And what to do about them — In every group of friends, you can usually find a few on the periphery, ones you can enjoy in small doses but with sufficient downtime to recover from the experience. That’s how we described Beth, usually pleasant, usually fun, and generally adept at stimulating conversation. I stress the word “usually”…

The four techniques — When I was 10 years old, I got the gift everyone my age needed but didn’t necessarily want— a set of encyclopedias. No, it wasn’t the Atari game console or the Members Only Jacket that I had coveted, but in time, I learned to treasure these tree-killing monstrosities. What made…

Two fixes to reignite your artistry and passion — The road to peak creativity often mirrors the track of an orgasm. It takes a while to get going, maxes out in a burst of output, and then furiously retreats to where you started. But there's a difference with peak creativity. You will believe your otherworldly output marks the beginning…

Certainty is the one desire universally craved but always out of reach — In 2003, a sales mentor of mine taught me one of the most valuable lessons I’ve ever learned about persuasion. Over the years, it has proven itself as a core principle for living in a world full of scary uncertainty. How does a persuasion principle double as a strategy for…

Lessons in civility — The midterms offered some relief to those of us concerned about the future of democracy in the United States. Elections deniers in swing states lost their bids, most eventually conceding defeat. …

A 30-year project based on the law of diminishing marginal utility — In 1991, I took an economics class that changed my life. My professor spoke broken English, often responded to students dismissively, and by all other accounts, did little to advance the college teaching profession. …

Ego plus celebrity plus success makes a dangerous combination — Would you take medical advice from a world-renowned pastry chef? Of course. Why wouldn't you? If they're recognized experts in one domain, they must know something about science, foreign policy, and economics. As absurd as that statement reads, it models how we often inflate an individual's expertise in one subject…

The six steps — I’m 51 years old, and to this day, whenever I tell my mother I have a cold or she notices I have the sniffles, she always asks, what are you taking for it? “Nothing,” I respond. Despite Mankind’s many marvels of modern medicine, we still lack a cure for the…