Measuring life
Knowing how to live my life makes it easier and more fulfilling for me to live. This is how I measure mine. Am I honest? Am I courageous? Let me briefly explain. First, do I have hard talks with myself as to what I want to accomplish in this short period on Earth? Or do I just live on auto-pilot, letting others (especially society and people around me) determine what I should strive for. Second, do I muster the courage to go after what I want to experience? Or do I succumb to the narrative of others.
Comfort is the enemy of contentment
Everything you want is on the other side of comfort (fear, pain, fatigue). It's biological/ psychological and it's known as hedonic adaptation. I figured that if I want to live contently, I should live honestly and courageously. Honestly in a way that I respect my inner wishes. [Only I know what they are!] And courageously in a way that I act in line with them. If I do that, I live contently. The thing is, moments at 100% contentment are moments at 0% comfort. Living life at 100% discomfort leads to the most fulfilling life. But, I am just a man. Sometimes I just need to get through the day, experience life at 100% comfort. [Extra: I call Mark [...]
Celebrate what matters
Most people celebrate birthdays. Surely one doesn't get to celebrate to make it one more year, does he? So, what is so good about being one year closer to death? I don't celebrate birthdays. I celebrate experiences. Not outcomes, experiences! The Ironmans I entered, business offers I submitted, projects and relationships I fully committed. Sure, sometimes it is hard to genuinely celebrate an experience with a negative outcome. In moments like that I usually remember two things: There's nothing dishonorable in losing. Not only that, it's shows the courage to fight a worthy opponent. To risk your comfort for contentment. It's experiences that make me grow, either positive or negative. So, in the long run, if I want to [...]
What gets measured gets improved
I am sure you've heard the above phrase coined by Peter Drucker. We are obsessed with reaching or even surpassing the numbers. If we can quantify and measure, we can and probably will improve. It's easy to measure a persons' or factories' or countries or X's output. But, should we measure and improve it just because we can measure it and get better at it? Shouldn't we only measure what matters? Here's a caveat. Can we even quantify, let alone measure all the things that matter? Can you measure your relationships, contentment, feeling that you're living in line with your purpose or values? In our society obsessed with hitting the numbers, aren't we neglecting the immeasurable qualities that we can't [...]
Principles
Why is living a life with principles simpler? Because in essence principle is a master decision. A decision that eliminates the need to make many decisions of lower order. It's much simpler to live a life with a few principles than 1000's of rules. It makes the decision process faster and constantly reminds us of the big picture.
Feeling bad when making a right decision?
Has it ever happened to you that you felt bad even though you made the right decision? Our brains consist of two systems; system 1 (emotional brain) and system 2 (rational brain). Systems are not completely aligned. Usually its the emotions that move us, that make us want something. The ratio merely figures out how we are about to achieve it. The problem arises when ratio comes up with a wish, that don't product a positive emotional response. When we set out to pursue a wish (goal) that was the sole product of our rational mind, we don't "want" it. This is why we don't want to change the behavior even if we know that it is hurting us [...]
