Sometime in the mid-twentieth century, as high-rise buildings sprung up around New York, several of the occupants of one multistoried office began complaining about the long elevator waiting times. [1] An engineering firm that specialized in elevator system designs and operations was hired to assess the problem, but their findings were bleak. Due to the […]
What 449 ‘Failures’ Can Teach Us About Success
In the 1960s, Unilever, a company known for manufacturing laundry detergent, had a major problem. The problem wasn’t their manufacturing process (pumping boiling hot chemicals through a nozzle and collecting the powder in a vat); their problem was the nozzles didn’t work properly. They kept clogging up. ‘The nozzles were a damn nuisance,’ said Steve […]
How to Break Bad Habits by Surfing The Urge
We all have bad habits we want to break. We want quit smoking, nail biting, binge eating, spending, etc. If we want to break a bad habit in the long-term, we need to understand how habits work. Here’s what we know: Most habits are triggered by cues. A cue can be a time of day, […]
How to Start and Keep a Journal (The Template That Helped Me Become Consistent)
Recently, American film director Robert Rodriguez appeared on The Tim Ferriss Show and explained why and how he journals. This piqued my interest. Like many people, I’ve always wanted to journal daily, but like most people, I’ve struggled with consistency. This wasn’t because I lacked the self-discipline to write; it’s because I didn’t know what […]
How to Build a Morning Routine by Habit Stacking
As you’ve probably noticed, building a morning routine can be a trying experience. Think about all that can go wrong: You oversleep, you can’t find your keys, you forget to do your most important task, etc. The reality is having a morning routine is the best approach to developing good habits, as Hal Elrod writes […]