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Researchers have found that the way people feel about the stress in their lives is a far more powerful predictor of their general health… than any other measure.

Stress… is no more and no less than the inability to predict and control the forces that shape our lives.

When you are overwhelmed, when you can neither predict nor control the forces shaping your time, when you don’t even have time to think about why you’re overwhelmed, much less what to do about it, you’re powerless.

…evidence is overwhelming that… an opportunity is much more likely than a threat or a prediction of doom to increase [people’s] energy level to want to do something new.

…evidence [shows] that, across a wide range of industries, grades are not a strong predictor of job performance.

Research… shows that dirty work does less harm when bosses add four antidotes into the mix: Prediction, Understanding, Control, and Compassion.

Predictability helps people know when to relax versus when dread and vigilance are warranted – which protects them from the emotional and physical exhaustion…

…luck makes it difficult to predict exactly how things will turn out, at least not in the short run.

Because of the density of linkages, complex systems fluctuate extremely and exhibit unpredictability.

…economic systems – the products of complex knots of human factors – confound linear attempts at prediction and control.