> The way Lancelot motivates himself to get past self-doubt in combat is not to care whether he lives or dies.
As Ariely says: Lancelot fights better than anyone else because he found a way to bring the stress of the situation to zero. If he doesn’t care whether he lives or dies, nothing rides on his performance. He doesn’t worry about living past the end of the fight, so nothing clouds his mind and affects his abilities — he is pure concentration and skill.
This is "somewhat" similar to what Steve Jobs said in his commencement speech at Stanford:
> Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
Atwood closes with: "concentrate on the daily routine of doing what you enjoy, what you believe in, what you find intrinsically satisfying." What this fails to take into take into consideration is that unless you are focusing on the "right" things, this pattern can be more harmful. On most days I just want to meditate, catch up with family, exercise and perhaps hang out on the beach or travel to exotic places. I don't currently find work intrinsically satisfying (a majority of the working population don't find their work intrinsically motivating).
This is also bad advice if you are depressed. It just doesn't work then. Most days you want to sleep in, stay within your space, and think about darker stuff. Completely unrelated but the reason many people fail to quit smoking or quit eating unhealthy things is not because they don't know that these habits are bad for them but because in that moment, they are unable separate their desire from what they should be doing for the long term betterment of themselves.
I'm assuming that the author is primarily writing this post for programmers/computer scientists and how they can focus on increasing their skills in their chose field, but this post is generic enough that I though my comment may be relevant enough to add to the discussion.
It's also similar to what one of the older budo teachers said (the text is at home, I'm paraphrasing what I understood):
Mindsets for going into battle/duels can be:
1) Believe you are stronger and will win. It's weak because if it turns out you are not you will lose heart easily.
2) Convince yourself you are stronger without taking data into account. (As in, be positive.) Weak for the same reason.
3) Believe you are doing the right thing, and you want to do it regardless of outcome. According to this teacher, here lies true strength because you will not lose heart even against a stronger opponent.
Outside competing contexts, I tend to think you should give 100% regardless of outcome, but not dismissing it since it's also the greatest data to learn from.
Existential fulfillment, finding some meaning in work or contribution is a need. There's plenty of big hairy social problems that need help: teaching homeless skills, volunteering or getting involved in local stuff. Tons of meaning and joy through helping people for the joy in itself. Even if it's listening to a local colorful individual that lacks friends. Giving back gets more back.
I heard about the Way of St James and Peace corps might give pause for compass finding. I dunno.
> On most days I just want to meditate, catch up with family, exercise and perhaps hang out on the beach or travel to exotic places.
Is there something wrong with that?
As far as I can tell, there exist certain rare people who really, really enjoy things that the rest of the world finds tedious. These people get good at those things, not because they want to be the best, but because they enjoy doing them. It's not weakness to prefer to spend time with family, it's human...
Totally. Perhaps we have so many choices, (claim to) understand so much we are in tune with the banal futility of most of it. It's paradox of choice, extreme existential edition. Make the best of it and find something most interesting, also survivable and occasionally fix broken stuff other people accept by walking past.
As Ariely says: Lancelot fights better than anyone else because he found a way to bring the stress of the situation to zero. If he doesn’t care whether he lives or dies, nothing rides on his performance. He doesn’t worry about living past the end of the fight, so nothing clouds his mind and affects his abilities — he is pure concentration and skill.
This is "somewhat" similar to what Steve Jobs said in his commencement speech at Stanford:
> Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
Atwood closes with: "concentrate on the daily routine of doing what you enjoy, what you believe in, what you find intrinsically satisfying." What this fails to take into take into consideration is that unless you are focusing on the "right" things, this pattern can be more harmful. On most days I just want to meditate, catch up with family, exercise and perhaps hang out on the beach or travel to exotic places. I don't currently find work intrinsically satisfying (a majority of the working population don't find their work intrinsically motivating).
This is also bad advice if you are depressed. It just doesn't work then. Most days you want to sleep in, stay within your space, and think about darker stuff. Completely unrelated but the reason many people fail to quit smoking or quit eating unhealthy things is not because they don't know that these habits are bad for them but because in that moment, they are unable separate their desire from what they should be doing for the long term betterment of themselves.
I'm assuming that the author is primarily writing this post for programmers/computer scientists and how they can focus on increasing their skills in their chose field, but this post is generic enough that I though my comment may be relevant enough to add to the discussion.