I have a rather uncommon mantra for my life: Do the hardest thing you can. Uncommon, because I’ve met exceedingly few people who agree with it. In fact, almost everyone suggests the opposite. When I started my MIT Challenge, one of the most common warnings was, “don’t burn yourself out.” Yet, despite taking on bigger […]
Look Lazy, Be Productive
There’s a huge difference between looking productive and being productive. It’s one I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self. About seven years ago, I had big ambitions. I was going to run my own online business and be successful. Unfortunately I didn’t have any direct role models of people […]
Swimming Upstream Against Your Destiny
The heritability of IQ increases with age. If this doesn’t surprise you, it should. What it means is that as you have more experiences, they matter even less for your overall intelligence. One explanation for this bizarre fact is that intelligence has a compounding property. If you’re slightly smarter as a child, due to innate […]
How to Stay Focused (Without Extra Caffeine)
This article was originally in my free newsletter, Learn Faster, Achieve More. One of the questions I’ve been getting asked a lot about my MIT Challenge is how can I stay focused during the long working hours? Keeping up with the pace has meant working about 10-12 hours per day. But the time needs 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.