Author Archives: Admin

The Point Is to Stop

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Years ago, I wrote an article that claimed the best way to judge the usefulness of self-help advice is by how many people eventually leave it behind. In it, I boldly claimed that if self-help advice actually worked, the industry would quickly go out of business. After all, if the advice delivered on its promises, […]

The Outrage Cycle

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The Outrage Begins Moment Zero: A Significant Event occurs. Eye witnesses and primary sources break the news. Statements are made. Videos are posted. Tweets are tweeted. First Hour: Journalists scramble to disseminate news of the Significant Event far and wide. Most of this happens on Twitter, but placeholder web pages are thrown together on various […]

3 Principles for a Better Life

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I used to have a newsletter1 with the pitch, “3 Ideas That Can Change Your Life.” For years, I sent out emails in that format: three ideas—one, two, three—thank you, drive through. So consider this a throwback article. Except instead of three ideas that could change your life, these are three principles for a better […]

Trigger Warning: Reality Hurts

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Years ago, many readers wrote to me complaining that I didn’t include trigger warnings in my articles. This was 2014-15 or so. The trigger warning thing had become popular on university campuses and left-leaning news sites. Given that at the time many of my readers were young students, an expectation arose that I would follow […]

Why Growth Requires Struggle

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I get a lot of reader questions about pain, trauma, challenge, and struggle. Most of these questions were some variation of, “Is there such a thing as being exposed to too much pain?” or “Are there situations where pain and struggle aren’t helpful but only hurtful?” or “What about trauma? Clearly trauma is a thing.” […]