Agency
Everything in our world is there because someone decided it needed to exist. We all have things we know need to exist. What stops us from making them exist?
Agency
Big companies exert low levels of stress. But that stress is often low agency, so you often feel miserable in face of problems.
Startups exert high levels of stress. But that stress is often high agency, so you often feel energized in the face of problems.
Terrence Rohanx.com
Discipline is fighting yourself.
Wasted energy. Wasted creativity.
Put that instead into figuring out what you actually most want.
Solve problems in doing what you want with reason, not force.
Lulietwitter.comMost people understand that a forest "doesn't exist" in the sense that humans made up that word (the trees exist in a concrete way that the "forest" does not. Same with a "lake" vs water etc)
It just occurred to me that "a person" is more like a forest than a tree
Defendertwitter.comMeta on self and agency
One of the biggest sources of discontent is a mental motion that many do continually:
Planning what decision you will make ahead of when the time comes to make the decision.
Lulietwitter.comAnalysis paralysis takes different forms. Delaying action or preempting action are means of avoiding action.
It's tempting, sometimes, to idealize the trope of the "lazy genius."
I decline to do so. There is a great deal of tedious maintenance work someone needs to do to keep the world running, and an inability to consistently do so is not praiseworthy.
Some smart, low-conscientiousness people... See more
TracingWoodgrainstwitter.comWell written thread on discipline / tenacity / sticktoitiveness
My most profound moment in college was when a professor mentioned that we were in school not to learn concepts, but to learn how to think critically. It was a major unblocker for me.
Prior to that moment, I'd been prioritizing getting good grades in my classes. It was the most important thing at the time. The clearest object I had in front of me.
Now