When is it time to stop pursuing your dream and start being realistic? When do you decide to quit on one path and take up another one? If you listen to most self-help hype the answer is never. Never give up, these authors proclaim because if you believe and try hard enough your dreams will […]
Using Pessimism
Is optimism better than pessimism? If you listen to most self-help writers they will give you a definite yes as an answer to this question. Our culture is steeped in positive psychology and optimism. We are told to “think positive” about the future and have “faith” that things will turn out well. Given this propensity […]
Don’t Be Yourself
If there is one piece of self-help advice I wish would go away it is the advice to ‘be yourself’. The only think I dislike more than the proliferus usage of this phrase is how everyone seems to universally accept it as words to live by. It seems like every self-help author needs to append […]
Your Life is Already Perfect
How do you see your life and the world right now? Is it a horrible wasteland full of despair and misery or is it great and enjoyable? I’m guessing most people would rate their life somewhere between poor and great with a smaller subset of negative people labeling it a complete disaster. Even if you […]
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.