While reading Ryan Holiday's book, The Daily Stoic, I came across these three principles and believe they can be very beneficial in helping anyone live a better life. Let's dive in. These three principles originated from a quote by Marcus Aurelius that goes, “All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.” Perception Perception is important because it colors our view of life and is a precursor to action. It's important to always realize w ..read more

While reading The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday, I came across a story about George Clooney from when he first started acting. Holiday explains that before Clooney was a big celebrity name, he had trouble booking acting gigs. Whenever he would go into an audition, he had the impression that he needed to impress everyone and gain their approval. However, he never seemed to be able to do this and his auditions kept falling flat and failing. However, everything changed for Clooney when he had a realization. He realized that not only was he trying to get these roles to benefit himself, but ..read more

If you tell someone you're a writer these days—or that you aspire to be one—that will almost always provoke a strong reaction. In my experience, that reaction is usually negative. I believe that to a lot of people, the title "writer" feels like an attack. Most people are writers—in fact, almost everyone is—therefore saying you want to be a writer is like saying you want to write better than them. To a lot of people, saying "I'm a writer" is saying "I'm pretentious and an egomaniac." But, what does being a "writer" actually mean? How is being a "writer" different than being a speaker or a prof ..read more

The world is full of possibilities, almost overflowing with them. Because of this, we often overthink and get in our own way. Picking a destination and taking it one step at a time is the key to changing our lives for the better. If we try to save time by taking shortcuts, we may wind up just shooting ourselves in the foot further down the road. Oftentimes, when we cut corners we end up simply making the process even longer than it would have been if we simply stuck to the plan. That said, taking the initiative to change our situation is a terrific first step, and taking action is the next cr ..read more

“He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.” ― Cormac McCarthy, The Road Cormac McCarthy has fast become known as one of the best writers today. His writing, characterized by simple but powerful language, is full of dark an ..read more

Life is hard. Oftentimes we find ourselves in unfortunate situations that are simply out of our control. It’s easy in these moments to let anger or despair consume us, however, there is another way to handle these emotions. While it takes patience and perseverance, the reward of living in these higher frequencies is worth the effort. Derek Sivers, in his book, Hell Yeah or No, writes about five simple steps that he uses to get out of a bad state of mind. I believe that each of these can be useful in its own ways and can help us to elevate our emotional state. Ask yourself, what’s wrong in thi ..read more

In The Power of Habit, a book about habit change by Charles Duhigg, Duhigg breaks down the simplest way to change any bad habit. Good habits are foundational to our success in any area. Goals can only take us so far, and oftentimes, our success falls to the level of our habits. In the book, Duhigg breaks down the process of habit change into three simple steps. Awareness Training Reward Identification Competing Response Awareness Training Awareness Training, the first step, is fundamentally about identifying the cue that triggers any bad habit. For instance, say you want to exercise every d ..read more

The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho is a novel about the pursuit of wisdom. In the story, the protagonist—most likely Coelho himself—is on a journey, or pilgrimage, in search of his sword. The sword is a metaphor for the character’s inner strength and wisdom. The story follows Coehlo’s journey along the Camino de Santiago in Spain led by a guide named Petrus. Along the journey, Petrus teaches Coehlo about the purpose of wisdom through various tests and lessons characterized by his mystical philosophy. These are some of the most important lessons that Coehlo teaches us throughout the story. Don't b ..read more

If you haven’t heard of Notion, it’s a hot, relatively new productivity app that emphasizes personal customization above all else. Notion’s sleek design, endless customization, and minimalist aesthetic make it one of the most capable, personalized productivity apps around. However, starting with Notion can often be quite difficult as it has a much steeper learning curve than a lot of other productivity apps. That’s why I’ve created a simple way to get started and create a workspace that is personal and easy to modify as you learn more about Notion’s capabilities. *Note: Most of this article i ..read more

Let’s be honest, we’d all like to be a little—or a lot—more productive, even if we won’t admit it. But how can we achieve this with so many different things pulling at our time and attention? Here are four useful strategies to help us boost our productivity and get us working on the things that are most important to us. Use resistance to your advantage Resistance is a powerful enemy. Oftentimes it can be the little resistances throughout the day that keep us from doing the things we should be doing. However, what if we could use resistance to our advantage? It’s simple—just find a way to decr ..read more