It’s easy to look at the moments of key progress. When your income is growing, when you’re finally losing weight, or when you ace that difficult final exam. But I think it’s more important to focus on the moments of zero growth. Where you’ve gone to the gym for months without seeing improvements, studied for […]
The Art of Nonconformity
Every once in awhile, I get a chance to promote a great blogger. Chris Guillebeau is one of those bloggers. For those of you that haven’t heard of Chris before, here’s a few details: He’s been gainfully unemployed for over a decade, earning his income online. His goal is to travel to every country in […]
How to Set Goals, Without Being Obnoxious
Do you find your goals and interests in self-improvement result in people disliking you? A friend and reader of this blog recently wrote to me that he felt personal development had made him a “square”. Although he had made tremendous improvements with his habits and personal life, he felt that his new beliefs and habits […]
Don’t Burn Your Ships
Several years ago I heard a story about the importance of commitment to motivation: A general sailed over to an enemy country with his army. While the army slept, he burned the ships down. When they awoke, he told them, since they had no way to get back, they would have to conquer the enemy […]
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.