That which is enough does not need to grow. That which grows is never enough. Bear, further down this post. Yet a man must be enough, as well as seeking growth. How does he balance, teetering on the edge between stagnation and worthlessness? There is no easy answer, no true answer at all. Perhaps a false dichotomy has been set, insomuch as there is no inherent conflict between finding comfort in one’s being, and having a desire to grow....
Storing, mapping and making use of all the learning opportunities life throws in your face is a devilishly tricky discipline. There are three major components to memory: Encoding, storage, and retrieval. Writing about things that matter to me, is my way to make sure I frequently train encoding, storage and retrieval of the most important data. By writing book reviews, I try to make sure the most important pieces are retrieved, pinned to my existing cognitive map with as many wires as possible, before being stored again....
In everything I do, I try to find purpose. I try to find beauty. I try to find art. There is a way to stand, speak and move that is all of these things. In this form of elevation there is a measure of comfort. There is opportunity. There is something to be found. The beautiful way is not the simplest. The purposeful way is not the easiest. But the story worth telling hides in the art....
A meditation on the power of bias and story. I lie frequently and with great energy. I lie with reckless abandon. I lie until the lie I told is true. I lied about being an avid reader until I started reading every day. I lied about being brave enough to speak on stage, until I was looking out at a crowd, alive. I lied about being a structured professional, until I became a team leader....
What if everyone had a fixed monthly budget dedicated to making people happy? Regardless of size, such a budget flips a conceptual switch in the mind. You must optimise for happiness. You become a happiness optimiser. You are forced into serious consideration about what actions would bring most joy into the world. What a way to step out of the egocentric, and into empathy. You consider the question “how can I make this person happy” on a frequent basis – but even better, you consider “how can I make this person most happy”!...