Wisdom for Life
In class this morning, I had the privilege of hearing from Adam Forbes, one of the co-founders of the company producing the StressEraser relaxation device, which I just blogged about. Forbes is a pretty brilliant guy, and he had some really good -- and simple -- advice for succeeding in life, careers, whatever.
As a background, he promoted an idea which I have increasingly been embracing over the past year: one must become internally happy. Relying on exogenous factors to produce happiness will ultimately lead to a constantly unfulfilling life of chasing pyrrhic milestones.
He then outlined his three steps for success:
1. Set a goal -- too many people exert a lot of effort without ever being clear why they're doing all that work.
2. Work toward the goal
3. Get feedback often -- figure out how you're doing. See if your efforts are leading toward your goal.
I think the biggest thing I took away from Adam's thoughts, however, is a side issue to the feedback idea. As we go through life, he noted, we pick up unconscious assumptions about how the world works, how to measure success, how to achieve what we want, and how to make decisions. All of these assumptions create the lens through which we view our world.
At a macro level, this is where racism, sexism, and other prejudices come from. At the micro level, it is how we make stupid investment decisions, because we uncritically read some article about how ice farming in San Diego was the "next big thing."
To combat this, we have to look at the world with a more critical eye. Don't just accept what you read or hear -- figure out if it's really a valid view of the world. And get feedback. Honest feedback can help you see through the haze of inaccurate assumptions.
As a background, he promoted an idea which I have increasingly been embracing over the past year: one must become internally happy. Relying on exogenous factors to produce happiness will ultimately lead to a constantly unfulfilling life of chasing pyrrhic milestones.
He then outlined his three steps for success:
1. Set a goal -- too many people exert a lot of effort without ever being clear why they're doing all that work.
2. Work toward the goal
3. Get feedback often -- figure out how you're doing. See if your efforts are leading toward your goal.
I think the biggest thing I took away from Adam's thoughts, however, is a side issue to the feedback idea. As we go through life, he noted, we pick up unconscious assumptions about how the world works, how to measure success, how to achieve what we want, and how to make decisions. All of these assumptions create the lens through which we view our world.
At a macro level, this is where racism, sexism, and other prejudices come from. At the micro level, it is how we make stupid investment decisions, because we uncritically read some article about how ice farming in San Diego was the "next big thing."
To combat this, we have to look at the world with a more critical eye. Don't just accept what you read or hear -- figure out if it's really a valid view of the world. And get feedback. Honest feedback can help you see through the haze of inaccurate assumptions.
posted by N at 11:14 PM
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