Miles' Thoughts

On the paradox of choice and why routines are important in preserving mental energy for the most important tasks: Traveling to new places with different cultures is one of the most exciting things I've had the privilege to do. You know what else it is? Exhausting. The same qualities that make it so interesting and enjoyable also make it stressful and incredibly mentally taxing. Having to consciously evaluate and choose between seemingly infinite options on everything from where to eat and how to get there to which mountain or temple to visit next takes a lot of work and mental energy. In this paradox is a truth which you can easily flip onto its head in order to improve your own day to day life. The reality is, no matter who you are, every waking second of your time can't be filled with brand-new, exciting activities (though most people's Instagram accounts - including my own - would lead you to believe otherwise). There are plenty of tasks that simply need to be comple

Sometimes I forget that behind all of these bright city lights there's a sky full of stars. It's funny to think that many of them no longer exist, that they're so far away that it takes the light years and years to reach your eyes. As words like Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) become more and more prevalent, it's interesting to think about what reality even means. Those stars we see, the ones which aren't actually there anymore, are they real? When are they real? Are they real to everyone simultaneously? I have a feeling between new technologies and mental frameworks this question of what is reality will only become increasingly blurry.

Are you trading time for money? Is your entire business model built on that idea? There are some people who would argue that the direct exchange of hours for dollars is foolish, limited in potential upside, and simultaneously difficult to scale. Generally speaking, I agree with all of those arguments. Service-based businesses can't explode like SaaS companies or even physical product companies can. But that being said, some of the most esteemed professions that exist today - doctors, lawyers, management consultants - all do just that, the direct exchange of time for money. Sometimes this exchange is based on a Fixed Fee model, and the practitioners who are particularly efficient may ultimately profit at a higher rate than their pricing is designed to provide but most of the time businesses in these industries are based on some sort of hourly rate. Their potential earnings are capped by the number of hours in the day and vacation days come at a high price to the organization (parti

Observations about how technology is changing the way we work, and those not paying attention will get left in the dust. Computer technology - most notably the internet - has made communication across the globe much easier. This means that an accountant in Wyoming can collaborate with a developer in Romania with little more than a laptop and internet connection. You no longer have to find someone with the specific skillset you need within your same geographical area, so now the pool of skills is much, much larger. In a hyper-connected world where the average person has access to this massive pool of skills, suddenly you don't need as many generalists and a lot of human capital is freed up to become incredibly specialized. With low communication barriers and lots of specialists, we all win. Think of a small town that just has one doctor. In the past, that doctor would have to know a little bit about everything. If you had a fever, you went to that doctor. If you broke your arm,

It's that time of year again and everyone is getting amped up about filing taxes, right? Well regardless of whether your president will be paying his or not, chances are you have to. And if you're like many people, it's a kind of painful process that results in you owing the IRS a little bit of money. Not to worry though because I've got a tax secret no one is talking about . Guaranteed way to pay less taxes, period! To set the scene, let's talk about how income tax works for just a moment, as many people don't actually understand this part. Since this is the most boring subject on the planet (literally), we'll keep it simple: The tax bracket you fall into is not the rate at which all of your earnings are taxed Instead it works in tiers. You pay a certain percentage for the dollars that fall within each tier. For example, if you filed as a single person for 2016, you paid: 10% on the first $9,275 Plus 15% of the dollars between $9,276—$37,650 Plu