Healthier and Wealthier: Why It’s A Great Time to Be Alive
Last week, I outlined two important facts to keep in mind while studying history. The first being that there is more truth than many like to give to George Santayana’s adage that those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it. The second being the realization of the Great Fact — that […]
The Entrepreneur as Historian; The Entrepreneur as History-Maker
The Praxis participants just finished up their first module with oral examinations in Philosophy, Logic & Ethics. Now they have the task of moving into our History & Culture module, which includes hours of lectures on the significance of history, how and why historical trends change, and several full-length books covering the history of business, […]
Education, Not Schooling
The fact that education and schooling are two totally different concepts and acts isn’t something new for most people, but recent research says that traditional university education is actually counter-productive to the learning process. Though this may seem surprising, the reason for this counter-productivity makes it seem clear why this happens. Schools are essentially systems, and […]
How to Work When Work is Too Easy
If you’re a hard worker, one of the most difficult things is how to handle times when work is too easy. If it’s a job you don’t like, you might not mind a slow work flow, but if you care about and enjoy what you do, few things are more vexing for someone with high […]
Why NOT Take a Gap Year?
A gap year is, simply put, a year off from school. It can come in the form of a year between high school and college, a year during college, or a year after college and graduate school. During this time, people usually learn new skills, travel to other countries, gain professional experience in the workplace, […]
Why Assignments are Usually Dumb
We’re all pretty used to assignments. In fact, most of us are so used to them that we have a hard time completing projects or tasks outside of the artificial assignment structure. Assignments typically take the form of a supposed authority figure or expert telling you to complete a task, providing a deadline, and giving […]
Failure, Rejection, & The Myth of Overlooked Genius
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” -Michael Jordan There is a difference between being a genius and […]
The Thoughtful Entrepreneur
The following was written by Praxis participant Mary Peterson. At the Praxis kick off in Charleston last week, I sat for a video interview with Drew and Helen Tidwell, producers of I, Pencil as they pieced together a promotional video. “Why do you want to be an entrepreneur?” they asked. “Entrepreneurs are the movers and […]
Create Your Own Experience
“Be ambitious. There probably won’t be another time in your life when you have such freedom of opportunity. Grasp it with both hands. If you can’t find an opening that fits what you want to do, why not try to create one yourself?” -Richard Branson The best resume is a great personal brand. The best […]
Is Business Exploitative?
One common objection that is given against businesspeople and those interested in going into business goes along the lines of this: “But you can’t go into the business world! Everybody will just use you to get ahead, and if you actually want to succeed, you’ll have to just use everybody else to get ahead! You’d just […]
8 Traits of Successful People
There is a myth out there about how you must think and work in order to become successful. It generally goes like this: you have to focus on the idea of becoming successful with an intense drive and focus that will usually encapsulate every part of your life, including your relationships, hobbies, down-time, and habits. […]
You Don’t Need College to Succeed: This Graph Shows It
Peter Thiel, billionaire venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal, Facebook, and so many other companies, is one of the biggest supporters of the idea that higher education doesn’t necessarily mean higher probability of success or pay. Rather, Thiel promotes entrepreneurship, innovation, and hard work as the pathways to success. Over at the Washington Post, Thiel […]
Being a Student vs. Being a Participant
There’s nothing wrong with being a student. In its broadest sense it means to learn, and learning is of course instrumental to every kind of success and a form of happiness in itself. But the word connotes a particular type of learning. When you hear the word student you think first of someone sitting in […]
Tolerance for failure is the best test
Every idea is not worth pursuing. Even good ideas may not be worth pursuing. And sometimes, even mediocre ideas are worth pursuing. If you’re thinking in terms of odds of success, you might be going about it the wrong way. It’s very difficult to realistically assess the odds of success. If you are in love […]
Entrepreneurship: The Benevolent Disruptor
I was standing motionless in one of those one-stop drug stores that sells everything from hair brushes to screwdrivers to sports drinks, in addition to offering prescription drug services. I was at the aisle dedicated to seasonal items. At this aisle, it’s scary monsters and witches in October, plastic turkeys and leafy decorations in November, […]