All posts tagged: consistent

I never thought warming up was necessary, but adding this eight-minute routine to the start of every run has made me a more consistent runner

I never thought warming up was necessary, but adding this eight-minute routine to the start of every run has made me a more consistent runner

Published by Jenni Sidey

For a long time, I didn’t think that warming up before a run was really necessary. I would just lace up my shoes and head out the door, starting with a slow jog, then eventually speeding up. Sometimes, skipping a warm-up didn’t really seem to matter, but other times, I would feel stiff and heavy anytime I tried to pick up the pace. It made runs less enjoyable, which could put me off my next run. This affected the consistency of my running. Fortunately, I wised up and started treating my warm-up as a non-negotiable before every run. Article continues below You may like I still don’t like spending a long time on my warm-up because I’m almost always in a time crunch, so I have created a routine that takes less than eight minutes. Even though it’s short, it warms up everything I need to get going and always makes me feel ready to quicken the pace when the time comes. Unlike a static stretching routine, which is better done as a post-run routine, …

How Successful Authors Keep Their Story Worlds Consistent

How Successful Authors Keep Their Story Worlds Consistent

Published by Jenni Sidey

Keeping a story world consistent is one of the hardest invisible skills in fiction writing. If you’ve ever been deep into a fantasy series and suddenly noticed that a character’s eye colour changed between book two and book four, you know exactly what it looks like when that skill breaks down. One small inconsistency and the spell breaks. You’re no longer in the world. You’re holding a book, written by a human who made a mistake. What’s surprising is that failing to keep a story world consistent happens even to experienced, bestselling authors working with full editorial teams and years of time. Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere spans over a dozen interconnected novels. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld ran for 41 books across three decades. George R. R. Martin’s Westeros has a history stretching back thousands of in-world years. Keeping it all straight isn’t a matter of memory or dedication. It’s a matter of systems. So what do professional authors actually do to keep their story worlds consistent? And what can readers learn about craft by understanding the answer? …

Narcissism shows surprisingly consistent patterns across 53 countries, study finds

Narcissism shows surprisingly consistent patterns across 53 countries, study finds

Published by José Betancourt

New research conducted across more than 50 nations indicates that the demographic factors associated with narcissism are remarkably consistent around the globe. The findings suggest that younger adults, men, and individuals who perceive themselves as having high social status tend to display higher levels of narcissistic traits, regardless of their cultural background. The research was published in the journal Self and Identity. Psychology has historically faced a significant limitation regarding the diversity of its study participants. The vast majority of existing knowledge about personality traits comes from research conducted in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic societies. This geographic bias makes it difficult to determine whether psychological patterns are universal features of human nature or specific cultural byproducts. Scientists have debated whether the tendency for certain demographic groups to display higher narcissism is a global phenomenon or one unique to specific societies. “Most of what we know about narcissism comes from studies conducted in the United States or a small handful of Western countries,” said study author William J. Chopik, an associate professor of psychology …

People Who Eat The Same Lunch Pretty Much Every Day Have These 11 Specific Personality Traits

People Who Eat The Same Lunch Pretty Much Every Day Have These 11 Specific Personality Traits

Published by Jenni Sidey

While eating the same foods every day is often due to a lack of creativity and a means of getting in necessary nutrients without question, it can also be a mode of seeking comfort. If someone’s not entirely comfortable with change, chances are they cling to control in whatever ways they can — even if it means following the same routines every single day, watching the same comfort movies and shows, or eating the same meals. Of course, the foods we eat and choose to nourish our bodies with are also inherently tied to our personalities and sense of self-worth. People who eat the same lunch pretty much every day have specific personality traits that inform their eating habits, but also carry over into other aspects of their lives. People who eat the same lunch pretty much every day have these 11 specific personality traits 1. They’re disciplined DimaBerlin | Shutterstock According to an American Psychological Association survey, self-control and discipline are often more important predictors of success than intelligence.  A person who’s disciplined in …

How to stay consistent with the gym beyond January

How to stay consistent with the gym beyond January

Published by Daniella Wilson

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter The start of a new year often brings a surge of enthusiasm for fitness, with many embracing gym memberships and ambitious resolutions. Yet, as the calendar pages turn, that initial burst of motivation frequently wanes, a phenomenon experts say is entirely natural. According to Dr Robin Chatterjee, a consultant in musculoskeletal, sports and exercise medicine at the Chelsea Outpatient Centre, part of HCA Healthcare UK, this decline is due to a multitude of factors. “First of all, the idea of completely changing your lifestyle from doing no exercise and eating a lot to suddenly going to the gym regularly might sound good, but the reality is that it requires commitment, time and money,” Dr Chatterjee explained. He added: “Secondly, we are still in winter and the weather is dark, cold and …

How to stay consistent with the gym after the January buzz

How to stay consistent with the gym after the January buzz

Published by Daniella Wilson

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter At the start of January, many of us are fuelled by New Year’s resolutions and hit the gym with enthusiasm and energy. However, as the months roll on, it’s completely natural for that initial surge of motivation to fade. The reasons why this happens is multifactorial says Dr Robin Chatterjee, consultant in musculoskeletal, sports and exercise medicine at the Chelsea Outpatient Centre, part of HCA Healthcare UK. “First of all, the idea of completely changing your lifestyle from doing no exercise and eating a lot to suddenly going to the gym regularly might sound good, but the reality is that it requires commitment, time and money,” reflects  Chatterjee. “Secondly, we are still in winter and the weather is dark, cold and miserable, so the motivation to get out of the house …

A trainer shares the realistic weekly workout routine that helped him get consistent with exercise again after losing motivation

A trainer shares the realistic weekly workout routine that helped him get consistent with exercise again after losing motivation

Published by Jenni Sidey

Welcome to Workout Diaries, a series where we ask expert trainers to talk us through what a week of exercise looks like for them, helping you figure out how to develop and maintain an effective workout routine. Monty Simmons is a personal trainer based in London. With more than 13 years of experience and 15,000 personal training hours, he knows a thing or two about developing an exercise routine that works. You may like Despite this, he admits that he fell out of the habit of exercising recently. “I’ve got so many competing priorities,” Simmons tells Fit&Well. “Working out got pushed off the scale, which is strange because I’m a personal trainer, so it shouldn’t be like that. But when you get older you get busier and I wasn’t going to the gym because it was taking a whole hour after my day.” The trainer quickly noticed the impact skipping the gym was having on him. “My back started hurting and I didn’t feel great,” he says. Simmons decided the solution was prioritising shorter workouts …