What should you do with your life? I’ve asked, and been asked, this question often. And while I can’t give a decisive formula for answering it, I have made one realization: most of the standard advice is terrible. Whether it’s multiple-choice personality quizzes that tell you to be a farmer, security guard or laboratory assistant […]
Do You Use “Lack of Motivation” as an Excuse?
A common excuse I hear for not setting goals, building mastery or sticking to important habits is the phrase, “I’m just not motivated enough.” I wonder whether these people believe motivation will simply fall from the sky and strike them. As if sitting and doing nothing was the best way to break a cycle of […]
Society Doesn’t Care that You’re Good at World of Warcraft
I’ve had a few recent email conversations about the subject of passion. We usually agree that passion is important, people have initial interests that guide them towards a passion and that passions develop over time. However, then I bring up what I believe is an equally important point: society needs to recognize, reward and value […]
Is the Ideal Lifestyle Designed or Earned?
Since Tim Ferriss coined the term, “lifestyle design” has become a phenomenon. A Google search for the term brings up nearly 83 million web pages. And the term has helped keep Ferriss’s book on the best seller list for over two years. The most important impact of the ideavirus has been to start the conversation […]
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.