Lesson 2: Distancing Yourself from Your Problems | Ethan Kross

In the early 1990s, Stuart Smalley, a popular (and wildly insecure) character on Saturday Night Live, opened each talk-show-style sketch by looking in a mirror and declaring, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me,” before encouraging his viewers to practice daily affirmations, too. Though meant as parody, research now suggests that Smalley’s advice was on the right track! In this video lesson, psychologist Ethan Kross discusses how stepping back from your problems and coaching yourself in the second person can help you solve them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive content, early, ad-free access to new releases, and more. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Explore content that enlightens, inspires, and transforms. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ►Get Big Think+ for Business Engage learners like never before with high-impact video microlearning from the biggest thinkers in the world. https://bigthink.com/plus/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Ethan Kross: Ethan Kross is one of the world’s leading experts on controlling the conscious mind. An award-winning professor and bestselling author in the University of Michigan’s top ranked Psychology Department and its Ross School of Business, he studies how the conversations people have with themselves impact their health, performance, decisions and relationships.