Popular Work

Among the 100+ essays I have written, I’m content with some, disappointed in others, and proud of a few. Fortunately, they do seem to be trending in the right direction.

In 2018, I wrote The Void and I: A Story About Everything, a long and unconventional piece, to summarize the assumptions that guide all this writing. It’s a good place to start.

Otherwise, the following list is divided into two categories based on popularity: the first highlights essays relating to what it means to live well; the latter covers how to think.

The Art of Living

You Should Treat Life as a Work of Art

Why Don’t Most People Reach Their Potential?

On Being Kind to People You Dislike

The Purpose of Life Is Right In Front of You

The Real Reason That People Get Lonely

The Subtle Art of Connecting With Anyone

The Most Important Skill Nobody Taught You

A Shift in Thinking

The Meaning Paradox: Is Life About You or Others?

Synchronicity: How to Create Your Own Luck

The Difference Between Knowledge and Wisdom

What Does It Mean to Be Spiritual? A Rational Answer

Why the Future Belongs to Polymaths

It’s Not What You Know, It’s How You Think

All Goals Are Problematic — Except One

Library

The archive below contains all of the essays I have written over the years. They are arranged by date in reverse chronological order with my most recent pieces at the top.

2020

Mar 10 Predicting the Future in an Uncertain World
Mar 10 What We Talk About When We Talk About Rationality
Mar 3 What Does It Take to Live a Full Life?
Feb 24 The Three Levers of Productivity
Feb 18 The Difference Between Being Alone and Being Lonely
Feb 17 When Thinking Deeply Goes Wrong
Feb 11 Seeing the Invisible Strings That Shape Reality
Feb 10 Networked Reading and Thinking Like a Polymath
Feb 2 The Experience Paradox: Is Life a Game or a Drama?
Jan 27 How Your Thoughts Shape the World
Jan 26 Freedom Is the Opposite of Competition
Jan 20 The Case Against Seriousness
Jan 17 Everything You Do Can Be Explained by Two Things
Jan 14 The Danger and the Delusion of Empathy
Jan 13 Is Technology Harming Us or Liberating Us?
Jan 6 Beyond Insecurity: The Right Kind of Ambition

2019

Dec 20 The Purpose of Life From a First Principle View
Dec 16 The Element That Gives Life Meaning
Dec 6 Meditation as Training
Nov 29 Being Rich Without Making Money Your Life
Nov 25 Beat the Competition Without Competing
Nov 22 Asynchronicity: The Invisible Force That Shapes You
Nov 18 Dare to Think: On the Futility of Advice
Nov 14 The Myth of Enlightenment
Nov 4 Mystery: The Greatest Advantage in a World of Noise
Nov 1 Taste: The Hidden Driver of Creative Genius
Oct 27 Your Identity Makes the World a Better Place
Oct 25 Novelty: The New Purpose of Life
Oct 20 Your Identity Makes the World a Worse Place
Oct 11 A World of Materialized Meaning
Oct 6 The Freedom of Status Independence
Oct 5 Is Happiness the Acceptance or Absence of Suffering?
Sep 29 The Most Important Skill in the 21st Century
Sep 27 The Problem With Habits
Sep 22 Human Relationships and Projecting Aliveness
Sep 19 Becoming a Healthy, Emotionally Mature Adult
Sep 15 Reading Is a Conversation
Sep 13 Why Don’t Most People Reach Their Potential?
Jun 9 The Best Answer to Life’s Questions
May 6 What Does It Mean to Be Great?
Apr 28 The Difference Between Wanting and Needing
Apr 21 The Meaning Paradox: Is Life About You or Others?
Feb 1 Synchronicity: Creating Your Own Luck
Jan 21 You Should Treat Life as a Work of Art
Jan 18 The Difference Between Knowledge and Wisdom
Jan 14 What Does It Mean to Be Spiritual? A Rational Answer

2018

Dec 19 The Void and I: A Story About Everything
Nov 25 Why Playfulness Is More Important Than Ever
Nov 23 The Purpose of Life Is Right In Front of You
Nov 18 Isadora Duncan: Expressing Yourself
Nov 18 The Real Reason That People Get Lonely
Nov 12 The Process of Meaning-Making
Nov 4 Developing a Healthy Relationship to Technology
Nov 4 All Goals Are Problematic — Except One
Oct 29 Zeno of Citium: Being Stoic
Oct 28 The Truth Isn’t What You Think It Is
Oct 21 Escaping the Two Foes of Happiness
Oct 20 The Two Types of Knowledge
Oct 14 The Relation Between Identity and Violence
Oct 12 You Are Not Who You Say You Are
Sep 29 Making a Dent in the Universe
Sep 23 David Hume: Balanced Skepticism
Sep 15 It’s Not What You Know, It’s How You Think
Sep 10 The Best Things in Life Are Byproducts
Aug 20 On Being Kind to People You Dislike
Aug 19 The Right Kind of Relationship
Aug 17 Dealing With the Mysterious
Aug 12 Claude Shannon: Attacking a Problem
Aug 6 The Synchronization of Being With Doing
Aug 4 What Does It Take to Bond With Someone?
Jul 29 The Life of Our Symbolic Self
Jul 27 The Identity Trap: Being Less Wrong
Jul 22 Isaac Asimov: Becoming Educated
Jul 20 The Work Required to Understand the Obvious
Jul 15 The Pillars of a Creative Life
Jul 13 The Simple Art of Not Being Miserable
Jul 9 What’s the Purpose of Traveling?
Jul 8 Bertrand Russell: In Praise of Idleness
Jun 24 Hannah Arendt: Building Knowledge
Jun 22 In Defense of Being Irrational
Jun 18 The Bullshit Stories We Tell Ourselves
Jun 15 The Most Important Skill Nobody Taught You
Jun 8 There Are Two Ways to Read — One Is Useless
Jun 3 Bob Dylan: Reinventing Yourself
May 31 Designing the Best Possible Future
May 13 The Transformation of Suffering
May 11 The Only Real Way to Acquire Wisdom
May 6 Walt Disney: Being an Artisan
Apr 27 The Subtle Art of Connecting With Anyone
Mar 4 A Strategy for Maximizing Agency
Mar 1 The Future Belongs to Polymaths
Feb 25 Pale Blue Dot
Feb 18 Leonardo da Vinci: Endless Curiosity
Feb 13 The Rules of Effectiveness
Feb 8 The Perils of Achievement
Jan 24 The Shaper Effect: Balancing Opposites
Jan 21 A Different View of Mindfulness
Jan 11 Be So Interesting You Can’t Be Ignored
Jan 7 Ernest Hemingway: Deliberate Practice
Jan 4 Your Accomplishments Don’t Matter

2017

Dec 17 A Guide for Thriving in a Fast World
Dec 3 Seneca: Fighting Procrastination
Nov 26 The Principles for Creating a Good Life
Nov 23 The Underutilized Power of Questions
Nov 19 Aristotle: The Right Kind of Friendship
Nov 16 Getting Anything You Want
Nov 13 Bruce Lee: Thinking Independently
Nov 5 The Art of Successful Communication
Oct 29 The Idea of Work Is Wrong
Oct 24 Epictetus: Avoiding Misery
Oct 23 Friedrich Nietzsche: Finding Meaning
Oct 16 The Process Behind Breakout Results
Oct 2 Amelia Earhart: Defying Boundaries
Sep 25 The Key Forces That Shape Your Reality
Sep 18 The Art of Creating Purpose
Sep 11 Shakespeare: The Power of Imagination
Sep 4 The Power of Decision Frameworks
Aug 28 Life Is About Solving Hard Problems
Aug 10 The Purpose of Life Isn’t to Be Happy
Aug 7 The Luckiest Man on Earth
Jul 24 The Principles of a Life Strategy
Jul 17 Teddy Roosevelt’s Arena
Jul 10 Marcus Aurelius: Thinking Clearly
Jun 26 Stand Out in a Noisy World
Jun 18 Pablo Picasso: Harnessing Willpower
Jun 5 Steal Ideas from Other People
May 11 The Purpose of Life Is to Be a Nobody
May 8 Elon Musk: Sustaining Motivation
Apr 17 A Chess Player: Creating a Strategy
Apr 11 Succeed in Life Without Compromise
Apr 2 Enjoy Every Sandwich
Mar 26 J.K. Rowling: Dealing with Failure
Mar 12 The Art of Goal Achievement
Feb 24 Albert Einstein: Mastering Creativity
Feb 24 Design a Lucky Life

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