The coronavirus is spreading like Beiber fever in 2010. And it has rattled the world. Everything is shutting down. Sporting events. Canceled. Malls. Empty. Toilet paper. Where? Seriously, I’m running low.

And I think it’s on its way to causing one of the greatest economical disasters in recent history. You can’t just shut down the world and expect everything to hum along as usual. So, I’m saying I expect it to get worse from here. I would love to be wrong, but in case I’m not, here’s how we can respond.

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

~ Albert Einstein

Curiosity is a beautiful thing. It can make the seemingly dullest things fascinating. 

I have one guarantee. You and I will always have problems. Problems persist regardless of money, power, status, or fame. Having money doesn’t remove all of your problems, it just gives you better problems (first world problems, as they say).

In the equation of life, problems are the constant and you are the variable. That’s why it makes little sense to aim for a problem-free existence and a lot of sense to change the way you look at your problems.

This article is about my new book, Elastic Habits. If you’ve read it, add this knowledge to your arsenal. I think you’ll find it very useful!

One of the most critical parts of elastic habits is choosing what intensity to do each day. An elastic habit has three levels/intensities of success. How do you know whether to do Elite, Plus, or Mini? I gave some ideas in the book, and really, the texture of your day will often tell you the answer outright, but today I’m going to give you three new ways to decide.

In countless studies, treatments are tested against sham treatments. It’s important to test a promising treatment against a “fake” treatment for one reason—the placebo effect.

Even if the real treatment shows better results, validating its efficacy, the placebo group usually shows a benefit as well! That’s where we get the idea of beating the placebo. Because if not set against a control, almost every treatment could claim to be effective because of the placebo effect.

It would seem that belief is the main driver of the placebo effect, because people believe they’re taking real medicine. But interestingly enough, it’s not just belief at work. For example, a 2014 study found that a pill labeled “placebo” was 50% as effective as medication in managing pain from a migraine attack. The patients knew it was a placebo, but it still helped!