“This is, in fact, the first obligation of a leader and a decision maker. Our job is not to “go with our gut” or fixate on the first impression we form about an issue. No, we need to be strong enough to resist thinking that is too neat, too plausible,[…]

“I rarely have good ideas. ​ To overcome this limitation, I think about one topic (like habits) for an unreasonable amount of time. Then, I revise, revise, revise until only the best stuff remains. It’s slow, but it works. ​ You can either be a genius or you can be[…]

“If you only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are.” – Montesquieu

“What you do not yet understand, Spock, is that Vulcans do not lack emotion. It is only that ours is controlled. Logic offers a serenity Humans seldom experience in full. We have emotions, but we deal with them… and do not let them control us.” – Spock, to his younger[…]

To Seneca and to his fellow adherents of Stoic philosophy, if a person could develop peace within themselves—if they could achieve apatheia, as they called it—then the whole world could be at war, and they could still think well, work well, and be well. “You may be sure that you[…]

Separately is probably how I work best with everyone, to be honest. I’m an introvert who likes people: I want to collaborate on the whole, but do my part individually. There are so many things in the world to be good at, and I get a thrill every time I[…]

“Be Extremely Subtle, Even To The Point Of Formlessness. Be Extremely Mysterious, Even To The Point Of Soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.” Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Things are only impossible until they’re not. Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Here’s your choice: You’re dead. Or it’s today. Those are the options. Jerry Seinfeld, in Is This Anything?

Focus isn’t just stubbornly saying “I’m going to say no to more things,” it’s studying all the options you have until you can say with conviction, “this is the right one for me.” Paradoxically, this means attaining focus requires us to become less focused for a little bit, exploring our[…]