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 […]
How to Find Your Productivity Achilles’ Heel
Everyone procrastinates. Heck, you might be procrastinating right now by reading this, instead of doing something that should be done. That isn’t news. What I feel is more interesting is where people procrastinate when we do. Even the most productive people have Achilles’ heels, types of tasks which they procrastinate on. Similarly, even the people […]
My Mistakes and Triumphs in Learning a Foreign Language
It’s been awhile since I posted about my goal to become fluent in French. For the new people here, I’ve been spending the last 8-9 months practicing the language, with the last 4.5 living in France. First off, I’m definitely not a language learning expert. This is my first attempt at learning a foreign language, […]
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, […]
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.