Leonard Alf

Winter in Venice is just around the corner. Days of rain intermixed with weeks of soft gray skies, perhaps a few days of snow. And a sharp, ache-inducing cold. It reminded me of one of my old rituals from last winter. Like all my “habits of high performance”, this one is based on a very […]

Since the end of this hectic, crazy summer, I’ve noticed that my self-discipline is lacking tremendously. It’s not just that I’ve gotten out of the habit of waking up at 5:30 am or eating after 2:00 pm (two things that I did consistently this year until July and that had a huge impact on my

As more and more people have started reading this, I’ve had to constantly rethink and question what kind of content is truly coherent and authentic to me. The original idea behind this blog has always been that of pure self-expression, and I’ve come to see how the pressure of having people these posts has, in

In the Phaedrus, Plato (through his mouthpiece, Socrates) shares the allegory of the chariot to explain the tripartite nature of the human soul or psyche. The chariot is pulled by two winged horses, one mortal and the other immortal. The mortal horse is deformed and obstinate. Plato describes the horse as a “crooked lumbering animal,

I’ve been working on this for the past few months. I had actually been planning to write a book on the subject, but, having the platform to immediately share and get feedback, I thought I’d give it a shot. So what is this “GAP System”? It’s a process that systematically takes you through all the

You are not the voice in your head. The system with which you make decisions is much more complex than that. And before you understand how to better discipline yourself, you should first know how you make decisions in the first place. You can think of the brain as an onion, with different layers that sit

Continuing yesterday’s thoughts …Effort (or time, or attention) is a currency, and like any currency, if you spread it out over a wide area then you will get wide-spread, mediocre results. If you concentrate on one point, it will give you a better result in that place. It is better to own a beautiful apartment or

When you start working towards your dreams, you need to expect that it will take a long time for you to see any objective progress. Sometimes a matter of months, sometimes years. 90% of people never master what they set out to do because they expected to make some immediate progress, and, when they didn’t

Something I’ve been thinking about for a long time now is this: what exactly is the key to sustainable self-motivation? This is especially important when you want to undergo a period of radical transformation. How is it that you sort out the mental aspect. I mean, you can lay out a very efficient plan, and

It’s the last day of summer. The beginning of a new school year has always been monumental. It’s like a new beginning. In a way, September 12th is my very own new year. I always take a few days off for some reflection. That being said, I’m at a place in my life where I