Try to become someone who's fun to teach things to.
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Merlin's Wisdom Project
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mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Posts a bit of wisdom from Merlin Mann's Wisdom Project (http://wisdom.limo) every six hours.
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Most team culture comes out of a combination of what is tolerated and what is rewarded. If you legit want your culture to improve, change what you reward and rethink what you will tolerate.
Unrelated: responsible project management is the art of calmly preparing for things that aren't happening right now. A manic dash to survive something that's already happening (and which you probably should have anticipated) is not generally regarded as a skillful application of the art.
Most parents understand it's their job to keep their child from dying. But, as the kid gets older, it also becomes increasingly vital not to prevent them from living. This is very difficult.
Write down the travel items that you forgot to pack *while you're still traveling*. You'll never remember things you've forgotten once you're back home. Choose to lean into your annoyance with yourself.
Consider surrounding yourself with people who like you for what you're good at rather than what they wish you were better at.
If you have cool stickers, use them. Put them on things. Be carelessly joyful about using your stickers. If you die with a collection of dozens of cool stickers that you never used, you did it wrong.
Whenever you acquire anything that has a manual, Google for a PDF of it, then drop it in a folder on your cloud service of choice.
Being good at arguing is not the same thing as being right; being bad at arguing is not the same thing as being wrong.
Learn to love at least one snack that can be stored in a glove box without going bad.
Life is a tile puzzle. You're often going to need to move around a bunch of stuff that seems completely unrelated to your theoretical goal. At least at first it will seem completely unrelated.
Unless you are cannily identifying a specific logical fallacy, the question has likely been *raised*. Not begged.
But: remain skeptical about quickly adopting new jargon from the worlds of business, technology, or journalism. Especially if it's that sort of new jargon that enthusiastically trades clarity and precision for deliberate opacity or cheap novelty. The track record for jargon's longterm contributions to society has been bleak.
Relatedly related: whenever you catch yourself getting frustrated because you're hung up on some weird implementation detail, please say the following outloud in a firm but friendly tone: "*Just do the thing*."
Most parents understand it's their job to keep their child from dying. But, as the kid gets older, it also becomes increasingly vital not to prevent them from living. This is very difficult.
Related: put a trash can anyplace your dominant hand repeatedly wants to let go of trash.
Almost always order the specific food that is mentioned in the name of the restaurant. If you go to "Sally's Sirloin Shack" and order the sushi sampler, you're probably not hooked up right.
Some people are skeptical about the teaching of any topic or thing that they don't personally already know and understand—or more often, something that they *think* they know and understand.
*Never* give advice to a pregnant person unless they specifically asked for it.
Your kids are not little versions of you; they are little versions of themselves. So, don't be sad or alarmed whenever they are becoming something different from you. Because, they will become *lots* of things that are different from you, and that's arguably the whole point. It is inarguably a thing that you need to cheerfully celebrate and support.
Sometimes, your brain decides it’s time to play tennis. So, it starts serving ideas and images at you, each of which seems to require immediate, urgent, and committed volleys in return. Just remember: *it’s your damned head*, and it’s fine if you just want to go sit in the bleachers and watch your brain fire heaters at no one until it tires itself out.
Related: Minimize relationships with the sort of person you've learned you really shouldn't have a relationship with.
Don't be too thirsty in your quest for gratitude and acknowledgement. If you want to help someone and have the requisite skills, *just help them*. A person with a problem who also has to graciously manage needy communications about that problem now very much has two problems.
If someone else is doing your dishes, be guarded in how often and loudly your criticize how they do it.
Related: if you *are* commenting on how someone looks, only ever compliment them on a thing that they have chosen.
Related: being chased makes feelings a lot stronger.
If you're struggling to understand someone's behavior or motivation, understand that it's almost always because of money, fear, or both.
Lean away from self-pity. Self-pity is also self-basting. Which is gross.
If you're noticing a new name or phrase being used to refer to something you know by an older or more familiar name, try to keep an open mind. Rather than focusing on your own annoyance or discomfort, ask yourself in which direction the new name is encouraging people to move. If it feels like a good faith step toward inclusion, authenticity, kindness, or greater humanity, maybe set aside your priors and make the effort to take those positive steps right along with it.
Thoughts and feelings are real, but they do not have to define you. Remember that you are the sky—*not the weather*. (Thanks, Pema C.)
Alternatively: leave your spare coins in a tidy little stack right outside the store you just exited. I'll bet you a chicken dinner the person who finds them could use them a lot more than you.
Alternatively: leave your spare coins in a tidy little stack right outside the store you just exited. I'll bet you a chicken dinner the person who finds them could use them a lot more than you.
Related: build a grocery list *before* you go to the store. Because, once you're *at* the grocery store, you're mainly thinking about getting out of the grocery store. Rather than, say, two-ply toilet paper.
Flirt with all elderly women.
Without active care and curation, any area in your home will tend to become "storage."
Related: feelings are *real*. (Thanks, Mike S.)
Treat recipes like a journey, not a destination. Once you feel like you're mostly nailing the basic instructions, start looking for ways to make it your own. Remember, you are probably not being scored.
Unrelated: this also goes for the notional expertise portfolio of billionaires. Sometimes, perversely so.
When you get hit with a sock full of coins, it doesn’t really matter that much whether they're pennies or quarters.
Whatever your problem is, remember that before you can get better, you have to stop getting worse. Try first to stop getting worse.
Whenever you’re not sure what to say, either say nothing, or ask a question.
Relatedly related: a party is only as good as the people who attend it. Especially you. Be helpful, be fun, and delight at least one new stranger.
*Never* give advice to a pregnant person unless they specifically asked for it.
Related: also do this for everyone else. Including yourself.
Related corollary: navigate an urban sidewalk by *avoiding* eye contact. Not because you're anti-social, but because eyes tell you little about where your fellow pedestrians are headed. Monitor feet and footsteps for imminent direction; unfix your gaze ~two head-heights above the crowd to detect emerging patterns.
Related: almost no one has ever *actually* been afraid of you.
Calm down. (Thanks, Alex C.)
If I were to pitch somebody on my favorite bit I’ve picked up from mindfulness, I’d suggest starting to frequently notice how you feel about how you feel.
Try to fix more stuff than you break.
If you can manage it, avoid teeing up a media suggestion with "I couldn't recommend this more." Because if the listener (understandably) zones out on the journey to that crucial last word, it really sounds like you kinda hated it.