“Not-to-do” lists are often more effective than to-do lists for upgrading performance. The reason is simple: what you don’t do determines what you can do. Here are nine stressful and common habits that entrepreneurs and office workers should strive to eliminate. The bullets are followed by more detailed descriptions. Focus on one or two at…
Read more
It’s fun to think about getting an MBA. They’re attractive for many reasons: developing new business skills, developing a better business network, or — most often — taking what is effectively a two-year vacation that looks good on a resume. In 2001, and again in 2004, I wanted to do all three things. This post…
Read more
How can we stop wasting time on unimportant details? From meetings at work that drag on forever without achieving anything to weeks-long email chains that don’t solve the problem at hand, we seem to spend an inordinate amount of time on the inconsequential. Then, when an important decision needs to be made, we hardly have…
Read more
It’s a new year and people all over the world are making resolutions on how they’re going to improve themselves. Usually these goals consist of doing something new or adding a habit to their lives: get back into exercising, start journaling, launch a side hustle, adopt the Paleo diet, earn more money, etc. But after…
Read more
I’m no stranger to forced isolation. For the better part of my 20s, I served as a nuclear submarine officer running secret missions for the United States Navy. I deployed across the vast Pacific Ocean with a hundred other sailors on the USS Connecticut, a Seawolf-class ship engineered in the bygone Cold War era to…
Read more
Ein Vater sagte auf dem Sterbebett zu seinem Sohn: “Hier hast du ist eine Uhr, die ich von deinem Großvater bekam. Sie ist über 200 Jahre alt. Bevor ich sie dir gebe, geh bitte in das Uhrengeschäft in der ersten Straße und sage dem Besitzer, dass ich sie verkaufen möchte und wissen möchte, wieviel sie…
Read more
Asking myself “is this helping me get what I want” is becoming one of my favorite questions. It works on kids too. Mine are 11 and soon to be 10. Whenever they start fighting, I ask them, “Is this helping you get what you want?” and it gives them the power to remember what they…
Read more
What happens when someone repeatedly says it—whatever “it” may be—is not their fault? “It’s not my fault I was late for the meeting. Traffic was bad.”“It’s not my fault I lost money. I got the stock tip from a friend.”“It’s not my fault I don’t have the skills for the job and was laid off.…
Read more
“We’ll be in a better position if we can face possible threats with a calm mind, alert to our internal signals but not anticipating every possible bad thing that could happen. While being told to stop panicking never helped anyone, we benefit by understanding that being overwhelmed by fear will hurt us more. Our imaginary…
Read more
“[M]y worry is that … you won’t put enough really excellent stuff into your brain. I’m talking about what you might call the “theory of maximum taste.” This theory is based on the idea that exposure to genius has the power to expand your consciousness. If you spend a lot of time with genius, your…
Read more
Recent Comments