Welcome! I'm Michael.
I'm an ENTP based in the United States—in Portland, Oregon (living in an "intentional community" house I created with five other humans).
My mission is to help people unlock their potential as Full-Stack Humans.
I write about topics like these:
- Lifestyle & Habit Design (energy management, todo list prioritization, easeful decision-making (yes, even for over-thinkers), habit formation & retention, and more)
- Mindset & Meaning (rationality + mindfulness, building existential resiliency, creating purpose, and systematically dealing with depression, anxiety, and nihilism)
- Communication & Social Justice (making friends as an adult, deepening relationships, escaping small talk, and being an effective ally)
Quick Reads
Below this section, you'll find all my deep-dive posts—the ones that explore the details and nuances of complex topics.
But I've also been publishing shorter posts that take just a few minutes to read. They're cross-posted to three different platforms, so you can pick your favorite:
Personality Typing
I often weave personality typing into a variety of my blog posts, but this section is for posts specifically about typology.
Mindfulness & Meditation
I was a proud skeptic. I thought I was already self-aware so meditation would be a waste of my time. I was very, very wrong. I tried and failed at various meditation techniques for years, but it's now become my most important habit that I prioritize every day.
Especially if you're an analytical thinker, I believe this is the single most important skill for you to learn to succeed at life. I'll walk you through meditation step by step in a rational, non-woo-woo way, and I'll offer you the most important tips I've learned over a decade of practicing.
Where to start?
If you're ready to jump in, I suggest starting with my 7-day guided meditation series. Or, if you're unconvinced that meditation is worth your time (or you think that meditation isn't for you, you're just not a meditator, or meditation doesn't work), I suggest starting with my deep-dive series on meditation.
Purpose, Spirituality, Buddhism
I'm passionate about existential philosophy, exploring the meaning of life, and investigating spirituality through the lens of rationality and lived experience rather than faith.
(In particular, I've fallen in love with Sōtō Zen Buddhism, and I'm familiar with the Theravadan Vipassana lineage through Goenka as well.)
I've written about these topics quite a bit on a variety of platforms.
Here are some of my favorite pieces of writing to start with:
- The most important question a person can ask: What's the meaning of life?
- You only have a limited time to be alive. What should you do about that? I've helped many clients navigate this. Here are my top tips in 3 big areas.
- 5 years ago, I was waiting for my "real" life to start. Here's the lesson that changed my life (& helped me realize why I'd been so depressed)
- Should you be excited to get out of bed every morning? What’s a realistic standard for a happy life? Here are the top 5 metrics I suggest.
- Zen is changing my life. If you’re a future-focused overthinker like me, it might address your core struggles. (look for the link to Part 2 in the top comment)
- Analytical thinkers: Use this simple framework to identify precisely why you’re feeling bad in *any* situation (and what the path out will be)
Social Justice
Hey, I see you!
You might have just read that headline ("social justice") and felt uncomfortable. What's in here might not apply to you, right? Or maybe it'll be impractical or unrealistically idealistic.
Worst of all, especially if you're a straight white guy, you might imagine that anything in this section will be designed to make you feel bad about yourself.
As a fellow straight white guy, let me assure you: I'm still learning too, and I know that we all make mistakes. This collection is meant to be gentle & educational. I won't be "canceling" you.
Finally, I firmly believe that being a good ally to people with marginalized identities (e.g., people of color or people who identify as LGBTQIA+) is not just for their benefit (although that's certainly important too). It actually benefits all of us. This work is about our collective freedom and liberation.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is my newest obsession. As a multi-passionate analytical thinker, I love that crypto is so multidisciplinary. Especially if you're an ENTP or INTP as well, I believe this will fascinate you.
The first two posts are linked below, but there are a lot more of them on my page devoted to this series: Easing into Crypto. (P.S. Each post is also available for free as an audio podcast on Spotify or iTunes).
Habits & Willpower
One of the most common challenges I hear from people I coach is low motivation and trouble sticking to new habits. Here's everything you need to know to get started with science-backed habit creation.
Top Book Recommendations
Cooking
For most of my 20’s, I was convinced that being a successful adult meant following recipes to cook fancy, exciting meals. I would spend hours searching Reddit and Allrecipes for interesting recipes, sorting by highest-rated, and pushing myself to try new flavor profiles.
Cooking seems hard. But it only seems that way because you’re used to thinking of cooking in terms of following complex recipes. It doesn’t have to be that way at all. Let's make it easy for you to cook easy, healthy, delicious meals in just 15 minutes.
Personal Growth
This section contains posts on a variety of topics related to personal growth.
Living with the Pandemic
I'm not a medical professional, but I was frustrated by all the misinformation and confusing advice out there on COVID-19.
So, I did a lot of research (synthesizing hundreds of articles) and created this series of posts with everything you need to know from how to keep a "bubble" or "pod" safe, to which specific masks are best, to the latest information about the virus "variants" and vaccines.
The most recent two posts are linked below, but there are a lot more of them on my page devoted to this series: Living with the Pandemic.
