On a recent Sunday afternoon, while reading on the couch, I was startled to realize that I had a life philosophy. It’s not a very deep or sophisticated one. It’s not rooted in a grand narrative. It doesn’t specify precisely which rules to follow or which decisions to make. But it has served me well….
The following are the results of my Mid-Year Review, which I do every year around the beginning of July. It is a simple process of reflection and journaling I did over two evenings about a week apart, in about 2 hours for each half. I hope you find it valuable for any review process you…
In The Four Pathways of Modern Book Publishing, I described the main routes for a writer to get published today, and in The Case for Traditional Book Publishing I explained why I believe that for online entrepreneurs like me, traditional publishing makes the most sense. With that foundation, here are the steps I’m planning on…
At the end of every year I perform an “annual review.” It includes a series of exercises and questions designed to close out the previous year and help me plan for the new one. I decided to do it differently this year. Under the guidance of my friend Ting, I took on a process of…
I’m very proud to announce the first ever New Year’s Bundle for Building a Second Brain! It has been a VERY eventful two years since I first launched this course (known as BASB for short), including: Over 600 students from all over the world learning how to build their own second brain 13 podcast interviews I’ve…
I’ve decided to post my list of life goals here, after years of being cagey and secretive about them. My fear has been that people will somehow take advantage of me if these are known. But I’ve found that the more people know about what I’m trying to accomplish, the more ways they find to…
The most important practice that I recommend everyone adopt for their personal productivity is a Weekly Review – a regular reflection on their priorities and goals designed to give them a sense of clarity for the upcoming week. Whether you adopt the Getting Things Done method or something else isn’t important. It doesn’t matter whether you…
In my previous article on how I perform my Annual Review, I briefly discussed the Personal Narrative Vision (PNV) exercise. I’ve developed the PNV by drawing on many other visualization exercises I’ve encountered over the years, synthesizing them into a simple yet profound writing exercise. The PNV is one of the most important but also…
I recently read and took notes on You Need a Budget (YNAB-Affiliate Link), a popular book on personal finance and budgeting (with accompanying software for managing budgets) by Jesse Mecham. My interest in this book is three-fold: I’m terrible at budgeting and need help I want to borrow principles and methods for managing money to help people…
My partner Lauren and I are moving to Mexico City later this year. This post explains why, both to clarify for myself, and to be able to share with others. We’ve been able to identify 5 reasons for why we’re moving. I’ll elaborate on them below, from most to least important. 1. It’s time for…
By Ryan McCarthy of the Global Kindness Initiative You’re a fast runner. You’ve trained for years, worked with great coaches, studied the best techniques and workouts, and you’ve got all the best equipment. You’ve mastered your skill. The field you’re currently running through, however, is extremely foggy. You can barely see more than a few…
There are many practices that have emerged in recent years to accelerate progress at work: daily stand-ups, weekly review meetings, and my favorite – sprints. In this context, a sprint is a set period of time that is dedicated to achieving a goal. Many tech companies have adopted this method in some form based on…
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