Common objection 5: I have to take care of “real world” issues first

on November 25, 2012 in Blog, Leadership, Tips

[This post is part of a series on internal objections and blocks and how to overcome them. 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.] Objection People often say things like I have to take care of “real-world” issues like earning money first. or their bosses, parents, or teachers say things[…] Keep reading →

How to make yourself more confident

on November 19, 2012 in Blog, Freedom, Leadership, Tips

Is there anything you do that wouldn’t benefit from having more confidence? Even if showing confidence doesn’t make a difference, at least having the option to show it helps. Have you noticed that people with more confidence can’t do that much more than people without it? They can’t lift heavier weights or solve more difficult problems. The guy at the gym who lifts the heaviest weights probably isn’t the most[…] Keep reading →

People who claim not to judge and blame often do, illustrated

on September 22, 2012 in Blog, Humor

Early in my blog I posted about how people often don’t realize how much they judge and blame, even when they believe they don’t. People often say others judge and blame when the others’ values differ. When they themselves judge and blame they just think they’re calling it like it is. As I wrote then, it’s easy to say you don’t judge or blame when talking about other people’s values[…] Keep reading →

More on power, leadership, lawlessness, justice, and amnesty

on August 25, 2012 in Blog, Leadership

The New Yorker published a piece, “The Fairness Trap,” echoing the issues I wrote on yesterday in the context of the U.S. foreclosure and Greek economic crises. In both cases, people’s desire to punish people conflicted with clearly better economic solutions, according to the author. He talks about fairness, basically the same concept as justice — reacting to emotions like outrage, indignation, and self-righteousness over agreeing on criteria to evaluate[…] Keep reading →

How to generate tons of hits and posts and why I don’t do it

on July 13, 2012 in Blog, Tips

Having written daily for a while I’ve found out great ways to generate lots of hits and to generate online discussion. I don’t do them on this page, despite how well they work. The tactics attract people to any media — press, tv, etc. Title Start with a title with a provocative question the answer is usually no to. Is Obama secretly working with the GOP? Can you make millions[…] Keep reading →

You don’t have to accept anyone else’s hierarchy of taste

on July 5, 2012 in Art, Awareness, Blog

I posted on another board in a discussion on taste Is classical music better than punk? Museum art better than street art? Haute cuisine better than burritos? Is the op-ed page better than stand-up comedy? Is classical philosophy better than folk wisdom? My life improved when I learned I didn’t have to accept anyone else’s hierarchy of taste. Most people may consider one better than another, but I’ve learned to[…] Keep reading →

A leader and physicist’s view on morality, ethics, and judgment

on May 10, 2012 in Blog, Leadership, Nature, Tips

Wrapping up my series on the counterproductivity of leading with morality, ethics, and judgment, I’ll present a model based I got from Einstein. Without all the emotion judgment can grip you with, you can understand the physics model easily. Then you can apply it to the emotional situation. Then I bet you’ll improve your life. Before Einstein: the problem of the aether Before Einstein, people created a concept called the[…] Keep reading →

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