Physical: Cold Water Burns More Calories

This may not make a huge difference, but ice-cold water requires some extra work from your body to heat it up. Some people think this is a myth, but estimates indicate that you could burn 8 calories to get water up to your body temperature of 98.6 degrees. Not much, but hey, over the course of a week, maybe you can cancel out half a candy-bar? When it comes to Snickers (the best candy bar; don't @ me) every little bit helps!

Mental: Perfect Timing for Writers

You ready to take a deep-dive with me? I wrote a 2-part article for LitReactor that takes Dan Pink's excellent book WHEN and applies its concepts specifically for creative work. So if you want to discover the science behind perfect timing, and to discover the times of day when you are at your creative peak, consider giving the article a shot. Part two is live today, so you can read the whole thing without waiting between installments. HERE IS THE LINK.

Emotional: Ego is the Enemy of Learning

I tend to pick up these tips because I like to read and try new things, but I have some natural resistance to certain findings and lessons because I think  I'm right. I also run into a LOT of people that just believe what they believe, and aren't asking me a question because they're curious--they just want to reaffirm what they already think they know. 

This is dangerous, and it's a barrier to true learning that is derived from the ego. From Epictetus: 

"It is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows." 

Socrates used to say that the only thing of which he was sure was that he knew nothing. 

Einstein once said, "I have no talents; I am only passionately curious." 

And the great Stephen Hawking, who just passed away, embodied a life spent pursuing new knowledge at the expense of what we thought we knew. I'll leave you with two of my favorite Hawking quotes:

"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge." 

"I have noticed that people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, still look before they cross the road." 

Until next time!

About the Author

Fred Venturini is an author and freelance business consultant.

He grew up in Patoka, Illinois. In 2014, his story "Gasoline" was featured in Chuck Palahniuk's Burnt Tongues anthology. His short fiction has been published in the Booked Anthology, Noir at the Bar 2, and Surreal South. The Heart Does Not Grow Back, published by Picador in 2014, is his first novel. He lives in Southern Illinois with his wife and daughter.

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