Don't try to salvage what's rotten

Sometimes some things end. But we refuse to accept it and try to salvage it. First, it's imp...

I often see people pissing away their time. If they don't have a task, they just sit idle. Ever...

So I was listening to the Lex Fridman podcast. In that particular episode, his guest was Walter ...

There are no rules in this world. There are only actions and consequences. You can do whatever ...

Why is boredom good for you? How to be bored? All this and some more is covered on this article.

Many of us incorrectly estimate the work that needs to be done.

We'll discuss the main reason why people quit their new habit and what to do to make habits stick easily.

Learn what you need to do in order to make change happen.

How to stay focused and get more done in a busy world full of distractions? Learn about that - and some more - in this post.

Social conditioning is a state in which people do stuff that other people do - not because they ...

Style and fashion are very subjective and rules can be broken if you know what you're doing. Bu...

"Aspiring photographer", "self-taught developer", and "junior front-end engineer" are some of th...

To live (almost) anywhere in the world and do your work independently where ever and whenever yo...

This is the first - and by far the most important rule - when it comes to getting people to be o...

For the past few years, I've had to teach myself quite a few new skills. And I've experimented...

Isn't it quite insane that only so few people out of the so so many do what they want to do in l...

You probably set goals such as "get fit", "lose weight", "quit this bad habit", and "learn a lan...

But 99% of people are not going to do it. They won’t do it even if it’s essentially proven that ...

So I recently began reading - or rather, listening (read by the author by the way!) - to Jordan ...

I'm no military expert, but I do understand some universal principles that never lie. These prin...

Most of the so-called "unlucky" events in our lives are actually good ones. At least they can ea...

The idea is this: if you can't do the first best thing - the ideal - then do the next best thing...

entitlement (*noun*): complete lack of emotion with regard to deserving something or someone. G...

I've come to realize that we often give up on our goals too quickly. I'm not sure why it is, but...

Sometimes we live in a tiny world. E.g., when there's not much going on in our lives, it may f...

> God, give us grace to accept with serenity > the things that cannot be changed, > Courage to c...

> “Academia doesn’t want too many unmotivated people to attempt medical school, so they set up a...

Are you afraid to say bold things or express your opinion because you're worried that it *maybe*...

High-value people have many traits that separate them from the regular mass. In this article, I...

Why is math considered a subject that some people seem to get and others don't? Why isn't, e.g...

I used to call myself an atheist. I thought the idea of some god sitting up in the sky to be pre...

We often tell ourselves things like "be calm" or "cheer up". That is - we try to convince oursel...

I see this tendency where people feel the need to apologize constantly. It makes me nauseous. A...

A while ago, I wrote that the best workout app is the Centr app. I think it was about a year ago...

Python? Java? JavaScript? I started with JavaScript. It was the very first language I used to w...

I don't relate to most people around me. I feel distant from them. The way they talk, how they...

I believe it's investment. It's not touching the hair or the position of legs or even the eyes....

Do you know how to convert binary numbers into a decimal? How do you know that 11010 in binary i...

If you pay close attention, you can recognize these types of guys easily. They're not necessari...

Because nobody else will. Nobody will come to save us. Nobody really cares if we make it or not....

Political correctness. Also known as one of the most toxic diseases of the modern world. Polit...

What are we going to talk about today? I don’t know, but let’s just run with it. It’s Saturday ...

So, I just learned Python. It took me a few days to pick up the syntax and build a couple of si...

There are a thousand ways to achieve success in any area of life - whether it be material wealth...

"No" is ten times a better word than a "yes." "No" is clear and genuine, whereas a "yes" can eas...

My dear reader, I want to give you a little tip to be a more effective learner. Maybe you alread...

Form over speed is a principle usually (at least to my experience) repeated by physical exercise...

Probably the most valuable epiphany I've gotten since I began coding - or rather - since I learn...

What is the differentiating factor between people who have seemingly iron-strong discipline and ...

Focus - my favorite topic. I've talked about it in this blog either directly or indirectly quit...

What a positive note to cast with a blog post during Christmas, right? Our society is obsessed ...

First, I want to stress that even though I believe this to be a universal principle, it's still ...

I think everyone should try to build their own empire. What do I mean by that? Let me start by...

Many people are constantly looking for ways to do everything faster. They are into speed-readin...

I thought I'd share with my readers something slightly different. As some of you might know, boo...

The idea is this: we're either in expansion mode, which means that we're thriving and moving up ...

> “We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” > > ...

A novel from 1954 - by Remarque - taking place during WWII. I rarely read fiction. However, thi...

I thought about giving you - my dear friend and reader - a small update regarding this blog. *...

I’ve been recently pondering whether thoughts produce emotions or do emotions produce thoughts. ...

Intelligence is one fascinating concept. And there might be more variables to it than we might t...

Let's talk about social dynamics. In every interaction, there's the person who's setting the rh...

Gyms are closed, even the outdoor ones. This pushed me to find a way to train at home harder tha...

Some books recommend labeling feelings/emotions. E.g., that it's a good idea to put a name on a ...

When I lived in Taiwan, I had the opportunity to stay in an apartment in one of the older parts ...

If there’s one key component to becoming really good at anything, it’s - yes, you guessed it - o...

If someone would dump their garbage to your yard, would you be cool with it? Probably not. In fa...

The law of use - which is one of the laws of the Universe - states that if knowledge has been re...

Spiritual teachers talk about this concept of outcome independence. It means that one shouldn’t ...

Purpose. Life is ruthless. We all know that. Sometimes it feels as if the boot of life is hitti...

To appear interesting, you first have to be interested in it. We tend to focus too much on ours...

Imagine if everything we’d do would go smoothly and without any challenges. This would be a pret...

We tend to focus on what business people call the “lag measures” - the things we can’t measure i...

I’ve come to realize that people who get things done and achieve great things - successful peopl...

Now, when I say “deep identity change,” I’m not talking about a complete and total change of you...

As human beings, we are constantly pinging off the environment. There are a couple of reasons f...

I have always been a fan of long walks, but not until recently; I started to do these walks with...

The answer is: you can’t. The almighty Universe doesn’t work like that. If you want to take som...

I’ve been recently experimenting with having no Internet at home. Before anyone labels me as “e...

I find amusing the notion that the young kids nowadays are all considered “tech wizards” because...

When it comes to social media - there are three types of people: people who don’t use it, people...

We’ve all heard this question. Some hear it constantly by their jealous peers who try to rationa...

For the past few years, I wasn’t really sure where am I going with my life. I didn’t know what d...

Christmas is coming, and many people all over the world promise to either quit smoking, fix thei...

Have you ever heard the saying “knowledge is power”? Well, let me break it to you: knowledge is ...

There’s an interesting anecdote about a zen master Bassui Tokushō (抜隊 得勝) in the book “Zen Radic...

> _“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”_ > > Oscar Wilde Only you can be the best at...

If I had to pick five habits that I consider life-transforming, they would be the following: wak...

First, as Ray Dalio wrote in his “Principles”, you can have just about anything you want, but no...

Everything that happens to you is your fault. Always! E.g., when you’re a team leader, and your...

Seeking for recognition implies that you’re not in control. You’re essentially at the mercy of t...

The whole concept of “waiting” is silly. It’s an illusion, really. What is there to wait, anyway...

How often have you seen people on social write about what they’re going to do? Many call themsel...

We often don’t see the polarities that are practically everywhere. Some say that god exists; so...

Our mind is not on our side when it comes to personal growth. It’s as if it tries to sabotage ou...

Confidence is not about knowing that you will succeed. It’s the knowing that no matter what happ...

Most of our problems are just us comparing ourselves to others. If you would be the only one in...

Our thinking process tends to be quite narrow when we consider the cause and effect aspects of o...

We’ve all heard the saying that “the grass is always greener on the other side” - that it’s easi...

Never think that a goal is unattainable. I used to think that this or that goal is not for me b...

I used to have a mindset that when I pick up a book to read, I have to finish it - even if I don...

This is an awesome tool I got from David Goggins’ book “Can’t Hurt Me.” If you haven’t read it a...

> “Pablo Picasso was notorious for sucking the energy out of the people he met. His granddaughte...

I’m different than most people. That’s not me being cocky - that’s a fact. I know this because w...

Here's the thing. If you're not moving up in life, you're moving down. Same thing with our brain...

The fear of rejection is one of the biggest and most common fears people face. It’s the kind of ...

Most people are only concerned with consuming without thinking about the return of value. They w...

My whole life, I wanted to wake up early in the morning, Yet I always failed at this, no matter ...

If there’s one thing that the people who are great at socializing have in common, it’s the abili...

There are days when we feel absolutely shit. In those days, we might not feel like doing our wor...

In Buddhism, one of the main themes is the illusion of identity. It means that who we think we a...

The following story might be familiar to you. Especially if you’ve read “The Subtle Art of Not G...

“How’s my hair today? “, “What about this grease on my shirt?”, “What will people think if they ...

If you haven’t already, go to a bookstore or Amazon and get that book. It’s one of the best book...

## Be picky about what you read It took me until recently to realize that when it comes to read...

> _“To progress again, man must remake himself. And he cannot remake himself without suffering. ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue5oHmUGiMM

The attention span of a regular millennial is apparently [12 seconds](https://www.visioncritical...

There’s an awesome book called “The Dip” by one of my favorite authors, Seth Godin. What is” th...

Roughly 80% of wealth is owned by 20% of people, 80% of crimes are committed by 20% of criminals...

While doing your work, have you ever suddenly discovered yourself dicking around watching Youtub...

I’ve been experimenting with binaural beats for a while now and come to the conclusion that they...

More, more, more, and more. This is the mindset of an average consumer, as well as the mantra of...

> “Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee? But in the end one needs more courage to live ...

In an interaction, we usually focus only partly on what the other person says - the second part ...

This method is so powerful; it’s the equivalent of using a machine gun in a fight where everyone...

## Why we lose control of our emotions? There’s a great book called “The Chimp Paradox” by Stev...

We have so much more control over our lives than we think we have. Understanding this is, in es...

Meditation creates a gap between the impulse and reaction. Here’s how many people go through th...

Do the most important thing in the morning. The **first** step is to find out what your goal is...

The price of the car is not only the price you pay to acquire the car. There's also the price of...

The infamous like button - first created in 2005 and then popularized in 2007 at FriendFeed (lat...

The human brain is a constantly growing living organism that regenerates new brain cells (neuron...

Don't try to shut down thoughts and emotions - they're a natural part of us. Instead, do not get...

We need more stillness in our lives. There's too much noise. Just think about how your mind is b...

Stoicism is most likely the best form of philosophy out there. The reason is this: it’s practica...

Apparently, Zeus had nine daughters with Mnemosyne called the Muses. They represent the source o...

Don’t ever apologize for who you are, what you like, what you enjoy, and what you want. Be absol...

For quite some time, I've been pondering about why do we judge other people so much and how to s...

> “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” > > Jim Rohn Many peo...

There are some things in life that you not only want to have or achieve - you absolutely must ac...

If you’ve read Mastery by Robert Greene, then the following story is familiar; if not - here is ...

If you’re an artist or a business and you’re building your following and business on someone els...

What brings success? What gets you to your goals? Is it some big breakthrough? No, it’s the smal...

Giving feedback is a sort of a delicate thing. It’s delicate because it’s very easy for people t...

What’ve I’ve noticed is that not many people have the ability to hold two or more opposing ideas...

Focus on the people that appreciate you and your work. Don't focus on those who don't. They don'...

Show up no matter what. Show up every day, not because you need something from others but becaus...

Instead of working on ourselves to _look_ cool why not work on ourselves to actually be cool? W...

So, today morning started very interestingly: first I damaged my shoe to the sharp edge of a foo...

Some people use the escalator or the elevator and then go to the gym to use the treadmill or the...

Seth Godin calls it the lizard brain, Steven Pressfield calls it the resistance. However you wan...

I think it’s so cool we can nowadays learn almost anything we want to learn. All the information...

I think that authenticity has become one of the scarcest resources. There’s so little of it out ...

Almost anything is better at small than big. Small is compact, weighs less, is more portable, us...

What do we need to know to make decisions? It turns out we might often be very wrong about the d...

If you do an audit on your life, how much time do you spend escaping your life and how much of i...

Here's something you might've not known about yourself: in your field, you're probably not as go...

I like to write articles. Even though I might not write good ones every day, I write every day, ...

Checking your phone for news, updates, emails, notifications for new messages, feed updates for ...

I’ve only recently started to realize that eating breakfast might not be better than eating brea...

Have you ever wondered how much data comes on our way every day and moment? How many pieces of ...

There's no need to categorize ourselves. We're often too worried about who we are or in which bo...

Writing makes you think. It’s impossible to write without thinking at least a little bit. Every...

There are three main levels of operating in this world.  Spiritually speaking, people at the lo...

Here’s the thing: our unconscious mind runs the show. Whatever is down, there affects us - and i...

We all judge other people in some way or another. Even if we don’t say anything out loud, in our...

In the 1970s, Michael Zeiler experimented with pigeons by rewarding them after they clicked a bu...

Follow instructions, shut up, do as you’re told, don’t stand out too much, don’t ask too many qu...

I think so. Being positive is not the same as being happy or feeling great. These are emotions....

Help others - share tips, start a blog, or a Youtube channel. Offer value for free without wanti...

Hi, and good morning or evening - depending on where in the world you are - I hope you're having...

[Typora](https://www.typora.io/) with the Newsprint theme. ’It’s the best writing program ’I’ve ...

Many people get really angry or frustrated when they don’t get something they think they deserve...

I used to struggle a lot with being able to hold a conversation. I often “ran out of things to s...

Here are two ideas about competition.  First, there is the idea that competition puts producers...

Some things just need to be done. We don't want to because that particular way might be uncomfor...

Everyone wants to have a better life. A life without problems where everything is easy, and ther...

I don’t think it’s a good idea to have a camera in your bag. Either have your camera around you...

There is no middle. It can only be one or the other. You're either moving up (upward spiral) or ...

Momentum is one of the best things in life. It’s valuable, and if you don’t appreciate it enough...

We all have that need to be liked. Some more than others but nevertheless we all want people to ...

I think in most cases, quantity weighs over quality. Especially when it comes to making art. Th...

Steve McCurry (born 1950) is known mostly for his amazing portraits - especially for the famous ...

Everyone is constantly on their phones. People don’t say “hi” to each other, let alone know thei...

We tend associate negative emotions with something "bad" and positive emotions with "good." How...

I was having a small dinner at the **Kou Xuan Pin Spicy Stinky Tofu** restaurant - a restaurant ...

How many people are stuck in a job that they hate? Why is it so? The answer to the first questi...

As some of you may know, I am based in Luxembourg officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (_Gro...

I believe all artists have these “blocks” every once in a while. Feeling of discouragement or la...

People like to put art into boxes: “this is a painting, this is sculpture, this is photography, ...

If you avoid eating carbohydrates and eat healthy fats, your body will start to burn fat for fue...

Step number 1: Write down what you _really_ want to do in life. Step number 2: Watch Into the W...

## **Intro** Lu Nan (born 1962) is a legendary Chinese photographer and a Magnum correspondent....

## Intro Mikhael Subotsky (born 1981) is a South African artist. At the age of 25, he was one o...

Here’s a thought: it’s not about what you photograph, it’s about how you photograph. We put so ...

By “fear,” I mean more the “what do other people think of me?” type of thought process. Lately,...

Everyone has heard the old adage “A picture is worth a thousand words.” It implies the notion th...

I hope you're all having a great day so far. Some of you may be wondering why I write about top...

## Intro Marc Riboud (1923 – 2016) was a French photographer. He joined Magnum in the fifties a...

I’m not going on a long rant about social media and smartphones and how these things significant...

This is the title of Ben Horowitz’s book. The guy who built a company from scratch and then sold...

The US intelligence services were highly criticized for not detecting the 9/11 attacks even thou...

I recently received an e-mail from a follower who asked me how to know if a photo is good enough...

“I’m a professional; I don’t do this; I don’t do that; I can’t do that; this is not me” are some...

## **Introduction** By “good,” I mean good. I don’t mean becoming a master - that’s another sto...

A couple of days ago on one evening I took a piece of paper and wrote on it: “What do I find fun...

I regularly look at some of my own photographs and re-read my own articles. Not because to evalu...

Learn the top important things in street photography portraits

This is the tendency I have noticed (and I’ve been guilty of this of course): we read or listen ...

## Tip #1. Turn pro This is the term Steven Pressfield uses. What he means by turning pro is t...

This is a follow up to my article [“Focus on your strengths.”](https://kristjanvingel.com/posts/...

I think the biggest issue with social media is not even that its _mostly_ a waste of time and it...

## Intro If you do any kind of art or creative work, then I really really really really recomme...

> As is true for so many things, the best time to have built your network was yesterday. The sec...

Many photographers and artists don't have their own website. They rely solely on Instagram or so...

Every once in a while, there is an article or a story of a photographer who complains about clie...

Business geniuses Eric Ries and Peter Thiel talk about this false hope of” build it, and they wi...

One of the best ideas I got from Erik Kim (besides owning your platform) is to use your real nam...

Forget about SEO and all the fancy optimization methods, word of mouth is probably the most powe...

There’s a story of Isaac Asimov having great admiration for Carl Sagan and his books. This is wh...

Providing value means continuously putting stuff out there. Blogging consistently, making videos...

So that, you the artist, wouldn’t starve to death. No, but seriously. Otherwise, you risk endin...

We tend to think that some people have stronger willpower than we do. If we give in on something...

We all have that thing we want to do, but we’re not doing them. I’m not talking about some to-do...

We are sometimes too quick to judge and categorize events as good or bad. E.g., you want to get ...

Other than paparazzo’s hunting down celebrities, street photography may be the most controversia...

In photography, isolating your subject(s) is essential, and a sign of a quality photo. There are...

We have this tendency to think we have to do XYZ to become good enough. Right now I suck, but if...

We want to fit in and that’s what we’re being told to do. We want to be different, but not to th...

Steve Jobs said that. At least, it's attributed to him. There's a story concerning the shipping...

I'm find it almost always amusing when someone comments on some video or article that this or th...

You've probably heard about the famous 10 000 rule (popularized by Malcolm Gladwell). The idea i...

If you take a homing pigeon, put it in a cage, cover the cage and drive the bird thousands of mi...

A lot of us want to make art and share it with others, but we also feel that something holds us ...

One of my articles got recently published in [PetaPixel](https://petapixel.com/2019/07/06/a-guid...

The idea behind the title is this: the quality of your input, determines the quality of your out...

When we are in an environment where we don't know anyone or most of the people, we tend to be in...

We live in a world of too much. There’s so much going on all the time and so much to do. I reme...

## Intro First things first. For me, street photography is more than just taking candid photos....

How much differently would you treat yourself? If you’d look at yourself from a third person’s ...

If there’s a formula for success, it would be this: simple actions + time = success. We often t...

One of the biggest epiphanies I have had is the importance of giving value. I'm pretty sure that...

I see a lot of these “Everyone’s a photographer until M” T-shirts on Instagram. For those of you...

Ever wondered why some photos are shot in horizontal (landscape mode) and others in vertical (po...

To be “goal oriented” is something you can see a lot e.g. in job advertisements. “We're looking ...

Leonardo Da Vinci started his day by writing down the things he wanted to learn that day. Most ...

What is congruency? It's when your thoughts, words and actions are aligned. It basically means ...

The subject to background separation. This is one of the most important aspects of photography a...

I posted about this on Twitter as well a while ago and thought elaborating on it a bit further. ...

Ego gratification, that's why. I'm going to write a book, I'm going to establish a business, I'...

Ego gratification, that's why. I'm going to write a book, I'm going to establish a business, I'...

The main reason is this: You'll be a lot more happier. You'll be able to actually enjoy photogra...

I am quite curious about the subject myself and read couple of books about it as well. Perhaps t...

## Introduction: read me! Whether you're an established portrait photographer, aspiring street ...

Note: This is a long one, but depending where you are in your life, it might change your life. L...

First, we need to understand the “what.” This is my understanding of art: It’s not just painting...

Imagine 3 waiters. Two of them are excellent at their job. They are quick, don't mix up orders, ...

## Introduction to the "why" There is no way to start this article without the famous quote by ...