People Skills for Analytical Thinkers: Boost Your Communication and Advance Your Career - and Life

I feel more confident, more in control, and less stressed.

The results are a mental reward, a little candy for your emotional elephant.

However, if I do, it’s a deliberate choice instead of a blind auto-response. My increased awareness of what’s going

By monitoring the results, I see that the outcome is not as bad as my emotional brain expects.

changing your algorithms is not a one-time exercise.

It’s easy to fall back into old patterns or create new unhealthy ones. By regularly analyzing your algorithms, you keep your software up to date and ensure you are prepared for the best performance.

situations where you can make use of your strengths.

Recognize a situation where you can apply your Batman algorithm and find the input. Apply your algorithm. Repeat and monitor the results.

When I keep doing this, I become a master at recognizing situations that call for my strengths.

three main options: Complain Accept Change

that’s our emotional elephant speaking, choosing the easiest path. If we blame external factors, we don’t seem to bear any responsibility. It feels relaxing. Our elephant feels better after pushing away the responsibility.

changing the situation will require effort from your side. You need to use your rational brain — the rider — to steer the elephant in the right direction.

“What can we do to improve the situation?”

I started blocking the first two hours of each day in my agenda to work on the most important tasks.

I strived to minimize distractions in the morning as much as possible.

Rational impact: I got much more work done Emotional impact: I felt energetic, with a sense of progress and fulfillment

I could complain about other people for distracting me and planning those morning meetings. But how can I blame them if they don’t know my preferences? That’s why I now proactively tell others that I am most focused in the morning.

Your environment determines the input of your algorithms. However, that doesn’t mean you are a victim of your environment.

Your algorithms are often triggered by the behavior of another person. And the other person’s algorithms are triggered by your behavior. To better understand these social dynamics,

The more you know about other people’s algorithms, the better you will understand the impact of your behavior on others.