes possible. Stable schools, stable peer groups, and stable environments. The specific …

Thanksgiving is behind us, which means the holiday shopping season has officially begun. And that means that both companies and third-party retailers will spend every day between now and Christmas morning trying to get you to spend your consumer dollars with them. As in years past, one of the most sought-after gifts will be the smartphone. According to an analysis last month by global marketing research firm NielsenIQ, 37% of shoppers buying tech this season have smartphones on their list. And when it comes to smartphone brands, Apple tops tech buyer preferences, with 54% of those surveyed looking to buy an iPhone. But as anyone who knows Apple well knows, the com…

Our culture of individualism pushes each person to try to be a star. “Team player” has even come to have the negative implication of subverting one’s own well-being and best advantage, and maybe even becoming invisible to leadership. To counteract these possibly negative effects of selfless invisible toiling, people often strive to make sure leadership sees their individual achievements. But research shows that the culture of individual stars is not what leads to team success. A McKinsey study found that superstar individuals often do not create the best teams: Thinking about themselves first leads to behaviors that disrupt team trust and problem-solving. Google’…

AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel As gerontologists—social scientists who study aging populations—we envision a future in which older people leave a doctor’s visit with a prescription to go volunteer for something. Does that sound far-fetched? There’s scientific research backing it up. Good for your health While spending more than a dozen years researching what happens when older adults volunteer with nonprofits, including churches, we’ve found that volunteers consider themselves to be in better health than their peers who don’t. In addition, their blood pressure is lower, and they appear to be aging more slowly than other people of the same age. Other researche…

Have you ever watched someone try to come up with a creative idea: Post‑it notes, coffee, laptop, a determined glint in their eye and a solemn expression on their face? If the idea isn’t coming, add a few sighs, some squirming, and the magical rearrangement of every object on the desk. Most workplaces still reward this “try harder” ritual. This is rarely where creative energy actually emerges. We all know the stories. The best ideas come in the shower, on a walk, doing dishes, or even during everyone’s beloved folding of laundry. Here’s the thing: it’s not a quirk. Movement helps foster creativity. It occupies the body in a repeating pattern that doesn’t require …

One of the weirdest brand collaborations of 2026 just dropped: The non-profit organization StoryCorps is teaming up with Prego—yes, the pasta sauce brand—on a device shaped like a pasta sauce lid that will record your family’s dinner conversations. The device is part of a limited-time offering called the Connection Keeper Bundle, which launches on April 27 for $20. It includes some Prego sauce, a “Connection Keeper” recording device and instruction manual, and a pack of conversation prompt cards to spark discussion. StoryCorps, which is dedicated to recording the stories of Americans “from all backgrounds and beliefs,” is billing the Connection Keeper as a “simpl…

About a year ago, an advertisement caught the attention of Ashleigh Ruane, a PhD student in physics at the University of Cambridge. The ad was simple but unusual: Teach AI about physics. Curious, she clicked. She learned that experts across fields—from physics and finance to healthcare and law—were now being paid to help train AI models to think, reason, and problem-solve like domain specialists. She applied, was accepted, and now logs about 50 hours a week providing data for Mercor, a platform that connects AI labs with domain experts. Ruane is part of a fast-growing cohort of professionals who are shaping how AI models learn. According to Freelancer, thousands o…