Dear Reader
Welcome back! Readership is a writer’s reward. I appreciate your time and attention!
It has been some time since I posted here but this project remains important to me. By way of diving back in, I’d like to revisit my hopes for this website and address the reasons for its existence. What, in other words, is eQuips advanced?
A couple of years ago now, I invested in myself and took a long break from full-time work. That enabled me to step back and reassess my life, exploring my sources of ambition with fresh eyes. I realized something. Although my career earned me a good living, and did give me a sense of purpose, I still wasn’t whole. – There was something more, something richer, I had to contribute.
Somehow I had to find my voice – and footing – as a writer. Starting a blog became an obvious, accessible, and exciting new direction for me.
I spent three or four months writing on topics that I cared about. I knew going into it that I was passionate about teaching critical thinking. But as I explored the things I wanted to share, I saw that I was drawing from two other core principles. Until then I had failed to see the entire equation!
There was something more, something richer, I had to contribute.
Advanced Thinking
At last I arrived at a key insight. My project would be to convey an ethos of advanced thinking – the critical element, the logical element, being only a piece. The total package must include a spiritual component of courageousness. It must also include an imaginative, quixotic, element.
Because a combination of bravery, intellect, and creativity transforms mere effort into excellence!
Advanced thinking puts you in the driver’s seat. It is a prerequisite to accomplishing something greater than the sum of your day to day struggles.
People talk about working smarter rather than harder. I’m talking about living and working with all your essential faculties in play. That is what I mean by advanced thinking. That is what eQuips advanced is about.
Now the name does not convey the humility with which I in fact put myself out there. But playing small is not the order of the day. There is “nothing enlightened about shrinking,” as Marianne Williamson has shown with such affect. – So we will rank brevity over modesty as we forge ahead.
Because a combination of bravery, intellect, and creativity transforms mere effort into excellence!
Quick Epiphanies, Practical Philosophy, and a bit of Whimsy
I want this website to be a resource for forward thinking professionals, on the go in a fast paced world.
Short quotations have power to catalyze your thinking. These quips – these “eQuips,” of you will – aim to catch your eye and stimulate your brain. The words of famous authors and philosophers, successful entrepreneurs, artists, or witty thinkers from any walk of life, lend themselves to quick epiphanies.
With my own essays, I aim to offer practical philosophy. I challenge common paradigms and offer new perspectives. I convert big ideas into simple mental models and show how to apply them to a range of problems. I provide tools to make you more effective in your personal and professional life.
Also, of course, we need a bit of whimsy! There is wisdom in the impractical as well. Thus we follow Henry David Thoreau’s lead. We build our castles in the air – where they belong – and then we build foundations under them!
I challenge common paradigms and offer new perspectives.
More to Come!
In an upcoming series of essays I’ll breakdown the elements of advanced thinking. I will highlight the three key parts and show the significance of each for life.
* Hyperlinks will be added to the index below as they are published. *
eQuips – Part 2: CRITICAL THINKING
The series will constitute a kind of mission statement for this blog. I hope it will further answer the question “What is eQuips advanced?”
I look forward to growing as a philosopher and honing my craft as an essayist. Please challenge me as we move forward together. Your constructive feedback will be invaluable!
My very best regards!
David J. Haskell
Contributing Editor
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