Hi, there!

I’m Stewie. I write about how to build a better life by questioning reality and the status quo. You’ll find over 100 posts here, and many of them fall into three categories:

  1. How to stop being a mindless consumer
  2. How to be a good person
  3. Tech workers’ guide to distraction free work

About me

I live in Utah, USA, with my two amazing children and my incredible wife. By trade, I am a software developer and have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

Random bits:

  • I love making lists! For Christmas, my kids got me a 12-pack of legal pads.
  • Myers–Briggs Type Indicator: INTJ
  • Aspirational Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
  • Most likely Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Books I recommend

My Quest

For 20 years, I’ve been plagued by a few questions:

  1. What’s the most effective way to live in harmony with others?
  2. What’s the right way to live?
  3. What should we do with our short lives?

I’ve analyzed people, their interactions, and how they go about achieving their goals. I’ve read dozens of books about interpersonal communication, relationships, and achievement. I worked for many companies and reflected on things that went well and things that went horribly wrong. And just as importantly, I considered how I contributed to the chaos. I studied Buddhism and Taoism and have a peripheral knowledge of a dozen other world religions. I’ve explored how they solve human problems.

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I think I have a few ideas. Within these blog posts are the things that I wish someone had sat me down and told me when I became an adult. Or maybe people did, but I was too stubborn to listen. (This happens a lot!)

Hopefully, you’ll get something out of them.

Questions & Answers

Q: What advice would you pass on to the next generation?

A: 2 things:

  1. Take care of your relationships because you need other people to survive. And succeed.
  2. You’ll spend hundreds of hours to become competent in a skill. And thousands of hours to master it. So pick something and stick with it.

Q: How do you deal with doubt in your work?

A: I accept that what I produce today will be rubbish. And my goal is to create something a tiny bit better than yesterday’s rubbish. After three years, I might even make something good.

Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of being your height

A: I’m short for a man. But if I’m ever in a Jason Bourne situation, where I need to disappear in a crowd, I’m golden.

Q: How often do you read your horoscope? Do you believe there’s any truth to it?

A: Never, really. There’s enough truth-sounding info in them that nearly anyone can find a way to apply them to their life.