All things being equal, the person with higher energy levels, a better perspective, more zest for life, greater life satisfaction, more happiness, and better results will be the person who feels a greater sense of purpose.
The Subtle Art of Freezing For Health
We are Homo Sapiens, a (somewhat) hairless ape, and we've been 'anatomically modern' for about 200,000 years. Our ancestors had to rely on their innate biology to survive. When it was cold in the winter they had huts, open fires, and animal furs to keep warm. They didn't have climate control that would keep them in the same temperature 365 days per year. This is comfort is now causing health problems.
The Greatest Basketball Coach of All-Time (and Non-Attachment)
You might not expect to find much wisdom in the obsessed world of college basketball. Many of us think of false machismo, and even a propensity to cheat and put aside long-term health. The pursuit of victory trumps everything, or so we imagine. But former UCLA Coach John Wooden is the source of some of the most remarkable insights. He even practiced an almost Buddhistic non-attachment. Of course, he loved to win and wanted to win. But Wooden created a unique definition for winning. And he remained loyal to it even under the immense pressure of his job.
How We Create False and True Beliefs
As anyone who floats, meditates, or practices yoga knows, our perception apparatus is imperfect. While it seems like we directly perceive reality, the truth is that we have second-hand perception (at best). This allows room for much error.
There is objective truth. But we only see tiny slices of it. Then we layer on complexities like our personal story and our emotions. Our initial limitations combined with the complexity we add means that our sense-making systems often fail to provide accurate pictures of reality.
The Possibilities and Limitations of Intuition
Intuition is a powerful force of the human mind. And lately intuition-as-desirable-mental-state is having a moment. Books like Blink by Malcolm Gladwell have popularized the idea. You don't have to look far to see people espousing the value of intuition. But, as with many popularized ideas, there are misconceptions.
The Life-Changing Magic of Passing Out
5 Common Ways We Fool Ourselves
For a long time, a rationalist model of the mind prevailed. We believed that, given the choice, humans would act with rational self-interest. Today, it's understood that this isn't the case. We don't always or even usually act rationally. And we often self-sabotage our judgements using oversimplified heuristics that fail us.
'Thinking' With Our Whole Body
New belief systems are shiny, with all the bells and whistles. But being the first to 'download the update,' we also experience the bugs. Debugging is a process to smooth out the new operating system with older features. New belief systems also inevitably conflict with older belief system features. It takes some generations to 'debug' the new belief system.
Understand Yourself With the Big 5 Personality Traits
Being a human today is complicated. Life can be challenging enough without having to go against the grain of our basic personality. Which is why it's important for us to do what we're best suited for. This applies to work, relationships, and even how we spend our free time.
Self knowledge allows us to do more of what we're good at, and, at least, develop strategies to counterbalance our weaknesses. But even more important, self-knowledge helps us navigate the moment-by-moment flow of life.
