“No surge” revolutionized how I run. Then it revolutionized how I live my life.
Without trying to be productive, I became more productive. Without trying to maximize my life, I started maximizing my life. Something changed and I didn’t feel prone to procrastination.
What changed? I had started applying something I learned from competitive running to how I lived my life: a pacing mindset.
As an accomplished long-distance runner, “no surge” is a mantra that runs through my mind when I run. It’s the mantra that I have carried with me in my most successful races. I used the mantra when I ran a 15:36 5K. I used the mantra when I ran a…
Inside the darkness of NXIVM, Keith Raniere’s sex trafficking cult
NXIVM had personal development seminars that claimed to enlighten people and make them happy. People claimed attending the seminars cured them of their smoking habit or fear of public speaking. The organization had Hollywood celebrities, children of heads of states, and business leaders adding to its credibility. Many saw its leader as a god.
A child pornography scandal gave him 15 and a half years in prison
When I was a kid, I remember Jared from Subway, who, in commercials, claimed he lost over 200 pounds just by eating Subway sandwiches and constantly presented before and after photos of his progress. He even showed his jeans of when he weighed more than 400 pounds as a comparison to his then much slimmer weight.
While my brother and I knew that you do much more than eat Subway sandwiches to lose 200 pounds, the effects still stuck with us — Subway became our go-to “healthy” fast-food restaurant. …
Human beings only have so much capacity to strive for perfection.
I believe in quality over quantity. As a teacher, I would rather dive deeply into close-reading a beautiful and riveting paragraph of text than rush through a 15-page chapter. My students get more out of it.
As a writer, I want readers to get the most possible out of my stories. I want them to be entertained, informed, or persuaded, and honestly just feel like it was a good story. As a runner, I would rather cut a run two miles shorter than planned rather than force an arbitrary number. …
This is the most comfortable and relaxed I’ve felt running this much
As a corollary to my last piece about running 60 miles in a week, I love updating the Internet about the status of my training. Last week, I ran 65 miles, upping my total mileage and base. It was undramatic. I barely talk about it unless I’m with friends who run, but it has been otherwise pretty damn boring.
I added one longer run for the week as an addition to my two workouts. I had a busy week back from work and have successfully prioritized running to the point where I can fit it into a busy workweek. …
Dear all Invisible Illness readers and writers,
We will be hosting our first writing contest. As many of you know, our publication is looking for more research-backed pieces and pieces from clinicians. While we love our publication as an outlet for personal essays, we are looking for more submissions from mental health professionals, so we’re initiating a writing contest soliciting submissions!
Here’s how it’s going to work:
If you would like to be considered for the contest, fill out the information and submit a draft to the following Google Form. …
Satire
The Hulk is nothing compared to me
After I got the second dose of my Moderna vaccine, I had many side effects — a fever, fatigue so great I slept 16 hours, and above all, a sore arm. I called out of work simply unable to function, but I did not want to give up my workout. You see, I am an aspiring bodybuilder and want to give up my day job to become a professional lifter one day.
And I was incredibly frustrated my left arm was so sore I couldn’t lift. But I wasn’t going to let that reality deter me. …
Today, lethal injection executions are rare because supplies of chemicals are rare
“In his best mood, Charlie thought that there was nothing to fear in death by injection. He believed that he could set it up to be like the surgery after the first of his bullet wounding,” wrote Dick Reavis in Texas Monthly.
The death penalty has always had a troubled history in the United States. Death by lethal injection, like the gas chamber or the guillotine before it, was first introduced as a more humane form of execution. In particular, authorities looked for an alternative to electrocution,
According to Dick Reavis at Texas Monthly, the first person to die by…
Reflections from an insightful and profound book
When I was young, I frequently Google’d my name. It wasn’t out of arrogance or narcissistic tendencies, but a sheer curiosity of where I would pop up. Growing up, I would never appear when you searched “Ryan Fan.” I would get fan clubs for Ryan Gosling or Ryan Adams, but never the combination of my English first name and my Chinese surname.
These days, it’s different. While there are a couple of doctors named Ryan Fan and an engineer with the same name, my LinkedIn and writing profile are at the top of the list, which I consider a significant…
Most people will need to keep their jobs while starting new businesses
All over the Internet, startup porn dictates you have to quit your job to be an effective entrepreneur. You can be your own boss. You can have flexibility. You can set your own rules.
I understand the mindset behind quitting your day job and not being tied down to your day job, but “quit your job” comes with a tremendous undercurrent of privilege. And it’s terrible advice.
The risks are likely self-explanatory. Your day job provides a safety net in terms of income and benefits, much more than your new startup or business can. Not only do you have a…
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