One of the greatest improvements in my life was switching from what I call the Dandelion Model of solving problems to the Burning Building Model. This week’s New Yorker describes a major successful application of the Burning Building Model in James Surowiecki’s article, “Home Free?“. Briefly, the Dandelion Model of problem solving starts with the belief that if you don’t solve a problem from its roots, then like a dandelion,[…] Keep reading →

If I did my math right, today is my one-thousandth day of burpees, starting at one set of ten per day, now up to two sets of twenty-five per day. That’s somewhere over 40,000 burpees. I’ve done them in North Korea, China, and across the U.S. Following the principle that if you miss one day you can miss two, if you miss two it’s all over, I haven’t missed one[…] Keep reading →

I woke up this morning with pain in my back. I felt it yesterday morning too. It had woken me up both nights before, I guess when I moved in ways that caused it to hurt more. Then this morning when I did my burpees the pain got searing. I had to stop at seven. The pain was bad enough I had trouble breathing. The pain was in the same[…] Keep reading →

I compiled most of my posts on cold showers into a series so you can easily read them at once. Click here to read it. If you think they’re crazy, try them. At least start by reading the series. I couldn’t imagine them being helpful before trying them, but I think they’re incredible now.

People trying to sell you things make developing yourself harder. They talk like their thing is best and people invest themselves into their activities. The biggest issue to me is that people too invested in one activity try to exclude other activities, making participating all-or-nothing. I think most people like to do a variety of things without committing exclusively to any, which conflicts with the plans of people selling things.[…] Keep reading →

All my habit and SIDCHA talk leads to talking to a lot of people about starting and keeping habits. I’ve seen that nearly everyone who keeps a solo habit long-term started the habit with something simple that they can keep going without trying too hard. People who bike to work keep up their biking habit longer than people who bike separately because they have to go to work anyway. People[…] Keep reading →

I’ve done burpees daily since December 22, 2011, at 40 years of age, starting with 10 a day, building to over 50 per day. I haven’t missed a day or burpee. [EDIT January 2025: In the nearly ten thousand sets I’ve done, I’ve recorded maybe one or two. I recently recorded a morning set. Read this post for some notes about it, then watch this video. I probably should have[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on “Mental models and beliefs: an exercise to identify yours.” If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] Do you have trouble keeping a habit going? Today’s model is my model for maintaining my daily habits. A model for consistency: If you miss one[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on “Mental models and beliefs: an exercise to identify yours.” If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] Have you notices some people never seem to have problems? And others seem to complain all the time about their misery? Today’s model will help you[…] Keep reading →