I’m reading Mark Manson’s “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck,” and the entirety of Chapter 5 is focused on this idea: “There is a simple realization from which all personal improvement and growth emerges. This is the realization that we, individually, are responsible for everything in our lives, no matter the external circumstances.”
Tag: happiness
Did it Really Work For You?
You don’t have to be happy, but you probably shouldn’t be the person who talks about how important a product is for people’s happiness if your life looks like a glaring counterexample. If you’re going to fight for a particular point of view, then you should at least try to look satisfied with the life it gave you.
How To Be a Cynic and an Idealist (at the Same Time!)
Is it better to be a cynic or an idealist? Should you give up on dreams or pursue them? Is the universe fundamentally friendly or hostile to happiness? Maybe you don’t have to choose.
It Takes Creativity To Love What You Do
It’s good to find pleasure in your work, but don’t expect your job to do all the work for you. Your professional occupation can’t force you to be happy in spite of yourself. If you want to love your work, you have to work at love. And yes, love takes work.
Voluntary Law and Order
People are not all the same, and they make different choices because they have different values, circumstances, and levels of understanding. Sometimes those choices are peaceful and wise; sometimes they are not. So what are the best ways to promote good choices and cooperation while preventing and providing resolution for conflict?
The Doctrine of Parrish
In summary: Don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff. If you do, make it right. If someone is aggressing against you, you always have the right to defend yourself.
Families and Groups
I do not believe that there are “happy” or “unhappy” families. There are families that undergo constant change, and there is an infinite supply of adjectives that apply to families. Everything that is true of families is also true of any other multi-individual group.
Welfare States Encourage Bad Economic Thinking
In the absence of sound economic thinking, which explains why particular resources end up in the hands of particular members of extended social order, there appears a tendency to invent arbitrary pseudo-reasons as to why one’s position in this order is not as satisfactory as one would like it to be.
Intrinsic Motivation vs. Extrinsic Motivation
Maybe this isn’t a problem for you. Maybe you are perfectly willing to reward your child for good behavior until they move out, but for the rest of us, we want our children to want to be kind, to want to share, to want to help out around the house, to want to learn.
Single-Minded Devotion to a Task
I’m going to share a secret to productivity, happiness and mindfulness that you can practice right now, and every day: Devote yourself single-mindedly to anything you do.