The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you’re not good enough. On occasion some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don’t take it personally when they say “no” – they may not be smart enough to [...]

The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray.
– Oscar Wilde
A while back I read a book called Real-Time Relationships, by Stefan Molyneux. It’s a book about creating relationships that are healthy, enjoyable, loving, and virtuous. The author hosts a philosophy podcast called Freedomain Radio, which deals with everything from overcoming procrastination and [...]

Visualization works if you work hard. That’s the thing. You can’t just visualize and go eat a sandwich.
– Jim Carrey
I have learned the secret to getting rich in math and science. And now, for the first time ever, I am making these secrets available to you.
I can teach you everything you need to know to [...]

Competence, like truth, beauty and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder.
– Laurence J. Peter
The World’s Fastest Man in 1980, Allan Wells, would not have made the podium in the 100-metre races at the Beijing Olympics last year. In fact, his winning time of 10.25 would not have even qualified him for the [...]

Morten Lund is as entrepreneurial as it gets. He has invested in more than 80 companies around the world, most famously Skype.
The first couple minutes of this video, a speech Lund gave about entrepreneurship at Le Web ‘08 in Paris, are rough going as they get the presentation set up. But the remaining 10 minutes [...]

A common recipe for personal growth is to start with what you have, identify what sucks about it, and try to make it suck less. Software developers call this “fixing bugs.”
“Fixing bugs” may seem like a natural metaphor for personal development, but in most cases this is actually an extremely limited, even harmful, perspective. [...]

I don’t care how much power, brilliance or energy you have, if you don’t harness it and focus it on a specific target, and hold it there you’re never going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants.
– Zig Ziglar
Whether your goal is to start a company, meet an amazing guy or girl, or travel [...]

I’m not a big fan of employment. I haven’t had a “job” in three and a half years. But I also realize that entrepreneurship doesn’t make sense for everyone. Even for those pursuing the dream of starting a business, You Gotta Start Somewhere (TM) and that usually means working for someone else. Some people even [...]

It’s one of the most common questions a consulting newbie asks: How much should I charge?
I was a software consultant for three and a half years. First I was into Plone, then I worked on a big Zope 3 project, and more recently I’ve done some Rails stuff. I still do the odd gig here [...]

Authenticity and subordination are totally incompatible.
– Jean Baker Miller
How much time do you spend each day furthering the business objectives of other people?
Which days of the year are you allowed to be away from the office? How far in advance do you have to ask for permission?
At what time of the day are you allowed [...]