After posting about how Churchill and others overcame impediments on their ways to greatness, I saw an article in the New York Times about great historical figures humbly learning things late in life — Marie Curie learned to swim after winning two Nobel Prizes, Leo Tolstoy learning to ride a bike after writing War and Peace, Dwight Eisenhower learning to paint after World War II ended, and a couple other[…] 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.] When I worry about a difficult choice I have to make I think of a parable. Some martial arts students ask their teacher how he always[…] Keep reading →

If you know me, you’d expect Facebook’s woes to mean the problems Facebook inflicts on its users who haven’t left it yet. After all, leaving Facebook is easy and fun. Yes, they’re reaching a billion users, but I’m no longer one of them and once you leave the site seems weird, like why would you do business with such a creepy company. From the New York Times, Facebook Shares Plummet[…] Keep reading →

Today’s post in the series of genius business ideas may not be a sustainable business model, but it covers a product I think today’s children would benefit from as adults. Market demand Parents want the best for their kids. They don’t want them needlessly hurt, especially by going down paths they know will create unnecessary pain and hardship. A friend suggested to me that many people have problems in relationships[…] Keep reading →

  Whenever I read about how today’s world is moving faster, competition is greater, people are more separated, more together, or whatever superlative that supposedly sets our time different than any other, I think of this quote Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the[…] Keep reading →

Clients and nearly everyone I talk to about it consider changing beliefs one of the hardest things to do. Changing beliefs voluntarily is fundamental to the Method, so I help people develop the ability a lot. Experience has made me pretty good at it, at least compared to my ability in the past. Based on how much I used to argue, I don’t think I started with any particular advantage[…] Keep reading →

I’ve written before on the persuasive but specious rhetorical trick that goes something like John is very conservative about these things. Mary is very liberal. Me, I’m practical and… Do you sense that you’re probably going to agree with what the speaker next says? Extremists like John and Mary are difficult to deal with. People reject extreme views out of hand. You don’t want to be like that, do you?[…] Keep reading →