Personal Blog » Michael Alexis

Everything I Know

This article started its life as a “30 things in 30 years” post.

But then two things happened…

The number of things I wanted to share ballooned past 30; and
I turned 31

So instead, this is a running list of “everything I know”; important life lessons that have proven true for me. I’ve written it specifically for growth minded people that would prefer to learn from my mistakes then stumble through years of barriers on their own. As my friend Carolynn put it, “I wish I’d gotten this when I turned 21. Would have saved me some headaches later.”

I’ve categorized the items for easier reading and I ruthlessly cut out fluff. I recommend you read this article carefully, like you would read a book.

teambuilding.com reviews

Hi, this post is by Michael Alexis, the CEO of TeamBuilding. This page includes reviews for teambuilding.com. teambuilding.com reviews are comments, ratings and testimonials from clients of the company TeamBuilding. For example, you will find five star reviews from staff at organizations like Apple, Amazon, Google, Netflix, Johnson & Johnson and many others. These reviews … More

纽约攻略: 自由行攻略和景点推荐

这是小编第一次到米国，还挺激动的。第一次来当然是选择了所有人来??的必经之地—纽约, 来感受下这个美国人口最多，最多元化的城市。

小编此次的行程一共是7天，很庆幸可以不用那么赶着逛景点。但是如果你的体力足够好，可以承受从早9点逛到晚9点，那只需要3天就可以玩遍纽约的所有景点，如果还有充裕的时间，可以用剩下的几天压压马路，逛逛街边小店也是不错的。

How to Write an Essay or Research Paper (Better Than WikiHow)

One of my high school teachers told me, “Michael, I wish I could fail you so you’d be in my class again next year.”

Mr. G also gave me advice about becoming a lawyer, “not all lawyers are rich, you need to make sure you love the work.”

In the end, Mr. G did not fail me, and I did go on to become a lawyer. Along the way, between high school and college I wrote 250+ papers, and in doing so I became an unofficial expert on how to write essays and research papers.

8 Million Books to Read This Weekend

Some books are good and some are kind of shit.

The shit list also includes many best sellers.

“Best selling doesn’t mean best written” – Genghis Khan

? Some of the best books are barely known ?

Productivity Tips For People Who Like Sleep

Ironically, for the past year or so I’ve had a note on my to-do list to write out my favourite productivity tips.

Space Dinosaurs: Why T-Rex Rules the Galaxy

By any rational approximation, Earth is not the only planet in our galaxy capable of supporting life.

For starters, the Milky Way is home to roughly 250 billion stars, many of which have their own cornucopia of planets, satellites, asteroids, etc.

Mortality as a Second Class Motivator

Here’s something which fires me up:

“You only have one life to do everything you are ever going to do.”

However, this isn’t a unique thought and IMO it’s not even that interesting:

I think about it often; and
It’s held up by bloggers and life coaches everywhere as the ultimate motivator. “You only live once! Life is short! Go big or go home!”

Individual life IS short, especially on a cosmic scale, and you can add a further limiter that few folks include in the calculation: your healthy and able-bodied life is even shorter.

And so, acknowledging your mortality and death’s grip can be motivating to get shit done. I find this perspective energizing, at least for short bursts, but confronting your mortality is at best a second class motivator. There is something looming just a little further outside our consciousness which IMO is much stronger.

Child Slavery Talking Points

When I wear my Child Slavery is a Solvable Problem hat, it starts a lot of conversations.

A guy at Chipotle will say, “I love your hat!”

A dude on the subway will say, “keep fighting the good fight, brotha’”

A lady at an event will say, “that’s such an important message.”

Much of the time, people are just giving kudos — it’s enough to reply, “thank you! It’s something I’m passionate about.”

But sometimes these folks want to share their story or ask questions. If you wear this hat, people will ask you too. So, I created this quick list of talking points to help you navigate the convo. These answers are similar or simplified versions of what I usually say.

DIY Mini Air Filter

This is a quick blueprint to making your own mini air filter, perfect for travel, cubicles or small apartments. The cost to build one air filter unit is about $12, and replacement filters are 10 cents each. The unit takes 5 minutes to assemble and doesn’t require any special equipment.

The New King of Convenience: Why Dozens of Costa Rican Bodegas Are Going Out of Business

At the top of a long mountain road, deep in the Costa Rican countryside, is a small, unassuming convenience store: Mini Super Economico.

As far as convenience stores go, Mini Super Economico is unremarkable; it’s more of a shed really, with a stock of a few dozen products, mostly staples, and a sleepy shopkeeper at the till.

One peculiarity, however, made this bodega notable: it was attached to a luxury home buzzing with labourers and an expensive new truck, all of which are unusual for the area and certainly outside the spending power of the small shop.

Where is the money coming from?

My Core Values

I think many people are aware of, or at least would agree that I operate by a set of core values, but very few could tell you exactly what those values are. That includes me ? This post is an attempt to share that list of values and their meanings, plus my thoughts on the definition and importance of values.

Piff the Magic Dragon Review

Last night I went to a Piff the Magic Dragon show in Peekskill, New York.

I’d rate the show 7/10, even though I’m probably not the target market for it.

Piff is more comedian than magician, and he’s actually pretty funny – though there was a difference between what I’d seen online and the on-stage performance. The show has more “put people down” humour, and less of the casual irreverence that I find entertaining. Example: Piff was on America’s Got Talent, and when it came time for the judges to review him, he started eating a banana. It’s just good, clean funny.

There were a couple of moments in the show that IMO crossed the line from irreverence to inappropriate. Example: Piff invited a lady up on stage and made a joke about how “she likes dick.” The audience seemed to find this funny, and it’s possible that me having the moral standing of a sensitive nun is partially at fault.

However, this article isn’t really about the show, it’s about a case of sexual harassment that America seems to have missed. Let me tell you about it…

How to Cure Brain Fog + Feel Awesome!

If you have brain fog then you probably have one of these health issues: cognitive impairment, neck pain, brain fatigue, poor digestion, rashes, headaches, excess weight, trouble sleeping, depression, anxiety, or one of many others.

Reality: Nobody feels 100% all of the time.

I’m writing this article because you CAN feel awesome if you follow a really strict health regime that I’m including here.

Disclaimer #1: It’s really hard to cure brain fog and feel awesome, and pretty much nobody does everything it takes to get better. How long does brain fog last? Taking action, and depending on how terrible you are feeling you may need 2+ weeks completely dedicated to taking care of yourself to clear the brain fog. Untreated, brain fog can last for years.

Disclaimer #2: I’m not a doctor, and if I was then other doctors would consider me a quack. This article is a personal account of what worked for me to clear over a decade of brain fog, neck pain, digestive issues and other symptoms.

Here’s my story for context and so you can see how this plan worked for me…

Sex Tourism’s Evil Twin / Is Your Best Friend a Rapist?

A few years ago a friend made a comment…

“Whenever I hear about a single guy going to Thailand I assume he is going for the prostitutes.”

It’s inaccurate and unfair to lump every guy in that category, but it did get me thinking; who is going abroad for sex?

I’ll share the answer in a moment.

First, let me give you some context…

Maybe It’s Not All In Your Head

If your car broke down, you would take it to a mechanic.

Sometimes it’s a good mechanic, and sometimes they are so-so.

And it can be hard to tell the difference…

It’s the same with your doctor. I think we have a cognitive bias that doctors know everything that they should AND come to the correct conclusion in your specific case.

It’s not true – doctors can be wrong.

“Doctors are like mechanics.”
— Geoff Martin

Following are two specific examples of when my doctors were very wrong, and the point is you should have healthy skepticism when visiting yours.

My Favourite Netflix Hack

Netflix is an insidious monster eating your life.

Seriously, Netflixzilla is right up there with low job satisfaction, sitting in traffic and air pollution.

Why?

Because the Big Netty is leeching your time via “binge watching”; two words that when they come together you should completely loathe.

Here’s what’s up…

Beware Books with Subtitles

Awhile back I published a list of books I read; I wanted to be seen as someone that reads a lot of books.

And it works, friends would say “Michael, you read a lot of books.”

“I know”, I’d reply, nodding my head in smug agreement.

And then it got carried away…

“I don’t use laundry detergent” and 7 Other Things I Do

A few weeks back I submitted my website to a user experience app; it helps you understand what an unknown visitor is thinking by providing quick video reviews. The reviewer looked at my site, muttered “pretty typical content” and then went back to her weekend. For Julie H. in North Carolina that was just another Saturday, but for me it was mildly scarring. I refuse to publish ANYTHING that is typical, and today’s post is another example of me sharing focussed nonsense that you won’t read anywhere else. In today’s post I’m sharing 9 things I do; at best this may inspire you to reconsider your defaults, but more likely you will realize I’m a total weirdo. Here’s the list…

How to Get Out of a Slump

I think about the future a lot.

I think about where I’m going to live, and what I’m going to work on, and how it’s going to feel.

And while I believe thinking is a great first step to planning, it’s not always the best trade off in brain power. All the energy you spend thinking about five years or ten years from now could go into taking action this week instead.

Whenever I’m feeling totally in a slump, I use a strategy I call Five Day Plans to get out of it. Five Day Plans is the only way I’ve been able to successfully build multiple habits at once. And I believe that building multiple habits at once is a powerful force multiplier for performing at your best.