Mastering yourself is true power.

“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; maste [Coach Tony]( Coach Tony [@tonystubblebine]( “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.” ~ Lao Tzu This quote hit me as I was thinking about all the efficiencies and productivity boosts you get as you come to know yourself and what is important to you. Basically, getting comfortable in your own skill is the ultimate life hack. _ More on the life hack of using personal philosophy to make your life simpler and easier. If we know what we want, what we don’t want, and why we behave in a certain way, we can better navigate people in their interactions with us. From [How To Better Understand Ourselves and Design Happiness With the Triangle Profile]( by [Nina Greimel]( Another angle on the danger of social comparison. I have a one and a three-year-old and I have not had optimal sleep for almost four years. I can’t have a heart-to-heart with an infant and a toddler, explaining their needs are interfering with my sleep. It doesn’t work that way. From [You Can Design a Personalized Approach to Sleep Without Sleep-Shaming]( by [Zachary Walston]( I don’t have kids, so you should take everything I say about my own productivity practice with a huge grain of salt. Sure, I had to go take my dog for a walk. But compared to many of you, I’m playing the game of life on the easiest level. “A useful mental construct.” A reader wrote to me: > The only point I would beg to differ on is that willpower is abundant. I’m glad he called that out so that I can clarify. I meant that given Carol Dweck’s research on willpower and belief, I thought it would be useful to pretend that willpower is abundant. Yup, pretend. I’m not much concerned with whether willpower is truly abundant or not. What I suspect is that if you can pretend it is abundant, you will find that you have significantly more. In self-improvement, it’s rational to be irrational. To pump myself up to embrace the irrational, the unscientific, the wu-wu, and the weird, I tell myself, “this will be a useful mental construct.” I know, it’s a weird concept. But it’s rationally justified by the fact that we aren’t rational people. _ If you like this newsletter, [please share it on Twitter](. Don’t miss out on the other issues by Coach Tony [Become a member for $5 per month]( Did you enjoy this issue? [Yes]( [No]( [Coach Tony]( Coach Tony [@tonystubblebine]( Tips, inspirations, and knowledge on productivity, happiness, health, and making an impact on our world. Official email of the Better Humans publication on Medium. (@bttrhumans) You can manage your subscription [here](. In order to unsubscribe, click [here](. If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe [here](. Created with [Revue by Twitter](.