Week 14 -"The first secret of getting what you want is knowing what you want" - Arthur Hlavaty
Thank you to Chris Williamson for the idea behind todays publication. I've linked the article in which he first mentions the "Alien's eye view" below.
Thoughts of the Week
As individuals, we are driven by various passions and goals. Whether it’s chasing success, finding love, or just making a positive impact, there’s always some driving force behind the things we do. Yet, if we were to examine these goals and passions closer, I presume we’d find out that there’s a discrepancy between what we say we want and what our actions demonstrate we desire.
Chris Williamson makes a great point about this through what he calls the “Alien’s eye view”.
“Imagine an alien was looking down on earth watching you.
The alien knows nothing about human psychology.
It has no idea about your motivations or inner state.
All it can see was what you do. How you spent your time.
What would this alien think you value in life?” - Chris Williamson
Odds are, most of us would see a big difference between what the alien thinks we value vs what we actually do. In essence, we say we want x, but the way we live our lives suggests that we want y.
What I find fascinating about this discrepancy is how easy it is to observe, but difficult it is to mitigate. It doesn’t take a genius to examine one’s life and find the places that either don’t contribute to one’s goals or actually take away from them. But actually changing those habits to take steps towards what we say we want is always difficult. That’s because it not only requires a change from what our “normal” is, but also requires a detailed look at what we want vs what we want to want.
We often mistake our wants and what our friends or family want for us as the same thing. This leads to a life filled with pursuits that never actually fulfill us.
Instead, we should be trying to figure out what we want to want. That is, what could we chase that would create fulfillment and help us become better people? By spending time figuring out what we want to want, we become much better equipped to change our lives to more accurately reflect the pursuits we value.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter and if you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said.
Interesting content I consumed this week
How Miserable Are We Supposed to Be?
TLDR: An interesting perspective from a clinical psychologist on how mental health is part of the human condition
How The Kentucky Derby Became A $500 Million Business
TLDR: A fascinating breakdown of how the Kentucky Derby came to be
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