When people ask me about my greatest achievement, I don’t hesitate to answer: my junior year of high school during the State Academic Decathlon competition where I beat my friend and became the highest scorer on my team. The story people assume I’m about to say goes along this line: I was always behind my […]
Practice Does Not Make Perfect
Have you ever walked into a test feeling confident about the material? Or a meeting thinking your presentation is pitch-perfect? You’ve put so much time and effort to hone your skills by practicing. Each time you feel ever more familiar for the upcoming task. And suddenly you find yourself prepared to take it on completely. […]
Breaking In The Habit
Habits are a tricky thing to build. And one can find it difficult to incorporate lifestyle changes they want to make in that complexity. Take, for example, the effort that goes into working out daily. One needs to find the time and motivation to travel to a gym, learn and implement exercise routines, and ensure […]
Organizing By Essence
It’s always surprising to me how easy it is to lose perspective when it seems like there’s a hurricane of work around me. It could be a lot of homework. It could be a project. It could even be other people. And during those times I tell myself it’s ok to sacrifice a little bit […]
Procrastinating, Strategically
Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most well-known speeches in American history during the 1963 March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom. He also prepared the speech the night before, finishing at about 3 A.M. And it wasn’t because he was too busy to start early. Martin Luther King had spent weeks getting […]
You’re An Artist, Not a Drone
You likely pass by many strangers as you go about your day. But I’m sure you’ve had the experience of walking by someone who decided to say “Hello.” Maybe they hold the door for you when it wasn’t obvious to do so. But it could even just be a simple smile with an acknowledgement. They […]
The Finish Line is Now
“Existence in the physical universe is basically playful” Alan Watts One of the hardest routines for me to build up was an exercise habit. Whenever I’d tell myself I was going to start and stick to it consistently, I’d look forward to the changes that would come from it. Bigger biceps, wider delts, six-pack abs. […]
Let Go Of Your Experience
There were two groups of scientists working on the same task in two separate labs. One set of scientists had vague credentials. A couple physicists, chemists, and biologists grouped up together. The other set were scientists that were experts in their field in E. Coli. And both were experimenting with proteins from E. Coli. Psychologist […]
Quantity Over Quality
“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit” Richard Bach One of the most common ailments that affects people is writer’s block. It’s always lurking when you’re about to start writing something new. All of a sudden, you have no idea what to put on paper. And you find yourself staring endlessly at a […]
Learning To Not Be Educated
“When it’s work, [people] try to figure out how to do less. When it’s art, they try to figure out how to do more” Seth Godin An interesting study was taken whereby a large group of community college students were taken to be testing on their math skills. The question? Which of the following is […]