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IOL News
a day ago
- Science
- IOL News
The Subconscious Revealed: Navigating Joseph Murphy's Insights
Murphy doesn't treat the subconscious as a mystical black box. Instead, he frames it as a living system of belief and response, one that like soil requires conscious planting and nurturing. What makes this particularly relevant today is how closely it mirrors modern neuroscience. Murphy's premise is simple but powerful; the subconscious accepts whatever we repeatedly believe or emotionally internalise, whether helpful or harmful. Once accepted, those beliefs begin to shape our habits, emotional reactions, and even physical health. That idea may have seemed abstract decades ago. Today, science backs it up. When I first picked it up, I expected the usual motivational tone. Instead, I was met with something deeper: a quiet but firm reminder that the stories we believe, especially the ones we don't realise we're telling ourselves, shape our lives more than we dare admit. And those stories live not in the conscious mind, but in the subconscious. Joseph Murphy's work wasn't just a book. It was a reorientation. A reframing of reality. A deep breath in the noise of modern life. I didn't finish The Power of the Subconscious Mind in one sitting. I wasn't supposed to. Some books feel like conversations that unfold slowly, over days or even weeks. Neuroscience confirms that our brain is constantly processing information beneath the level of conscious awareness. According to Dr. Bruce Lipton, a developmental biologist, 95% of our behaviour is driven by subconscious programming. His work suggests that these deep patterns are largely formed in childhood and continue to run in the background like silent software. Psychologist Dr. Daniel Kahneman, in his Nobel Prize-winning work Thinking, Fast and Slow, distinguishes between 'System 1' (fast, automatic, subconscious thinking) and 'System 2' (slow, deliberate, conscious reasoning). His research shows that most of our daily decisions are made by System 1. In other words, we're often not thinking. We're reacting from deep programming. When I realised this, it became deeply personal. I saw how my own reactions to hesitation, people-pleasing, fear of visibility wasn't flaws. They were well-practised patterns that lived in my subconscious, quietly protecting me from outdated threats. Reading Murphy's work alongside contemporary research helped me bridge the spiritual and the scientific. Esther Hicks and the teachings of the Law of Attraction add yet another layer, emphasising emotional resonance. According to that perspective, our emotions are feedback indicators of whether our dominant vibration (or subconscious belief) is aligned with what we want. If fear, lack, or worry dominate, then we attract more of that experience not as punishment, but as reflection. In practice, I started combining Murphy's affirmations with visualisation techniques and emotional awareness. I'd picture myself already calm, successful, and free. Then pause and notice how my body responded. Did it tighten? Did a voice say 'you don't deserve that'? That was the subconscious speaking. Instead of overriding it, I began to gently reframe it. This practice wasn't about toxic positivity or wishful thinking. It was about consciously choosing what I feed my subconscious, day by day. Neuroscience calls this neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to rewire through repetition and experience. Over time, those small shifts created space for different choices, clearer boundaries and deeper trust in myself. Why is this still relevant? Because we live in a world flooded with information but starving for integration. We learn more, scroll more, achieve more and yet often feel disconnected, scattered and unsure. The subconscious doesn't speak at speed or noise. It responds to clarity, emotion and presence. Most of us are out of sync with that. Murphy's work reminds me that healing and transformation don't come from pushing harder, but from returning inward with intention. The subconscious isn't a mystery to be feared. It's a powerful ally, waiting for clearer instructions. 'Change your thoughts, and you change your destiny'—Murphy wrote that long before it became a social media quote. Now I understand what he meant. It's not about forcing thoughts. It's about gently replanting them, watering them with emotion and letting the deeper mind take root. Some books ask to be read. Others ask to be lived. This one? It asked me to pause, to rewire and to re-meet myself at the level where real change begins.
India.com
17-07-2025
- Business
- India.com
THIS company shares in focus as company announces Ebix AI School
सेफ इंवेस्टमेंट भी जरूरी Eraaya Lifespaces Ltd has made a big announcement, which can be beneficial for everyone from children's education to investors. The company's edtech branch Ebix Smartclass has launched a new program called Ebix AI School. Its aim is to teach children studying in Indian schools important things of the digital world, like AI, robotics and coding from early classes. This new course was launched in Delhi on 16 July 2025. In this, children from classes 1 to 12 will be taught Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Robotics, Computer Thinking Capacity and Coding. The study of this program will be decided according to the class of the children. This means it will be different for class 1 and different for class 12. It will also provide the facility of studying through games, AI-powered projects, and mobile apps. An AI teacher assistant will also be given to help the children 24 hours a day. At present, this program has been started in those schools which are already using Ebix Smartclass. But by the end of 2025, it will be spread across the country. The company believes that this program will prepare children for the coming digital era. On July 21, 2025, the board meeting of Eraaya Lifespaces will be held at the Oberoi Hotel in Delhi. In this, the company will review all its business. It is believed that in this meeting the company can consider buying some new property or selling an old property. Apart from this, some legal and important matters will also be discussed. The company's total earnings in FY25 were ₹ 22.32 crores and the profit was Rs 25.87 crores. The company also suffered a loss of Rs 6 crore in the fourth quarter. The company's stock has given a return of 6,300% in the last three years. This means that if an investor had invested ₹ 1 lakh, he could have reached ₹ 63 lakh today. Apart from this, recently the promoters also bought 14 lakh shares. After this purchase, investors hope that the stock may rise.
Time Business News
11-07-2025
- Business
- Time Business News
Design Thinking Training to Boost Creative Problem Solving at Work
In today's fast-changing work environment, teams often face unfamiliar challenges. Standard approaches can fall short, especially when problems grow more complex or user expectations shift. That's where Design Thinking Training steps in. More than a buzzword, it reshapes how people approach obstacles. This method doesn't just offer steps—it teaches a way of thinking that sparks ideas, encourages bold thinking, and builds useful solutions. Rather than asking teams to solve faster, Design Thinking invites them to step back, view the whole picture, and find human-centred answers that stick. Design Thinking starts with empathy. Instead of jumping to solutions, it first asks, 'What do people really need?' Only after exploring this question does it move forward. The core phases often include: Empathise – Understand users deeply – Understand users deeply Define – Frame the right problem – Frame the right problem Ideate – Explore many solutions – Explore many solutions Prototype – Build quick mock-ups – Build quick mock-ups Test – Try and improve ideas This model guides teams through fresh ways to frame questions and spot new paths forward. Most workplace problem-solving follows linear steps. You see a problem. You analyse it. Then you fix it. That approach works for routine issues. However, many modern challenges lack clear answers. Traditional methods often: Focus too much on short-term goals Ignore user experience Dismiss creative voices in the room Depend heavily on logic but not on emotion Design Thinking flips this. It values the user experience as much as the results. That shift can unlock better answers for real-world needs. Training in Design Thinking changes how teams talk, think, and create. It encourages people to: Ask better questions Challenge early assumptions Work together across roles Stay open to trial and feedback In workshops, teams don't just listen to lessons—they build. They role-play, sketch, and build sample ideas out of paper or digital tools. These sessions break routine thinking and give people tools to tackle problems from new angles. Many organisations now bring in Creative Thinking Courses to nudge their staff out of old habits. These courses nurture flexibility and focus, two traits needed more than ever in today's shifting industries. You don't need to work in a creative field to gain from Design Thinking. Teams in banking, retail, logistics, and even healthcare have seen gains by applying its steps. Some key benefits include: Faster learning cycles – Small tests lead to big insights – Small tests lead to big insights Better teamwork – Shared language boosts collaboration – Shared language boosts collaboration Deeper user insight – Decisions match real needs – Decisions match real needs Greater innovation – Ideas stretch beyond safe choices – Ideas stretch beyond safe choices Lower risk – Testing early avoids costly mistakes later Employees who join creative problem solving training Singapore programmes often bring back a fresh energy to the office. They ask better questions and listen more closely to customers. Design Thinking works best when people from different parts of a business work together. These skills suit: Team leaders Product developers Customer service staff Marketers HR managers Tech support teams Anyone who faces problems with people, processes, or products can benefit. The method helps teams move past 'what went wrong' and explore 'what could work better.' There are many tools out there that claim to boost creativity. Brainstorming, Six Sigma, agile sprints, and design sprints are a few. While these offer value, Design Thinking adds depth by grounding ideas in empathy and user feedback. Let's see how Design Thinking compares to other common approaches: Approach Focus Area User Involvement Best Use Case Design Thinking Human needs High Complex, people-driven challenges Brainstorming Idea generation Low Early-stage, short-term ideas Six Sigma Process improvement Low Reducing errors in routine operations Agile Sprint Product development Medium Quick builds and software design Design Sprint Problem framing + prototype High Digital product concepts Design Thinking balances creativity with user value better than most other frameworks. Real understanding doesn't come from books alone. In Design Thinking sessions, teams stretch their creativity muscles through hands-on tasks. Workshops often include: Persona building (to map user behaviour) Journey mapping (to visualise steps users take) Problem redefinition (to break down issues differently) Prototyping with simple materials (to test fast) Peer feedback (to refine ideas) By doing, not just watching, teams form habits they can use later in daily work. Let's look at how some teams apply Design Thinking daily: Problem: Long call wait times lead to frustration. Using Design Thinking: The team interviews customers and learns they prefer chat over calls. Staff create a simple chatbot to answer common questions. After testing, they improve it and reduce wait times by 40%. Problem: New hires feel lost in the first week. Using Design Thinking: HR talks to recent hires to spot weak areas. The team creates a day-by-day welcome guide. They test it, gather feedback, and build a smoother onboarding flow. These examples show that creative problem solving works outside design studios. Any workplace can embrace this mindset. Singapore offers a wide pool of professional learning options. If you're searching for creative problem solving training Singapore, choose providers that offer: Live team-based sessions (not just lectures) Trainers with industry experience Real case studies Tools for use after training Feedback and follow-up support Look for courses that match your team's needs. Some focus on full-day workshops, while others offer short courses for quick skills. A one-day course sparks interest. But habits form over time. To make training stick: Repeat small activities in weekly team meetings Use design templates in planning sessions Reward curiosity, not just fast answers Invite teams to test new tools often Reflect on customer feedback during project reviews Leadership also plays a big role. Managers who model new thinking styles encourage their teams to stay open and creative. Design Thinking reshapes how we tackle problems. It doesn't ask for fancy tools or big budgets. It calls for patience, empathy, and curiosity. Through Design Thinking Training, teams gain more than a method—they build a habit of understanding before solving. In workplaces across Singapore and beyond, these skills help teams grow more adaptable and open to fresh ideas. Whether you explore Creative Thinking Courses or dive into creative problem solving training Singapore, the results speak through better questions, smarter ideas, and human-first solutions. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Business Insider
06-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Companies are relying on aptitude and personality tests more to combat AI-powered job hunters
Are you happy? Do you sleep well? Do you have many friends? Are you a workaholic? Those are some of the questions Katelin Eagan, 27, said she had to answer recently when she was applying for a job. She agreed to take a cognitive and personality assessment as part of the hiring process, but was a bit bewildered. Many of the questions had nothing to do with the engineering position, which, after completing the tests and going through several months of silence, she was eventually rejected for. Eagan says she's been applying for jobs full-time since the start of the year. Her efforts haven't panned out yet, which she attributes partly to how competitive her field has become and employers having room to be picky. "I think there's definitely a lower amount than I thought there would be," she said of available roles. But that may be only part of the story. Employers are growing increasingly selective, partly because many are seeing a flood of seemingly perfect candidates, many of whom are suspected of using AI to finesse their applications, according to recruiters and hiring assessment providers who spoke to BI. The solution many companies have come to? Make everyone take a test — and see who candidates really are, irrespective of what ChatGPT suggested they put on their résumés. According to surveys conducted by TestGorilla, one firm that administers talent assessments for employers, 76% of companies that had hired in the 12 months leading up to April said they were using skills tests to determine if a candidate was a right fit, up from 55% who said they were using role-specific skills tests in 2022. Employers seem most interested in testing for soft skills — amorphous qualities like communicativeness and leadership — as well as administering general aptitude and personality tests, Wouter Durville, the CEO of TestGorilla, told Business Insider. TestGorilla's Critical Thinking test was completed more than 100,000 times in the first quarter of this year, a 61% increase compared to the same quarter in 2024. The firm also offers a Big 5 personality assessment, which was completed more than 127,000 times in the first quarter — a 69% increase compared to last year. Demand among US employers in particular has been "massive," Durville said, adding that many firms have turned to tests as a result of being overwhelmed with job applications. The US is the largest market for the firm, which is based in the Netherlands. "The biggest thing is people just want to hire the best people. It's very selfish and it's fine," Durville said. Canditech, another firm that offers hiring assessments, says it's also seen rapid growth in the last year. In 2024, the assessment usage grew 135% compared to the prior year, CEO Guy Barel told BI. He estimates that assessment usage is on track to soar 242% year-over-year. Barel says the surge is partly due to the job market tipping more in favor of employers. In many cases, companies he works with are flooded with "tons of candidates" and looking to "move forward as fast as possible," he said. Criteria, another skills-based assessment provider, says test usage has more than doubled in recent years. "AI is kind of creating this authenticity crisis in talent acquisition, because everyone can and is putting their résumé into ChatGPT." Criteria CEO Josh Millet told BI. "It's all about demonstrating your ability or your skill or your personality in an objective way that's a little bit harder to fake." The AI job market Jeff Hyman, a veteran recruiter and the CEO of Recruit Rockstars, estimates that demand for testing among his clients has increased by around 50% over the last 18 months. That's due to a handful of different reasons, he said — but companies being inundated by job applications is near the top, thanks to candidates leaning more on AI to gain an edge and send out résumés en masse, he says. Hyman says a typical job he tries to fill for a client has around 300 to 500 applicants, though he's spoken to companies trying to fill roles with more than 1,000 candidates within several days of being posted online. The number of job applications in the US grew at more than four times the pace of job requisitions in the first half of 2024, according to a report from WorkDay. Companies also want to test candidates' soft skills as remote work grows more common, Hyman adds — and they want to be sure they're getting the right person. Depending on the size of the organization, a bad hire can cost a company anywhere from $11,000 to $24,000, a survey conducted by CareerBuilder in 2016 found. According to TestGorilla, 69% of employers who issued tests this year said they were interested in assessing soft skills, while 50% said they were interested in assessing a candidate's cognitive ability. A separate survey by Criteria ranked emotional intelligence as the most sought-after skill among employers, followed by analytical thinking. "It's about their personality and to see if they are a good fit to the organization, if they share the same DNA," Durville said, though he noted that, in many cases, companies find the results of the tests to be shaky as a sole evaluation metric. TestGorilla, Canditech, and Criteria told BI that employers say they're enjoying the time and cost savings of administering tests. According to TestGorilla, 82% of employers who said they used skills-based hiring — a catch-all term for hiring based on proven skills — said they were satisfied with new hires, compared to 73% of US employers on average. Canditech, meanwhile, claims its assessments can help employers cut down on hiring time by as much as 50%, and reduce "unnecessary interviews" by as much as 80%, according to its website. But Hyman thinks there are some issues with hiring tests. For one, he says employers turn down candidates who don't score well "all the time," despite them being otherwise qualified for the job. The trend also appears to be turning off job candidates. Hyman estimates around 10%-20% of applicants will outright refuse to take a test if employers introduce it as a first step in the hiring process, though that's a practice Canditech's Barel says is becoming increasingly common. Hyman says he frequently has conversations with employers urging them not to put so much weight on test results, due to the potential for a mis-hire. "That's lazy hiring, to be honest. I think that's not the right way to go about it," he said.
Indian Express
05-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
‘We care about family': Starmer says personal bond with Trump helped secure UK trade deal
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said his personal connection with US President Donald Trump helped him secure a trade deal that removed British industries from some US tariffs. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Political Thinking programme on the first anniversary of the Labour government, Starmer said that although he and Trump come from 'different political backgrounds,' they have found common ground. 'We are different people and we've got different political backgrounds and leanings, but we do have a good relationship and that comes from a number of places,' he said. Starmer said the connection is based in part on shared values. 'For both of us, we really care about family and there's a point of connection there,' he told BBC Radio. 'I think I do understand what anchors the president, what he really cares about.' He revealed that Trump had called to offer condolences after the death of Starmer's younger brother, Nick, on Boxing Day. The two had last spoken when Starmer phoned Trump following the assassination attempt during a campaign rally in July last year. 'That was a phone call really to ask him how it was, and in particular I wanted to know how it impacted on his family,' Starmer said. The prime minister said his personal relationship with Trump had helped him reach a deal that eased concerns in British industries. He described a visit to Jaguar Land Rover in Solihull before the agreement, saying he had seen 'anxiety writ large' on the faces of factory workers. After the deal, he said, 'the relief was palpable.' Starmer also spoke about discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron, which he said helped lay the groundwork for a new agreement with the European Union. 'Over a glass of wine on the train to Kyiv, we talked about some of the key elements. That led to an agreement that will lower food prices in British supermarkets,' he said. 'Building those relationships with international leaders is hugely important,' he told BBC Radio, adding that such efforts are 'always in the national interest.' Asked about recent political challenges, including Labour's concessions to avoid a rebellion over disability benefit reforms, Starmer said he accepted responsibility. 'It's been a tough few days,' he said. 'But we'll come through this stronger.' Starmer is expected to meet Macron again next week during the French president's state visit to the UK. Tackling small boat crossings in the English Channel will be a key point of discussion, with government data showing nearly 20,000 arrivals in the first half of this year a 48 per cent rise compared to the same period last year.
