It is not about other people, it’s about your own self-worth — We often think of humility as not talking about our accomplishments or downplaying our successes. This is difficult to do because it isn’t natural. It feels false and inauthentic because it is. If the reality is that you did something well or successfully then why should you pretend you didn’t? …

Build the habit of responsibility by leaning into irresponsibility — We have many demands in our lives, things that we must do but don’t really gain any pleasure from. We also have desires in our lives, things that we actually enjoy or gain satisfaction from doing. We want to do the latter but feel forced to do the former. Unfortunately…

Your team needs you to be clear more than they need you to be right — When we are leading a group of people in accomplishing a goal, we want to make sure things are done right. So very reasonably we focus on first figuring out what is the correct way to do things and then try to make sure that the actions of our team…

It is not giving up — When we are dealing with our own shortcomings or with the frustrations of life, we exacerbate our stress by considering ourselves to be failures. …

Animal vs Human — Animals and humans both feel pleasure but only humans are capable of happiness. They are both positive experiences and sometimes we equate the two but they are actually very different. Pleasure is a simplistic physical drive common to all animals and is centered in the moment. Happiness is unique to…

Often when we are disagreeing with someone who holds a political or social position diametrically opposed to our own we operate from the assumption that if only we can explain to them the what and why of why they are wrong about the way they feel, we could break through. …

The road to hell is paved with self-attention not best intentions — We have all encountered people who are trying to help but end up causing more trouble than they are solving (we’ve likely been that person ourselves on occasion). Sometimes this is truly because they are well-meaning but just incompetent. Meaning that while they may be mistaken about what is helpful…

Follow your dreams despite your “evidence” that you can’t — Delusion is defined as “an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder”. …

A cycle of conscious focus followed by stepping back is the pathway to success — We are always told that we need to be disciplined and focused on our goals in order to achieve success in life. That is true but sometimes a laser focus and rigid discipline can become an obstacle to progress. …