Following Tiago Forte’s digital system designed for action — Introduction When it comes to building a system for “personal knowledge management” — often referred to as PKM — better described as a system of digital organization, some of us may be more resistant than others. There has to be a reason I’ve taken Tiago Forte’s online course, Building a Second…

Marijuana has become a new drug, more popular, more likely to be addictive, and a whole lot more dangerous. Many of us remember the days when marijuana was illegal. Feeling superior, even smug, avant-garde kids and young adults — along with hipsters, musicians, artists, and, not infrequently, academics — passed…

Key points The “second brain” is a home for digital information one has collected and intends to use for future digital creation. The “second brain” consists of a method of organization as well as a way to distill its contents, such as via note-taking. The concept of the “second brain” was developed…

Sarah, a tenured professor of psychology, told me she feels like an imposter, a phony. “I’m a fraud.” Suffering from chronic writer’s block, she never writes as much as she wants to, or that she thinks she should. She told me that when she sits down to write, she freezes…

Learning to cope with this difficult — but universal — emotion. — Survivor Guilt in Daily Life Hides Under Psychological Problems One of my best friends, a psychologist with a 20-year-long Parkinson’s diagnosis, recently broke her hip and is now in rehab, unsure of her future. Depression is written across her face. It’s hard to tell her I published a new story and admit how happy it made me. I worry…

Key points Many believe that small habits lead to productivity, but the truth may be the opposite — that high status leads to productive habits. Studies have shown that dominance in the group hierarchy predicts blood levels of serotonin in male vervet monkeys. Raising one’s status first by starting small may be…

The background — the personal story — that led to these commentaries and the oral transmission for which I am so grateful. I bow to my magical teachers for whom I feel devotion. — Following the teachings of the holy ones On what is written in the sutras, the tantras, and commentaries, I set out these thirty-seven practices of a bodhisattva For those who intend to train in this path. In 2011, in Washington, D.C., I first heard the verses with commentaries of Tokme…

You had a reason to read a manual like this one, with these verses by Tokme Zongpo. Learning to try to be “like” a bodhisattva may be a lifelong venture, how wise you are to search for an outline of reminders. — To dispel the suffering of beings without limit, With wisdom freed from the three domains Direct all the goodness generated by these efforts To awakening — this is the practice of a bodhisattva.

When rules are laid out simply, it might seem easy to comply — unless of course, they really don’t make sense. Trust yourself, ask questions, don’t be afraid of anyone. — In short, in everything you do, Question how your mind is, moment by moment. By being constantly present and aware You bring about what helps others — this is the practice of a bodhisattva. When I was first trying to understand the rituals, the methods, and what I thought were…