In case you’re wondering – and I’m certain anyone who knows me personally isn’t – being a personal development blogger does not give you any advantages in the human experience. I still lose my temper, I still binge-watch TV, I still misplace my phone and still lust after the new iPad even though I really don’t need …
Tag: diet
the power of love to achieve goals
Tricking Elephants Last month I mentioned the work of Jonathan Haidt, who helped popularize the “rider and elephant” model of the human psyche. That is, our conscious mind is a “rider” atop the giant behemoth of our desires, instincts, and subconscious conditioning. One of the weaknesses of the metaphor is the idea that the elephant …
the power of the next “no”
A Simple Plan I started a relatively basic but drastic life hack last week. I call it “no obvious sugars”, and basically the idea is to cut out the blatant sweets in my diet. Things like donuts, candy, cookies, cereal, I’m even going so far as to eliminate things like ketchup or soda with high-fructose …
why cheat when you can win
“If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’!” That sentiment, from one of my favorite close-combat instructors, is an incredibly useful mantra when in a struggle. It’s a reminder that in some situations, the only rules that matter are the ones that matter to you – and that playing by your opponent’s rules is giving them …
Habits: Prioritize for Change
Whoa There, Tiger “But Gray, I thought you were going to practice the habit of posting pictures of everything you eat, in order to help follow along with the 4-Hour Body Slow-Carb diet?!? I signed up to follow you on twitter and everything – even liked your Facebook page! How could you let me down …
Quantify Hard
I don’t want you to think, from my last post, that I’m some anti-number Luddite. I’d love to have a Fuelband, I love the sensor on my nephew’s car that shows how many miles I can still travel on the gas in the tank, and I can spend hours playing with Google Analytics and feeling strange wonder at the …
Quantify This
While reading the blog of the king of lifehacking, Tim Ferriss, I came across a phrase that hadn’t really registered with my conscious mind yet. I’ve been aware of the phenomenon, and of the movement, and even been a part of it here and there. This blog, really, could count as an incarnation of this …
Self-Sabotage to Success
Last night I really wanted ice cream. I’m talking the decadent, chocolatey-gooey-caramel-filled-brownie-chunkin’ Ben & Jerry’s kind of ice cream. They sell it right down the street, in those pint containers that just look at you and say “Just grab a spoon, boy, you’re not fooling anyone with that bowl.” But last night was also cold. …