Cross Your Arms
By Therese Walsh | May 21, 2008 | Comments Off on Cross Your Arms
I subscribe to a monthly e-newsletter written by Jurgen Wolff called the BRAINSTORM E-BULLETIN. What I like about Jurgen’s newsletter is that he takes tips from all around him and then extrapolates for the writer. This month’s tips are rooted in life lessons inspired by a communication designer, a novelist, a Forbes magazine article on innovation, a psychological study and a famous lateral thinker. Jurgen takes each of these tips and then makes them actionable for all of us, too–an extra step I appreciate.
This month’s most interesting nugget for me was the psychological study. Here’s the blip from Jurgen’s newsletter:
Can Crossing Your Arms Make You More Determined?
If you cross your arms you will persevere for longer at whatever you’re doing. Sounds like a joke, right? OK, it was a limited test at the University of Rochester, and the task the volunteers were doing was trying to solve anagrams. But it has been shown previously that it’s not only that your mood or mental state affects your body movement – it also works the other way. For instance, it’s hard to feel ‘up’ if you are slouching with your eyes on the ground, and harder to feel depressed if you stand up straight and look up.
In the case of crossed arms, it seems to be an intuitive association that probably goes back thousands of years in our evolution. Try it right now: cross your arms and notice whether you get an emotional reaction as well. (It works for me – also seems to trigger a slight clenching of the jaw).
ACTION: The next time you feel your determination flagging, try crossing your arms!
I’m going to cross my arms right after I finish this blog post and say my new mantra: I will soon find a fabulously unboxed agent, I will, I will, I will.
Sign up for Jurgen’s newsletter my sending an email to him at BstormUK@aol.com. And check out his great blog, Time to Write, too.
Google Notebook updates coming soon. Stay tuned.
Write on, all!
Therese Walsh (she/her) co-founded Writer Unboxed in 2006 and is the site’s editorial director. She was the editor of WU’s only book, Author in Progress, and runs the Writer Unboxed UnConference.
Her second novel, The Moon Sisters, received starred reviews and was named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and Book Riot.
Learn more about Therese on her website, and sign up for her newsletter to be among the first to hear about any new projects.
