It’s even better on a re-read — I’m going to let you in on a secret: The easiest way to determine if something is overrated or underrated is to look at how popular it is. The more popular it is, the more likely it is to be overrated. The less popular it is, the more likely it…

Being true isn’t enough to capture our attention — As a writer, it’s in my best interest to come up with interesting ideas to share. But there’s a problem: How do I know when an idea is interesting? Usually, I end up defaulting to one of two approaches to evaluate my ideas: An idea is interesting if it is…

The key to personal finance is spending less than you earn. When you don’t, the result is debt. Debt is borrowing from your future self. It forces you to keep paying (extra) for things you’ve already bought. The longer you carry your debt, the more interest you’ll pay. Paying off…

How life gets better without anyone noticing — For a good portion of my childhood, Subway was my favorite fast food restaurant. And I wasn’t alone. The chain exploded in popularity sometime in the late 90’s or early 2000’s. You could get $5 footlongs. Jared Fogle was blowing everyone’s mind with how much weight he lost eating nothing…

Why you still can’t speak Spanish or French — Most people think it’s easier for a young child to learn a language, compared to an adult. That’s certainly what the conventional wisdom says. We also have the anecdotal evidence that many people fail to learn a second language, but no one fails to learn their native language. But doesn’t…

You don’t need me to tell you that Harry Potter was a wildly succesful book series. But it might be somewhat of a mystery as to why. After all, weren’t they just kids stories? 1) It tells the truth

Exploring the gap between what you pay and what you get — I can still remember when I was suspended from school in 10th grade. I was embarrassed, I was frustrated with myself, and I was afraid. Part of my fear related to how my mom would react to the news. I didn’t think she would be mad, but even her disappointment…

Advice for young men struggling with one of life’s biggest decisions — My wife and I just celebrated our 11th anniversary. We dated for about six months before I asked her to marry me and we got married less than six months later. I have never once regretted asking Sarah to marry me. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made…

The comfort crisis is real — As far as I know, no one has ever been able to come up with a solution to the simple fact that life is hard. If you’re reading this right now, you’re more privileged than well over 99% of people who have ever lived. Your life is unquestionably easier than…