Richard, Author at life after the daily grind

Living without purpose

Nothing makes you feel more alive than when you’re trying to stay alive.
I can only imagine what it was like living as a hunter gather. One thing I’m sure of is that it was more interesting than the drudgery of 9-5.

Opposite thinking

In an effort to combat linear thinking, there’s a technique that sounds like it was inspired by George Costanza’s philosophy called opposite thinking (or reverse thinking).

Overdoing delayed gratification

There’s a well known psychological experiment that’s often cited in books about delayed gratification. The experiment offered children a choice of eating a marshmallow now or waiting and receiving double the reward later.

A Hobson’s choice: getting FIREd

I don’t know about you but sometimes I like it when decisions are made for me, or when there’s only one choice: a Hobson’s choice. It prevents over-analysis and regret. It means change versus never-ending pondering.

How to be grateful

Based on many measures this is the best time in human history to be alive. So why do so many of us not feel grateful?

True self vs false self: who do you prefer?

Donald Winnicott is considered to be one of the greatest thinkers from the 19th century in the field of psychoanalysis. Winnicott came up with the concept of the true self and false self.

Do one thing every day that scares you: good vs bad fear

As with “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, the general sentiment of doing one thing everyday that scares you is a good one. But it’s worth defining what “scare” means.

Existential intelligence: struggling with pointless office work

If my younger self could have looked ahead in time and seen what I’m doing now, how disappointed would I have been? It’s safe to say that working in an office wasn’t my dream.