Thinking Quickly Under Pressure
An old story goes: At the start of Julius Caesar’s campaign in Africa, he tripped while stepping off of the boat and fell flat on his face in the sand.
Ever the showman, he immediately threw out his arms, embraced the sand, and exclaimed,
“Africa, I have tight hold of you!”
In doing this, Caesar was able to turn what would have been a morale-crushing bad omen into a confident gesture that heralded victories to come.
This ability to think quickly in tough situations was one of Caesar’s great talents, and he used it many, many times. But it is something only the Caesars of the world can do? Or can quick thinking under pressure be learned?
That’s one of the questions Martin and I tackle in this week’s episode of the podcast. We’ll also be digging into:
- How to find time and motivation to read for fun – even when you have a ton of assigned reading already
- Whether you should wait for job opportunities in your major area, or pursue unrelated jobs right now if no relevant ones exist
Enjoy! And, as always, you can get your own questions answered on the show by asking them in the College Info Geek Community, or by tweeting me.
Things mentioned in this episode:
- , by Tim Ferriss
- Goal-Setting, Grit, and Impossible Lists (Ep. 43)
- This Dude is Winning at College… (Ep. 44)
- Stefano’s post about cold showers
- The College Info Geek Community
- Thomas on Twitter
- Google Goals
- , by Robert Greene
- Brain.fm
- Episode about Brain.fm
- Codecademy
- Bus driving into coffee shop
- Anki
- How to Remember More of What You Learn by Leveraging the Spacing Effect
- italki
- , by Mary Roach
- Finding a Part-Time Job in College (Ep. 67)
Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page.
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