Monthly Archives: June 2014

Unnecessary pollution

on June 30, 2014 in Awareness, Nature

Thoughts while putting my clothes in the dryer: Every time you leave a light on in an empty room, you use more electrical power than Alexander the Great, who conquered an empire, in his entire life. Every time you start a car, you burn more gasoline than Napoleon, who won more battles than anyone in history, in his entire life. Every time you turn on the clothes dryer, you use[…] Keep reading →

Everybody has a cringeworthy past

on June 29, 2014 in Awareness

I cringed the other day talking to a friend about some past behavior I would never do today. I forget what, partly because I wish it hadn’t happened, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Maybe it was something like using guilt in a relationship to try to keep it going. Part of me wants to forget that behavior or blame others for leading me to it. If[…] Keep reading →

Half-marathons and cold showers

on June 28, 2014 in Fitness, SIDCHAs

[This post is part of a series on Cold Showers. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view that series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] This morning I ran about a half-marathon. I say “about” because I run for the fun of it and how it makes me feel after (and this year to train for the marathon[…] Keep reading →

Op/ed Fridays: Does “Stay in school, work hard” produce mediocrity? Can it produce greatness?

on June 27, 2014 in Awareness, Education, Entrepreneurship, Tips

The more I spend time out of school, the more I find value in non-academic things I learned. The more I see people who just work hard—by “just work hard” I mean working hard for other people for a pay check without choosing the job—the more they don’t seem to create greatness or deep satisfaction with their lives. The more I see the great people our society admires don’t seem[…] Keep reading →

High status and living by your own rules: Jack Nicholson at the U.S. Open

on June 26, 2014 in Freedom, Leadership

A friend who grew up in Queens and became the senior ball boy at the U.S. Open told me a story about his friend who worked there too. One day he was working at the door to the U.S. Open’s VIP room enforcing the jacket-and-tie dress code. Jack Nicholson came by and started walking into the room wearing shorts and a t-shirt. My friend’s friend, following the rules, in a[…] Keep reading →

Why people get fat, from a systems perspective

on June 25, 2014 in Fitness

Most people look at fitness from an individual perspective—what you eat, how much you eat, how much you exercise, who you spend time with, and so on. I find that perspective useful for many purposes, but not all. I consider it the most important perspective for the individual to plan what to do about their fitness. People don’t live in vacuums. They have contexts. I find a systems perspective helpful[…] Keep reading →

Why do people who say “You can do anything you can dream of” or “You can make your dreams come true” not fly or cure AIDS?

on June 24, 2014 in Awareness

When you write about achievement and beliefs, you come across a lot of “inspirational” people and quotes. I don’t mean people who inspire you, like great historical figures or people you know who have done a lot. I mean people who describe themselves as inspirational. For some reason, a lot of them tell people they can do anything they can dream if they just set their minds to it and[…] Keep reading →

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