Some notes…

Life will be imperfect, and that’s ok.

On being finite

It’s worse than you think: on the liberation of defete:

• “The most liberating and empowering and productive step you can take, if you want to spend more of your time on the planet doing what matters to you, is to grasp the sense in which life as a fintite human being – with limited time, and limited control over that time – is really much worse than you think. Completely beyond hope, in fact.”
• “Very well, then: here you are. Here we all are. Now… what might be some good things to do with your time?”

Kayaks and superyachts: on actually doing things:

• “The main point – though it took me years to realize it – is to develop the willingness to just do something, here and now, as a one-off, regardless of whether it’s part of any system or habit or routine.”
• “So, just do the thing, once, with absolutely no guarantee you’ll ever manage to do it again.”

You need only face the consequences: on paying the price

Against productivity debt: on the power of a ‘done list’d

Too much information: on the art of reading and not reading

• “People today are in danger of drowning in information; but, because they have been taught that information is useful, they are more willing to drown than they need be.” – Idries Shah
• “Spending half an hour reading something interesting , moving, awe-inspiring or merely amusing might be worth doing, not just to improve who you become in the future – though it might do that too – but for the sake of that very half hour of being alive.”

You can’t care about everything: on staying sane when the world is a mess:

• “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook”- William James
• “In an age of attention scarcity, the greatest act of good citizenship may be learning to withdraw your attention from everything except the battles you’ve chosen to fight.”

Let the future be the future: on crossing bridges when you come to them

Decision-hunting: on choosing a path through the woods

Finish things: on the magic of completion

Look for the life task: on what reality wants

• Life task is different than “passion” or “calling”
• It’s something you can only do with effort and “good difficulty”, something that “enlarges you” rather than making you feel intermediately happy.
• Though it’s difficult, it’s something you’re currently equipped to do

Just go to the shed: on befriending what you fear

• Pay the bill, deal with the thing you’re putting off

Rules that serve life: on doing things dailyish

• The chain of Xs “Seinfeld Strategy”
• “Obviously, the goal was never a chain of red Xs. It was making people laugh”
• Do things “dailyish”