Betterment

Some people wake us up. They bring us a new idea or a new way to do things. They challenge us to think differently, they challenge the status quo.

Catalina Islands. Made with iPhone. (c) Om Malik “When people become engrossed in what they are doing, they enter a state that is called ‘flow. Flow can be achieved by engaging in mental or p…

If you’re someone who’s a decade or two out from your high school graduation, do you ever find yourself thinking that you’re just not as happy as you were back then? Of course all the positive-thinking self-talk then kicks in and you think, “Well, maybe I actually wasn’t that happy before. I do like my […]

Professionals put things away slowly so that they’ll be ready quickly when needed. Investing time now for time later.

I'm having one of these days today that are a little too productive. I have Fridays off for the rest of the month to use up last year's vacation days - and today was just a week of a day. And to think that it all started off so decidedly unproductive, with me waking up an hour late, then staying

Do you ever feel restless? You figure you need a new job or relationship or morning routine. You wonder if a vacation or a move will remedy your discontent. Yet no matter what app you download, goal you make, or trip you take, you never feel entirely satisfied, never entirely happy, never entirely free from […]

When your watch stops, it’s unlikely that you believe that time is now standing still. It’s obviously the watch that’s broken, not time. But when a metric on our culture or a comp…

The last fifty years have seen a worldwide effort to maximize one and eliminate the other. Marketers and technologists work overtime to create convenience. We’ve gone from hunting and growing…

The worst golfer in town came in last in the club tournament. Actually, that’s not true. The worst golfer didn’t even enter. Well, that’s not true either. The worst golfer doesn&#…

You might have a list of them. In fact, many of us do, and consult it quite often. The list is defective for a number of reasons: It’s not accurate. There are things that aren’t right i…

What’s better, a phone call or a zoom call? Which creates more intimacy, a meeting in person or a hand-written letter? The only answer is: it depends. It’s tempting to believe that bein…

It's the stuff you leave out that matters.

To feel sufficient, to be satisfied with what we have: Chisoku in Japanese. Of course, by some measures, there’s never enough. We can always come up with a reason why more is better, or bette…

In most modern high schools, P.E. is a complete blow-off class — something to take when you don’t play a sport, and have to fulfill a health/fitness-related elective. Participants often sit on the bleachers and talk, or half-heartedly play some basketball.  There was a time in this country when P.E. was taken more seriously, however, […]

If you work with your hands and your back, avoiding a heavy lift is totally understandable. For many of us, though, we work with time or with trust. If someone asks you to endorse their new project…

On the joys of writing scripts that do scut work

What are ostensibly the most meaningful arenas of life — work, school, church, long-term relationships — are often boring. There are those who defend the element of boredom in such things as not only tolerable, but necessary and even laudable. Boredom builds character, the thinking goes. It’s a sign of seriousness and commitment, something integral […]

For many ailments, physical therapy shows some of the best results. We can learn a lot from this for our own projects, organizations and narratives. Physical therapy often works better than pills o…

When you meet expectations, when you make a promise and keep it, when your quality is on spec—we say “of course.” On the other hand, if you relentlessly raise expectations, if you overp…

Last week, I received an odd text message from a friend, who is the 21 year old daughter of another friend, asking me if I had a bandsaw. I was confused at first because I wondered what she wanted with a bandsaw, but also because I realized that actually, I don't own one. It's not a tool that I

It’s famously been said that every individual is the average of the five people he interacts with most. Life experience certainly bears out the validity of this truism. A teenager falls into a friend group that practically undoes the influence of a previous decade and a half of parenting. A soldier goes into a deployment […]

When an entrepreneur gets funded, it’s often difficult for them to start spending money on assets–the old limits fade slowly. What used to be smart is now dumb. What used to too risky i…

In January, we made the case for doing hard shit. The response was epic. There seems to be a growing recognition that a little hardship can

Using Airtable to build a routine and personalize my mornings

Working hard doesn't matter if it's on the wrong things. Thoughts on making the hard decisions about what to focus on.

One of the most beneficial skills you can learn in life is how to consistently put yourself in a good position. Strong positions are not an accident. Weak positions aren't bad luck.

Read this and learn how the mental model of thought experiment, helped people like Albert Einstein, Zeno, and Galileo solve difficult problems.

The benefits of reading are negated if you forget remember what you read. This article discusses a tested system to increase retention. Learn how to use active reading to remember more from books.