My dad, who taught elementary school for thirty seven years, once had a kid in his class who would always interrupt the class saying, “I know that already!” It was doubly annoying, he told me, because this kid clearly did not know it already. He was near the bottom of the class, and could probably […]
Fear Fizzle More Than Failure
Most people don’t fail that much. They may not always succeed, but genuine, fall-flat-on-your-face failure is quite rare. Instead, most efforts fizzle long before someone could call it failure. Our plans don’t explode, but fizzle out and are forgotten. Instead of detonating and needing to pick up the pieces, they get pushed to the back […]
The Hardest Part About Learning Hard Things
I’ve been recording a lot of podcast interviews for my upcoming book, Ultralearning. One of the recurring themes I’ve noticed in our conversations is that how people feel about learning is the overwhelming cause of the results they experience. Yes intelligence, talent, great teachers and schools all matter. But if you feel like learning something […]
Useful Mental Model: Exponential Growth
Some ideas are so powerful and useful, that once you understand them deeply you start to see them everywhere. One of those ideas is exponential growth. Exponential growth occurs in many systems, from animal populations to investment accounts. Our brains don’t seem very apt for reasoning exponentially. Instead, we tend to extrapolate things in ways […]
I'm a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, podcast host, computer programmer and an avid reader. Since 2006, I've published weekly essays on this website to help people like you learn and think better. My work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, TEDx, Pocket, Business Insider and more. I don't promise I have all the answers, just a place to start.