A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 138 of Dovi’s Digest.
In last year’s new year edition, I wrote about resolutions, why they fail, and the power of consistency. You can read it and the accompanying articles here. Finding “flow” is one of the ways I managed to make some of mine stick. Flow, which can also be called “being in the zone”, allows us to not only focus on one thing, but feel energised and enjoy what we’re doing. Adam Grant (the author of Originals and Plan B among others) is a strong proponent of flow, you can watch his TED talk on it as well as how to stop languishing in this link.
No matter what you do, there will always be naysayers and critics. Even if you invent a pill that cures cancer, makes you ridiculously good looking, and makes your gas smell good, some people will talk negatively behind your back. As self-conscious as I am, this is something that has worried me a lot over the years. It has stopped me from doing things I wanted to do and vice versa. Recently, I’ve gotten better at dealing with that voice in my head and making peace with the fact that I won’t be liked by everyone no matter what I do. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s a fact. Luckily, as in every relationship (real or imagined), there are two parties. There’s no way to make the other person like you, but you can change yourself. This week’s headline article is about coming to terms with dislike, and how it can actually be a healthy thing.
As we look back on 2022, there are many predictions that have gone awry. And that’s only for one year! Someone on twitter has compiled a thread with predictions made in 1923 about 2023. Some are weirdly prescient; most are just nuts. You can read them all here.
Last week’s edition included a bunch of “best of” lists. I’m going to add one here that I only came across on Sunday. It combines science, entertainment, and art, marking out the best innovations to look forward to in 2023.
Finally, The Dovi’s Digest Facebook and Twitter pages are officially live, with great facts, quotes, and articles from the archive being posted daily. Go give them a follow to make yourself a little smarter daily. (Just click on the social media names above to go to the page.)
For those of you who are new to the Digest (and there are a number of you), many of the articles come from readers just like yourself, and the more you send me, the better the digest is. But even more so, the Digest grows much quicker (and is therefore better) when you refer friends, family or even enemies (I don’t judge) who you think may enjoy a weekly 5 minute read that has something for everyone, whether it be thought provoking articles, interesting facts, or fun cartoons and tweets. All you need to do is hit this button right here.
There were TWO correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Chaim Ehrlich and Ariel Subotzky. The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
In addition to letting go of what other people think, you can further upgrade yourself by learning how to harness and increase your willpower, find small ways to improve your life in a big way, fantastic places to add to your 2023 bucket list, tips on hope to make your world more intentional, why truffles are a scam unless you’re paying big bucks, and how the way we view our brains is all wrong. Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
How Not to Care When People Don't Like You
Not only is it normal to be disliked, in fact, it’s healthy.
The Mindset That Brings Unlimited Willpower
Many people believe willpower is fixed and finite. Yet powerful strategies exist that can help us increase it.
100 Ways to Slightly Improve Your Life Without Really Trying
Whether it’s taking fruit to work (and to the bedroom!), being polite to rude strangers or taking up skinny-dipping, here’s a century of ways to make life better, with little effort involved.
25 Breath-taking Places and Experiences For 2023
Looking for your next adventure? You’ll find it on our annual list of the world’s best destinations for travellers.
Walt Whitman on What Makes Life Worth Living
“Tone your wants and tastes low down enough, and make much of negatives, and of mere daylight and the skies.”
The Truffle Industry Is a Big Scam. Not Just Truffle Oil, Everything
You may be familiar with the truffle oil scam, but everything else you think you know about truffles is probably a lie too.
The Empty Brain
Your brain does not process information, retrieve knowledge, or store memories. In short: your brain is not a computer.
Quote of the Week:
“The only sure way to avoid mistakes is to have no new ideas.” – Albert Einstein
Facts of the Week:
The World mobile Phone throwing championships take place in Finland.
When the Russians invaded Finland in 1940, they were so sure they'd be welcomed that they brought musical instruments with them.
During the war between India and Pakistan in 1947, King George VI was technically at war with himself.
Pakistan was originally “Pakstan”, an acronym representing Punjab, Afghan province, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan.
Karachi bid for the 1960 Winter Olympics, despite its temperature never having fallen below 0°C.
When the 1964 Winter Olympics were threatened by lack of snow, the Austrian army carried 40,000 cubic metres of it up the ski slopes.
When the East German luge team were caught heating the runners on their sleds in 1968, they blamed a “capitalist revanchist plot”.
Liechtenstein only found out that the same flag as Haiti when they both arrived at the 1936 Olympics.
Cartoons of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Your goal in this puzzle is to create a path of digits in a 5x5 grid that goes 1,2,3,4,5 and then repeats the digits in a loop. The path can start in any cell, and moves horizontally or vertically, but never diagonally, and cannot cross itself. Digits cannot repeat in the same row or column (just like Sudoku). Here’s an example of a path of length 12.
The path stops because there is nowhere to put the 3 without breaking the rule of not repeating numbers in the same row or column.
Can you find a path that has length 19, the maximum possible?
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Find a three-letter word that has one syllable – but when you add one letter to the end, the word becomes three syllables.
Answer:
Are, add an “a” to the end of it to get area.