Here are some things that I believe about how to live, in no particular order.

• Enthusiasm matters
  • Doing great work requires motivation.
  • It’s easier to be motivated when you like something.
  • Things become more enjoyable when you get good at them.
• We should aim for significant things
  • We only get one life.
  • It’s better to use it on significant things, rather than to “muddle through”.
  • You can still enjoy something, even if you ultimately fail.
  • You get to define what is significant.
  • If you’re stuck, aim for ‘sacred’ over ‘utility’.
  • Success is mostly about perspiration and luck. Luck favours the prepared mind.
• You can, and should, align yourself with the public interest
  • It feels good to work on something larger than yourself.
  • Don’t underestimate your capacity to change the world!
• Self examination is important
  • It’s possible to critically assess your own thought patterns.
  • This lets you improve how you think.
• Everything is a system
  • The direct cause of a problem is sometimes misleading.
  • Look for the underlying systemic issues and their downstream effects.
  • Challenges and responses > problems and solutions.
  • Think synergistically across domains when responding to challenges.
• Speed is important
  • You learn via receiving feedback from your actions.
  • The quicker you execute, the more feedback you’ll generate.
  • This is why we learn quickly while playing; there’s usually a rapid feedback loop.
• Wisdom only correlates with age
  • Wisdom comes from distilling knowledge out of experience.
  • Experience correlates with age.
  • But it’s possible to live essentially the same year many times.
  • Each ‘repeated’ experience is likely to generate less feedback, and less wisdom.
• Self discipline is delayed gratification
  • Delaying gratification is a form of self love.
  • You must care enough for your future self to sacrifice your present self.
  • Delayed gratifiation can be an end almost in itself.
• The Good Life is for now
  • On the other hand, putting things off is a trap; we might never get to them.
  • Nevertheless, you can be content in a surprising number of circumstances.
  • You get to decide what the good life looks like.
  • Pay attention to what matters.
  • There are several ways to train your attention. Meditation is a good one.
  • Develop a unique bundle of skills. Excel at them.
  • These skills define your niche.
  • A small enough niche has no competition, so you’re always a winner.
• Competition is effective but dangerous
  • Competition is great for honing a specific task.
  • Competition is a great way to figure out how to do it well.
  • Winners experience positive feedback and are more likely to win again.
  • Competitions need counterveiling negative feedback loops to run indefinitely.
  • Otherwise power accumulates among the successful.
• Compound returns isn’t just for money
  • Compound returns works on relationships, skills, knowledge, etc.
  • For example, it’s easier to learn something if you already know related things.
  • Invest early, and often!
  • Most investments will make modest returns, some will give huge ones.
  • Play long term games with long term people.
• We should focus on what we can control
  • The only things we can truly control are our thoughts and actions.
  • We can’t even control what happens to our bodies. For example, we can get sick.
  • Focus on what you can control, avoid worrying about what you can’t.
• An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind
  • Our minds can only model the world.
  • Models are necessarily incomplete.
  • We should resist being satisfied with our conclusions.
  • We can watch, study, learn, and be ready to irreverently throw out ideas when they’re wrong.
• The world is in a state of metacrisis
  • Metacrisis is the idea that humanity faces a set of overlapping and interlinked crises.
  • These crises may have discrete causes, but their production is systemic.
  • Navigating through the metacrisis is a defining challenge of my generation.
  • Nihilism is bad.
  • Dedicate yourself to finding ways to thrive instead.
  • Again, if you’re stuck, aim for ‘sacred’ over ‘utility’.

Comments? Get in touch via email or anonymously.

Inspired by Nat Friedman, Salvatore Sanfilippo and others.