Instead of letting fear hold you back use it to propel you forward. — Up until a few years ago, I had never heard of Chris Hadfield. Then, I stumbled upon his Masterclass on Space Exploration and was struck by the poise and confidence that radiates from his every word and gesture. Of course the fact that he’s an astronaut, engineer and former Air…

Three life lessons from street photography in Scotland — My wife and I were recently on holiday in Scotland, exploring via bus, rail, and sail the endless towns, lochs, and people of this beautiful country. Armed with my trusty Fujifilm XPro 3 rangefinder camera, I shot endless photographs of the landscape, castles, sheep, and lochs. Lovely as the environment…

Connection, Despair, Being (Who You Are) — Welcome to The PATH — A weekly reflection with three timeless insights for daily life. This week’s reflection searches for ancient lessons on the concept No Man Is an Island from Thomas Merton (Connection, Despair, and Being (Who You Are). 1. Connection The English poet John Donne (1572–1631) wrote, “No man is…

Straightforward Stoicism to upgrade your perspective — It’s often said that if you can’t explain something in simple terms, then you don’t understand it well enough. With this in mind, I decided to put myself to the test and see if I could boil down some of the most important Stoic exercises to their most basic form…

Leverage your hardwired biology with these science-backed findings. — I listened to a 5-hours podcast between Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist and professor at Stanford School of Medicine, and Jocko Willink, an ex-Navy Seal officer. From this conversation, I’ve noted 15 physiological tools and tricks we can all use to improve willpower, focus, sleep and moods. As Andrew says, “we’re…

#14 is my favorite. — A few days ago, I read David Goggins’ acclaimed 5-star-Amazon memoir Can’t Hurt Me. I took note of Goggins’ mind tricks that helped him push himself to the edge (and further) to keep them in mind next time I need to push myself too. Find them below. 1. The Accountability Mirror The Accountability Mirror…

Without being smart, dishonest, cruel, rich, or selfish — The biggest criticism I get online is I’m a lucky son of a gun. Criticism shows us our blind spots. Yes, I have been lucky. Thanks to writing online, I quit my job last year. Thanks to my job in banking, I discovered cryptocurrencies back in 2013 and got an…

You can reverse the equation — “Most people choose unhappiness over uncertainty.” — Tim Ferriss If you had a certainty that the actions you took would work, you’d take them. If you knew you could avoid the gut-wrenching feelings that come with putting yourself out there in a major way, you’d do it. …

Even when they’re successful, they’re not happy — For men today, desks and suits are marks of success. The farther away from manual labor or dirt the men are, the more successful they are. I’m starting to worry about the men I’ve met in the last few years. Many seem to be unhappy despite being successful. Let me…

You may find moments of happiness. But you won’t find lasting fulfillment. — “If your priority in life is happiness, don’t have kids. If you want to be fulfilled though, you should absolutely have kids.” I’ve heard this thought a few times. As someone who has lived 36 years without kids, as well as seven years as a parent, I agree. Sure, there…

For most of my life, I have carried my mother’s unhappiness, sloshing in an aged brown vat atop a rolled towel on my head, the way old ladies do in the countryside in Korea. It was always threatening to topple or overflow, contaminating me, no matter how carefully I maneuvered…

Science reveals that a flash of brain waves occurs at the point of (and even after) death; what can that tell us about life? — Science cannot tell us when the moment of death occurs. Despite all of our technology and all of our research, we still have only a legal definition of death — not a medical or scientific one. Why? Those ephemeral moments between being a living thing and a collection of inanimate…

And go on to change the world — The person you are creates money opportunities. A**holes don’t get opportunities gifted to them. No. They have to lie, cheat, steal, and disappoint their grandmother. Life is lived based on a series of patterns. Your habits control these patterns. Change your habits, change your financial future. Start with these habits. 1. Ditch the performance life. It feels fake.

Life-long Guidance That Works Immediately I love using GPS when I drive. Yet, it recently occurred to me that it provides more than a sound way to navigate on the road. Many aspects make the technology tool a model for being present in life. Some might say I’m going overboard with personification. But I have…

From turning off auto-replay to taking a deep breath before looking at your phone — I’m tired of lists of habits that I’m never going to actually do. I’m not going to wake up at 5 a.m., run 10 miles a day, or fast for 20 hours a day. Let’s face it, most of us aren’t. No single habit will magically transform your life if…

Everyone knows that stress is harmful, but there’s serious scientific debate around exactly how it affects cognitive ability. Some argue it directly damages your ability to control your actions, others argue it has no impact, and still others argue that it damages particular types of cognitive control but not others…