“In the present, the past is more knowable than the future — but people think far more about the future than the past,” writes psychology professors Baumeister, Vohs, and Oettingen in their published study on Pragmatic Prospection. “Both facts derive from the principle that the future can be changed whereas the past cannot,” they continue.

Maybe that’s why when the new year comes around the corner, we are more inclined to ask ourselves and others about our new year resolutions, instead of questioning “what lessons did we learn this year?” In other words, we prospect before even introspecting.

Pragmatic prospection is the process through which one thinks about the future by imagining what one wants to happen, while also considering the obstacles, so as to map out and guide the actions that would bring about desirable outcomes. …

“What’s your new year’s resolution?” That’s the one question that will flaunt around toward the final few days of every year.

Most of the time, we’ll blurt out a goal we had failed to achieve before, only this time, we genuinely believe we’re going to reach it. This is the year I’m going to make it happen, is what you say.

And sometimes, while your new year resolutions might be extremely coherent and well-thought-out objectives, the truth is, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be achieved. …

As a writer and digital entrepreneur, I’m starting to realize that success in any creative field is part art, part science. The art part requires you to bring forth your personality, enthusiasm, and authenticity. The science part requires you to study the process, learn from the best, hone your skills, and strategize.

Italian restaurateur Massimo Bottura is a creative genius who does exactly that. He’s an artist in his approach, but he’s a scientist in his methods. …

On October 30, 2019, I published my first article on Medium — and I wrote it because I had a message I wanted to share. It was my story of how I quit my job at Google to start my own company, only to find out about the truth of entrepreneurship — that it’s not as glamourous as the media paints it to be. No, it’s a rough and lonely game, an emotional rollercoaster riding straight into the unknown.

Today, a year later, that article has amassed 50,000 views.

People tell me I was lucky to have my first article go viral, but I like to think otherwise. The article was honest, raw, and vulnerable, and above all, inspiring and relatable. It told a story, and that’s why people began sharing it. …

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had this dream of changing the world, but growing up, I had no idea how — let alone what I wanted to do with my life.

So I tried different things: I studied abroad, I worked at Google, I backpacked for lengths at a time, I launched my own online business. I kept on looking outward, never truly feeling any sense of contentment or peace, until I arrived at these words by the 13th-century poet, Rumi:

“Yesterday I was clever so I wanted to change the world. …

People often preach that the more books you read, the better. I like to think otherwise — the more deeply you read into a great book, the better.

Sure, you can read fifty books a year, but is that really necessary? Are you absorbing as much as you can from each one of these books? Are you taking the time to apply the models and concepts the authors present?

The number of books you complete in a given year is just a vanity metric. What matters more is identifying a selection of great books that would allow you to level yourself up and then, going deeper into them to fully absorb — and apply — the ideas they share. …

There once was a man who sat on a fishing dock and observed how a bunch of live crabs, in a bucket, behaved. While all of them squirmed at the bottom, every now and then, one crab would crawl up the side in an effort to reach the top and escape. But each time it made its way closer to the rim, a crab from below would reach up and pull it back down. Then, another crab would climb upward, and again, one crab from the bottom would tug it back down.

A crab placed alone in a bucket will easily climb out and escape, but when you place it with a few of its mates, this interesting phenomenon occurs: One at a time, as the crabs try to escape, other crabs will pull them back down to their misery and the group’s collective demise. …

Life can be rough sometimes.

One day you’re planning how to expand your business, the next day, you’re trying to figure out how to keep it afloat in a pandemic. One moment you’re driving your car on the freeway, and in the next, you’re stretched out in an ambulance.

Sometimes, when the wave of adversity hits, it arrives in the form of a tsunami. It’s big. It’s overwhelming. It’s scary. And, in an instant, it sweeps away all sense of normality. But as Maya Angelou famously wrote:

“You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.”

This year has been a difficult one, not just for me, but for all of us. …