If you’ve only just begun the self-knowledge journey, you may be surprised to learn that it is incredibly difficult to know yourself. Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher, who lived in the 6th century BCE, wrote: “He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.” …

A funny thing happened on the way to the Enlightenment. More access to published material led, over a few brief centuries, to a revolution of social and cultural forces. …

We have things we love to do. Are they the things we’ll love to do once we start doing them every day? We want to attract good things into our life, but we work within the limits of our finances, opportunities, and the prescribed roles others often put on us.

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For years now the media has thoroughly covered how Millennials are driven more by purpose than money. Ninety-four percent want to use their skills to benefit a cause. Half value a career aligned with their values enough to take a pay cut.

But many of us — regardless of our…

We often talk about how the school of hard knocks can be a great teacher. Maybe the greatest teacher, if we really take good notes through the challenging experiences — especially when we need to own up what we can and cannot control.

Our nonprofiteer, Evan Wildstein has seen a…

Our Big Self writers have realized the shallow limits of self-help from the beginning. Columnist Alexander M. Combstrong is certainly no exception. His balance between making real-life mistakes and the paradox between happiness and suffering are themes he continues returning to.

Here’s to the kind of growth that rises up…

Have you ever heard the neverending car horn from somewhere vague out your door? The way it just goes on and on and invites you to jump up and ask the nearest human who is going to shut it off?

Me neither. Just totally making that up.

But if you…

I recently wrote about why handwriting lights up your brain more than composing on a keyboard. Now there is even more research to show that handwriting improves thinking. Brain scans show that forming words by hand as opposed to on a keyboard leads to increased cognitive activity.

But so what…