As I write this, I’m concluding the first month of my year-long foundations project.1 The first month’s foundation was fitness. You can read my opening update here and my post covering all the books I read this month here. In this essay, I’ll be focusing on how the first month went for me personally, as well as my long-term plans in the future. My...

As I write this, I’m wrapping up the first month of my year-long project to improve my foundations. This month was focused on fitness, where I concentrated on establishing a daily, thirty-minute exercise habit. Next week, I’ll share an update on how my first month went. But today, I’d like to focus on the other side of my year-long challenge: using...

I’ve been thinking a lot about habits lately. The students in my Foundations course are getting started with their daily fitness habit, and this has given me a lot of insights into the real barriers people have in creating habits that last. The simple way of thinking about habits is as a cue, followed by a response. So, if you’re trying to start exercising,...

Focus is essential to productivity. But it’s tough to stay focused when you’re anxious. This is a dilemma I’ve faced quite a bit in my own work. As I’ve written before, I’m a somewhat anxious person by nature—and that can wreak havoc when I’m worried about the things I need to work on. Worries deal a double whammy for our success with difficult cognitive...

Fitness is the first foundation I’m addressing in my year-long project to improve those things that are essential to thriving as a human being. Exercise isn’t something we evolved to do. We’re hardwired to avoid unnecessary effort. For the vast majority of our species’ existence, simply living was exertion enough to keep our bodies functioning...

Foundations, my new 12-month course designed to help you improve twelve essential elements for the good life, is now open. You can sign up here: ​https://join.ingeniumcourses.com/foundations/​ Registration is open until Friday, September 27th, 2024 at midnight Pacific Time. After that, we’ll be closing to begin the program. How Does the...