I like variety. I run a business full-time, but I’m also a full-time student. Over the last several years I’ve taken on: weigh-lifting, charity fundraising, web programming, public speaking, game design, speed reading, cooking and French, at some time or another. I don’t claim expertise in any of them, but I dabble. On the surface, […]
Day Jobs vs Side Projects
Somehow I feel the expression, “Don’t quit your day job,” may be truer than people realize. Not in the disparaging sense, but in an optimistic one. Optimistic because, I believe, side projects have many strong advantages over having a “real job” and that being a person who regularly tackles side projects is a likely heuristic […]
Staying in School Forever
As a species, our incubation period is getting longer. Just a few hundred years ago, finishing twelve years of education was uncommon. Today it’s difficult to get a job above minimum wage without a high-school diploma. Teenagers were once miniature adults. Fifteen year-old girls got married. Sixteen year-old boys went to work. Today teenagers are […]
Silencing the Background Noise of Life
There are only really three things you do in any given day: Things you enjoy Things that improve your life Everything else My guess is, like most people, the majority of your time is spent on the third, “everything else” category. But should it be? Fun, Growth and the Background Noise in Life The main […]
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.