The social rewards for going with the crowd are felt long before the benefits of going against it are gained. One measure of a person is the degree to which they’ll do the right thing when it goes against the popular belief. However, it is easy to overestimate our willingness to diverge from the crowd, and underestimate our biological instinct to f

He wanted to show others his value and importance. He wanted others to see him the way he saw himself. When they didn’t, he stopped exercising judgment, and ended up going down in history for all the wrong reasons. Who hasn’t found themselves in a similar situation? Someone close to you doesn’t appreciate you the way you want to be appreciated. Per

Too often, the people we ask for feedback are kind but not nice. Kind people will tell you things a nice person will not. A kind person will tell you that you have spinach on your teeth. A nice person won’t because it’s uncomfortable.

Our desire to fit in with the group comes from our history. Group interests were well served from a high level of conformity. But so too were our individual interests. Survival inside the tribe was hard but survival outside the tribe was impossible. Because we needed the group, our individual interests became secondary to the group interests. Thoug

If you want better-than-average results, though, you’ll have to think clearly. And thinking clearly is thinking independently.

A large part of achieving success is having the self-control to do whatever needs to be done, regardless of whether you feel like doing it at the moment. Emotional intensity is far less important in the long run than disciplined consistency. Inspiration and excitement might get you going, but persistence and routine are what keep you going until yo

While the rest of us are chasing victory, the best in the world know they must avoid losing before they can win. It turns out this is a surprisingly effective strategy.

Inertia also prevents us from doing hard things. The longer we avoid the hard thing we know we should do, the harder it becomes to do.

Bad habits are easy to acquire when there is a delay between action and consequence.