Introduction
Welcome to The Human Owners Manual. Each of you reading this is the proud owner of exactly one human: yourself. This manual, like any other owners manual, is designed both to help you understand how your human works, to explain troubleshooting tips and necessary maintenance, and generally to help you learn how to operate your human to the best efficacy and efficiency - to achieve the best results possible given the available resources while expending the least necessary amount of effort or time. This manual is primarily mentally focused rather than physical (though not exclusively) - understanding how your mind works, what practices or habits may be handicapping you unknowingly, and what approaches you can use to maximize your own achievement. We will discuss how you can strengthen the abilities you were born with, mitigate or otherwise avoid those things which weaken your position, and help you better understand - and in so doing, better interface with - other humans that exist around you, whether that is business or personal relationships, romantic or platonic, family or nemeses (or both).
This is not a self-help book. Nor is it an entrepreneurs’ business course, though the truths presented here are likely to help you in those and countless other areas. In short, this is about how to operate your own self at the highest levels of skill and aptitude because your self is your only tool for influencing the world around you or for making a better life for you or your loved ones. Succeeding at any of your goals or relationships depends firstly and unavoidably on operating your self at your highest capacity: understanding how your mind works and the various parts that contribute to how you think, feel, and believe; understanding the limits of your influence and power, and using every bit of the real estate up to that boundary, but not over; and helping you better understand your surroundings and the forces at play, and thus better predict and navigate outcomes and obstacles.
Format
I’ve chosen to present this body of knowledge in the form of a wiki-style interconnected set of articles ranging over a both a wide and deep series of topics. It was originally intended to be a book, but in trying to outline the basic structure of some of these concepts, I found that each explanation would require deeper understanding of other, not necessarily common-sense ideas, and chasing each one down the rabbit hole would result in a very difficult and convoluted narrative arc. My goals in presenting it this way are both to allow the reader to do either a high-level sweep or a deep dive on supporting premises, further researching the reasoning behind and beneath some broader conclusions in a way that would be difficult or cumbersome in a traditional book format, and also gaining the advantages of a living body that can be amended or corrected as my own understanding grows and matures.
Please note however, that because of that continual growth, there will always be articles that I intend to write, but have not yet had time to get to. These may be linked to placeholders in other articles which they support. If you find one of these placeholder links and it sounds like something you want to hear more about, please let me know so that I can know where best to focus my efforts to help the most people. And check back often to see if your favorite potential article has been updated.
Where to Start
If you are not sure where to begin, the First Thesis article provides a good starting point as it is a short overview summary of everything this site is about with many links deeper into the archive that will allow you to explore wherever your ADHD wants to take you. You can almost use it as a table of contents for the top-level concepts presented here.
If you have something specific you want help with however, here are some of the more popular topical articles:
Pricing
This site does not have a paywall of any kind, no trial period, no ads and no “members only” section. I do wish to get paid for my labor and time, but I have chosen to leave the pricing up to you, the viewer. If you feel that this information holds little to no value to you, by all means, enjoy the content and do not feel obligated to pay anything. If you find my content valuable or helpful in your journey, however, I would ask that you pay what you feel is fair, even if it is just a couple bucks. You can use the tip button below to easily contribute and support my continued work.