HUB 10 OF 12 · 33 ARTICLES

Finishing and mastery

Start here if you’re nearing your goal, but it’s starting to feel further away. It’s here that excuses and self-sabotage can be the far-too-easy path to failure. Finishing well, following through and making change stick, and preparing for what comes next are what you’ll learn.

  • Avoiding Stupidity

    You don’t fail because you’re not clever enough. You fail because you’re clever enough to construct elaborate justifications for bad decisions, and not quite self-aware enough to notice you’re doing it. This is the insight that Adam Robinson has spent decades refining. Robinson is not a motivational speaker. He’s a chess master, co-founder of The…

  • Invert, Always Invert

    Most people approach their goals the same way. They define what they want, make a plan to get it, and start moving forward. They ask: how do I succeed? How do I get there? How do I make this work? It’s a reasonable approach. It’s also incomplete. And in high-stakes situations, that incompleteness can cost…

  • The Curse of Knowledge

    You know too much. That’s your problem. I don’t mean you’ve got an excess of wisdom or insight. I mean you’ve accumulated so much expertise in your particular domain that you’ve completely forgotten what it’s like not to know what you know. You can’t see the world through the eyes of someone who doesn’t have…

  • Simplicity

    You’re drowning in complexity. Your calendar’s rammed, your inbox is a disaster, you’re juggling seventeen different priorities, and somewhere beneath all this chaos, there’s a version of you that used to have time to think. That person’s gone now, buried under layers of unnecessary complication. Here’s the truth. Most of what’s overwhelming you doesn’t need…

  • Mindfulness

    Your mind won’t shut up. Right now, while you’re reading this, unless you’re totally engrossed, there might be another conversation running in the background. Worrying about tomorrow’s meeting, replaying yesterday’s awkward interaction, planning dinner, or even just wondering if you left the heating on. That’s normal. That’s how minds work. The problem is when that…

  • Anchoring Bias

    Anchoring bias is the tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information you encounter, letting it dominate your thinking and distort your judgment, even when later information is more informative. In job interviews or performance reviews, the first few minutes can create an anchor, leading a manager to ignore later evidence that…