Becoming more effective at anything — whether it’s becoming a better learner, a better employee, or a better musician — is driven by four interdependent factors: insight, leverage, action, and feedback. 

Insight is the keen recognition of what needs to be done to accomplish a goal. 

Leverage is...

The idea of doing just one more thing is a trap. 

There’s always more you could do. 

Could you respond to that Slack message? Sure. Easy. 

Could you solve this small problem with a project at work? Probably. 

But it’s impossible to set boundaries this way,...

In the culinary world, receiving a Michelin Star is a massive accolade. 

Which is why many were taken aback in 2017 when the chef of Le Suquet in South France, Sébastien Bras, pleaded for Michelin to take back the 3-star rating that his restaurant was awarded. 

Bras’ reasoning...

A lot of people see Rotten Tomatoes as a kind of purveyor of truth — at least when it comes to how good (or bad) a movie is. 

It’s not unusual for me to tell a friend about a movie and have them ask me, “what did it get...

I had my blood drawn at the Mayo Clinic earlier this week and it was probably the most efficient blood draw I’ve ever had. 

Everything from how the technician sanitized my arm, located the vein, inserted the needle, removed the needle, and bandaged the area afterward was characterized by...

I went down a rabbit hole last night reading research about the benefits of laughter. 

It turns out I didn’t have to and instead could’ve just read Mayo Clinic’s summary of the benefits of laughter on their website where they cite short-term benefits like increased endorphins, relaxed muscles, and...

Being able to repeat a set of facts or procedures is not the same as being able to explain why a set of facts or procedures exist or continue to exist. 

This is the difference between rote knowledge and reason. 

Both can be effective, but reason has greater...

I tried to reach out to a family member today that is normally very responsive and didn’t hear from them. 

Being the worrier / overreactor that I sometimes am, I freaked out and feared the worst. Thankfully, I eventually heard back. False alarm. My mind was at peace once...

Worrying about what you cannot control doesn’t give you more control, it just gives you more worries to sweat about — sometimes literally. 

A key facet of resiliency is being able to recognize and avoid the stuff that unnecessarily takes up your energy. 

As a general rule of...

There’s a fairytale that we often tell ourselves:

That someday our to-do lists and responsibilities will lighten up enough and provide us with the perfect vacancy in our schedule to do what’s important to us. 

The thing is, there will always be more to do and there will always...