It’s no secret I almost never do guest posts. But when my friend, Maneesh Sethi offered to write one, I didn’t hesitate to make an exception. Maneesh is a 24-year old with a resume that most people won’t accomplish in their entire lives. He was an international best-selling author still in his sophomore year of […]
Do Hard Things
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 […]
Two Types of Advice
First, there’s generic advice. The kind that fills books and graduation ceremonies. It represents the advice-giver’s accumulated wisdom, but it’s not directed to an individual. Confucius shared general principles of good living, not just advice for one person. Steve Jobs spoke to the entire Stanford convocation, not just one graduate. The advantage of generic advice […]
Thoughts on Learning a Degree, Without Going to School
It’s been slightly over two months since I started the MIT Challenge, and I’ve already passed the one-year mark for classes completed so far. Now that I’ve finished a significant chunk of the courses, I wanted to share my thoughts so far on the tradeoffs I’ve noticed from taking this rather unconventional approach to learning […]
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.