4 ms·

I think the argument is less about "don't do the (relatively) minor uncomfortable things", and more about aligning yourself so that the major part of your work

I think the argument is less about "don't do the (relatively) minor uncomfortable things", and more about aligning yourself so that the major part of your work is something you love. Love writing, not being an author. Love running a business, not the title of CEO. And if you don't love either of those, find what you love, and put yourself in a situation where that is what you do.

keeptrying 15y ago
Your sticking to the narrative and not what actually happens in a practical sense. You dont get to be CEO till your company has happy customers paying you moeny and your making a tidy profit. Till then you'll do anything and evertyhign thats necessary - most of it is unpleasent. 10% is fun.
- karjaluoto 15y ago
  Maybe being the CEO isn't the point.
  - einhverfr 15y ago
    Ideally the point is doing something interesting and seeing your work change the lives of other people for the better.
    - keeptrying 15y ago
      Exactly. I am using a lot of my time figuring out how to get on a more impactful project. But I think even that would be better served by me judst launching my tiny damn site already!
      - einhverfr 15y ago
        Big impacts come from making a habit of small ones.
- NinetyNine 15y ago
  In my experience, pleasantness and unpleasantness are day to day feelings that sometimes work in my favor and sometimes don't. Many times I have a responsibility which requires unpleasant things, and it makes it more difficult to do, and might make me unhappy if my happiness is based on daily frustrations and successes. That type of happiness tends to have very little to do with our goals. Since it's also very unpredictable, seeking this form of happiness is elusive and error prone. Maybe there's a different emotion I could seek in my life. Potentially that feeling of accomplishment. Accomplishing something feels great. A lot of people have realized this, single player video games were based on the idea. It is, however, not hapiness. Happiness comes and goes. If I allow my happiness to flow and fluctuate and act as it always does, and rather focus on getting that feeling of accomplishment, my attitudes change. When I approach a challenge, I don't focus on whether it will make me happy. When I do that, I think about the immediate perks, but also about all the potential frustrations that accompaygne the task. So I think about it as accomplishment. If I do this task, I will accomplish something. Taking out the trash, 10 points. I don't care about the actual points I have, as the points aren't what I seek. So I don't even keep track. But as games are goals and games have points, it might be easier to connect in your mind with some points. Go out running. Don't think about how long you have to run for, or how fast you have to run. Don't even worry about the clothes you're in. Just get on your street, and run in a direction. Any speed. Any pace. Now that you've started, and you've jogged enough to get warmed up, pick an object a short distance away and race to it as fast as you can. When you get there you'll be winded, and tired, and you might even vomit. Vomiting is just some random frustration though, it has nothing to do with the accomplishment that you just ran faster than you have in the past x years. If you do decide you like accomplishing things, then this pattern of setting goals and reaching them can be done with tasks lists and check boxes. Build a momentum of doing it. The next step is to align your goals to your dreams. Then take that momentum and checklists, and you'll feel more energy than ever to getting what you want done. I'm not specifically referring to you keeptrying, I was simply writing some ideas down and ended up switching to second person since it was more natural for me to write that way.
  - karjaluoto 15y ago
    I like this perspective. There's just one problem with it: while many would likely find it sensible, most don't share your ability act in a rational fashion. I'm of the mind that most people are overwhelmed by impulses; therefore, they choose what's immediately desirable, over what they know to be the right thing to do. Then of course, my post isn't altogether that different from yours, in terms of its applicability to the common person. While I can ask folks to reconsider their motivations, and seek out the things they love, few will in fact do so.

keeptrying 15y ago

Your sticking to the narrative and not what actually happens in a practical sense. You dont get to be CEO till your company has happy customers paying you moeny and your making a tidy profit. Till then you'll do anything and evertyhign thats necessary - most of it is unpleasent. 10% is fun.

karjaluoto 15y ago
Maybe being the CEO isn't the point.
- einhverfr 15y ago
  Ideally the point is doing something interesting and seeing your work change the lives of other people for the better.
  - keeptrying 15y ago
    Exactly. I am using a lot of my time figuring out how to get on a more impactful project. But I think even that would be better served by me judst launching my tiny damn site already!
    - einhverfr 15y ago
      Big impacts come from making a habit of small ones.
NinetyNine 15y ago
In my experience, pleasantness and unpleasantness are day to day feelings that sometimes work in my favor and sometimes don't. Many times I have a responsibility which requires unpleasant things, and it makes it more difficult to do, and might make me unhappy if my happiness is based on daily frustrations and successes. That type of happiness tends to have very little to do with our goals. Since it's also very unpredictable, seeking this form of happiness is elusive and error prone. Maybe there's a different emotion I could seek in my life. Potentially that feeling of accomplishment. Accomplishing something feels great. A lot of people have realized this, single player video games were based on the idea. It is, however, not hapiness. Happiness comes and goes. If I allow my happiness to flow and fluctuate and act as it always does, and rather focus on getting that feeling of accomplishment, my attitudes change. When I approach a challenge, I don't focus on whether it will make me happy. When I do that, I think about the immediate perks, but also about all the potential frustrations that accompaygne the task. So I think about it as accomplishment. If I do this task, I will accomplish something. Taking out the trash, 10 points. I don't care about the actual points I have, as the points aren't what I seek. So I don't even keep track. But as games are goals and games have points, it might be easier to connect in your mind with some points. Go out running. Don't think about how long you have to run for, or how fast you have to run. Don't even worry about the clothes you're in. Just get on your street, and run in a direction. Any speed. Any pace. Now that you've started, and you've jogged enough to get warmed up, pick an object a short distance away and race to it as fast as you can. When you get there you'll be winded, and tired, and you might even vomit. Vomiting is just some random frustration though, it has nothing to do with the accomplishment that you just ran faster than you have in the past x years. If you do decide you like accomplishing things, then this pattern of setting goals and reaching them can be done with tasks lists and check boxes. Build a momentum of doing it. The next step is to align your goals to your dreams. Then take that momentum and checklists, and you'll feel more energy than ever to getting what you want done. I'm not specifically referring to you keeptrying, I was simply writing some ideas down and ended up switching to second person since it was more natural for me to write that way.
- karjaluoto 15y ago
  I like this perspective. There's just one problem with it: while many would likely find it sensible, most don't share your ability act in a rational fashion. I'm of the mind that most people are overwhelmed by impulses; therefore, they choose what's immediately desirable, over what they know to be the right thing to do. Then of course, my post isn't altogether that different from yours, in terms of its applicability to the common person. While I can ask folks to reconsider their motivations, and seek out the things they love, few will in fact do so.