It’s been quite a year. In January, I became a father [1]. In March, the entire world went into lockdown. I also wrote some essays.
Here’s some of the best writing I did in the last twelve months:
- Do the Real Thing [2]. Success largely boils down to a simple distinction. It’s glaringly obvious once you see it, but also easy to find ingenious ways of ignoring it: do the real thing and stop doing fake alternatives.
- An Interesting Book You Probably Shouldn’t Read [3]. My deep dive into one of the most unusual philosophers of all time.
- Two Types of Excellence [4]. Is being the best more like winning a footrace or being a butterfly?
- The 10 Foundational Practices for a Good Life [5]. Where should you start in improving your life? I tried a lot of stuff when I first got started, but knowing what I know now, I’d recommend different practices.
- The Surprisingly Narrow Path to Success [6]. What does authoring a book, starting a company and becoming an academic have in common?
- What’s Beyond Self-Improvement? [7] Why does success often feel empty? What do you do after you’ve fixed the problems in your life?
- Success is Stamina: To Win Means to Keep Playing [8]. Life isn’t dominated by races with winners and losers, but by long stretches of road where some people keep on running.
- How Fast Should You Be When Learning? [9] Quick sketches, or extended studies? Slow down your process, or speed it up to get more feedback? Here’s how to think about an important consideration in your learning strategy.
- How to Rebuild Your Confidence [10]. Why rebuilding can be harder than doing something new, and what to do about it.
- The Complete Guide to Motivation [11]. My biggest piece in 2020, this is my review of scientific research on motivation. If you wanted to get an up-to-date understanding of what science thinks moves you to action, this is a good place to start.
My book Ultralearning [12] crossed 1000 reviews on Amazon this year. It’s been gratifying to hear from all the people who enjoyed reading it. (Although it certainly makes the prospect of writing book #2 more daunting!)
For those looking to dive deeper, I also released a new course with Cal Newport this year, Life of Focus [13]. We had an amazing first session. It was great to work with people over a full three months as they refocused work, lives and minds. If you’re interested, we’ll likely have a session in early 2021 (be sure to add your name on the waiting list [13] to find out).