The future takes time—and that’s okay
Innovation is a fancy word, but at root it’s about taking a thing exists and making it better. Personal innovation is applying that to you.
Latest
How Apple & Nintendo are Grounded in Being Human
Apple and Nintendo are alike in more ways than meet the eye—but at the heart of it is a relentless focus on what it means to be human.
Fight Your Inner Critic With… Humility
The creative paradox is having to both consider the audience we make things for and also not think about them too much. Humility is how we resolve it.
Taking off your (emotional) clothes is hard
Self-protection gets in the way of your connection with others—to find intimacy you must risk vulnerability. How do you manage the trade-off?
What learning to cycle as an adult taught me about life
Learning to ride a bicycle as an adult taught me how much cycling is a metaphor for life. Learning to ride a bicycle as an adult taught me how much cycling is a metaphor for life. Let’s call it, “the cycle of life”?
What we can learn about humility from Apple
There’s great value—sometimes, as for Apple, literally—in not just acknowledging but actively respecting the opinion of the masses. It would be unwise to dismiss them. Being popular doesn’t make a thing bad—only popular.
You’re probably average and that’s okay
Somehow average has come to be a bad word, even though most of us will be average by definition. What’s up with that?
The Creative Paradox—4 phases of enjoying the act of creating
When I create, I feel both incredibly alive and seriously at risk. That’s the creative paradox: the enjoyment and risk present at every layer of creating.
Labels are handles on reality
It’s my job to label people—not how I like to think about it, but I can’t deny people see it that way. So how do we label better?
You might be more confident than you think
People think I’m confident but I struggle. Until I made a mental shift and learned to accept what people said about me—with interesting implications…
What do psychiatry and paediatrics have in common?
The power of the therapeutic relationship.
Those who struggle teach best
Teaching is amazing: it’s a vehicle for one person to make the space for the transformation of another. But what makes the best teachers so good?
Human nature
Destination drivers and path pursuers
Some people are all about where they want to go, others are more into the way they’re taking. Are you a destination driver or a path pursuer?
Uncategorized
In sickness and in health
Is it dishonest to reduce your goals if you’re sick? An essay on the sick role and the power of "allowing yourself morning”.
Writing
Fear is a dead dragon
I wanted to write since secondary school, but it took until uni to start. That’s what fear can do to you. But with help I learned to face it.
Healthcare
What are you willing to trade?
What if you thought about all your decisions as a series of micro-transactions at the Stock Exchange of Reality? Let’s think about that through the lens of medication side effects.
Relationships
It takes a village
On family—nuclear, extended and mine—and why Winnicott's “good enough parent” is one of my favourite concepts in psychology.On family—nuclear, extended and mine—and why Winnicott's “good enough parent” is one of my favourite concepts in psychology.
Human nature
Success is how you define it
How successful you feel is often more about how you define success than it's about what you've achieved. That’s not just to feel good—it’s the most practical thing.
Relationships
Living on your terms
How I went from being a pushover to speaking up for myself, asking for what I wanted and refusing what I didn’t.
Fiction
Devils and details
My first bit of fiction: A policeman's ordinary day gets turned upside down.
Christianity
Living in return
The first time I returned to faith was on a balcony in my medical school. I’ve returned a few more times since. This is what that’s been like.
Human nature
Giving the performance of my life
I’ve never been been a natural performer. So it’s nerve-wracking to know you’re being judged by how well you perform. But that’s how engaging with humans works, and like everyone else I’ve had to figure it out.
Human nature
Sometimes I get tired of me.
A friend recently asked if I ever feel life is futile. My first thought: "You mean that permanent feeling on my mental horizon?" Here's how I live with it.
Human nature
When you make a mistake…
What do you do when you get it wrong? Just keep going.