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Don't follow your passion. More specifically, stop following self help advice. That's probably where this came from in the first place. Whoever pushed that idea
by gexla 10y ago
Don't follow your passion. More specifically, stop following self help advice. That's probably where this came from in the first place. Whoever pushed that idea probably sold lots of books, so somebody was successful from it.
Success is a big word which lacks information. What is success? I doubt enough people can agree on what success is for anyone to talk about it to a wide audience. For many, success is relative to others, but that's worthless because that perspective puts too much focus on the others (even if it's just a little, it's too much).
As Chris Rock said, Bill Gates would kill himself if he had Opera's money. I could feel down because I'm not where I want to be, but then I walk past homeless people on the street and realize I could be in a much worse situation. And the capable homless person might have a homeless friend who just broke a leg and can't walk. Your situation can always get worse until you're dead, in which case you don't care anymore.
We're all just trying to survive in the jungle. Even if it doesn't feel bad for us, it's still someone else's horror show. In the jungle we just have to assess our surroundings and use what we can to keep improving our situation. But we'll still always be in the jungle.
As Bear Grylls says, keep moving. Success is in the small wins that you can rack up every day by the handfulls. It's making a little progress. It's sharpening a stick. It's setting up a shelter. It's building a trap. Just keep moving. Even the failures are wins as those failures carry information.
That's probably not very helpful either. I would make a terrible self help person. ;)
- paavokoya 10y agoSuccess is a big word which lacks information .. Even the failures are wins as those failures carry information. Exactly. This is why "self-help" books don't work. You're listening to someone else's path which has no application to yours. Yes, certain motives may be similar but the method and journey are always unique. Make your own path and never stop moving. Life teaches better than any book.
- TheSpiceIsLife 10y agoI'm not buying this uniqueness argument. There are 7 billion people on the planet, surely we have a lot in common with at least a few of them. If listening to someone else's path had no application to our own there'd be no pointing hanging out on HN, or talking to anyone in general. To the contrary, in my experience a lot can be gleaned from hearing other people's stories.
- paavokoya 10y agoYes, certain motives may be similar but the method and journey are always unique This has nothing to do with "conversing" and everything to do with advice-driven self-help books which use vague terms to supersede wisdom similar to astrology.
- dasil003 10y agoI dunno, there's a lot of wisdom in books. The bigger issue as I see it is essentially that talk is cheap, and getting results takes action. The problem is when you read a self-help book you get a little dopamine boost which makes it feel like you're making progress when you aren't (at least not yet, not until you put the information into practice). I think a lot of people get stuck on these little micro-dopamine hits and never get beyond that.
- paavokoya 10y agoa lot of wisdom in books I specifically said self-help books.
- moises_silva 10y agoI used to dismiss and mock self-help advice and books. Certainly there's lots of crap out there, but someone I care about has actually been helped by a few. Not all are created equal, not all are authored by people that wants to cheat people with low self-esteem, some people actually care and has the knowledge to do it.
- hood_syntax 10y ago> Even the failures are wins as those failures carry information. > That's probably not very helpful either. Probably the most helpful advice a normal person can get. The ability to reflect on and learn from your mistakes is essentially the only foolproof method for improving yourself.
- brianlenney 10y ago1000% agreed. We almost always learn more from our failures than our wins.
- perseusprime11 10y agoMost of these books also fall short on defining success. Is success money? Is success happiness? People can have lot of money but not be happy or healthy. Is that success?
- yannyu 10y agoFor those who are as confused as me, Chris Rock's joke is that Bill Gates would kill himself if he had as much money as Oprah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81p65CBg5G4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81p65CBg5G4 I spent far too long wondering why Chris Rock knew anything at all about the Opera browser.
- jeffbr13 10y agoFirst suggestion for that video is actually the one where he makes the joke. The one you posted starts just after :P <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8BtHZWGB8c> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8BtHZWGB8c>
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- yannyu 10y agoShoot, my mistake. Thanks! Too bad I can't correct it. For those wondering, the joke is at 1m28s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8BtHZWGB8c#t=1m28s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8BtHZWGB8c#t=1m28s
- CuriouslyC 10y agoYou need to be passionate about what you're doing, if you want to be truly great. That doesn't necessarily mean change what you're doing, it could mean just change the way you view it. A passionless life is just a slow march towards death.
- Avshalom 10y agoa passion filled life is also just a slow march towards death.
- CuriouslyC 10y agoI think a passion filled life is more of a spry cavort, a dance, or a lively trot towards death, personally.
- truth_sentinell 10y agoNo, it's not. Passion is the only thing that gives us real purpose. Without purpose, you might as well be dead.
- Bakary 10y agoHe probably means that whether your life is passionate or not it is still delineated by your eventual death.
- Radim 10y agoPassion is a bunch of factors (including your hormonal responses) conspiring to better explore the evolutionary mutation/branch that is YOU. Yes, putting energy and "passion" into your unique abilities may enable you to reach your potential. And perhaps ultimately decide whether this particular mutation was worthwhile, in the long run. But if you think "purpose" has some mystical meaning, and judge your existence on achieving it... Passion has evolved only as means to an end, and is not worth glorifying. Not any more than you'd glorify "hunger" or "pain" or "pride". It's an optimization technique in the rat race called "evolution".
- 10y ago
- vacri 10y ago> As Chris Rock said, Bill Gates would kill himself if he had Opera's money. No he wouldn't. He's said before that once you can afford the most expensive burger, all the extra money doesn't do much more for you. And even if he went bankrupt tomorrow, he could earn the average annual wage in one or two speaker's fees. Gates isn't going to be left hurting for money.
- throwaway049 10y agoThe joke would be in poor taste if it was literally true, but it is funny because we would all assume that is not the case.