Some interesting insights from Deepak Chopra, interviewed on Entrepreneur.com. I’m not a huge fan of his work, but I enjoyed the tips for productivity. Fun and joy are vital.  

I read somewhere (now lost) that the Victorian writer and critic Matthew Arnold was responsible for bringing Marcus Aurelius to a broader, modern audience. Here’s Arnold’s essay, originally published in The Victoria Magazine in 1863, and here republished by the University of Adelaide. For the impatient, the real discussion starts at paragraph 9: “[Aurelius] is perhaps […]

A timely (for the UK) post from Steven Pressfield: “Candidates for office in all lands and in every century make the same promise to the voters they hope to attract: ‘I will get you what you want and it will cost you nothing.’” But, it’s more important than simply a political health warning. That thinking […]

Two more essential sets of basics from Nicholas Bate: Simple Meditation 7 A time to be not just do. … Sit somewhere quiet. Be quiet. Creativity 7 7. … practise the skill of creativity daily. Related? Quite possibly.

Insight and a pointer from Execupundit. At the risk of spoiling the surprise, I’ll say that I hadn’t before encountered Edgar Allan Poe’s Raven. A world of cultural allusion has just opened up for me.

Sage words from Execupundit’s Michael Wade: “I find that I get more work done by slowing down…” The rest, here. Click slowly.

“Vex not thy spirit at the course of things; They heed not thy vexation.” Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180), Meditations (Book 7)

To walk in the woods, feel your pace slow, your shoulders loosen and the fresh forest air wash your worries clean. This piece, from the World Economic Forum no less, has proof that “forest bathing” is good for you. But, we knew that all along. Forests I remember: somewhere primeval in the rainforest of Washington’s […]

Seth Godin on knives: “Cooks know that a sharp knife is less likely to cause injury, because it goes where you point it. It does what you tell it to do, which means you can focus on what you want the outcome to be. The challenge of a sharp knife is that it puts ever […]

Nicholas Bate offers succinct but invaluable career advice: 1. Money doesn’t motivate; lack of money demotivates. … 7. Once a month, ask the tough question: why would anyone need my skills? The rest, here.