philosophy
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The complexity of confidence
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1 min read
Repetition and practice drown out self-doubt and bolster fortitude. Do anything enough and the brisk tempo of the mind takes over. Habits help undermine pressure. Just as a camera presents the mere surface of reality and not its context, so too does the complexity of confidence. We can only push on if our belief is…
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To doubt, to do
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1 min read
A little doubt never killed anyone. In fact, it’s probably saved you from getting involved in unforgivable situations. But it does pay dividends to live with some anxiety and do it anyway. The trick to confidence is being sure of yourself than they are. It is for fear that our best selves come about, as…
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Finding your escape zone
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1 min read
The psychological costs of living in your own head will almost surely eat away at you. The same way a dog disappears for a half hour to chew on a bone, we too need an unbridled escape to break up the everydayness. Reading books or listening to music help trigger a much-needed emotional release. So…
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The emotional journey of creating anything great
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1 min read
Why is it that every new idea begins with excitement but ends in the ‘dark swamp of despair?’ Writes Angela Duckworth in her book Grit: “Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.” Angela Duckworth The key to achieving anything is not necessarily maintaining that excitement but pushing through all the CRAP (criticism, rejection, assholes, and pressure) while balancing…
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Art as stimuli
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2 min read
Yes, art is unnecessary. It is “everything you don’t have to do,” as Brian Eno put it. But it’s also the fuel that powers emotions and deeper thinking. We need art just as we need food. “Music is, to me, proof of the existence of God. It is so extraordinarily full of magic, and in…
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Following our external compass
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1 min read
The psychic costs of living in a place with gloomy weather or having trite friends is scarring. Our surroundings have a significant impact on how we think. That’s not to say if you want to be an entrepreneur you have to move to Silicon Valley or Hollywood if you want to be a star. Culture…
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All together, alone
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1 min read
The clock calls for synchronization. Where would the modern economy be without the factory mindset? It used to be that in the mid-1800s the only way to hear a song was to see it played live. One music file or MP3 today can be streamed thousands of times a day on the same server with…
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Essential writing advice from Anne Lamott
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1 min read
TED distilled fourteen writing tips from an interview conducted with novelist Anne Lamott. Her 1995 book Bird by Bird (Amazon) has become an essential guide for aspiring artists of all types. My favorite snippet from the interview appears when she’s asked to give her younger self some writing advice: “I’d teach my younger self to stare off…
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How to close the gap between near and far
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1 min read
The basis for life is all interpretation, an internal chatter that either zaps positive momentum or dwells on negativity and drains the well. For starters, your attitude should weave together what optimizes you rather than what conflicts with the experience of inner freedom. For example, instead of looking at your day job as a means…
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The journey is the reward
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1 min read
In search of wider meanings, we are left no choice but to chase the person we wish we were. Not surprisingly, it is within that hunt we get exposed to all of our fears and anxieties. But the journey is non-negotiable. The reward for following our ideals are the small actions along the way that…
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Passion precedes more
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2 min read
The appetite for more wears us down. The introvert feels like they have to act more like an extrovert. Talk lots and we’ll appear knowledgeable and skillful, the theory goes. We put unnecessary pressure on ourselves to get better and to own more — the VP position unlocks the house, the head honcho finally gets…
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Fifteen minutes for eternity
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1 min read
Fifteen minutes of fame, fifteen minutes of anonymity, and fifteen minutes of meditation. We all want to leave the world we’re in to bask in fifteen minutes of mental rewiring. Not ten, not five, but fifteen. Fifteen minutes is just enough time to bake in an experience. It allows us to create something memorable even…