• Short of money? Just gamble on some high-stakes game and your problems could be solved overnight. Day-trading, casinos, horse-racing, the easy solutions on offer here are plentiful.
• Lonely or sexually frustrated? Just head to the local drunken singles bar for a night of meaningless sex. Of course, you'll likely feel dissatisfied and cheap tomorrow, but what the heck.
• Bored or miserable? Just pop a pill, hit the bottle or shoot up. This one's based on the illusion that emotions should be as easy to manipulate as a TV remote control.
• Don't like school? Just drop out and start working for real money instead. Take control of your life and who needs an education anyway?

	Is it better to read fiction or non-fiction?
	One of the most popular articles I’ve written on this site so far has been Five excellent mind habits to develop. It’s been generally well received, but I have come in for some criticism for my belief that it’s a better mind habit to read non-fiction than fiction.
	Many people will do the minimum they can to get by
	Have you ever noticed how many people operate at way below their potential? The genius who works an average office job, the fantastic woman who dates losers, the talented artist who spends all day in front of the TV. Why do such people not put in more effort?
	Seven rules for sharpening up your thinking skills
	Every day we're flooded with information from all sorts of sources. Much of it is trying to sell us some kind of conclusion: “PMart is the cheapest”, “Global warming is the biggest problem facing humanity”, “Susan thinks you’re cute” and so on.
	Common sense is over-rated
	One thing that's held as a deep belief by many people is the wisdom of 'common-sense' or 'conventional wisdom'. They hold it up as the ultimate truth to which we all should aspire.
	Concentrate on problems you actually have
	We all have things about the world we wish were different. If pressed to write a list of problems we wanted solved, it wouldn't take long for most of us to fill a page or more. Many of our efforts are focussed on fixing the challenges we face - from being hungry to avoiding ending up in poverty.
	The four measures of financial success
	If you want to do well financially, you must first understand what it is you have to achieve. It's not just a matter of making more money. Instead, there are four factors you must consider.
	Learn how to weigh up opportunity and risk
	Every sensible person lives with one eye on the future. We go to work so we can get paid next week, we go to school so our life chances improve, we try to anticipate bad things that may happen so we can avoid them, we invest in the future in the hope it will pay off. But of course, the time and resources we have to invest in the future are limited. We can't take every opportunity available to us, so we must choose carefully. And with every choice, we take the risk of loss.
	Ten good rules-of-thumb for investing
	I've been investing money for about 14 years now and have had more success than failure along the way. I've also read a large number of books and articles on good investment strategy. Here are my rules-of-thumb if you want to get ahead in the investment game.
	Most people just want to have their biases reinforced
	When I was in my early twenties, I was pretty sure I had the world figured out. I'd made up my mind about religion, morals, work, politics, love and life. I was convinced that anyone who disagreed with my views on most subjects probably just hadn't thought things through as carefully as me.
	Most people start with a conclusion and then search for the facts to support it
	Most of us realise that the people we deal with in everyday life often aren't rational. They behave in ways that bewilder. They do things that seem immoral, stupid and not in their own interests. They hold beliefs that just seem crazy.

New articles are being added all the time, so make sure you bookmark Paul's Tips and come back.