Nov 15Member-onlyThe Longer I Do This, The Less I Care About ResultsI used to care a lot about how things did. I think most people are that way. I remember when my first book, Trust Me I’m Lying, came out I was probably 10% proud of what I’d done and 90% eagerly awaiting for the first week sales to tell me…Life6 min readLife6 min read
Nov 2Member-only27 Things I’ve Learned From 150 Million Podcast DownloadsIn his letters — the pre-digital medium for distant long-form conversation — Seneca instructs his friend Lucilius to find one thing each day that will fortify him against death, despair, fear, or adversity. Just one thing. One nugget. And that’s what most of Seneca’s letters to his friend are about…Life10 min readLife10 min read
Oct 18Member-only12 Lessons From 7 Years Of The Daily StoicIn 2015, my agent called me with an idea. I had published The Obstacle is the Way and was working on Ego is the Enemy, two books which were rooted in Stoic philosophy–but tried not to be too overt about it. Steve, my agent, suggested I do the exact opposite…Philosophy7 min readPhilosophy7 min read
Sep 20Member-onlyThese 14 Small Mindset Shifts Will Change Your LifeFor the most part, we can’t change the world. We can’t change the fundamental facts of existence–like the fact that we’re going to die. We can’t change other people. Does that mean that everything is hopeless and permanently broken? No, because although we have that extreme powerlessness in one sense…Motivation9 min readMotivation9 min read
Sep 13Member-only24 Leadership Principles From The Greatest Business, Military, Political, and Sports LeadersPeople think that leadership is something that just happens. One is anointed a leader. One is promoted to leadership. One is born into leadership. And of course, this is not the case. “Leadership,” Eisenhower said, “is the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because…Philosophy13 min readPhilosophy13 min read
Sep 6Member-onlyThese 38 Reading Rules Changed My LifeIt’s a weird thing to say, but I guess I’m a professional reader. That’s really what authors are. A book is made of books. “The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading; a man will turn over half a library to make one book,” Samuel Johnson said. …Philosophy9 min readPhilosophy9 min read
Aug 24Member-onlyNo You Can’t Have It All (Especially as a Parent)Parenting is all about discipline. It’s about being strict and firm and unrelenting. Not with your kids, to be clear. That’s being a disciplinarian. When I say parenting is all about discipline, I’m talking about the only form that matters: self-discipline. There is a story about one of those legendary…Parenting6 min readParenting6 min read
Aug 15Member-onlyWhat To Do When War, Climate Change, And Other Global Threats Inevitably Hit Your StartupI wouldn’t have thought that a book about an obscure school of ancient philosophy would put me in the manufacturing business, but life is full of surprises. Several years ago, after writing a book called The Daily Stoic, I started an email list that delivered one philosophical meditation each day…Entrepreneurship7 min readEntrepreneurship7 min read
Jul 27Member-only24 Things I Wish I Had Done Sooner (or my biggest regrets)Of all the things in life we don’t control, the past is the clearest. It already happened. It’s done. It’s set in stone. Perhaps we could have controlled and changed it, but the fact is, we didn’t. And now it is what it is, forever a was. For this reason…Life8 min readLife8 min read
Jul 14Member-onlyIt Always Takes Longer Than You Expect (Even When You Take This Into Account)When I finished my first book, I hired a publicist. I was 25. It cost $20,000 and was, to that point, the most money I had ever spent in my life. As part of the scope of work, they had me put together a list of my top twenty or…Life4 min readLife4 min read
