My Top 10 Essays of 2020

It’s been quite a year. In January, I became a father. In March, the entire world went into lockdown. I also wrote some essays.

Here’s some of the best writing I did in the last twelve months:

1. Do the Real Thing. Success largely boils down to a simple distinction. It’s glaringly obvious once you see it, but also easy to find ingenious ways of ignoring it: do the real thing and stop doing fake alternatives.
2. An Interesting Book You Probably Shouldn’t Read. My deep dive into one of the most unusual philosophers of all time.
3. Two Types of Excellence. Is being the best more like winning a footrace or being a butterfly?
4. The 10 Foundational Practices for a Good Life. Where should you start in improving your life? I tried a lot of stuff when I first got started, but knowing what I know now, I’d recommend different practices.
5. The Surprisingly Narrow Path to Success. What does authoring a book, starting a company and becoming an academic have in common?
6. What’s Beyond Self-Improvement? Why does success often feel empty? What do you do after you’ve fixed the problems in your life?
7. Success is Stamina: To Win Means to Keep Playing. Life isn’t dominated by races with winners and losers, but by long stretches of road where some people keep on running.
8. How Fast Should You Be When Learning? Quick sketches, or extended studies? Slow down your process, or speed it up to get more…