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If you want extraordinary performance, know extraordinary performers.

Joshua earned a PhD in Astrophysics and an MBA, both at Columbia University, where he studied under a Nobel Laureate. He teaches and coaches leadership at Columbia, NYU, and privately. He has founded several companies, one operating globally since 1999, with a half-dozen patents to his name. He competed athletically at a national and world level.

He writes from experience and a scientist’s perspective on creating success professionally and personally – leadership, entrepreneurship, emotions, social skills, influence, decision-making, negotiation, conflict resolution, perception, motivation, attraction, managing groups and teams, and more.


He has been quoted and profiled in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Fortune, CNN, and the major broadcast networks.

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FROM THE BLOG

How different beliefs lead people with identical motivational systems to behave differently

posted by Joshua on February 26, 2015 in Evolutionary Psychology, Models, Nature, Perception
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We all have similar emotional systems, so why do we behave so differently?

I illustrated below how people who have identical drives and emotional systems with only different beliefs can end up behaving differently yet feeling internally the same.

I plan to represent it more graphically and pretty, but this is where I am so far. It shows that internally, we all think and react similarly. Only a slight difference in beliefs can lead to, say fighting in the case of patriotism, even though internally, people feel the same and are following the same emotional system.

If you have questions or comments about the table, please let me know. They will help me improve the model, which is only half-baked now.

  Example (internal) Same/different
Biological drives Happiness, health, emotional reward, pleasure, reciprocity Same
What we believe Country X is best versus country Y is best Different
Strategies Support belief Same
Behavior Act on strategy Same
Meaning Doing what they feel is right Same
Opinion of people who agree Like. See as rational, intelligent Same
Opinion of people who disagree Dislike. See as making world worse, crazy Same
Thoughts on own beliefs Self-evident. Also supported by evidence Same
Thoughts on beliefs of those who disagree Unfounded, patently false. Falsified by evidence Same
Debates based on whose beliefs Their own, no one else’s Same
Rejects whose beliefs People who disagree Same
Sources of beliefs Own experience Same
Amenable to convincing? No Same
How to influence New experiences Same
How advice sounds from people with different beliefs Self-righteous, not understanding, imposing values Same
How beliefs form Exercise to the reader for now Same

 

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A reader takes on cold showers

posted by Joshua on February 25, 2015 in Exercises, Fitness, Habits, SIDCHAs
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[This post is part of a series on Cold Showers. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view that series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] I got this email from a reader this morning: This caught my eye this morning. Watched the video.[…] Keep reading →

Close to cold shower record

posted by Joshua on February 24, 2015 in Exercises, Fitness, Habits, SIDCHAs
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[This post is part of a series on Cold Showers. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view that series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] I don’t remember posting about cold showers in a while. I’m still taking them, now every fourth day,[…] Keep reading →