What is the most valuable skill you can learn? Computer programming? Another language? Communication skills? Instead of these, and other popular answers, I’d like to suggest it’s something we don’t even teach in schools: The most important skill in life is being able to set goals and make them a reality. Ask yourself, how often […]
How Important is Growth?
There’s two common ways you can approach working on your goals and habits: The first is progressive. This is where you start off easy, but make it a little bit harder each time, until you can eventually do very difficult things, with a lot less effort. The second is consistent. Do the same thing, with […]
Games Worth Playing
The most important choice you can make in life is deciding which games you’re going to play. Life is full of games. There’s the getting-in-shape game, the climbing-the-corporate-ladder game, the saving-enough-for-retirement game and the get-married-and-have-kids game. Like all games, these all have objectives, rules and players. Sometimes the games are strictly well-defined, like the becoming-an-Olympic-athlete […]
Richard Feynman on Self-Doubt and Meeting Others’ Expectations
We all have moments of self-doubt. Times when we feel we can’t possibly live up to the high expectations other people put upon us. I think it’s comforting to know that you’re not alone. Richard Feynman, who would go on to win a Nobel Prize and be one of the greatest physicists of the 20th […]
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.