Conscious Culture 73: In Praise of Idleness
Nov 16, 2022 10:11 pm
In Praise of Idleness
Welcome to Conscious Culture, a newsletter full of interesting reads for curious, intelligent people who want to sharpen their minds.
Hi everyone,
Thank you for being here.
It’s been some time. I didn’t mean to take an extended vacation from the newsletter; hopefully, we can get back to the normal cadence of every other Wednesday.
This week I'm sharing more than usual since I’ve been away for so long.
This week I’m sharing ideas on:
- Surrounding yourself with people who hold you to a higher standard
- Disagreeing with someone more powerful than you
- How we misunderstood anxiety
- Brand archetypes
- Solving problems that impact you personally
Thank you, Thomas, for sharing the literature map with me, and also for allowing me to share the cultural list of books, movies, and music from countries all around the world from your site.
Feel free to hit reply and let me know what you think.
Interesting Reads
“A great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by the belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organized diminution of work.”
Surround Yourself with People Who Hold You to a Higher Standard Than You Hold Yourself
“If you want to improve and succeed in your life, you need to surround yourself with people who have higher standards than you do. As Tony Robbins has said, your life is a reflection of your standards, or what you’re willing to tolerate. Most people are willing to tolerate unhealthy relationships, poor finances, and jobs they hate. If not so, those things wouldn’t be in their lives.”
How to Disagree with Someone More Powerful Than You
“This step may sound overly deferential, but, according to Grenny, it’s a smart way to give the powerful person “psychological safety” and control. You can say something like, “I know we seem to be moving toward a first-quarter commitment here. I have reasons to think that won’t work. I’d like to lay out my reasoning. Would that be OK?” This gives the person a choice, “allowing them to verbally opt-in,” says Grenny.”
How We Misunderstand Anxiety and Miss Out on Its Benefits
“Feeling anxious actually releases dopamine, motivating us to take action to pursue rewards and make changes to bring forth the futures we desire.”
“People were asked to score their life satisfaction from 0 to 10, where 10 is the best possible life and 0 is the worst possible life. This is the average score by age. It might be time to rethink life.”
Brand Archetypes: The Definitive Guide
“If you don’t want to be just another business in the market competing on price, benefits, and features, then you will need to connect with your audience on a deeper level.”
Note: I’m sharing this because you can take a brand archetype and apply it to yourself to build a personal brand.
Learning
“Online platform for studying chess, a virtual chess gym. A place for chess coaches and students to connect and learn more about chess.”
Solve The Most Important Problem That You Can Personally Impact
“Picking problems to solve is a function of attention. Wherever and whatever you’re paying attention to is going to reveal problems in that domain to you. Solving such revealed problems is going to absorb you and will reveal even more problems worth solving in that domain.”
Visual Design in UX: Study Guide
“Unsure where to start? Use this collection of links to our articles and videos to learn about visual design in UX.”
Tools and Resources
“A collection of 100 mental models, cognitive biases and metacognitive frameworks all written by a friendly AI.”
“A list of books, movies, and music from countries all around the world.”
Reddit Reads: Book Recommendations From Reddit
“Reddit Reads is a list of the top-mentioned books on Reddit. Explore the most popular books in different Subreddits.”
“Learn, practice, and get world-class mentoring in over 50 programming languages. 100% free.”
Fun Stuff
“Literature-Map helps you discover new books and authors. Type in your favorite author and you’ll get recommendations on who to read next. ”
“Improve your design skills with this fun game.”
“A game to learn how to kern type”
“This interactive online hacker app will let you simulate that you're hacking a computer or a digital network. Adjust the screen in the Start menu, open and minimize the windows and play with them.”
Quote of the Week
“Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith.”
— Steve Jobs
🎉End
If you enjoy reading Conscious Culture, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend or two. You can send them here to sign up. I want to make it one of the best emails you get each week.
Also, if you come across anything interesting this week, send it my way! I love finding new things to read through members of this newsletter.
With gratitude,
Will
