Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World
Hi all, It has been quite a while since I’ve posted anything here. I’m not sure how much you missed the content but I apologize anyway. Some big events have been happening, not all of which rhyme with schmovid. The most significant one is that as of June 2020, I am now a dad! As
There is a quote the origin of which I can’t remember, but it goes something like this: “people come to the monastery to find out why they came.” Many turn to spiritual traditions, personal development systems, and other sources of counsel to look for answers. But before we start looking for answers, maybe one of
RSS URL Direct Download Link Who is Chuck Marohn and why an I interviewing him? Chuck Marohn is the founder of the non-profit, Strong Towns, an organization designed to making communities across America and Canada financially strong and resilient. He is also the author of several books, the most recent of which is Strong Towns:
RSS URL Direct Download Link Who is Cal Newport? Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University who also writes contrarian advice about succeeding as a student, cultivating a meaningful career, and most recently, adjusting the way we use technology so that we can lead deeper, more meaningful lives. I highly recommend reading
RSS URL Direct Download Link Who is Scott Young? Scott Young is an entrepreneur and writer who is an expert on Ultralearning, a method for acquiring difficult skills rapidly and effectively. While we talk a great deal about his recently published book Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career, Scott has
In January, I left the full time, somewhat lucrative project I had been working on for a few years to focus on building out my business. With dreams of glory and dollars in my eyes, I confidently projected that I would wake up at 5 AM every day, do a bunch of business activities, work
I recently read a fascinating article in the New York Times about a new organization called Nuns and Nones. The goal of this organization is to bring together Catholic nuns (a group whose members are literally dying and not being replaced) and millennials who have no specific religious affiliation (the “nones”) to build relationships in
I recently finished Cal’s latest book, Digital Minimalism, and was thoroughly impressed by his core insight: we are mindlessly ceding our autonomy and personhood to technology. While everyone understands, and agrees that Facebook, Reddit, and Instagram are distractions, most people severely underestimate the damage these tools are doing to the core elements of self-hood. His
My previous post outlined the reasons why most of the modern personal development (PD) advice is generally terrible, which begs the question, how and where can we find good advice? By avoiding sources of advice that have the same weaknesses as the PD genre, we stumble on ancient wisdom. To give some background if you
The Ancient Wisdom Papers (name inspired by the Federalist Papers shortly after seeing the hit Broadway musical Hamilton) is a series of posts I’m writing to make the case that ancient wisdom should be a primary source of advice and counsel as you navigate the tricky, the ambiguous, the painful, and even the happy