Over the next couple of weeks, I will be posting about people who have accomplished extraordinary tasks, overcoming both mental and physical obstacles.  These will be people you may have never heard of, which I think is very important.  When unknown people accomplish amazing feats it lets the rest of the world know that no matter what hardship you face, you CAN succeed!

I believe that people should keep their goals and dreams big… if we think too small that is all we will be able to do.  In fact, it is more likely that your bigger goals will be the ones you actually achieve.  Why?

1) Bigger goals are more motivating and keep your motivation going longer.
2) There is less competition for big goals.

Read more from Tim Ferriss’ post: Why Bigger Goals = Less Competition

Businesspundit recently did an interview with a company called Neurosky.  This company has designed a headset that will allow you to move objects in the virtual world, and eventually real live objects.

With Neurosky, a person can levitate virtual objects with a strong meditation rating, or push/pull objects with a strong attention rating.  The company has plans to use this for several purposes, including having the elderly be able to control robots to perform simple tasks.

Check out the entire interview (with video) here.

In the past, napping was seen as something only done by the lazy or sick.  Research now shows that a good nap in the middle of the day is a great way to boost attention and focus.  The Boston Globe did a report on how to get the most out of your nap and this graphic shows great ways to do that.

The Power Nap

Remember Ben Stein?  Most people know him as the boring teacher in Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, but many don’t know that he actually has a prolific academic and political career.  He is currently a writer for the New York Times, and has recently published an article on the economics of love.  It’s a great article. Here’s a sample:

“Research pays off. The most appealing and seductive (that word again)
exterior can hide the most danger and chance of loss. For most of us,
diversification in love, at least beyond a very small number, is
impossible, so it’s necessary to do a lot of research on the choice you
make. It is a rare man or woman who can resist the outward and the
surface. But exteriors can hide far too much.”

From Wikipedia: Binaural beats are auditory processing artifacts, or apparent sounds, the perception of which arises in the brain independent of physical stimuli.

In some areas of psychology, there is interest in what is called “hemispheric synchronization”.  The idea is that your mood (wanting to be more relaxed, more focused, more creative, etc.) can be influenced by listening to binaural beats.  The sound is put out at certain frequencies (depending on the mood you want) and is done at a level that is physically indistinguishable to people, but is still present.  Lowering the brain frequency relaxes, raising the frequency increases focus.  Binaural beats work best with stereo head phones.

A website that allows you to listen to binaural beats (for free) is I-Dose.  You can choose from many differnt types of sounds, including some for meditation and energy boost.