Personal Growth

2025 Update: There is this dumb puritanical advice that older people often give to younger people: "You’ll PAY later in life for all that reckless fun you have in your 20s! I wish I hadn’t partied so much when I was young, now I have all these problems…"
It's dumb advice because it’s ineffective - I don’t think it convinces young people to live more responsibly. It also comes across as hypocritical - I was a hedonist, but you shouldn’t be. Instead, I encourage younger people (and everybody else, really) to be hedonists, but not the same kinds of hedonists those regretful old Gen Xers and Boomers were. Ethical hedonism is the philosophy of choosing the greater pleasure over the lesser pleasure.

This article will dive into the millenniums' old, yet rarely practiced, mindset of ethical hedonism along with exploring its biological implications.

I just finished this very entertaining and informative adventurer’s manifesto by Jon Levi, a behavioral scientist who likes to party.

This book follows the storytelling-rich principle, anecdote, and scientific reference format that makes non-fiction a pleasure to read. The author has a formula for epic experiences, but first…

25 years ago, the trajectory of history changed. What the conspiracy theorists got wrong, why the terrorists won, and how to fight for the future.

I recently watched a very well-produced documentary by, obviously, a very critical and thoughtful filmmaker. It certainly stimulates the spine-tingling cognitive dissonance that exploring the details of 9/11 should trigger for anyone who’s able to think for themselves.

I interviewed Richard Harris - he’s a man in England with a beard and blue eyes that beam with the brilliance of a quasar.

He has one of the top channels on Odysee where he inspires thousands to reject the slavery that the modern world imposes upon us. In this wide-ranging conversation, we get deeply into the weeds, connecting the philosophical to the pragmatic...

Aristotle vs Plato.
Everything philosophically comes down to Aristotle vs Plato, especially personal growth.

Plato gave us the cave and the perfect Forms: the ideal versions of things that exist in a higher realm, of which our ordinary lives are only imperfect shadows. Aristotle rejected that separate realm. He was the empiricist, the realist who insisted we start with what is actually in front of us.
In our own development we face the same choice. We can take the Aristotelian path: clear-eyed, empirical, sometimes hard on ourselves, working with the person we actually are. Or we can lean Platonic and reach for the perfect version of ourselves that seems to exist somewhere beyond our current reality.

Neither is universally right. People have different tolerances for unvarnished truth. Some need the bracing realism of Aristotle. Others need the aspirational fire of Plato. That is why I distrust one-size-fits-all personal growth systems. You have to experiment. You have to stay relentlessly curious until you find the philosophy that actually fits your particular mind, body, and spirit.

You need a reality check on the relative state of comfort in your life.

We all do.
If you're listening to this podcast, you exist in a state of historically unprecedented material comfort...

Society puts smart people on quite a lofty pedestal but there are some real downsides to being highly intelligent.

2026 Update: I've spent the past 14 years doing lifestyle design experiments, trying to systematize and build habits to minimize the idiosyncrasies and insecurities that arise from my intellect. I've done a pretty good job of beating the "smart people problems." I put together a Lifestyle Plan flowchart that visually breaks it down, it's a peek into some of the wacky, unconventionally yet seriously effective lifestyle strategies that empower the pretty awesome life I have, get it here.

You read Limitless Mindset because you were either born a smart person (which, as you will see by the end of this article. is not such a lucky roll of the genetic dice) or on your way to becoming a very smart person. Whether you're a part of the club already or still (like me) paying your dues, some things suck about being smart...

My thoughts on a morbid National Geographic documentary about a guy named Ryan, who drinks himself to death. He has been drinking three pints of vodka a day for three years. Why I watched it twice...

Happiness is the enemy of the future. Happiness is like a mirage in the desert; it eludes your grasp when you most strive for it. And yet, in my first book, I wrote about how…

“I’ve found the happiness that I didn’t give a damn about…”

Here I’ll explain why not giving a damn about happiness makes you happier, quantitatively and qualitatively...

In this (admittedly overdue) June Q&A, we deliver anti-ultracrepidarian responses to your inquiries, ranging from mental health, repairing the brain, and biohacking belief to... geography. Mrs. Limitless is busy with the Limitless baby, so co-hosting is Joel Bein. He shares his innovative method for rapid belief change, we explore the subconscious roots of habits, and discuss Biohacking strategies for mental and "sexual sovereignty." Discover how to clear limiting beliefs in just 15 minutes and transform your life permanently; check out his Belief Clearing Guide and podcast.