Improve your writing style without spending a dime. — I’ve been writing professionally for the past half year, and semi-professionally for quite a few years before that. I’m always trying to improve my craft, but I’ve noticed a strange imbalance in the resources available to do so. The internet is jam-packed with articles, videos, and courses about how to…

And what we can learn from his success. — Legendary musician Billy Joel began struggling with alcohol abuse near the turn of the millennium. The 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 caused him to go into a deep depression, for which he used alcohol as a form of self-medication. He’s tried to quit drinking several times in the past, but…

Thoughts and observations after four years on Medium. — Does Medium feel different these days? You are not the only one who thinks so. I started writing on Medium back in October 2018. …

Big-picture strategies to make more from your writing. — My Backstory Two and a half years ago, I was unexpectedly laid off from my job. I had already been a hobbyist writer for a couple of years, so I decided to take the layoff as an opportunity to try transitioning from writing as a hobby to writing as a career. During…

Does exposure therapy really help? — The Social Anxiety Spiral I’ve had problems with social anxiety for much of my adult life, and one of the most common suggestions that I’ve received for overcoming it is to use “exposure therapy.” The advice is practically universal. I’ve heard it from psychologists, friends, and pop psychology articles. The basic idea is that…

What nobody told me about weight loss. — One of the most important changes I’ve ever made in my life was getting sober at the end of 2016. I was a daily drinker for about a decade. Kicking the habit completely transformed my life. Surprisingly, however, my initial reason for getting sober was relatively superficial: I wanted to…

The satirical paper has another great take on quitting drinking. — Earlier this week, the satire website The Onion released a great post titled “Husband Pledges To Stay Sober For 1 Or 2 Weeks While Wife Pregnant.” Like all good satire, the jokes in the piece are well-grounded in reality. As you can tell from the title, the basic premise is…

I tracked everything I ate for 2 weeks to create this list. — Is it hard to get protein as a vegetarian? When I first stopped eating meat, this was my biggest concern. However, I’ve been a vegetarian for the past few years now, and I’ve been relieved to realize that getting protein isn’t too tricky. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve…

A quick summary of how I improved by 100 points in one year. — Last week, I reached an exciting new milestone in chess: I increased my rating on Chess.com to over 1400. That puts me in about the top 6% of all players on the site. I learned to play chess as a kid but didn’t start playing regularly until late 2020. Now…