It took Atul Gawande 22 rewrites for his first article in the New Yorker, a 4,000 word piece that launched his writing career. It was painful, for sure. But for him, writing and the arduous process of rewriting gave him energy. This pursuit of what gives him energy became
Yes, we all want it to be effortless. The easy way. No sweat. That, however, is not where growth comes from. It’s not where fulfillment comes from. We learn to do hard things, the right hard things, to become fully human. Through our effort, we realize that the striving
Just start. It all begins with the right habits. You want health? Start an exercise program. Do it every day. Yes, daily. When it’s daily, you don’t have to think about it or plan much. It is built into your system. A system is always better than having
I am not that young, but Charlie Munger's advice still resonates with me. Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Step-by-step you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. But
Marcus Aurelius had a formula for getting out of bed every morning. Steven Pressfield echoes a similar exhortation, with an emphasis on one's destiny. We can't be anything we want to be. We come into this world with a specific, personal destiny. We have a job
Arthur Brooks, an author and professor at Harvard Business School, said the meaning of life is composed of three questions: 1. Why do things happen the way they do in your life? 2. What is your purpose and direction? 3. Why does your life matter? If you give the time
I have recently come across this quote from Simone Weil, a philosopher and political activist. Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. Indeed, when we pray, we direct our attention to something, say, a virtue we want to cultivate, a sick friend who needs healing,
Much has already been said about building good habits. This quote from Aristotle comes to mind: We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. But building good habits can be difficult if you already have too much to do. How do you put
Remember the famous marshmallow test? It’s about those remarkable kids who were able to resist temptation, which happened to be a delicious-looking marshmallow. They were promised another treat if they could resist gobbling the one in front of them. Self-control, grit, discipline. These are the qualities attributed
I just opened my copy of The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracian, a Spanish Jesuit writer and philosopher. What did he say about diligence and intelligence? I vaguely remember. So I re-acquainted myself with this entry: Be diligent and intelligent. Diligence promptly executes what intelligence carefully thought
Here is a quote from Marcus Aurelius's Meditations that I find myself contemplating from time to time. It may help you conquer the day, too. At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: "I have to go to work – as a human being.
David Perell has something interesting to say about what knowledge workers should do. "Learn like an athlete." Athletes have a strict training regimen that is almost monomaniacal. They need one. That's how they get the gold. In every domain, training is essential, says David. Here'