Tag: Thoughts

I once knew a writer who held back his best pieces, even when he had the opportunity to present them before a Pulitzer award winner.  As the years passed, he actually held back most of his pieces. Hopefully, this “holding back” mentality will work for him, and in the end, he’ll knock it out of…

The only effective arguments against discipline and strategy are consistent results. Which, over time, are the offspring of discipline and strategy.  So yeah—there’s not really a long-term argument against either of those.

I cater to the animal part of me by striving to ascend the dominance hierarchy (apparently, we’re biologically/psychologically wired to experience fulfillment by making progress in our endeavors), but when it comes time to sleep or kick back with my friends, I use my human cognition to remember that everything will fade soon enough. The…

The times when I know better—or DO better—seem to be when I firmly grasp the reality that I don’t know much at all and work with what’s in front of me, continually assessing the evidence, ensuring that I follow all the clues and align my perception with the environment. That seems to work much better…

It often seems necessary to water down conclusions (those that explain past behaviors and also predict future ones) with tact, flowery words, and sometimes lies. But in regards to myself, this seems unproductive and dangerous.  Beating myself up is also unproductive, but it always seems effective to look in the mirror and work with the…

I banged my head against the wall for a long while, trying to figure out whether it was “old” or “new” that worked better.  Eventually, I realized I was asking the wrong question; I should have been wondering how to apply time-proven principles to modern contexts.  Someone who can do that isn’t wedded to doing…

I believe that the deeper I know the “why” behind my actions, the better I am at persevering through discomforts.  Not only that, but I also become better at enjoying transient pleasures without getting too attached to them. To me, fully knowing the “why” is dependent on examining the evidence arising from my past actions,…

Like everyone else, I’ll experience happiness and depression, motivation and lethargy.  To me, the question is not so much whether I cling to one end of the spectrum and avoid the other, but whether I continue working towards my objectives, and continue acting in a way that brings me peace at a bone-deep level. From…

The passage of time and the steady diminishment of my capabilities means that even if I do nothing, my objectives gradually creep away from me. To me, this means that each second is a vote.  I can use that second to gain territory (or at least learn something in the attempt), or I can use…