RESET: 100 Ways to Rewire Your Mindset for the Post-COVID World: Lessons from the greatest psychologists

Together, we are all being pushed off a cliff, and being forced to enter into a whole, new world. The only thing for certain is it’s going to be a blistering ride. Thinking about the future may arouse either hope or fear in each of us. The best way to navigate these uncertain times, therefore, is to dive deep into the teachings of the greatest psychological minds in history, men and women that spent their entire lives deciphering what it means to be human, and teaching us how to cope with crisis – in all its forms.If you think about it, there are no new problems but only variations of old ones. Thus, by standing on the shoulders of psychology giants, we will all be able to see a little further – ensuring that tomorrow will be a better day.Lex Ledesma received a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of the Philippines and has also earned a Master’s degree in Engineering from Stanford University.Why lean on psychology?Psychology aspires to illuminate what cannot easily be seen. It focuses its formidable spotlight on the human being, the most complex and elusive organism that we know to exist. The obsession of those that push the boundaries of this field forward is to make sense of who we are, find what motivates us, and explain why we do what we do.This intense drive – to understand – is at the heart of every psychologist and has been so for many generations. Each era is also beset with its own context and unique problem sets. Often, when crises arrive, it is to psychology that people turn, asking for answers.What is interesting is that so long as the human being is the subject in question, by and large, people haven’t changed. Our internal wiring, over the centuries, continues to function similarly to how it did for our forebearers. Thus, while some of these studies were done eons ago, they continue to shed light on and explain how we are today. To complement the classic work, recent findings have also been included, that expound on the impact of technology and the latest scientific breakthroughs in our lives.Many of the original journal articles, detailing psychology’s 100 most illustrious experiments, are about 15 to 20 pages of mostly academese or formal academic language that is often difficult to decipher – especially if you aren’t familiar with the jargon that is commonplace among us psychologists. My goal, therefore, was to do all the heavy lifting for you, summarizing the main conclusions of each experiment so they are as easy as possible to read and understand. Also, I have added tips after each narration; to bring the theoretical learning down to a more practical dimension – especially as this book aspires to give you the tools needed to face our post-COVID world.For those who have also studied psychology, I would bet that there are still some experiments (among the bunch) that you have not yet come across and would be able to pique your interest. I envisioned, however, that most people reading this book have never studied psychology formally. Accordingly, I have tried to keep the language as casual and uncomplicated as possible, while still sticking to the facts at hand.What is definite is that we can apply much of what these psychologists have unearthed to our current circumstances – even if some of what they did may be considered, by today’s standards, as shocking and unacceptable, making you say, “Wow, how did they get away with that?”When praised for his many discoveries, Isaac Newton stated that if he was able to do any good it is only because he has stood on the shoulders of giants in an attempt to look a little further. Through this book, we all hope to do the same. Read more