What Drives Us: Exploring the Hidden Forces of the Mind

How to Live is a weekly newsletter that delves into the unseen forces shaping our thoughts and actions. Blending psychology, philosophy, art, and personal experience, author Amanda Stern distills complex ideas into compelling narratives that confront life’s hardest questions. Join over 13,000 readers for sharp insights, revelatory ideas, and darkly funny reflections—all to make life a little less lonely and profoundly more human.

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The Entire Library

How Humming Can Change Your Life, Balance Your Nervous System and Calm Your Mind.

Guest Post written by Eddie Stern

Eddie Stern

Albert Bandura on Self-Efficacy: The Science of Confidence and the Belief in One’s Potential

Why Confidence is a Practice, Not a Trait

Amanda Stern

December TL;DR

Pieces too long? Read this monthly summary!

Amanda Stern

Feeling Before Thinking: What Susan Sontag Taught Us About Experience as the True Language of Understanding

Why Direct Experience Transcends Academic Knowledge

Amanda Stern

Year End Gifts For You

A non-denominational virtual stocking

Amanda Stern

The Science of Connection: What Four Decades of Attachment Research Reveals About Our Deepest Human Bonds

Understanding the Invisible Architecture of Human Attachment

Amanda Stern

Missing Link Plus Maira Kalman and Laurie Anderson

I'm sorry, I can't stop...

Amanda Stern

How to Live's Annual Gift Guide!

What We Give Reflects Who We Are—or Who We Wish to Be

Amanda Stern

To Endure, One Must Evolve: The Next Phase of How to Live

What Comes Next

Amanda Stern

On the Fault Lines of Loyalty: What Drives Us to Choose Sides in Friendship Rifts

The Fragile Equilibrium of Friendship

Amanda Stern

A Special Sleep Edition

Amanda Stern

The Self Divided: When Reality Falls Short of Our Own Expectations

Taking stock of myself.

Amanda Stern

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