Claim OwnershipThe Human Flourishing Project
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© Alex Epstein
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Hi, I'm Alex Epstein.
I started the Human Flourishing project to tackle the problem I care about most: human beings lack reliable access to the knowledge we need to flourish.
I started the Human Flourishing project to tackle the problem I care about most: human beings lack reliable access to the knowledge we need to flourish.
99 Episodes
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Alex brings on Brian Amerige, with whom he cofounded Thoughtful, to discuss the problems of social media today and how to overcome them. They discuss:
- Is there any role for government in the content policies of social media platforms?
- What content policy would make Facebook or Twitter a better "marketplace of ideas"--or is that even possible given the purpose of these platforms?
- What it takes to create a real alternative to mainstream platforms, and where Parler and Gab have struggled.
- The purpose and evolution of Thoughtful, Brian and Alex's platform that is "the one place on the Internet that's exclusively for thoughtful content."
- How to get on the waiting list for Thoughtful.
Alex Epstein discusses how he is able to work long hours while rarely feeling tired or fatigued.
He identifies four ways others can have the same experience:
1. Develop deep nighttime empathy with “morning guy”
2. Discover and liberally utilize “inevitable rejuvenation practices”
3. Separate proactive and reactive time
4. Cultivate a love of working energized and a hatred of working while tired
Alex Epstein discusses Greg McKeown's new book Effortless, how Alex had benefited from the chapters on Rest and Pace, and how separating proactive and reactive time can make the principles of Effortless even more effortless.
Alex Epstein discusses how to appreciate the many great things that exist today that didn't exist even in the recent past.
Alex Epstein discusses his equation for "time security"--expected resources outstrip current commitments + expected threats--and how keeping this equation positive has an enormous impact on happiness.
On this best-of-HFP, Alex Epstein discusses the three ingredients of relaxed productivity—inevitably productive processes, high-altitude planning, and real rejuvenation—along with one poison: focus-destroyers. This version features a new introduction in which Alex talks more about his recent experience with inevitably productive processes.
Alex Epstein discusses how the handwriting experience of the modern iPad makes possible an unprecedented form of journaling that can make your reflections on life far more effective.
Alex Epstein discusses several ways to identify easy-to-implement best practices that will improve our lives, and easy-to-eliminate bad practices that are unnecessarily undercutting our lives.
Alex Epstein discusses, using Richard Hamming's allegory about a drunken sailor, why vision and persistence are the two most powerful elements of productivity within our direct control.
Alex Epstein discusses two mindsets that can advance one's career even when one is starting from the most adverse circumstances: "customer obsession" and "100% responsibility."
Alex Epstein discusses several characteristics that unite his productive role models for 2021, including focus, optimizing for value creation over advertising, and having very little need for short-term feedback.
Alex Epstein discusses some lessons that his experimentation with "work fortnights"--11 days on, 3 days off--has reinforced.
Alex Epstein discusses 6 kinds of focus that make individuals more productive and fulfilled:
1) focusing on a high-value and meaningful market
2) focusing on an area of comparative advantage
3) focusing on the most valuable few projects
4) focusing on performing your core work
5) focusing on inevitably productive processes
6) focusing on your progress
Alex Epstein discusses one of his biggest productive breakthroughs to date: maximum separation of "performance time" and "feedback time."
Alex Epstein discusses one of life's basic questions--"How do I spend the very limited time I have on Earth?"--and shares three techniques for answering it: life-blocking, ranked lists, and calendar comprehensiveness.
Alex Epstein discusses the work and new podcast of Cal Newport, his favorite thinker on productivity.
Alex Epstein discusses why he is suspicious of any “morally safe” activity—any easy way to be seen by oneself or others as a good person. Doing the “morally safe” thing, he argues, often involves 1) a lack of critical thinking, 2) wasting time, and 3) acting on unhealthy motives.
Alex Epstein discusses the three ingredients of relaxed productivity—inevitably productive processes, high-altitude planning, and real rejuvenation—along with one poison: focus-destroyers.
Alex Epstein discusses why we should seek out the rare phenomenon of the master practitioner-teacher wherever we can find it, using Netflix CEO Reed Hastings' new business book as an example.
Alex Epstein discusses how to avoid overwhelm when one feels totally overcommitted for the upcoming week. The key is "calendar comprehensiveness," which Alex shares a quick process for achieving.
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Alex is great