Money, health and productivity aren’t satisfying if you don’t have any friends. It can be even worse to be stuck inside a social group that doesn’t respect you, forces you to conform or discourages you from making improvements in your life. Social skills are vital, because our greatest victories and most sobering defeats will be […]
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 […]
How to Stay Motivated in Long Projects
At some point in every long project, you’ll hit a motivational rock-bottom. A bad day, week, or month where you don’t feel like doing any work. You’ve been writing, coding and working for months and the initial enthusiasm that got you started is gone. Now you’re left staring at your computer screen blankly, as doubts […]
The Beginner’s Guide to the 30 Day Trial: Part 2
Last week, I wrote about the 30 Day Trial technique for changing habits. Since I’ve written about the technique indirectly through many articles on the website, I wanted to offer a beginners guide for people starting out with the tool. This article continues where last week left off, with a few more suggestions. Tip #6 […]
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.