Employee well-being and happiness are surprisingly powerful predictors of performance.
The Case for Lowering Your Expectations
It may be the key to happiness and sustainable performance
Ten Steps Towards Happiness - Hintjens.com
Biography | Portfolio | GitHub Books | Videos | Slides | Stories | Wiki Contact
A Deceptively Simple Way to Find More Happiness at Work (Published 2019)
You don’t need to change everything about your job to see major benefits. A few changes here and there can be all you need.
Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance
Scientists have long debated the origins of exceptional human achievements. This literature review summarizes recent evidence from multiple domains on the acquisition of world-class performance. We review published papers and synthesize developmental ...
Learning From Older Adults: An Intergoal Compatibility Account for Successful Happiness Pursuit
Academic Abstract People want to pursue happiness but often fail, a phenomenon known as the paradox of pursuing happiness. The mechanisms underlying this paradox remain elusive. Age differences in happiness—specifically that older adults appear more successful in pursuing happiness (the emotion paradox of aging)—provide valuable insights into effective happiness pursuit. Drawing on this literature, we propose an intergoal compatibility account to interpret both paradoxes through the lens of intergoal interactions, an intuitively critical yet underexplored factor in existing interpretations. This account asserts that greater compatibility (fewer conflicts and greater facilitation) between happiness pursuit and other important personal goals enhances the effectiveness of happiness pursuit, and such compatibility can be enhanced through contextual influences (e.g., age-graded developmental tasks) and strategic self-regulation (e.g., goal adjustments). This account generates testable predictions and practical implications for enhancing happiness pursuit across the lifespan. Public Abstract Why do people often struggle to achieve happiness? And why are older adults happier than younger adults, even though they face more losses in life? While these questions have drawn extensive attention, they remain puzzling. A crucial yet insufficiently explored factor in successful happiness pursuit is intergoal compatibility —the extent to which the pursuit of happiness aligns or conflicts with other important personal goals. For younger adults, the demands of age-related developmental tasks (e.g., educational and career aspirations) often create conflicts with the pursuit of happiness, diminishing its effectiveness. Conversely, in older adults, happiness becomes more prioritized and compatible with other important personal goals, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of pursuing happiness. A lesson we can learn from older adults is to pursue happiness in ways compatible with other important personal goals.
Successful People With ADHD Superpowers
Explore stories of successful people who have harnessed their ADHD superpowers to achieve greatness.
How to Be Great? Just Be Good, Repeatably
A thought piece on what it takes to truly be great and what that even means in the first place.
In Praise of “Normal” Engineers
Software engineer Charity Majors challenges the "10x engineer" myth, arguing that true productivity lies in team performance, not individual brilliance. She encourages building workplaces where "normal" engineers can thrive. Are we focusing too much on hiring "the best" instead of the right people?
A psychologically rich life: Beyond happiness and meaning.
Some Thoughts About Work
I think there are three things that can make work rewarding: working with cool people, working on cool things, and working in cool ways.
Leadership: Values
A question I get quite frequently is “What makes a good leader?” One of the most important aspects of a good leader is that they have values. This may at first sound noncontroversial, but we are surrounded today by leaders who do not have values or whose only values are to get rich personally or to be powerful (or both). Tech investors have been especially guilty of enabling charismatic leaders, and sometimes even non-charismatic but wildly successful ones, who are fundamentally hollow and wi...
The 2e Advantage: A Systemic Guide for Understanding & Unlocking Twice-Exceptional Talent in the Modern Workplace
In today's competitive landscape, overlooking talent is a critical error. Twice-exceptional (2e) and neurodivergent individuals represent a significant pool of often untapped potential, possessing unique strengths alongside specific challenges.
What Makes for a Good Product Manager?
Learn what qualities to look for in an exceptional product manager
Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime
Research on naps, meditation, nature walks and the habits of exceptional artists and athletes reveals how mental breaks increase productivity, replenish attention, solidify memories and encourage creativity
Appearances vs Experiences: What Really Makes Us Happy
In the search for happiness, we often confuse how something looks with how it’s likely to make us feel. This is especially true when it comes to our homes. If we want to maximize happiness, we need to prioritize experiences over appearances.
