I like to have multiple projects going at a time, but they’re not all the same type of project, and they all require different sorts of investment and serve different functions. Routine projects are those that I’m already comfortable with,…
Something that helps me cope with periods of malaise, pain, or discomfort is reminding myself that the me I am today is not the final me. This is just a version of myself, iterated from previous versions of myself, and…
Most growth happens beyond our current capacity. Maintenance is good and healthful, and at times (and in some aspects of our lives) that’s exactly what we should be doing. But if we want to develop—in terms of skill, in terms…
It feels good to have written a book. It’s similar, I suspect, to the feeling of running a marathon or hosting a successful dinner party: it’s an achievement, and it’s satisfying to know you’ve done something difficult and aspirational (even…
The price of a medication goes up, your rent or property taxes increase, maybe you suffer an injury or develop some kind of chronic condition. New burdens are not fun, and they’re even worse when they’re all downside: new costs…
While we all have at least a few things we’re just latently good at, most of what we’re able to do (for fun or for money) is the result of dogged persistence. Just showing up, over and over, is a…
It’s good to feel strong, and that’s perhaps even more true during periods of unrest and change. The word “strong” often evokes concepts like steel beams and rippling pectorals, but it can also refer to less visible (but still potent)…
A surprising number of technical issues can be solved by resetting the glitchy device. Sometimes you have to unplug it or hold down several buttons to make it work, but this can be a fairly simple solution for what are…
I wear contact lenses most days, though I wear glasses while getting ready in the morning and at night before going to bed. I got my first set of glasses (with early-model transition lenses, so I felt pretty cool and…
Many norms, folkways, and standards exist because they’re (almost always) the best way to do something (by some metric). The USB-C standard isn’t the most bleeding-edge option that technology and manufacturing can offer, but it’s a really solid, relatively high-performing…