Prioritize developing critical thinking and creativity skills, as these are fundamental for navigating an uncertain future and for personal development.
Actively educate yourself on propaganda tactics, particularly the dehumanization of out-groups, to recognize when it’s being used and consciously resist its influence on your empathy and actions.
Cultivate an understanding of the inherent limitations of your own internal models of the world and actively work to comprehend the models and perspectives of other people.
To foster understanding and reduce polarization, intentionally build ‘complexified relationships’ by finding common ground and shared interests with others before engaging in discussions on divisive political issues.
To extend the window of brain plasticity and keep your brain changing, constantly find new things that are a real challenge for you, ensuring they are frustrating but achievable.
To maintain brain health and build new neural pathways, especially as you age, remain actively engaged in social responsibilities, chores, games, and interactions, avoiding passive activities.
Aim for directed plasticity by consciously guiding your learning and skill development, understanding that total, undirected plasticity (like that of an infant) is not desirable.
Make a ‘Ulysses Contract’ by setting up safeguards in advance to prevent your future self from succumbing to temptations or making poor choices, thereby ensuring desired behaviors.
Utilize your unique human capacity to simulate possible futures and consider your future self when making decisions, as this helps avoid short-term actions that would not serve your long-term well-being.
Consciously choose what you pay attention to and what memories you cultivate, prioritizing meaningful experiences over trivial distractions to enrich your life.
To experience life as though you’ve lived longer, actively attend to your experiences and consciously form memories, rather than passively letting life wash over you.
Actively seek out and engage in novel experiences, as doing so causes your brain to write down more memory, which in turn makes periods of time feel longer in retrospect.
Spend time developing yourself along every axis of life, such as being an athlete, a scholar, and fostering a good social life with many friends, to build a healthy, well-rounded nervous system.
Achieving mastery in skills requires consistently spending significant time practicing the activity over and over again, burning it into the brain’s hardware for efficiency.
Brain plasticity is significantly enhanced when learning is driven by curiosity or engagement, as this creates the optimal neurotransmitter environment for information to stick.
When you are curious about something, seek out information and answers immediately, as learning in the context of curiosity makes information stick more effectively.
To enhance critical thinking and gain a 360-degree view of issues, engage in debates with AI on controversial topics, practicing arguing from both sides.
To cultivate creativity, first learn foundational knowledge, then practice taking that knowledge and remixing it by bending, breaking, blending, and creating new versions.
To combat discrimination and ensure fair evaluation, implement ‘blind’ processes (e.g., blind auditions) that remove opportunities for bias based on irrelevant factors.
To ensure you follow through on positive habits, involve social pressure by committing to activities with a friend, as their expectation will motivate you to show up.
To break an unwanted habit, create a Ulysses Contract by putting money on the line with a highly aversive consequence if you fail.
To avoid unwanted behaviors, proactively remove temptations from your environment, as your future self may be vulnerable to them despite your current resolve.
To ensure you follow through on positive actions, prepare in advance (e.g., placing running shoes by the door) to reduce friction, anticipating that your future self might be less motivated.
To ensure you are always on time, make a Ulysses Contract with yourself to consistently arrive five minutes early for all commitments.
To increase productivity, happiness, and attention, use a separate, older phone exclusively for social media, preventing it from being your default distraction.
Employ a physical phone lockbox to enforce digital breaks, and consider extending the lock duration as a self-gift to enjoy the freedom from constant temptation and distraction.
To maintain brain plasticity, once you become proficient at a task (e.g., crossword puzzles), stop and find a new activity that presents a real challenge, rather than continuing with what you’ve mastered.
To enhance brain plasticity and make life feel longer by creating more memories, regularly switch up routine activities, such as brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand.
To enhance brain plasticity and observe new details, intentionally take different routes for regular commutes, even if it adds a minute, challenging your brain’s internal model.
To enhance brain plasticity and challenge your internal model of the world, make simple changes to your physical environment, like rearranging your office or swapping paintings on the wall.
Intentionally create and fully attend to meaningful social gatherings, such as dinners with close friends, to cultivate deep presence and experience the richness of life.
Actively seek out and highlight shared commonalities with others, particularly in online interactions, to build a foundation of mutual understanding and increase willingness to engage in respectful dialogue on contentious topics.
Engage in a perceptual exercise by shifting your attention from your internal body sensations to your immediate external environment, and then to vast cosmic scales, to gain perspective and flexibility in your experience of time.
Engage in learning a musical instrument for personal enrichment and learn a second language, as it is extremely useful for communication and forces the brain to do enriching work.
To achieve superhuman proficiency in a specific area, devote a substantial amount of your brain’s ‘real estate’ (through focused effort and practice) to that particular task or skill.