General

Reading Time: < 1 minIn Daniel Kahneman’s famous book “Thinking, Fast and Slow“, he describes the two types of thinking that we can do: While being slow isn’t always good, us humans tend to go with the “fast” response far too often. In Ward Farnsworth’s “The Practicing Stoic“, he has a similar comparison by explaining how the “slow” system […]

Reading Time: < 1 minA trait of mine that I continue to work on is to let conversations breathe. I tend to jump in quickly to keep things moving along, to the extent of sometimes trying to finish someone else’s sentence. It’s not good, but it’s getting better. Better still, though, is allowing some silence to exist in a […]

Reading Time: < 1 minOne of the best things I’ve done over the past few years (though it’s still a work in progress) is to be more quiet during meetings. If I want to open my mouth, I always try to have the thought of “why am I talking?” before I start. A while back, Pete and Jen talked […]

Reading Time: 2 minThere are things in this world that we can and should choose to fight against — improving the climate, housing the homeless, and uncovering cures for various diseases. We might not win all of these fights, but they’re good ones to take on. On the other hand, some things are inevitable, mostly related to technology, […]

Reading Time: 2 minThe most famous problem in game theory is called “The Prisoner’s Dilemma“, and you’ve likely seen it play out in game shows over the years. In game shows, it often comes down to the final two players with a secret vote to split the pot or try to take more for themselves, and the logic […]

Reading Time: < 1 minOver the years I’ve seen ones character compared to reputation, personality, and other related areas. Different sources have slightly different takes on what each one means, but I love how Adam Grant separated “character” and “personality” in his book “Hidden Potential“. He had two good thoughts that I really liked. The first one was: “Character […]

Reading Time: < 1 minWhen I’m in a group or doing a Q&A after a talk, and someone asks a question I’ll often respond with “that’s a great question” as I begin to unpack it. However, in Michael Port’s book “Steal the Show“, he thinks that’s a very bad idea: Never say, “That’s a great question!” I rarely say […]

Reading Time: < 1 minAs time goes on, I’m finding it easier and easier to “just do” things rather than considering whether they should be done today or tomorrow. This blog is a good example; I don’t even consider whether I’m going to publish each morning, I just do it. The same goes for studying Anki cards, working on […]

Reading Time: 3 minDigging into “Tribe of Mentors” by Tim Ferriss (see all previous questions here), he asks: In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)? What new realizations and/or approaches helped? Any other tips? There were a ton of great answers in the book, and here are a […]

Reading Time: 2 minToday’s question from “Tribe of Mentors” (see all questions here) by Tim Ferriss is a good one: In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life? Here are a few of my favorites from the book. Mike Maples, Jr. shared: Understanding that even though great scientists never believe […]