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On Solid Ground – Latest Blog Posts
Introducing OSI’s Republic of Letters
I’m excited to announce Objective Standard Institute’s brand new “Republic of Letters.” This is a meetup group for active writers who have taken (or are taking) one of OSI’s writing courses or have published an article with The Objective Standard. I will host...
Cal Newport to Speak at TOS-Con 2021
Exciting news! Cal Newport—author of Deep Work, Digital Minimalism, and the forthcoming A World Without Email—has joined the roster for TOS-Con 2021, this July in Boston. In his talk, "Your Superpower for Success in a Distracted World," Dr. Newport will discuss...
Maximizing Your Creativity with Productive Meditation
Deep Work: “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.” —Cal Newport What if you could produce...
Cracking the Code on Team Performance
Daniel Coyle, in The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, presents a compelling case for why some teams are more successful than others. His one-word answer is “culture,” which he defines as “the way that people interact within an organized...
Art as Inspiration: Lang Lang at the Prado
Great musicians can inspire students of music to improve their own playing and artistry. I experienced this myself in 2017 when, as a novice piano student, I went to see the world-renowned pianist Lang Lang on tour. I was awestruck by his technical skill, fluidity,...
Cara E. Yar Khan on the Value of Courage
“Courage and confidence are practical necessities . . . courage is the practical form of being true to existence, of being true to truth, and confidence is the practical form of being true to one’s own consciousness.” —Ayn Rand I love listening to people...
How TOS-Con Changed My Life
November 5, 2019: That was the day that changed everything for me. For the past three months, I had been working through my first semester of a graduate program to get a master’s in philosophy. I planned to teach philosophy at the university level. I was performing...
Five Steps for Building Lasting Habits/Routines
Author’s Note: Over the years, I have learned a lot from the work of Cal Newport, Mel Robbins, Alex Epstein, and Jean Moroney on the topic of building positive habits. The following includes my own integration of some of their ideas. Building life-promoting habits...
Orlando’s Christmas Gift: Two Nutcrackers and Spiritual Fuel
When was the last time you leaped to your feet to applaud artists performing live in a theater? It seems like forever ago for me. That void was recently filled to the brim in downtown Orlando, Florida, when I attended two performances by local ballet companies of...