As I was walking past the church on Sunday afternoon I saw people streaming in and thought maybe I should join them. My mind immediately kicked into overdrive thinking of reasons not to go in. My clothing is too casual. I won’t know anybody. I have to go to the bathroom. That’s when I thought of the burpees. If there were this many excuses to avoid going to church, maybe I should go. It had been over a year. So I went. Of course, everyone turned out to be friendly and welcomed me regardless of my clothes, and I found the experience overall to be positive and introspective. If you’re making excuses to avoid something, you know what to do.
Reflections #2 – Hard Gratification
- That which comes easily, goes easily.
- Your ancestors survived because they were good at getting short-term results.
- You will survive if you are good at getting long-term results.
- Is two-weeks-ago-you your best friend or your worst enemy?
- What gift do you want to give your two-week-future-self?
- What are you avoiding right now?
- Go.
I Do Burpees Because I Hate Them
To modify ABBA, “Working out is never easy, I know \ But I have to go.” If you don’t know what burpees are, consider yourself lucky. They are one of the most grueling, tortuous exercises ever invented. They’re great for working out many parts of your body at once, including your heart. And I freaking hate them. Continue reading
You Work in a Tribe
Your Neanderthal ancestors didn’t evolve to sit in a cubicle all day, which is why you have back pain and your posture is bad. They did, however, evolve to work together in tribes. We still have tribes today, but not the ones you think. Continue reading
Reflections #1 – Which is Scarier?
Which is scarier?
- Trying and failing, or failing to try?
- Losing your mind, or losing your purpose?
- Not knowing the answer, or finding the wrong answer?
- Absolute uncertainty, or absolute certainty?
- Universal disagreement, or universal agreement?
This is the start of a new series of shorter posts. Conclusions will be left to the reader, ideally to be shared in the Comments section. There will still be long-form posts mixed in as well.
What a Jerk
Today I was walking in the crosswalk when a driver at the stop sign honked and yelled at me. Naturally, I flipped him the bird as he was speeding off. His tires screeched as he slammed the brakes and shouted some more. My heart fluttered as I wondered whether Continue reading
Meditation, the Key to Success?
In the past three years, meditation has taken the business world by storm, with countless articles about larger-than-life successes practicing it daily and large companies starting to offer training and dedicated mindfulness rooms. It’s tempting to conclude that meditation will make your more productive, but here at Irrational Minds our favorite saying is “Correlation does not imply causation.”
Cool Nerds
I was a social outcast most of my life. Smarter than average, but socially inept, I alienated anyone outside my closest friends with my faux pas (that’s how you spell both the singular and the plural, look it up). One time I derailed my middle school science class for the full hour with well-intentioned but inappropriate questions about Continue reading
Absolute Preferences and Time vs. Money
Rock beats scissors, and scissors beats paper, so rock is better than both scissors and paper. That’s not right at all…
Reflections #0 – How to Be Happy
- Treat your wife/girlfriend/mother/sister/daughter with extra love and respect when it’s that time of the month for her.
- Treat her with that same love and respect for the rest of the month, too.
- Treat your husband/boyfriend/father/brother/son with the same love and respect year-round.
Irrational Minds Think Alike 