Blog
The quiet workof becoming.
Thoughts on goal setting, habit building, and the quiet work of becoming who you want to be.
June 6, 2026
·10 min read
The Progress Principle: Small Wins Are the Engine
The progress principle: Amabile and Kramer's diary study found small steps on meaningful work lift daily motivation most. Here is how to use it.
Of everything that lifts your motivation in a day, the biggest lever is a small step of progress on work that matters to you
May 30, 2026
·10 min read
Should You Let AI Set Your Goals?
Should you let AI set your goals? Research on algorithm aversion and the IKEA effect says yes, as a draft you edit, not a finished plan you accept.
AI is excellent scaffolding, but you disown what you watch it get wrong and commit to what you help build, so the plan has to stay yours
May 23, 2026
·10 min read
The Dopamine Detox Myth (and the Kernel Worth Keeping)
Does a dopamine detox work? You cannot drain dopamine by avoiding fun, but the idea hiding inside it, stimulus control, can change your habits.
You cannot drain or reset a neurotransmitter by avoiding fun; what you can actually control are the cues that trigger the wanting.
May 16, 2026
·10 min read
Precrastination: The Opposite of Procrastination
Precrastination is the urge to knock out easy tasks now, even at extra cost. Here is why you rush the wrong work and how to guard your real goal.
Precrastination clears your head by finishing the nearest small task, at the cost of the goal that matters.
May 2, 2026
·10 min read
Stretch Goals: When Big Goals Help and When They Backfire
'Set huge goals' is standard advice, and it's half wrong. Stretch goals energize some people and crush others. Here's how to tell which one you are.
Big goals energize when you have recent wins and slack, and backfire when you don't
April 25, 2026
·9 min read
Is Grit Overrated? What the Research Actually Supports
Is grit overrated? The famous study found it predicts success beyond IQ. The meta-analysis says it's real but modest, mostly conscientiousness renamed.
Grit is real but modest: a corrected .18 with performance, and it overlaps heavily with conscientiousness
April 18, 2026
·10 min read
Action Comes First, Motivation Follows
You keep waiting to feel like it, so nothing starts. The evidence says motivation follows action: shrink the first step and let the feeling catch up.
An action-only treatment eased depression as well as full cognitive therapy, and shifted negative thinking just as much (Jacobson et al., 1996)
April 11, 2026
·10 min read
Rumination vs Reflection: Working It Out or Spinning Out
Rumination vs reflection: two kinds of self-focused thought feel identical from the inside but pull opposite ways. Here's how to tell them apart.
Brooding predicts more depression a year later; reflective problem-solving predicts less
April 4, 2026
·10 min read
Deliberate Practice: Why Reps Alone Do Not Make You Better
What deliberate practice is, where the 10,000-hour rule came from, how much practice explains, and how to practice so the hours count.
Only about 12 to 14 percent of the difference between performers traces to how much they practiced
March 28, 2026
·10 min read
The Arrival Fallacy: Why Reaching Your Goal Feels Flat
You hit the goal you were sure would change everything, then felt almost nothing. That gap is the arrival fallacy. Here is the research on why.
Lottery winners rated everyday pleasures well below what ordinary people did. Winning a fortune raised the bar for what counts as a good day