Certain people seem so effortlessly influential, they make you wonder if they were born with some magical quality. 

But after researching human behavior for 15 years, I have good news. Influence is a set of learnable actions, not a fixed personality trait. 

In my book, “Managing Up: How to Get What You Need From the People in Charge,” I break down how to build authority at work based on my experience advising thousands of top performers at companies like Google, Amazon, and JPMorgan. 

There are things you can do to be taken more seriously, get your ideas approved, and become someone leadership seeks out — even if you’re introverted, still working your way up the ladder, or new to your industry. 

Here are five of the most powerful behaviors you can start using right now — based on five different types of power — without turning into a manipulative jerk. 

When a meeting goes in circles, influential people step in and say, “We’ve covered the options. It seems like we’re leaning toward X, so we’ll get started on that. Sound good?” 

This is role power in action, using your authority to make decisions within your domain. Most people shy away from role power because they don’t want to appear controlling. But when everything is a committee decision, it creates more confusion. 

Try this: The next time someone raises an issue, don’t let it bounce around like a hot potato. Take charge and assign ownership, “I’ll coordinate with legal. Gerald, can you drive the marketing piece?” 

Influential people don’t hoard credit. They spread appreciation around early and often. 

This builds reward power, or your ability to give people something they want. When you make others feel seen, they go out of their way to help you succeed.

Try this: Each week, shout out a team member via email or team chat, or during a meeting. Don’t just say “the team did a good job,” personalize your praise and be specific. For example, “Pooja’s idea saved us 10 hours of developer time!” or, “Big shout out to Rafael for his analysis, which flagged this risk.”

You can be the smartest person in the room. But your knowledge means nothing if no one seeks out your input or respects your opinion enough to act on it. 

That’s the difference between expertise and expert power. Expertise is measured by your skill level, whereas expert power is about whether people trust your insight.

Try this: Lead with “what if” and “I wonder” statements followed by your experience to avoid coming off as a know-it-all. For example, “What if we tried adjusting the price? I’ve seen that work with similar products in the past,” or, “I wonder whether we’ve accounted for processing time since that’s added a two-week delay before.”

Even the nicest people have to enforce limits. When someone misses deadlines or violates the rules, influential people address it calmly and directly by using coercive power. 

This ability to punish people is the form of power you want to use the least, but sometimes it’s necessary to uphold standards and keep the culture safe. 

You can use this even without formal authority, as long as you’re in a situation where you’re responsible for an outcome, like running a meeting or leading a particular project. Context matters, though. You can hold peers accountable for being disruptive, but you’ll need to tread more carefully with a superior.

Try this: Name the pattern, state the impact, and set an expectation. This can sound like, “I noticed you talked over Carol twice yesterday. When people get cut off, they stop speaking up. Going forward, please let people finish their thoughts before jumping in.” 

What if you could gain power just from being who you are? This is referent power, which comes from people wanting to be associated with you because of your character and values. 

Influential people don’t treat relationships transactionally. When you make people feel seen and valued, they’re more likely to trust you, support your ideas, and want to work with you. 

Try this: When someone shares something personal, make a reminder and follow up on it. It takes 30 seconds to ask “How was your daughter’s recital?” or “Did the kitchen renovation go well?” But it creates deep rapport. 

The best part is that these behaviors compound. The more you use them, the more natural they become, and the more influence you build without even trying. 

Melody Wilding, LMSW is an executive coach, human behavior professor, and author of ”Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge.” Get her free training, 5 Steps to Speak Like a Senior Leader, here. 

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If you want to live longer and feel better, stop chasing food fads.

Every few months, a new “miracle” plan — keto, intermittent fasting, carnivore, raw — promises to fix everything. Most don’t. Even those that show modest benefits rarely deliver results worth the time, effort, and mental energy they demand.

As an Harvard-trained oncologist and world leader in health policy, I’ve spent decades researching what actually improves health outcomes. The answer to a longer life is so simple: Good nutrition is about building about habits you can sustain for years, not weeks.

While you should consult your physician before changing your diet, as individual needs vary, here are six nutrition myths I wish more people would let go of.

The average adult consumes nearly 500 calories a day from snacks, much of it from ultra-processed foods like chips, cookies and packaged desserts. These foods are engineered to encourage overeating.

In one study, participants eating ultra-processed foods consumed more calories and gained two pounds in just two weeks compared with those eating whole foods, even when calories were matched. These foods are also linked to higher all-cause mortality.

Not all snacks are harmful. Research shows that healthy snacks can improve overall diet quality. Nuts, fruit, yogurt, hummus and vegetables provide fiber, protein and healthy fats that promote fullness without blood sugar spikes.

Most Americans already consume enough protein. Recommended intake is roughly 0.75 to 1.0 grams per kilogram of body weight per day (about 45 to 70 grams for most women and 55 to 90 grams for most men).

Protein powders aren’t a solution either. In one analysis, two-thirds of tested protein powders contained unsafe levels of lead. There are exceptions:

• Adults over 60, who lose muscle mass with age, may benefit from about 1.2 g/kg
• Athletes or people recovering from illness may need up to 1.5 g/kg

For everyone else, whole-food sources (beans, lentils, yogurt, fish) are safer and more beneficial than supplements or excessive red meat.

Only about 7% of American adults meet recommended fiber intake, and that’s a serious problem.

High-fiber diets are linked to lower risk of colorectal cancer, reduced rates of Type 2 diabetes, and a 31% lower risk of death from coronary heart disease.

But fiber supplements aren’t a perfect shortcut. Most contain just one type of fiber and don’t replicate the complex, diverse fibers found in whole foods. Only a small fraction show meaningful clinical benefits.

Fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains remain the most effective way to support gut health.

Dairy consumption is associated with lower risk of Type 2 diabetes and improved growth in children — regardless of fat content.

The idea that higher-fat dairy causes weight gain isn’t supported by evidence. In fact, studies show children who consume whole-fat dairy have lower odds of overweight and obesity than those consuming low-fat versions. Adults show similar trends.

Fat content alone doesn’t determine health. Whole-fat dairy can fit into a balanced diet, especially when it replaces ultra-processed “low-fat” alternatives.

Choose the version you enjoy and can sustain.

For decades, Americans were told fat makes you fat. This has been proven wrong. Yet as dietary fat intake declined, obesity and diabetes rates surged.

Healthy fats are essential. Many calorie-dense foods — nuts, olive oil, full-fat dairy, even dark chocolate — are associated with less weight gain than processed grains and sugary snacks.

Liquid plant oils, especially extra-virgin olive oil, have strong evidence behind them. Even half a tablespoon per day has been associated with a 19% lower risk of death over nearly 30 years.

Fat isn’t the enemy. It’s the ultra-processed, low-fiber, high-sugar foods that drive weight gain and metabolic disease.

Many people believe an extra workout can cancel out unhealthy eating. Unfortunately, you can’t. There’s more than a grain of truth to the saying, “you are what you eat.”

A recent study found that humans burn roughly the same number of calories per day regardless of activity level. Exercise improves health, but it doesn’t provide the calorie “bonus” people expect. What and how much you eat is what moves the needle on weight.

That said, exercise is still essential. It improves sleep, mood, cognition, bone density and social connection. Walking, especially with other people, is one of the most effective and accessible forms.

Good nutrition is simply about designing a life where healthy choices are ones that are easy and that you stick to for years: whole foods like fruits, nuts, and vegetables, modest portions and meals shared with people you like.

Skip the detoxes. Keep the olive oil. And yes, sometimes eat your ice cream. 

Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel is an oncologist, Vice Provost and Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, and author of “Eat Your Ice Cream: 6 Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life.” Previously, he was chair of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Emanuel received his MD from Harvard Medical School.

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Toward the end of the year, many of us commit to ambitious, concrete goals like cutting your screen time in half or running three miles every morning.

That approach often backfires, according to neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff, PhD.

Linear goals like these are popular because they give people “the illusion of certainty,” according to Le Cunff, author of “Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World.”

“They make us feel like we’re in control, because we think that if we have a clear vision and a clear plan, and we execute on that plan, then we’re going to be successful,” she tells CNBC Make It.

But real life rarely adheres to our best-laid plans, which is why so many people end up repeating their New Year’s resolutions “over and over again every year” without making progress, she says.

Instead, she recommends approaching your goals with an “experimental mindset.” Just like scientists collect data and use the results to inform their next choices, “you can do the exact same thing with your career and your life in general.”

If you’re hoping to start a new routine this year, Le Cunff recommends conducting “tiny experiments” with the habits you’d like to try, instead of setting lofty, unrealistic goals.

Tiny experiments follow a very simple formula, according to Le Cunff: “I will [do X action] for [Y duration].”

Some examples could be “I will write 250 words every day for two weeks,” or, “I will take a walk on my lunch break every day for one month.”

One of Le Cunff’s favorites is, “I will not bring my phone into my bedroom for one week.”

A good tiny experiment meets four criteria, according to Le Cunff: It must be “purposeful, actionable, continuous and trackable.”

To be purposeful, the experiment has to involve something you are “deeply curious about,” Le Cunff says, and an actionable experiment is one that you can conduct “right now with your current resources.”

It’s crucial to run the experiment continuously in order to collect enough data, she explains, and tracking your consistency will help you determine how well the experiment is working for you.

The key is to “withhold judgment until you’re done conducting your experiment,” Le Cunff says. Trying something new can be uncomfortable, but that’s part of the process.

After the experiment is over, you can decide whether or not you would like to incorporate that action into your daily life. “You can actually use experiments as a gateway to discover new habits that work for you,” Le Cunff says.

Many of us have a tendency “to always want to go for the bigger, more impressive, more ambitious version of a goal,” Le Cunff says, but that mentality has several pitfalls. For one, long-ranging goals like “I will work out every day this year” or “I will read one book a week” are often “too overwhelming or unrealistic.”

Announcing your impressive goal to other people gives your brain a “big dopamine hit,” Le Cunff says, but that can paradoxically reduce your motivation to achieve it. After all, “we already got the reward of people telling us, ‘Oh wow, you’re so strong, you’re so ambitious.’”

By contrast, telling others ‘I’m going to jog twice a week for one month’ may sound less impressive than ‘I’m going to run every day for the next year,’ but “then you actually get the very healthy dopamine at the end from actually having done the thing,” Le Cunff says.

Tiny experiments help shift people from an outcome-based mindset to a curious, explorative one. With this perspective, “success is not reaching a particular milestone that you have defined in advance. Success is learning something new,” she says.

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If your portfolio is invested in exchange-traded funds, you may have had a very good 2025. The S&P 500 — the index tracked by the three largest ETFs on the market, per ETF Database – returned about 16% in 2025.

But in theory, depending on which funds you held, you could have done quite a bit better.

The MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETN, a fund which tracks the price of a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, finished the year up 796% — the best of any U.S. traded ETF, according to data from FactSet analyzed by CNBC. You could have also earned a huge return had you bought other ETFs focused on metal mining or Korean stocks.

While it can be fun to fantasize about what your returns could have looked like had you chosen one of last year’s big winners, you should think twice before choosing one as a major building block of your investing strategy, says Jeff Ptak, managing director for Morningstar Research Services.

“They should play very little, if any, role in your portfolio,” he says. “Most of what you see at the top of these lists is niche, hyper-volatile, gimmicky. These aren’t words I would associate with prudent, long-term investing.”

Prudent, long-term investing is generally the name of the game if you’re hoping to build wealth, investing experts say. So what makes some of the 2025 winners unsuitable?

Leveraged funds

One common theme on the list is the use of leverage, the practice of buying or selling derivatives to amplify a fund’s return. Rather than seeking to track the return of an index, funds with 2X or 3X in the name aim to deliver multiples of that same return. This makes them highly volatile, and likely candidates for year-end best-of — or worst-of — lists, says Roxanna Islam, head of sector and industry research at TMX VettaFi, an investment research firm and index provider.

“I don’t think it’s surprising to see leverage at the top,” she says. “With two or three times [returns] they’re most likely going to be in the top at some point.”

The problem with these funds, for long-term investors, is that they aim to produce 200% to 300% of the index’s return on a daily basis, resetting for each trading day. In other words, they’re for day traders, not investors, says Islam.

“These are basically used as short-term trading instruments. They’re intended to be held for one day,” she says. “They’re not something to hold for a whole year, even though you see a high [2025] return.”

Volatile areas of the market

Another common theme among winning 2025 ETFs: precious metals mining funds.

It’s no surprise that some companies that mine for the shiny stuff did well last year. Gold prices spiked by about 65% in 2025 and silver rose by more than 140%. These firms, some of which have more well-established mining operations than others, benefit from rising precious metals prices.

While owning precious metals — often as a portfolio diversifier or an inflation hedge — is a common investment strategy, says Ptak, investing in miners is “a whole other kettle of fish.”

That’s because, in addition to fluctuations in metal prices, these firms’ stock prices move based on changes to the underlying business, which can be volatile and highly indebted, says Ptak.

″[Mining ETFs] are only slightly less speculative than something that’s got 2X or 3X in the name,” he says.

Overall, when considering adding any high-performing fund to your portfolio, you’d be wise to consider its long-term track record as well as how its objectives fit within your investment strategy, says Islam. It may be wise to do this with the help of a financial professional.

And when browsing year-end lists, remember that you’re looking for consistent, long-term returns rather than short-term wins, says Islam.

“Past performance does not equal future performance, especially when you’re looking at a lot of these smaller themes, smaller ETFs,” she says. “A lot of them don’t tend to show significant outperformance year after year, the same way holding a broad stock market ETF would.”

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Karl Bushby was 29 when he left his home city of Hull, England and took off for the adventure of a lifetime. With $500 in his pocket and some survival gear, he went on a mission that no one else in history had ever completed: walking an unbroken path around the world.

Bushby’s journey, called the “Goliath Expedition,” began in 1998 in Punta Arenas, Chile, a city near the southern tip of South America. It’s brought him across continents including the Americas, Asia and Europe, and ultimately ends with the goal of arriving back in the United Kingdom.

“The objective was simply to get home unassisted by any form of transport,” Bushby told CNBC Make It.

Throughout the journey, Bushby has followed two rules: He can only walk or swim, unassisted by any form of transportation, and he cannot return home to Hull, England, until he arrives entirely on foot.

“These sounded like two simple rules from the early days, but you know, once those two rules meet the reality of the real world, things can get mighty complicated, especially [with] visas and difficult governments and regimes and some of the controversial borders that [I’ve] had to cross,” he said.

After walking about 30 kilometers a day, along with some unexpected setbacks, Bushby has now made his way into Europe and expects to complete his journey and return home to England next year, he told CNBC Make It.

Bushby has always been an adventurer. He says he used to go explore all day with his brother before returning home for dinner.

Growing up in a military family, he was inspired by his father who served in the British army. Bushby also joined the army at age 16 and served as a parachute regiment for about 12 years before taking off on his expedition.

At a certain point during his tenure in the British army, Bushby got bored.

“I spent my 12 years in the British army waiting to go somewhere we never really went, other than Northern Ireland,” he said. “We happened to be living through one of the most peaceful times in history,” he said.

“So we got bored and tired and became wondrous and mischievous,” he said. “At some point, I started drawing lines on maps and daydreaming about great distances and distant horizons, and one thing led to another.”

One day, Bushby drew a line from the United Kingdom over Europe and Asia, through Siberia, over the Bering Strait, into North America and through to the bottom of South America.

“Once I got that on a map, there was kind of no going back … The old hairs on the back of your neck stand up,” he said.

So, in 1998, Bushby left the British army to begin the long journey. He took a military flight from the United Kingdom to the Falkland Islands, then a civilian flight to Punta Arenas, Chile, which was the starting point of his expedition.

“That first day you step onto the road [is] a memorable one, because at that point, you’re a long way from home. You’ve burned all the bridges. You told everyone you’d rather die than come home,” said Bushby.

“You got like 500 U.S. dollars in your pocket, no support, no idea how it is going to work out, just absolute faith that you can somehow make it work. And you’re on a road that is about 36,000 miles long, with very little idea of what’s coming. I mean … you’re further than a man mission to Jupiter at that point,” he said.

Bushby’s journey over the last 27 years has brought him through many close encounters.

He has famously crossed the Darien Gap, been detained by Russian authorities, jailed in Panama, nearly frozen to death in Alaska and swam across the Caspian Sea over a 31-day-period.

On top of all of this, he’s gone days without food after walking for many miles, relied on strangers for medical help and ended many nights by himself in a tent he pitched on the side of the road.

“The psychology of hunger is interesting. It’s not something that most of us are really used to. When you have no idea where your next meal will come in, you just become obsessed with finding things to eat,” said Bushby.

“You’ll see food everywhere, every shadow, every rock, looks like something you can eat. You’ll end up running around, chasing hallucinations most of the time,” he said.

Despite all of the challenges he’s overcome, one of the biggest lessons he discovered throughout his journey didn’t have much to do with physical pain or endurance. Rather, it was about happiness and how it ultimately comes from your relationships.

“If you would ask me, what was the hardest thing you’ve done over the last 27 years – that is losing the women that you fall in love with hands down. That’s the toughest thing you will deal with… The physical stuff – pain is easy, suffering is different,” said Bushby.

On the other hand, he said: “The happiest of times was when I [was in] those relationships. When you’re with somebody.”

He’s also learned that people are generally very kind, across all cultures and regions in the world. Many times throughout his journey, he says he’s been taken in, fed and cared for by strangers who ask for nothing in return.

“You don’t even speak the same language, so it’s just about smiles and nods and then they send you on your way … It’s just one story after another, and it’s across every culture, across every country,” he said.

“This world is hell of a lot friendlier and nicer than it might appear.”

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