Yesterday, I wrote about discovering your persistence levels. Commitment, I argued, isn’t the same as motivation. While motivation is the push to seek rewards and results, persistence is the ability to continue even when those rewards and results don’t appear. Persistence is important along with motivation because most goals have vacuums. Vacuums where you get […]
How to Measure Your Degree of Persistence
Recently, Cal Newport over at Study Hacks, wrote an interesting article where he claims that getting started is overrated. He argues that too many people get started without commitment. As a result, they waste valuable time and energy on pursuits that they will give up after a few months of haphazard effort. Action without persistence […]
Having Fun With Suicidal Productivity Missions
I have a habit of self-destruction. Every several months, I burn myself out. I let too many projects overlap for a week or two, and the result is usually lost sleep and high stress. The surprising thing is, I do this intentionally. I’m a believer that if you want to know where the line is […]
How to Stay Focused
Focus is important for making improvements. If your focus is spread too widely, you won’t make much progress. If you can’t stay focused on one project for long, you won’t be able to reach a foothold before you slide back to where you started. One trick I like to use to stay focused is to […]
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.