In January 2010 I wrote a post asking whether you were running the best version of yourself, built around a software metaphor — defrag your mind, update your…
Read more Are You The Best Version of Yourself? – Checking In After 16 Years – Dragos RouaIn 2016 I brainstormed ten frameworks for defining success because I couldn’t find a single one that covered everything. My general approach back then was that before making…
Read more The 2026 Definition of Success – 10 Years after I First Tried My First One – Dragos RouaIn 2010 I wrote 33 ways to overcome frustration, opening with the confession that I had significant personal expertise in the subject. The core argument was a reframe:…
Read more Frustration as a Growth Signal – Revisiting After 15 Years – Dragos RouaIn 2009 I wrote seven ways to say no, motivated by the observation that most people don’t practice the word. My framing was almost entirely technical: saying no…
Read more Why I’m Still Learning to Say No (17 Years Later)In 2015 I argued that life has no inherent meaning — and that this is its most liberating feature. It wasn’t nihilism — on the contrary: if nothing…
Read more Life Has No Meaning – In 2026 I Still Think This Is Good News – Dragos RouaIn 2014 I reviewed The Diamond Cutter by Geshe Michael Roach — a book that maps Tibetan Buddhist principles onto business management. The author ran a diamond company…
Read more The Diamond Cutter, 12 Years Later — Buddhism as a Daily Practice – Dragos RouaIn March 2009 I published 77 reasons to love your life. Almost 5,000 words. The list that started with the fact that you’re breathing and can read, and…
Read more 77 Reasons to Love Your Life — Why I’d Write This Differently After 17 Years – Dragos RouaIt wasn’t a field when we bought the house in Massachusetts, but that’s what it ended up being. At first, there were massive junipers that lined the circular…
Read more Lessons Learned: Gardening My Rewilded Front Yard – GardenistaA couple of weeks ago I shared my blueprint for vibe coding iOS apps in coffee shops. The post was well received (and the Reddit snippet made over…
Read more Vibe Coding Lessons: Build iOS Apps in 7 Days + Genesis PromptLet’s say you got lucky and caught some crabs today. The safest way to prevent them from escaping is to put the whole lot in a bucket. Doesn’t…
Read more How To Deal With Crab Mentality, the Reddit Flavor – Dragos RouaEvery few months I write movie reviews here. Sometimes for the lessons, like my Kung Fu Panda 2 piece, which became quite popular. Sometimes just for movies I…
Read more Squid Game Seasons 2, 3 Review: Was It Worth It? – Dragos RouaWhen you become location independent, your network of people changes drastically from what you had when you lived in a stable place. You no longer have access to…
Read more Networking 101 for Location Independent People – Dragos RouaAnn Nichol’s home and garden in Oakland, CA, is impossible to miss. Fortunately, there is ample street parking on her block to pull over and gawk and be…
Read more Garden Visit: An 81-Year-Old Daily Gardener in Oakland Shares Her Lessons Learned – GardenistaI made it. Today I turn 55. So far, my survival rate is 100%. Not bad. Actually, it’s way better than “not bad”. I call this decade the…
Read more 55 Life Lessons I learned in 55 Years – Dragos RouaI never thought I will have the chance to write something like this again. If you read my blog for some time, you may remember my “7 things…
Read more 7 Things I Learned From My One Year Old Son – Dragos RouaIn October 2019, I sat down and wrote a blog post predicting ten ways artificial intelligence would disrupt our lives. At the time, I was deep in the…
Read more My 10 AI Predictions From 2019: A Reality Check – Dragos RouaHindsight is a wonderful thing: After you’ve planted, say, a tree in the wrong spot, everything becomes clearer and more crystallized—including where you should have planted it. Making…
Read more A Garden from Scratch: 8 Mistakes I Made as a Beginner Gardener“It’s easier said than done” didn’t occur to her when she had listed a couple of things she’d like to achieve before the year would end. Racheal would…
Read more Story 2: Obsessed With SkinnyI’ve been following up with a guy on social media for months without him noticing me. It was on a Wednesday, 20th April 2017 when he buzzed me.…
Read more Story 4 – Could I Be To Blame?Growing up we all had that big dream that we hope to achieve, feeling like nothing can go wrong. We all had ambitions and choices of occupation we…
Read more Story 3: The Journey To My Goal
