Lately I feel that I’ve been on autopilot. There’s needed room for improvement in sticking with my desired habits. There has been some good things that have come out of the week. I’ve been contemplating a lot on the statement live a life of service to others. Find out how you can help other people. I’m hopeful that I can help others and that I can find people to improve their self esteem.
This week the primary source was Eric Jorgenson’s book The Almanack of Naval Ravikant. I found this to be an enjoyable read and one that I’ll likely have to come back to. Quotes I enjoyed will be listed below.
“If you were evenly split on a difficult decision, take the path more painful in the short term.” I find it interesting that Mr. Ravikant is such a long term thinker. This is in his relationships and in his endeavors. He works to be almost anti immediate gratification. This ties in nicely to his statement about everything being the result of compound interest. He had a wonderful diagram on page 183 which essentially implies that you will not see results for quite some time. Personally, I’ve been struggling with this concept. Given my chosen career I’ve delayed starting my “adult life” for a long time and I’m feeling the desire to be further along than I am. It’s challenging, because in reality I’m only one year out of training. The challenge will be in realizing it will likely take another 20 years, if not more, to be where I want to be.
“Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.” This concept I need to meditate on. Happiness per this book seems to be the overall acceptance with your given life. This includes your material possessions, body and situation. I’m uncertain of how to truly balance personal growth, development and the desire to improve with this acceptance with how things are. These appear to be competing interests, but I don’t think that they truly are. There can be a desire to serve others, while practicing gratitude and being grateful for the life we have.
“Wealth, health and happiness. We pursue them in that order, but their importance is reversed.” This may have been the most important line in the book for me. I feel like I have developed a plan and habits to obtain wealth and I live a life that pursues health. In doing so I feel miserable. I don’t think I’ve developed the habits that lead to happiness. The missing habits include a general lack of gratitude and thankfulness. Not spending the time reflecting on the beauty of the life that I’m given. In evaluating his formulas he makes the statement that happiness is the result of health + wealth + good relationships.This is making me really consider investing more in relationships with other people as a means to increase global happiness. To increase these relationships it all comes back to living a life of service to those that I come across.
Seeking Progress 