#98 The Socializing-Solitude Alternation

ByLukas
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Appreciation arises from contrast.

How can I enjoy food without knowing what it’s like to be hungry?

How can I appreciate the beauty of a painting without comparing it to something I’ve experienced as ugly?

How can I appreciate social connections without being familiar with solitude? (Not loneliness. Solitude.)

Constant connectivity (especially shallow connections through social media apps) without breaks from socializing numbs the whole bonding experience.

Alternating socializing with solitude warms the heart.

Inspired by Cal Newport’s excellent book Digital Minimalism.

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    #279 Aligning your beliefs with your innate ability

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    Whether you believe you can write today or not, remember: there’s no physical law, not even a mental barrier stopping you from putting pen to paper or opening your phone or laptop and writing.

    Start like this: “I am writing.”

    Do it now.

    Then keep going.

    See?

    Believe whatever you want. Change your beliefs however often you want. Your innate ability to write is steady.

    And if you know that, why wouldn’t you align your beliefs with your innate ability?

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    #96 Massive addiction, minimal value

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    Nobody chooses to get addicted to social media.

    We chose to get something of value: stay connected with friends. Stay up-to-date. Discover interesting voices.

    Then we get addicted through features that bring little value: likes, notification signs, flashy videos hijacking our brains. That’s where the addiction creeps up to you.

    If the interests of social media apps (make you spend as much time as possible on the platform) start deviating so much from the original reason we started using them…

    Is massive addiction worth the minimal value?

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    #176 Cling and let go

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    We cling the most, not to our prized possessions we worked hard to obtain, but to the painful patterns that both hurt us AND keep us comfortable.

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    Who do I want to be?

    Which actions will turn me into the person I want to be?

    Which actions STOP me from turning into that person I want to be?

    Which of my actions, habits, and tendencies am I frustrated about, but simultaneously perpetuating?

    Which painful patterns am I scared to let go of because they have been instrumental in making me who I am today?

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    #142 Overcalibration

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    Giving up on your intentions once doesn’t mean you’ll always give up.

    Quitting a workout routine or diet once doesn’t mean you’re doomed forever.

    Giving one clumsy speech doesn’t mean you’re a bad public speaker forever.

    Learning from the past is good. But predicting the future based on a small set of isolated past experiences is overcalibration.

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    #102 When dreams turn into certainties

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    Elon Musk has the rock-solid belief that someday, he’s going to put people on Mars. He doesn’t hope for it. He believes it’s inevitable.

    Whether his belief becomes a reality or not is irrelevant. What matters are the actions and grit his faith inspires in him and everyone working with him.

    That’s the rock-solid determination extraordinary feats are built on.

    But you don’t have to dream of interplanetary travel to reach stellar levels of determination.

    What would you do if writing a new book isn’t just optional or desirable but inevitable?

    What would you do if mastering an instrument isn’t just possible but inescapable?

    What happens when, in your mind, you turn a dream into a certainty?

    How does that change your actions? Mindset? Beliefs? Feelings?

    How much easier does it become to persevere?

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