Richard Feynman, professor and Nobel-prize winning physicist purportedly only had an IQ of 125. Smart, but hardly in the rarefied spectrum we normally consider for genius. This trivia is usually brought up to show the ridiculousness of IQ testing. If an obvious genius doesn’t qualify for Mensa, how valid can it be for normal people? […]
The Skill of Trying Your Best
“As long as you tried your best,” was a phrase I’d hear as a kid. It was supposed to console you in the event of failure. Reminding you that, as long as you put your best effort in, then it didn’t matter if you lost. Hearing that phrase as an adult, I wonder how often […]
Getting Good: How I’m Trying to Be a Better Writer
I have a confession to make: I’m a perfectionist. No, not the debilitating kind of perfectionist, who can never finish a project, but the long-term kind. After publishing over a million words, I’m still convinced I can write a lot better. I want to share what goes on behind the scenes, showing some of the […]
Do You Use “Lack of Motivation” as an Excuse?
A common excuse I hear for not setting goals, building mastery or sticking to important habits is the phrase, “I’m just not motivated enough.” I wonder whether these people believe motivation will simply fall from the sky and strike them. As if sitting and doing nothing was the best way to break a cycle of […]