INTENTION
“The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination.”
Carl Rogers, psychologist
Teresa Amabile's research on meaningful work shows that people who view work as potentially extraordinary (not just ordinary employment) report 3x higher intrinsic motivation and creative output.
“Becoming is better than being.”
Carol Dweck, psychologist
Carol Dweck's growth mindset studies found that students who believed abilities were malleable improved test scores by 30%, while those with fixed beliefs plateaued or declined.
“The stories we tell literally make the world.”
Margaret Wheatley, organizational theorist
Narrative identity research by Dan McAdams shows that reframing your life story (from victim to protagonist, constraint to opportunity) predicts better mental health and goal achievement.
“Time perception and time use discrepancies predict life satisfaction.”
Dr. Daniel Kahneman, psychologist & Nobel laureate
Time-use studies by Daniel Kahneman show massive gaps between how people say they want to spend time versus actual time allocation—closing this gap significantly improves life satisfaction.
“Place attachment is fundamental to human wellbeing and identity formation.”
Dr. Lynne Manzo, environmental psychologist
Environmental psychology research shows that people working in their "optimal environment" show 15% higher productivity and 25% better creative problem-solving.
“Purpose is a stable and generalized intention to accomplish something meaningful to the self and of consequence to the world.”
Dr. William Damon, developmental psychologist
Grant & Shin's research on intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation shows that people pursuing intrinsically meaningful goals show greater persistence and satisfaction even without external rewards.
REVOLUTION
“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”
Michael Porter, business strategist
Steve Jobs' product line reduction - Cut 70% of Apple's products, focusing on four categories. Company went from near bankruptcy to innovation leader, proving subtraction's strategic power.
“Psychological safety is the belief that the work environment is safe for interpersonal risk taking.”
Amy Edmondson, organizational behaviorist
Google's Project Aristotle found psychological safety (including permission to act autonomously) was the #1 predictor of high-performing teams, more than talent or resources.
“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." Arthur C. Clarke, futurist OR "Self-efficacy beliefs determine how people feel, think, motivate themselves and behave.”
Albert Bandura, psychologist
Roger Bannister breaking the 4-minute mile - Once deemed physiologically impossible, it was broken in 1954. Within 3 years, 16 others did it too—proving impossibility is often mental, not physical.
“Recovery is not optional. It's a
biological necessity.”
Dr. Jim Loehr & Dr. Tony Schwartz, performance researchers
Microsoft Japan's 4-day workweek experiment increased productivity by 40% while reducing electricity costs by 23%, proving that human-centered approaches outperform output-obsessed ones.
“Meetings are a symptom of bad organization.”
Peter Drucker, management theorist
MIT's research on communication patterns found that the most productive teams had shorter, more frequent communications rather than long meetings—30% more output with 50% less meeting time.
“The future is already here—it's just not evenly distributed.”
William Gibson, futurist
Clayton Christensen's disruption theory research shows that established companies ignore weak signals from fringe markets, allowing disruptors to capture 70% of new market value.
RHYTHMS
“Rituals transform routine activities into meaningful practices that reduce anxiety and improve performance.”
Dr. Michael Norton, behavioral scientist
Research by Norton shows that pre-performance rituals reduce anxiety and improve performance outcomes across sports, business, and creative tasks.
“The body has its own clock, and when we ignore it, we pay the price in health and productivity.”
Dr. Matthew Walker, neuroscientist
Chronotype studies show night owls forced into morning schedules perform worse on cognitive tasks during imposed hours, while matching work to chronotype eliminates the gap.
“The good life is best construed as a matrix that includes happiness, occasional sadness, a sense of purpose, playfulness, and psychological flexibility.”
Robert Biswas-Diener, positive psychologist
Adam Grant's research on languishing vs. flourishing found that people in "maintenance mode" show lower innovation and higher burnout risk than those in active growth states.
“We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience.”
John Dewey, educational theorist
U.S. Army's After Action Review process improved unit performance by 25% simply by institutionalizing reflection time after missions. Learning from experience requires structured integration.
“Recovery is not the absence of performance; it's part of the performance cycle.”
Dr. Jim Loehr, performance psychologist
K. Anders Ericsson's deliberate practice research shows elite performers alternate 90-minute intense practice with complete rest, while amateurs practice longer with worse results.
“The ability to set boundaries is essential to psychological wellbeing.”
Dr. Henry Cloud, clinical psychologist
Research on work-life boundaries shows people with clear, maintained boundaries report less emotional exhaustion and higher job satisfaction than those with permeable boundaries.
FOCUS
“Task switching exacts a cost that can reduce productivity by as much as 40%.”
Dr. David Meyer, cognitive psychologist
Gloria Mark's UC Irvine research found it takes an average of 23 minutes to return to a task after interruption, and people compensate by working faster (increasing stress) without improving output.
“External representations reduce cognitive load and enhance problem-solving.”
Dr. Andy Clark, philosopher & cognitive scientist
Research on cognitive offloading shows that externalizing information improves problem-solving accuracy by 20-30% and reduces mental fatigue significantly.
“Our biology is not designed for the constant demands of modern work.”
Daniel Pink
Circadian rhythm research shows cognitive performance varies by 20-30% throughout the day, with analytical tasks peaking mid-morning and creative thinking peaking in evening for most people.
“Flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, psychologist
Csikszentmihalyi's flow research found that consistent environmental cues (music, lighting, location) can reduce flow-entry time from 30+ minutes to under 5 minutes through conditioning.
“Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task.”
Dr. Cal Newport, computer scientist
Newport's deep work research shows 3-4 hours of undistracted focus produces more value than 8+ hours of fragmented attention across equivalent tasks.
“Attention restoration requires effortless fascination that engages the mind gently.”
Dr. Stephen Kaplan, environmental psychologist
Kaplan & Kaplan's Attention Restoration Theory research shows 20 minutes in nature or viewing natural scenes restores directed attention capacity by up to 20%.
CONNECTION
SPACES
PATTERNS