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
the first time you do something that everyone in your social environment tells you is a bad idea, and it turns out you were right, is more psychoactive than any drug
Ask for feedback on your attempts, not advice on your ideas.
It's easier to give/apply advice to a thing that exists
The 4-Hour Life
lindynewsletter.beehiiv.com
How much of a constraint is consistency space on agency?
The 4 hours aren't always 4. The energy you have in those 4 hours isn't always the same.
In payoff space, you can focus your energy for bursts of effort. Or you can focus your recharge/recovery times around your work.
The availability of rest after work likely affects how hard one is able/willing to work. The allure of rest is likely different.
Rest as an escape from work vs Rest as a place to prep for work
Athletes will perform differently in teams depending on if the system is built around them or they are recruited for the system; if the level of pressure is suited to their person; and if the coach is willing to be patient for them to adapt to their situation.
I'm reminded of that Mourinho press conference:
“Look at how they play, where they play, if they play”
Lots to ponder…
The objective severity of our histories may be of little importance when compared to the subjective hold they appear to have on us.
To paraphrase physician and author Gabor Maté, we are not what happened to us but what happened inside of us as a result of what happened to us.
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.
Analysis paralysis takes different forms. Delaying action or preempting action are means of avoiding action.
“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations
... See moreMost 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
Meta on self and agency
2020 Letter to Shareholders
aboutamazon.com
To go with the flow is to seek equilibrium.
Excerpt from a remarkable final shareholder letter:
“Staving off death is a thing that you have to work at. Left to itself – and that is what it is when it dies – the body tends to revert to a state of equilibrium with its environment. If you measure some quantity such as the temperature, the acidity, the water content or the electrical potential in a living body, you will typically find that it is markedly different from the corresponding measure in the surroundings. Our bodies, for instance, are usually hotter than our surroundings, and in cold climates they have to work hard to maintain the differential. When we die the work stops, the temperature differential starts to disappear, and we end up the same temperature as our surroundings.”
Related to this, I’ve been thinking a lot about obsession, relentlessness, and near-unachievable goals. What makes someone able to reach heights others view as impossible? What makes some better suited for pursuits involving a singular focus?
The answer seems to be: a capacity for intensity. Intensity is a derivative of focus. The word intense
... See moreIsabel • Intensity
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.