The Sleep In Your Car Test
We have a simple test for applicants to Praxis. I call it the sleep in your car test. There are people who are willing to sleep in their car to get what they want and those who aren’t. We’re only interested in the former. No, we don’t actually ask people to sleep in their cars […]
The Limits of Self-Help, The Power of Systems, & Why We Need Rules to Succeed
One of the commonly cited problems with a great deal of self-help philosophy is the overemphasis on positive thinking, affirmations, visualization techniques, and other motivational tools that produce short-term inspiration but that often fail to help people create lasting changes. On a recent episode of the Accidental Creative podcast, Todd Henry addresses this issue in […]
The Unschooled Intellectual
It has often (thankfully) been pointed out that schooling does not make an education. Most people would not disagree that it is possible to be learned without an institution or to be ignorant with credentials. However, I think that there is a case to be made that those with a love for ideas can gain a distinct […]
Study the Greats or Just Do It?
It’s not uncommon for the most devoted students of personal health, or business startups, or filmmaking, or success more generally to be only moderately successful themselves. We’ve all met people who have read every “7 Ways”, and, “10 Tips” book on the market, yet still haven’t really gotten off the ground personally. So is greatness […]
Evidence of Success: Interview with Armi Legge of Evidence Magazine
This is an interview with Armi Legge, a high school dropout, entrepreneur, and the founder of Evidence Magazine. Armi has been named one of Fitocracy’s 30 Under 30 in Fitness. Q: What is Evidence Magazine? Evidence Magazine is a health and fitness education company. Our main specialities are fat loss and muscle growth. We teach […]
Your Silence Will Not Protect You
The day I ended my silence Three years ago, I decided to embark on an experiment in personal development by making a one year commitment to writing and publishing a new blog post every day. I wanted to see what would become of me if I forced myself to share my thoughts with the world irrespective […]
The First Praxis Class Has Graduated!
I can hardly believe it. Praxis was nothing more than an idea two years ago, and little more than a website 18 months ago. Today, the first ever Praxis class graduates. They began in February at our opening seminar on Sullivan’s Island, SC. There they met entrepreneurs, CEO’s, venture capitalists, and thinkers and doers of […]
Incidental, or Instrumental?
I was listening to NPR’s TED Radio Hour while flying last week, and I came across a really interesting interview with filmmaker James Cameron. Cameron got involved with deep see exploration after filming the opening scenes for his blockbuster Titanic. I always assumed his involvement with submarine exploration was incidental – he made Titanic, and […]
10 Excuses of Unproductive People
The world is full of people of varying productivity. Some people are highly productive — others are highly unproductive. Most people float somewhere in between, with productive days and unproductive days sprinkled in between. The trick to becoming an effective worker, employee, and boss is to have more productive days than unproductive days. Some people, […]
Meet Praxis Fall Intern Jennifer Johnson
As Praxis continues to grow, we require more productive hands to help change the face of higher education. This fall, we’re welcoming Jennifer Johnson as our intern. Jen will join an exclusive group of young people who not only are exposed to much of the Praxis experience, but also can see how the company operates […]
How to Write a Resume and Influence People
Résumé writing is not simply putting all of your achievements and jobs on a piece of paper and presenting those to a potential employer or an admissions officer. It should be the delicate and painstaking craft of showing what value you bring to their company or their program. It should be the craft of marketing yourself to a […]
Peter Thiel on Markets, Innovation, and College
We had the pleasure of sponsoring the Thiel Summit, a two-day conference for young people who applied to a fellowship run by Thiel Foundation, a program co-founded by PayPal and Facebook co-founder and venture capitalist, Peter Thiel. The theme of the summit is that young people can innovate and bring about the next major technological changes, […]
How to Use Email
I don’t care how old-school it may seem to younger people, email remains the dominant form of communication in the business world. It is absolutely essential that you understand and do it well. Most young people don’t realize how often they shoot themselves in the foot with poor email use. Here are ten tips to […]
Why You Should Work For Free
The following article is excerpted from our book, How to Get Any Job You Want: Advice for Future Career Seekers. Want a free PDF copy of the full book? You can download it here! With young people nearly shut out of the market, I would like to suggest the unthinkable: young people should work for […]
Silly Putty: Its Meaning and Historical Significance
We loved it as kids — that amazing substance called Silly Putty. I recently found a version in a hotel room the other day, re-branded as Thinking Putty. It turns out that the names differ based on the targeted market segment. In any case, the whole phenomenon is curious. How it is that this seemingly […]