If you just did what you love, and worked really hard, all your dreams most definitely will come true. Pinkie-swear. At least that's the message the self-help industry keeps touting. The problem is just what they're not telling you: success also requires luck, not everything happens for a reason, and good people don't automatically win in the end.

On the other hand, doing nothing not only won't get anything done, it makes it even harder to start doing something.How to Get Motivated and Take Action: The "Do Something" Principle explains why building momentum might just be the best way to get rolling.

And once you do get rolling, here's the key to productivity.

• This is how sperm whales sleep
• What if the Earth were a middle-aged adult and other comparisons. Human intuition and imagination starts to fail when it gets to really big numbers, but comparisons like these can help put things in perspective.
• Counterintuitive problem: Everyone in a room keeps giving dollars to random others. You’ll never guess what happens next. Another example of when intuition fails us.