Why you can’t just do it, and what to do instead When I was writing my PhD I didn’t have bad weeks. I had bad months. The kind when each day you wake up thinking, “Today I will actually do the thing” and then you… don’t. Somehow the day ticks…

On ‘Johnny B. Goode’ as a story of exceptional talent — I think about Chuck Berry’s 1958 song ‘Johnny B. Goode’ a lot. Not the guitar playing or the awful scene from Back to the Future where the Michael J. Fox character writes the song. I think about the lyrics because they capture something crucial for me about exceptional talent and…

Putting past decisions on trial destroys our focus and drains our energy. Here’s why it happens and how to make it stop. — The founder who just missed making the right pitch at the right time. The theatre director who chose the wrong play. The financial whiz who somehow didn’t move their money before the market took off. I often hear these kinds of stories from clients — sometimes several in a row…

It’s time to think about self-transformation in a different way — Several years ago, I was on an academic fellowship and pretty sure I was failing at it. I’d envisioned myself getting to my office early every day, spending several hours virtuously writing, and then knocking off at 3 p.m. for a run. …

Find out which type you are and combat it with self-awareness and curiosity — You might think that being good at things meant feeling good about those things, but unfortunately — for lots of reasons — the opposite often seems to be true. For many people, using their particular talents becomes fraught in direct proportion to those talents. …

It’s time to think about self-motivation in a way that actually works. — If you struggle to do things that are important to you, chances are you’ve got a pretty harsh inner monologue going. This is the voice saying stuff like, Why can’t you get your act together? You’re wasting another day. None of this is good enough. Even if you’ve never noticed…

a free workshop, 13 & 14 June 2023 No one knows time-management systems like people who struggle to manage their time. We’re the ones with Getting Things Done on our bookshelf and Pomodoro apps on our phone. We know about time-blocking and Asana and why you’re supposed to Eat That…

As soon as we tell ourselves we should be doing something, we turn off the part of our brains that can help us actually do it. Here’s why it happens, and what to do instead. If you’re not sure if you tend toward a deficit mindset, all you have to…

You’d probably tell me exactly where to get off. And you’d be right. So why let yourself keep doing it? Sign up for a free masterclass with me on 24 and 25 January 2023, 12.30 pm NYC/5.30 pm London. Based on messages I receive, there’s a pretty clear consensus about the most resonant things I say when I write about internal resistance. And it’s not actually the stuff about…