On Solid Ground is a forum for sharing ideas and values that you find interesting, enjoyable, or useful toward flourishing. We invite you to submit:
- Articles about ideas for loving life or defending freedom
- Reviews of books, podcasts, or videos you find valuable
- Personal-development tips, strategies, or tactics
Submissions are moderated for alignment with the purpose of the blog and may be edited for clarity and brevity. Read submission guidelines here.
Contributors here offer their own ideas, which do not necessarily reflect those of the staff or managers of OSI.
Freak Out with Tom Papa
Are you ready for intelligent, benevolent comedy? Let me introduce you to Freaked Out with Tom Papa. So much comedy is cynical or mean spirited or just not funny. This one-hour routine from 2013 is a beautiful exception. Tom Papa: Freaked Out appeals to the...
Helen Keller’s Five Keys to Being Happy
Once I knew only darkness and stillness. Now I know hope and joy. —Helen Keller. In 1882, when Helen Keller was nineteen months old, an illness left her blind, deaf, and consequently dumb. For the next five years, she lived essentially as a wild animal in the...
Ira Glass on Closing the Ideal-Actual Gap in the Creative Process
Several years ago, while procrastinating in graduate school, I discovered a short video clip that helped me at the time—and has now helped me again. The clip, posted below, is of Ira Glass, the award-winning producer of the radio show, This American Life,...
Eleanor Roosevelt on Being an Individual(ist)
“Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one.” – Eleanor Roosevelt. What is an individual? The Cambridge Dictionary gives us a few definitions, the first two being: “a single person or thing,...
Freddie Mercury’s Smiling in Heaven
The sight of an achievement [is] the greatest gift that a human being could offer to others. —Ayn Rand. This week for Soul-Fuel Friday, I’d like to share three powerful performances by Angelina Jordan. This thirteen-year-old Norwegian singer recently...
We invite you to submit a post to On Solid Ground. Read our submission guidelines here.
Featured Posts
Improve Relationships, Teams, and Communication with Radical Candor
“Care personally, challenge directly.” These are the basic ideas that management coach Kim Scott suggests for being what she calls “radically candid,” a method of being honest and compassionate, especially when it comes to giving feedback. Her book Radical Candor is aimed at corporate managers, but most of its advice is applicable to any relationship.
LevelUp 2023: TOS-Con’s New Name, Date, and Location
Objective Standard Institute’s summer conference—previously called “TOS-Con”—is now “LevelUp Conferences.” Level Up 2023 will be in Phoenix, Arizona, June 21–24. The venue is the Arizona Grand Resort and Spa.
Five Great Life Lessons from the Music of Rush
Music can be a powerful tool for enriching our lives. It can bring us joy, or provide solace during tough times. It can inspire creativity and spark passion. Some music can also teach us valuable life lessons. This is the case with much of the work of the Canadian progressive rock band Rush.
Pushing Forward with “Extreme Ownership”
Are you experiencing leadership challenges at work–with employees, supervisors, or peers–and seeking examples of what excellence looks like? Or maybe you’re looking for motivation or inspiration to get you through difficult moments in your life, or simply to keep pushing forward. If so, then perhaps “Jocko Podcast” is for you.
Ella Enchanted: A Fun Celebration of Freedom
Imagine a Cinderella story that’s about something deeper than just a girl being swept off to become a princess. Ella Enchanted, a 2004 film starring Anne Hathaway, is exactly that: a fun film set in a medieval-style kingdom with fairies and elves that demonstrates the importance of freedom.
