Influencing Behaviors Archives - Page 11 of 12

Why the World Spins Faster

March 24, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

A friend of mine posed an interesting question: Is it appropriate for someone to use Facebook to chastise a co-worker? To me, it’s not. But who’s to say? The more I study how people use the tool as a blending device that connects work habits with real life, the more diverse their intentions and motivatons […]

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How to Get Closure

March 17, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

Ah, the dictionary’s most dreaded seven-letter word, defined thusly: “noun. A permanent end of business. Barring of access. A sense of finality.” Real life’s definition is never so simple. Real life defines closure as something we do to others before they do it to us, on a full sprint en route to running and hiding. […]

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When to Stay, When to Leave

February 24, 2010 by Ocean Palmer 2 Comments

With worker dissatisfaction at a record high, from it springs a question: When should I stay in a job and when should I leave? There are strong parallels between a worker’s job loyalty and that of a personal relationship. When we invest time, energy, and emotion into a job we pay a price for the […]

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How to Stay Young: Avoid the Reflexive Loop

February 19, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

According to reviewers my novels and screenplays are fun to read because I write good characters. Great characters can carry a good story. Lousy ones can’t. One key to writing good characters is that I meet and know a lot of people, which helps because all of us have quirks that we easily recognize in […]

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Why Road Rage Occurs

January 31, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

My college roommate has never been an easy guy to cohabit with, a lesson his wife soon learned. He can be obnoxious. She is strong-willed. They make a fiery pair. A few years ago he was griping about needing some space. She took his dinner plate—complete with steak and baked potato—opened the kitchen door, and […]

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How to Connect with People You Meet

January 29, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

Ever meet someone and click instantly? Or face the opposite problem: struggling to have an easy, unforced interaction? Chances are you’ve done both. A big reason this happens is due to how the mind operates. People tend to think in one of two directions, either concept-to-detail or detail-to-conclusion. Most people can flex from one direction […]

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What’s Your Head: A Castle or Open Bar?

January 25, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

The more things we invent to simplify our lives, the more complicated they’ve become. With sensory assault bombarding us with relentless velocity from every conceivable direction—and some new ones COMDEX hasn’t unveiled yet—it’s no wonder heads are spinning. Which begs the question, “Is your head getting crowded, too?” Since competition for mindshare is increasing—some of […]

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Footprints or Buttprints

January 22, 2010 by Ocean Palmer 2 Comments

I am a boomer, the second of four children, produced the impulsive New Year’s revelry of tipsy parents. My brother, two sisters, and I remain close. Our parents are long gone but childhood memories are warm. The teen years, well, they’re fodder for another column. I was an awestruck, seventh-grade towhead when I flew on […]

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Gretchen & The Giant Shark’s Teeth

January 19, 2010 by Ocean Palmer 1 Comment

When I was a sophomore in college I got stuck babysitting Gretchen, the daughter of a pal of mine and his wife who had to work. I had the day off from my job at Winn-Dixie, so I took one for the team and scooped her up at their apartment at 8 AM. I was […]

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Why Happiness is Math

January 10, 2010 by Ocean Palmer Leave a Comment

The mind’s accumulation of positive emotional experiences, minus its negative ones, determines a person’s happiness level. When happy thoughts outweigh brooding ones we will be happy. When the reverse is true—if we insist on seeing (and dwelling on) what’s wrong with things rather than what’s right—we’ll feel a bit down. Happiness Math hinges on two […]

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