This month we read Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. About the book: the book is comprised of eighty-one short chapters which cover the ways of the “Way” and lay out all the main ideas of one, Taoism (also known as Daoism) of the world’s oldest philosophies. The main attraction to this way of thinking […]
You Probably Have Too Much Motivation
The classic view of self-improvement is that most people suffer from a motivational deficit. If they could just get that right bit of inspiration, they would summon up the courage to finally take action, start that business, get into a good relationship, run a marathon and give up junk food. I happen to think that […]
How Successful Was the MIT Challenge?
By far the most popular project I’ve done publicly has been the MIT Challenge. Starting nearly seven years ago, in the fall of 2011, the idea was to learn the curriculum of MIT’s four year computer science undergrad, evaluate myself by trying to pass the final exams, complete the programming projects and finish in one […]
Lesson One: How much of your career is running to stay in the same spot?
In Lewis Carol’s novella Through the Looking Glass, there’s a quirky little dialog between Alice and the Red Queen: “’Well, in our country,’ said Alice, still panting a little, ‘you’d generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.’ “’A slow sort of country!’ said […]
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.