philosophy
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How to practice effectively
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1 min read
Everything is practice. Practice is everything. “Practice is the repetition of an action with the goal of improvement.” Biologically speaking, practice strengthens the neural tissue, specifically the fatty substance myelin which enhances the runway for brains to communicate effectively with the muscles. The 10,000-hour rule of deliberate practice doesn’t necessarily guarantee improvement. The training needs…
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How to unthink
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2 min read
Knowledge can be a hindrance. The more we know, the more likely we’re to hesitate in times of execution. So the overthinking basketball player misses a wide-open layup, the tennis player misses an easy return, or the painter or writer can’t seem to get their inspiration to convert on a blank canvas. We trip over…
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Flashes of intuition
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1 min read
When we drop a coin in the dark, our first instinct is to look for the nearest lite brite (be it a streetlight or our phone) to find it. But the initial frustration of blindness provides enough luminosity. We are victims of ignoring the obvious — the coin is often just below our feet. It…
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You can’t schedule joy
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2 min read
“We make lists because we don’t want to die,” said Italian novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco. The problem with lists though is that we tend to include things we enjoy doing like writing, reading, meditating, along with other habits we should do, like exercise or our grocery shopping. When we fail to cross an item…
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‘Life is a movie; death is a photograph’
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1 min read
“Life is a movie; death is a photograph.” Susan Sontag, from her first published novel The Benefactor (1969)
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Pursuing boredom for boredom’s sake
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2 min read
If you can’t stand boredom for boredom’s sake, take on a mundane task to put your mind in a wandering state. Doing the dishes, organizing your vinyl collection, mowing the lawn, and taking a shower are all triggers that help release you from the grip of now. Your brain needs time to chew over all that it…
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What are your escape zones?
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1 min read
What are the things you do or the places you go to get out of your own head? For some, it’s meditation. For others, it’s attending church, playing video games, going for a long run, or studying at the cafe. In the search of that third place, whether it be in reality, in your daydreams,…
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Balancing effort
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1 min read
There’s an inverse relationship between forcing something to happen and achieving it. When you take your foot off the gas and relax a little, that’s when things start to open up. Going 100ph all the time is a recipe for disaster. “When you try to stay on the surface of the water, you sink; but…
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The evolution of you
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1 min read
Pulling back the curtain, what do you see? Is it the pursuit of an over-conventionalized way of life? There’s little independence in jumping through hoops. There’s no formula nor app for finding your own genius. There’s only the individual’s razor that he or she uses when they decide what to expect for themselves. Honesty, especially…
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A test of aliveness
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1 min read
What is interesting is worth pursuing. When you follow your intuition and catch what’s fresh, the less compelled you are to chase absolutes. The curious mind keeps open all avenues of inspiration. It also steals from the lives of other people as part of the collection, knowing that others offer insight into surviving a deep,…
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Unleash the amateur
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1 min read
To begin again, to unleash the amateur. Starting was never a problem when you were a kid. But somehow through adulthood, you learned to criticize failure. So you stopped trying new things altogether to avoid ridicule. People start to specialize in their teens. The math-inclined go on to become accountants. The liberal arts majors venture…
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Aggregating sources
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1 min read
You’ve got to taste the wine yourself, build your own record collection, and collect your own artifacts. You can’t afford to outsource these experiences to others if you want to be original and develop your own taste. Whether it’s other human teachers or machines, having all the answers delivered to your doorstep of knowledge hinders…