“I only want to teach people who are going to stab someone or get stabbed.” Whiskey in one hand, my friend was only half-joking. He teaches martial arts, including knife fighting. He was mocking the fact that students come to him, including police officers and members of the military who need the skills for their […]
The Best Articles on Goal-Setting
How can you hit a target you don’t even have? Goal-setting, the process of taking your vague dreams and ambitions, and turning them into concrete targets and plans of action is powerful. Here’s some of my best articles, divided into subtopics. The 5 Best Articles I’ve written hundreds of articles which touch on goal-setting. If […]
What Medieval People Got Right About Learning
We tend to assume that if people today and people five hundred years ago do things differently, it’s because we’ve figured out a better way to do it. After all, we have microscopes, democracy and penicillin. People in the middle ages lit cats on fire for fun. Yet despite overwhelming progress, it’s ironically in the […]
Why Copying Successful People Can Backfire
James Clear recently tweeted about the importance of carefully cultivating your tribe: He’s not wrong. Being surrounded by the wrong culture can definitely impede your progress. However, there’s more nuance to the idea than that you’re simply the average of the five people you spend the most time with. In one of my favorite books […]
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.