Prioritize Big Goals, Let Minor Urgencies Slip
What is the one goal, if completed, that could change everything? What is the most urgent thing right now that you feel you “must” or “should” do? Can you let the urgent “fail”—even for a day—to get to the next milestone with your potential life-changing tasks? Will “bad” things happen? Small problems will crop up, yes. A few people will complain and quickly get over it. BUT, the bigger picture items you complete will let you see these for what they are—minutiae and repairable hiccups. Let the small bad things happen and make the big good things happen.
Sleep: A Modifiable Key to Aging and Alzheimer’s
“If sleep is a missing piece in the explanatory puzzle of aging and Alzheimer’s disease, then maybe we can do something about it. Sleep is a modifiable factor.” — Dr. Matthew Walker Listen to my interview with sleep expert Dr. Matthew Walker:...
Free Documentary Explores Psychedelics, Awareness, and Meditation
New and free documentary on psychedelics, awareness, and meditation, exec produced by Sam Harris. https://t.co/gwXTLJSP06
Buy Time, Not Things: Spend Money to Gain Freedom
How can I throw money at this problem? How can I “waste” money to improve the quality of my life? One of Dan Sullivan’s sayings is: “If you’ve got enough money to solve the problem, you don’t have the problem.”...
Skipping Nightly Brain Cleansing Compounds Mental Fatigue
“Night after night, if you’re not cleansing the brain, it becomes like compounding interest on a loan, that it continues to escalate time and time again, night after night. “ — Dr. Matthew Walker Listen to my interview with sleep expert Dr....
Both Pessimism and Optimism Can Lead to Inaction
“There’s no difference between a pessimist who says, ‘Oh, it’s hopeless, so don’t bother doing anything,’ and an optimist who says, ‘Don’t bother doing anything, it’s going to turn out fine anyway.’ Either way, nothing happens.” — Yvon Chouinard
Neglecting Intentions, Not Good Intentions, Leads to Harm
“The road to hell is not paved with good intentions. It is paved with lack of intention.” — Dr. Gabor Maté
Effort Matters only when Targeted and Sustainable
Not an accurate description. I originally wrote this in 2006 before I had real $ (it's in my first book, pubbed 2007), and I still stand by it. I'm not saying don't try; I'm saying try to be surgical. Effort...
Results Over Friendliness: Direct Leadership Drives Success
The first day our new Sales VP arrived at TrueSAN in 2001, he came into the all-company meeting and made an announcement in just about this many words: “I am not here to make friends. I have been hired to...
Personality Mostly Built on Anxiety and Sadness Defenses
“The largest part of what we call ‘personality’ is determined by how we’ve opted to defend ourselves against anxiety and sadness.” — Alain de Botton
Our Perception Mirrors Ourselves, Not Reality
“We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” — Anaïs Nin
Fear of Failure Drives Us Toward Unhappiness
To do or not to do? To try or not to try? Most people will vote no, whether they consider themselves brave or not. Uncertainty and the prospect of failure can be very scary noises in the shadows. Most people...
Treat Life Like a Meeting: Schedule, Prioritize, Disconnect
Work is not all of life. Your co-workers shouldn’t be your only friends. Schedule life and defend it just as you would an important business meeting. Never tell yourself “I’ll just get it done this weekend.” Review Parkinson’s Law and...
Fill Your Calendar with Positives Before Negativity Returns
Remember: it’s not enough to remove the negative. That simply creates a void. Get the positive things on the calendar ASAP, lest they get crowded out by the bullshit and noise that will otherwise fill your days.
Ask “What Else Could This Mean?” To Prevent Misunderstandings
“Most misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask, ‘What else could this mean?’” ― Shannon L. Alder
Aim High: Failure Is Better Than Low Ambition
“Don't fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.” — Bruce Lee
Define One Daily Priority to Crush Overwhelm
If you don’t prioritize, everything seems urgent and important. If you define the single most important task for each day, almost nothing seems urgent or important. Oftentimes, it’s just a matter of letting little bad things happen (return a phone...
Make “No” Your Default to Protect Focus
“What I've learned over the years is that I basically have to make 'no' my default answer.” — Cal Newport
Quit Alcohol, Gain Energy and Simplify Life
“Easily the lowest energy in/biggest impact out simplification of my life has been to drop alcohol by the side of the road like a sack of stinky, dead cats.” — Craig Mod (@craigmod) Listen to this special episode on how...
Great Opportunities Emerge when the World Seems Bleak
A 2008 e-mail I received from a mentor: "While many are wringing their hands, I recall the 1970s when we were suffering from an oil shock causing long lines at gas stations, rationing, and 55 MPH speed limits on federal highways,...
Predictions Reveal Desires, Not Just Data
“When you make a prediction about where the US economy's going, where AI is going, whatever it might be, it's less about what you truly think is going to happen given the evidence and more about what you want to...
Stop Apologizing for Your Time, Own Your Priorities
“The moment you begin apologizing for how you manage your time, you are essentially apologizing for your priorities, which means apologizing for your life.” — Maria Popova (@themarginalian) Listen to this special episode on how to simplify your life in...
Unhappiness: Self‑Indulgence That Rejects Outside Perspective
“The unhappy person resents it when you try to cheer him up, because that means he has to stop dwelling on himself and start paying attention to the universe. Unhappiness is the ultimate form of self-indulgence.” — Tom Robbins
Know Yourself First, Then Seek Understanding
“It is a fault to wish to be understood before we have made ourselves clear to ourselves.” — Simone Weil
Discipline vs Compulsion: Jim Collins Redefines Self‑Control
“I always thought of myself as an incredibly disciplined person. I finally came to the conclusion I’m really not very disciplined. I am somewhat, but if you just can’t stop yourself, that’s not discipline. It’s compulsion.” — Jim Collins Listen to my...
Write Your Why Three Times to Defuse Anxiety
Whenever upset or anxious, ask “why” at least three times and put the answers down on paper. Describing these doubts in writing reduces their impact twofold. First, it’s often the ambiguous nature of self-doubt that hurts most. Defining and exploring...
Discover Your Hidden Potential, No Method Required
“The range of things that you’re encoded to potentially do is incredibly vast, and all you have to do is find one of them. And the way you find that can be really random. It doesn’t matter how it happens....
Three Simple Decisions to Transform Your 2026 Life
NEW podcast episode is up! How to Simplify Your Life in 2026 — New Tips from Maria Popova, Morgan Housel, Cal Newport, Craig Mod, and Debbie Millman Many of us feel like we’re drowning in invisible complexity. So I wanted...
Minimalism Builds Confidence to Risk with Barely Anything
“One of the many life skills that you want to learn at a fairly young age is the skill of being an ultra-thrifty, minimal kind of little wisp that’s traveling through time . . . in the sense of learning...
Impact Size ≠ Company Size, Says Jim Collins
“Never confuse scale of impact with scale of enterprise.” — Jim Collins Listen to my interview with Jim Collins: https://t.co/bxtOL5yAn4