Being good at things is the key to success. Painfully obvious, right? That means being good, having mastered skills, ranks far higher than other commonly touted “keys” to success, such as: Overcoming fears Just getting started Rejecting societal norms Having the best attitude Sure, being a terrified, procrastinating, peer-pressured, pessimist probably won’t help you master […]
Why You Should Ignore Passive Income
A big learning point for me over the last few months has been rejecting the common online wisdom of “passive” income. “You want to earn money while you sleep,” goes the rhetoric, “if you need to be there to earn a dollar, that work can’t scale!” My rejection isn’t based on passive income being bad, […]
What if You Never Graduate?
I like doing thought experiments because they can reveal a lot about why we do the things we do. Today, I’d like to propose a simple thought experiment for all the students reading here: What if you never graduated from university? Not that you would drop out, but simply that you could never complete your […]
Is Employment Always a Bad Thing?
I love entrepreneurship. I’ve said before that anyone in their twenties with the itch to start a business should be doing so now. Because you have the time, energy and probably don’t have mortgage payments. Moreover, I believe now is the ideal time for anyone to start a business. The internet is still a teenager, […]
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.