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Whether youre familiar with the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche or are a fan of singer Kelly Clarkson, youve probably heard the phrase, What doesnt kill you makes you stronger. While it sounds like a cheer for persistence during tough times, its also scientifically true, says Jeff Krasno, author of Good Stress: The Health Benefits of Doing Hard Things. Stress, whether from physical challenges like ice baths or mental stressors like tough conversations, fosters resilience and long-term wellbeing, he says. The key is to differentiate between good stress and bad stress and use the former to your advantage. To understand the difference between good and bad stress, Krasno offers this example: If you were hiking and ran across a rattlesnake on the path, you’d probably have a stress response that serves your biological imperative to survive, he says. The problem with modern stress for so many people is that the rattlesnake never leaves the path. Bad Stress Versus Good Stress Many of us live in a state of chronic agitation that includes personal hardship, overwork, past trauma, and a 24-hour social media algorithm designed to keep people in a state of amygdala hijack. We live in an attention economy where everyone is vying for your focus at every moment through increasing levels of sensationalism and scandal and fear and outrage, says Krasno. It keeps people in a state of chronic stress, and that’s really when stress is bad. Good stress, on the other hand, comes from the discomforts our ancestors endured. We evolved for hundreds of thousands of years as Homo Sapiens with a relationship to Paleolithic stress, such as calorie scarcity, fluctuations in temperature, immersion in nature, communal living, and exposure to light, says Krasno. Adaptive mechanisms to those forms of stress formed physiological pathways in the body that promoted longevity and resilience. The problem is that weve denuded life of most Paleolithic stressors, says Krasno. For example, many of us we have an endless supply of calories at our disposal. We generally spend most of our time sedentary and inside temperature-regulated environments, removed from nature. And we rely on artificial light, which can impact sleep. Removing good stress in favor of comfort has had consequences, and Krasno says the increasing prevalence of chronic disease results from chronic ease. Weve fooled ourselves into thinking that we can exist as separate individuals in our single-family homes, ordering up DoorDash all day, says Krasno. Since the industrial revolution, particularly accelerating in the last 50 years, we have engineered our lifestyle for comfort and convenience. Introducing Good Stress Counterbalance bad stress by introducing good stress at the appropriate amount. Early 16th century Swiss physician Paracelsus said, only the dose makes the poison. The right dosage of self-imposed discomfort, such as strenuous activities, and temperature regulation, can make you stronger, says Krasno. But it’s important to start slowly. I would never advise anyone who has never ice plunged before to get into a 33-degree ice bath for the first time, says Krasno. Get into a 60-degree ice bath see what that feels like. Find the edge of your discomfort and lean into it and be curious about what’s on the other side of it, because it’s generally a very good thing. Krasno also advocates for leaning into social stress. I call it diving into the ice bath of hard, stressful conversations, becoming just a little bit more comfortable with our discomfort, so we can unwind a lot of infirmities, he says. As the host of the Commune podcast, where he talks about health and wellness, Krasno regularly encounters people who dont agree with his points of view, emailing or commenting on his posts. Instead of ignoring them or disagreeing publicly, he invites them to jump on a Zoom call. Most ghost him, but some accepted the call. He created a safe setting, acting polite, open, and curious. Leaning into discomfort We build our physiological immune system through low-grade exposure to pathogens and virus and bacteria, says Krasno. Through having these conversations, I built what I call my psychological immune system. In addition to being an exercise in connection, active listening, and open-mindedness, Krasno says it provided an opportunity for personal growth. It fortified my own opinions, because, for once, I had to consider the best part of an opposing opinion, he explains. People get trapped in the story that they tell themselves about themselves, but Krasno says change is possible if youre willing to lean into discomfort. Once you actually grasp your own impermanence, you can take agency over the trajectory of your life, he says. Embracing discomfort will change the trajectory of your life. Humans are just a process, not a product. We move dynamically across this spectrum from wholeness to disease and disaster. You can move towards wholeness as a process, too. You have agency over the trajectory of that journey.
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E-Commerce
Amid the video podcast boom, Netflix is making its own move into the space. According to Business Insider, the streaming giants co-CEO Ted Sarandos said video podcasts may be the next format to land on the platform. During Netflixs first-quarter earnings call Thursday, Sarandos noted that “the lines are getting blurry” between podcasts and talk shows, adding, “as the popularity of video podcasts grows, I suspect you’ll see some of them find their way to Netflix.” In 2025, audiences want to watch their podcasts. As a result, YouTubenot audio-first platforms like Spotify or Applehas become the top destination for American podcast listeners. Data from Edison Podcast Metrics shows YouTube attracts 31% of weekly podcast listeners, compared to Spotifys 27% and Apples 15%. Nearly half of podcast listeners now watch their favorite shows on Smart TVs, and in March, YouTube made up 9.7% of all TV viewingedging out Netflixs 8.1%. When asked about competition from YouTube, Sarandos told The Hollywood Reporter that Netflix remains the best place for premium content, as defined by fans. The platform already licenses content from kids favorite Ms. Rachel, as well as Tony Hinchcliffe, the conservative comedian behind the podcast Kill Tony. And Netflix is far from done. “We’re looking for the next generation of great creators, and we’re looking everywhere, not just in film schools and certainly not just in Hollywood,” Sarandos said during the call. When it comes to helping creators scale and monetize, Sarandos says Netflix stands apart. You know, the question thats out there is, is it premium? Well, some of it is, and we believe we have the best monetization model on the planet for premium storytelling, he said. I think we could help those creators reach an audience. Our model can also support more ambitious efforts for them, could help derisk them, unlike the kind of typical [user generated content] models. With Netflix becoming YouTube, Instagram turning into TikTok, and X becoming whatever X is now, no one wants to stay in their lane anymore.
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E-Commerce
Exhaustion. Mental fatigue. Difficulty concentrating. Irritability. Dreading your next calendar appointment. Nobody likes showing up to work with a hangover. But these days, you dont need a long night of drinking to feel the effects. Instead, you might be suffering from a meeting hangoverthe lingering exhaustion, disengagement, and productivity drain that follow an unproductive meeting. Studies show that 28% of workplace meetings leave employees feeling drained, with more than 90% of workers experiencing meeting hangovers at least occasionally. Nearly half (47%) report feeling less engaged with their work afterward, while more than half say these hangovers disrupt their workflow and productivity. Meetings are a double-edged sword. Despite their pitfalls, they remain the most common form of workplace communication. In fact, research suggests face-to-face meetings are more effective for idea generation and task absorption than video calls. In other words, meetings arent going anywhere. But leaders can take chargeensuring meetings are productive, efficient, and, most importantly, not hangover-inducing. Here are the strategies I use as CEO of Jotform. Set a concise agenda If youve ever walked into a grocery store for a few essentials and walked out with a cart full of snacks, you understand the power of having a clear list. The same principle applies to meetings. At Jotform, meeting agendas are indispensable. We also believe in minimizing meetings. By preparing an agenda, you can determine if a meeting is really necessary. If an asynchronous methodlike an email, Slack message, or shared documentcan achieve the same outcome faster, we opt for that instead. But when a real-time discussion is necessary, such as brainstorming solutions to an ongoing issue, a meeting is the right call. An agenda also ensures that only the necessary people are in the room. If someone isnt essential to the conversation, they can contribute asynchronouslyperhaps by answering follow-up questions afterward. As a result, we have fewer, more efficient meetings and fewer meeting hangovers. Keep the conversation on track The Big Apple Circus in New York once featured a team of Chinese jugglers who could each spin eight plates at a time on the ends of long, slender sticks. Interviewing is a similar balancing act, writes professor and journalist Helen Benedict. The same is true for leading a meeting. Youre listening, observing, processing, and asking questionsall while ensuring the discussion stays focused. Benedicts strategy for interviews is to arrive with a list of questions and stick to them religiouslyeven if it means cutting off tangents and redirecting the conversation. It may not be smooth conversational technique, she writes, but it can save me hours of listening to off-the-track waffling. Running a meeting requires the same discipline. If a discussion starts veering off course, our meeting leaders are tasked with gently steering it back. If were stuck on a point with no resolution, we note it and ask participants to revisit it later rather than letting it derail the agenda. This helps us conclude meetings on timeand sometimes early. If an hour-long meeting ends up taking 45 minutes, theres no need to fill the space with white noise. Recap with clear deliverables Finally, we never leave a meeting without a clear recap of whos responsible for what. Outlining deliverables ensures that nothing falls through the crackstasks dont get lost, and responsibilities dont blur or overlap. This is where Ive found AI agents make a huge difference. Combined with AI-powered note-taking apps, agents can generate concise summaries, highlight key takeaways tailored to each participants role, and compile a clear action-item list. This accountability creates a sense of shared leadership and boosts team effectiveness. An AI agent can also streamline follow-ups by creating a separate document with action items and deadlines, time-stamping key moments so participants can revisit discussions without replaying the entire meeting, and even drafting follow-up emailsleaving nothing more to do than review and hit send. With these tasks automated, meeting participants can stay focused on the actual substance of the meeting rather than getting bogged down in administrative details. This also cuts down the total time spent on meetings. Despite technological advancements, the time that workers spend in unproductive meetings has doubled since 2019to five hours per week. With automation and the above strategies, employees can spend less time on meetings, experience fewer hangovers, and feel energized to take on more meaningful work.
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E-Commerce
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