On a typical day, how many hours are you directly working on your biggest goal in life? Subtract sleeping, eating, errands and working at the 9-5. Subtract television, relaxing and talking on the phone. What number are you left with? Run a timelog and count up the minutes. In my experience, most people are horribly […]
Personal Excellence Comes First
In his book, Stephen Covey split the seven habits of highly effective people into two categories: personal and interpersonal habits. He felt that the personal skills came first. Communicating goals with another person isn’t useful unless you have the discipline to act on those goals. Personal excellence comes first. I think this a point that […]
Should You Try to Make Money?
Almost everyone is an artist. If you create something original, you’re an artist. Whether that medium is music or software, it doesn’t matter. A big question for a creator of any kind is whether to keep a passion as a hobby, or try to use it to make an income. It didn’t used to be […]
How to Develop a Thicker Skin
“I wrote for twelve years and collected 250 rejection slips before getting any fiction published, so I guess outside reinforcement isn’t all that important to me.“Â – Lisa Alther “Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely essential.” – Jessamyn West “Oh, great reviews are the worst. They mislead you more than the 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.