If You Want to Change your Circumstances, Upgrade Your Environment
Our behavior, our habits, and even our circumstances are largely the result of our environments. The spaces we live and work in, the clothes we wear, the information we consume and the people we associate with are all part of the nine environments that make up your life. The impact of environment on behavior is…
Starting Your Day on the Internet Is Damaging Your Brain
I’ve said before the first 3 hours of your day can dictate how your life turns out. And this often begins with the very first thing that you decide to put in your brain. You can either start you day with junk food for the brain (the internet, distracting apps, etc) or you can start…
Everything you Fight Has Power Over Your. Everyhting You Accept Doesn’t
We continuously seek answers outside of ourselves. We look for them in self-help books, podcasts, seminars, mentors, and spiritual teachers. But continually looking outside ourselves for answers isn’t exactly a vote of confidence in the expression of our soul’s calling. Eventually, to find our answers, we must turn inward. But going inward requires us to…
If You Want to Build an Audience, Focus on Mastery Instead of Metrics
A few days ago, I interviewed Danielle Laporte for Creative Live’s podcasting week. My host Drew asked me what advice I would give someone who is just starting out. My advice for anyone starting out, whether that be as a podcast host, a writer, or any other kind of creative was to commit to mastery…
5 Things I Had to Give Up To be Successful
An uncomfortable but powerful truth that took most of my 20’s to internalize: There’s an opportunity cost to everything worthwhile in life. No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, you’ll have to give up something in order to make it happen. If you want to become a doctor, you give up most of your early…
How My Addiction to Achievement Has Almost Destroyed Me
A few days ago my friend Mike sent me an article about being addicted to achievement. Then he wrote, “sound familiar?.” For the last several months I have been addicted to achievement. I’ve taken cognitive enhancers”, worked longer hours, and hustled more than ever. Obsessive focus became my substitute for feeling any unpleasant emotion and…
Why Deep Work Helps You Get More Done in Less Time
Ever since I spoke with Cal Newport about the rules for focused success in a distracted world, and read his most recent book, I’ve become an evangelist for deep work. It’s enabled me to: The more deep work I do, the more I’m convinced of its effectiveness. And it’s something that helps you to get…
How Writing 1000 Words a Day Changed my Life
I wrote at least a thousand words a day every day from the age of twelve on. — Ray Bradbury, Zen and the Art of Writing When I interviewed Julien Smith for the first time in 2012, he had one of the most popular blogs on the internet. Of all the things he shared with…
The First 3 Hours of Your Day Can Dictate How Your Life Turns Out
A self imposed handicap most people aren’t even aware of: Majority of our waking hours are spent on demands that other people have placed on our time. It’s 7 AM. The alarm rings. You roll over bleary eyed, hands fumbling for the phone. Apps opened. Content digested. This is how most people start the day.…
The 8-Step Daily Routine That’s Enabled Me to Write 100’s of Articles and 3 Books
On the days when I’m rigid about following this routine. I’m able to immerse myself in deep work for long stretches, and I’m more prolific, productive and creative. On the days when I turn on my devices first thing in the morning, and deviate from this routine it all goes to hell. To understand why,…
