One way to boost our will power and focus is to manage our distractions instead of letting them manage us.

There is zero correlation between IQ and emotional empathy... They're controlled by different parts of the brain.

The emotional brain is highly attuned to symbolic meanings and to the mode Freud called the 'primary process' - the messages of metaphor, story, myth, the arts.

Threats to our standing in the eyes of others are remarkably potent biologically, almost as powerful as those to our very survival.

Compassion begins with attention.

Overloading attention shrinks mental control. Life immersed in digital distractions creates a near constant cognitive overload. And that overload wears out self-control.

Every morning, I go off to a small studio behind my house to write. I try to ignore all email and phone calls until lunchtime. Then I launch into the sometimes frantic busy-ness of a tightly scheduled day.