Just ran into this, and it seemed wise and relevant, esp if you're prone to year-end reflection. Much self-recognition going in the reading of it. Here's one that hit hard just now:
I now think of this as super surveillance, tracking every problem in the world as if they were all somehow, ultimately, my problems. Super surveillance is an express ticket to the bog, because the world is full of problems and you'd be lucky to solve even a single one.
Very easy to fall into the super surveillance trap. My kryptonite is its cousin, the super important phenomenon trap, where I feel obligated to spend time learning about stuff that is clearly a super important force shaping the world. What catastrophe might unfold if I don't understand this super important thing?
Here's another good one:
People will sometimes approach me with projects I don't really want to do. But if I do them, those people will smile and shake my hand and go, “We feel positive emotions, and it's because of you!” and that will feel good. So I often end up signing on to these projects, feeling resentful the whole time, cursing myself for choosing—freely!—to work hard on things I don't care about.
Yup, checks out.
Interesting read.
Not to toot my own horn, but I feel like I've really matured and found myself in a good situation, because while I recognize all these traps and have fallen into them previously in my life, I really don't think any of them are big issues for me anymore.
Though probably the one that resonates the most with me right now is Declining the Dragon. Knowing what you need to do, but not moving forward because of fear (fear of rejection, fear of the outcome not going well, etc)
That's a horn worth tooting for sure. Did you do anything in particular that helped you get into that good situation? Any particular high-leverage move that occurs to you?
This post I made #1267871 about finding freedom discusses some of my journey and challenges that led to where I am.
I think I jumped from the first trap into the second but am working my way out of it.
There’s an interesting question about what we all would still have to talk about, if not the very important problems. I think it’s stuff like this that’s both universal and personal.
A deep question, and more disturbing than it seems. Wtf is it that we're doing in this life? So many things ground out in that, and if you don't have an answer it's not clear how to allocate energy. So much easier to do whatever is in front of you, what someone has handed you. At least for me that's true.
Insufficient activation energy is the bog for me. Good to realize strategic reserves don't exist and just get on with it.
Also, love this format. Funny names and entertaining descriptions with solutions sometimes.
He's a very good writer, and also very smart, which is easy to miss given how good of a writer he is. I like the special code names, too.
Small thing of every thing.
The “super surveillance” mindset is seductive because it tricks us into believing that awareness equals control. In reality it drains focus and replaces meaningful action with a fog of low grade anxiety. When every problem becomes your problem you create an impossible workload for your mind. The same is true for the “super important” trap. The compulsion to understand every shaping force of the world is admirable on the surface but often hides a fear of irrelevance or inadequacy.
The hard part is accepting that most things will pass without our involvement and that our finite energy is better spent on a narrow set of purposes we truly own. This is where the tension with the third example comes in. Agreement to projects you do not care about is often a way to claim short term social approval at the cost of long term satisfaction. There is a discipline in learning to say no without guilt and in trusting that your best work happens only in alignment with your convictions.
Jesus, that was a suckerpunch.