Links for 05-26-2009

Gina Trapani has an interesting article on how Jim Collins tracks his time. One of the many fine points that Collins made in his book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t [affiliate link] is the importance of carefully identifying what to measure and then measuring it rigorously. Gina’s article shows that he certainly practices what he preaches.
World of Psychology has an article on how your thoughts can literally change your brain. All self-improvement enthusiasts know that “your attitude determines your altitude” (to paraphrase Zig Ziglar). But we have only recently begun to learn that your thoughts can literally make changes in your brain. In turn, those changes can then facilitate having positive thoughts … all the more reason to talk correctly to yourself.
Speaking of having positive thoughts about yourself, New Scientist has an article entitled confidence as important as IQ in exam success. Interestingly, the article explores a possible genetic link for confidence, suggesting that confidence might not be just a product of upbringing and self-thinking processes.