Why do we procrastinate? Even when we know something is good for us, it’s easy to delay taking action. It’s a weird feeling. You know the thing is important. You know you wanna do it.  Yet procrastination happens anyway. This phenomenon might seem mysterious. But it’s actually not. There’s a simple equation that reveals the…

If you want more energy, the first place to start is with your sleep. No amount of exercise, healthy diet, or social connections can compensate for a bad night of sleep. But I don’t need to tell you this. You already know sleep is important. Unfortunately, knowledge is not enough. There’s a big gap between…

All high-achievers face the same problem at some point. Too many things you want to do. And not enough hours in a day to do them all. It can be a terrible, constricting feeling.  Like you’re packing a suitcase for a big trip. And your suitcase is filled to the brim But you really wanna fit…

Most people are confused about love. (I sure was for a long time.) And I don’t mean confused in the way that a teenage boy doesn’t understand how to interact with a girl. I mean confused like the time your Grandma thought “Facebook” was the name for your school yearbook. It’s a fundamental misconception about what the thing is. Though you probably…

We all screw up from time to time. It might not be fun to admit, but it’s true. Despite our best intentions, our fervent preparation, and our deliberate practice… We still make mistakes. And much of the time (especially for high-achievers) these mistakes lead to a truly egregious amount of suffering. We mess up…and get…

“Study the past if you would define the future.” – Confucius Welcome to the second installment of the Mindful Ambition Annual Review! I’m grateful to have you as a part of the Mindful Ambition movement. Writing about myself can feel self-indulgent at times. But the Year in Review is an important exercise. Here are a…

Every once in a while I have an insight, or do an exercise, that strikes me in a powerful way. These insights hit like a bolt of lightning. BAM! One of my most recent lightning strikes was a short talk by Sam Harris about gratitude. Every time I listen to it is like pushing the…

Congratulations! Another year has come and gone. You’ve made another trip around the sun on this little rock in space. And you’re ready to gear up for the next journey. But before we do that, it’s time to get present to the unique opportunity of this season. Planning your Best Year Yet is about…well, just…

A Year in Review has become one of the most important journaling exercises I do every year. (If not THE most important.) Your Year in Review sets the foundation for the rest of your year. As Jon Kabat-Zinn says: “If we ever hope to go anywhere or develop ourselves in any way, we can only step…