If you do anything unique, people will attack you for it. Self-motivation depends on having a thick skin, persisting in spite of criticism. But equally important is the ability to not let praise consume you, either. Because, praise and criticism are just reflections of each other. In order to properly handle criticism, you also need […]
Doubt
Feeling doubt isn’t a sin. Life will always be uncertain, and the correct decision isn’t always obvious. It’s better to learn to live with doubts, and act anyways, than to try to eliminate them altogether. One piece of advice I dislike about traditional self-help, is the focus on eliminating all doubt. Yes, it is easier […]
Honest Self-Evaluation
Few skills are more important to self-improvement than being able to take a step back and honestly evaluate yourself. Self-reflection allows you to expose problems early, before they become too painful to ignore. Unfortunately, honest self-evaluation is one of the hardest skills to master. People tend to be self-serving in their thoughts. For most people, […]
Humility is More Important Than Confidence
Humility is an underrated virtue. For every ten articles I see written about how to improve self-confidence, I only see one that suggests humility might be important at all. I did a quick Google search of “improving confidence” and came up with 9,580,000 results. I did another search with “improving humility” and only got 499,000 […]
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.