Modern Wisdom
14 Lessons from 5 Years Of Modern Wisdom
Mon Feb 13 2023PodcastVocabularySuccessLimitationsDramaTimeHappinessBehaviorSelf-confidenceDisaffectionAbundance
Description
The episode covers a wide range of topics including the importance of vocabulary, the tension between success and feeling enough, recognizing patterns and overcoming limitations, avoiding drama on the internet, prioritizing time over money, understanding human behavior and happiness, transcending limitations and building self-confidence, understanding disaffection and negative attitudes, and appreciating progress and living in abundance.
Insights
Expanding vocabulary for a richer existence
Having a wide vocabulary enriches one's life by allowing for more accurate and precise descriptions.
Success may not lead to happiness
Success is often pursued for happiness, but it may not actually make us happy. High achievers are on average more miserable than the normal person.
Recognizing patterns and overcoming limitations
Evaluate actions that don't contribute to goals and identify patterns that serve no purpose. Realize the sense of insufficiency and how it can be falsely solved by success and progress.
Avoiding drama on the internet
Engaging in drama makes the internet a worse place. Taking a gentle approach can be more effective in convincing others and bringing about change.
Prioritizing time over money
Choosing to prioritize time over money and happiness over success. Finding fulfillment in the present rather than constantly seeking happiness in the future.
Understanding human behavior and happiness
Understanding both ultimate and proximate explanations is necessary to comprehend human behavior. Realizing the ultimate explanation behind our desires can make us feel less in control but finding humor in it can help alleviate discomfort.
Transcending limitations and building self-confidence
Learning to transcend limitations and finding humor in them. Building self-confidence through undeniable proof of who you are.
Understanding disaffection and negative attitudes
The Tocqueville Paradox suggests that rising living standards can lead to disaffection. Disaffection can lead to a victimhood mentality and a constant search for problems in various aspects of life.
Appreciating progress and living in abundance
Realizing the difference between where you are and the center of the normal distribution. Living in a growth abundance mentality gives hope, reassurance, and confidence.
Chapters
- Modern Wisdom podcast celebrates its fifth birthday
- The tension between success and the desire to feel like we're enough
- Recognizing patterns and overcoming limitations
- The balance between experience and intuition
- Reprogramming and finding ease
- Avoiding drama and focusing on ideas
- Prioritizing time over money
- Understanding human behavior and happiness
- Transcending limitations and building self-confidence
- Understanding disaffection and negative attitudes
- Appreciating progress and living in abundance
Summary
Transcript
Modern Wisdom podcast celebrates its fifth birthday
00:00 - 07:35
- Podcast host reflects on important lessons and insights gained over the last five years
- Importance of a wide vocabulary in enriching one's life
- Language as a tool to convey ideas and experiences more effectively
- Expanding vocabulary allows for more accurate and precise descriptions
- Working on speech skills to effectively communicate ideas verbally
- Greater satisfaction and depth of understanding through expanded language capacity
The tension between success and the desire to feel like we're enough
07:20 - 14:39
- Exposing yourself to new types of words can lead to a richer existence.
- Success is often pursued for happiness, but it may not actually make us happy.
- High performers often have a fear of insufficiency that drives them to achieve more.
- High achievers are on average more miserable than the normal person.
- External accolades and material success do count, but they won't fill an internal void.
- Continuing to seek more success may not be the answer if feelings of insufficiency persist.
- There is no clean answer, but removing obstacles instead of constantly pursuing success might be worth considering.
Recognizing patterns and overcoming limitations
14:14 - 21:04
- Evaluate actions that don't contribute to goals and identify patterns that serve no purpose
- Recognize the sense of insufficiency and how it can be falsely solved by success and progress
- People often limit themselves without exerting effort to push their boundaries
- Realization of the term 'cynicism' and its negative impact on online interactions
- Appreciation for audience engagement and thoughtful comments on YouTube
- Cynicism as a guarded response against disappointment, projecting sour grapes at an existential level
- Cynicism as a psychological protector to avoid pain or failure
- Advocacy for a community focused on optimism, change, and facing challenges with self-belief
- Rejecting pessimism and cynicism in favor of an agentic and sovereign mindset
The balance between experience and intuition
20:43 - 27:42
- Optimism is a common factor among successful and resilient individuals.
- The tools that helped us succeed in the past may hinder our progress in the future.
- In business and other pursuits, being overly deliberate can limit growth and creativity.
- Relying on intuition and gut feelings can lead to more effortless and effective decision-making.
- Switching off the conscious mind can enhance creativity.
- There is a challenge in relying on experience while learning to trust your instincts.
- This period is known as the 'chasm of cognitive effort.'
Reprogramming and finding ease
27:17 - 34:44
- The period after accumulating experience but before relying on gut is the chasm of cognitive effort.
- Reprogramming and finding natural action, thinking without thinking, is the next stage of development.
- Letting go of past strategies and finding more ease is important for progress.
- Comparison and envy drive people's dissatisfaction in a highly connected world.
- Comparing oneself with others leads to feelings of insufficiency and externalized self-worth.
- Don't over engage in controversy unless willing to stake reputation on it; focus on discovering new things instead.
Avoiding drama and focusing on ideas
34:22 - 41:44
- Some people are completely consumed by drama on the internet, making it their entire personality.
- The speaker does not want to be known for drama, but rather for their ideas and work.
- There are individuals who actively seek out opportunities to engage in cantankerous online conversations for clout.
- Engaging in drama makes the internet a worse place and evokes pity for those who prioritize it.
- The speaker used to engage in bombastic communication and causing drama on the internet but has realized the importance of not being a jerk online.
- Triggering a tribal response is counterproductive when trying to change behavior or beliefs.
- Caveating heavily and taking a gentle approach can be more effective in convincing others and bringing about change.
- Being aggressive and insulting only leads to psychological distress and does not resolve conflicts effectively.
Prioritizing time over money
41:24 - 48:16
- Alex Holmose values the present moment more than accumulating wealth.
- Trading time for money and sacrificing happiness for success is a common trade-off.
- Questioning the societal norms of valuing money and endless monetary growth.
- The opportunity to deprogram materialism and not judge oneself based on bank account balance.
- Choosing to prioritize time over money and happiness over success.
- Introducing the concept of 'nexting' - being fully present in the current moment.
- The past is a memory, the future is anticipated, all we have is this moment now.
- Finding fulfillment in the present rather than constantly seeking happiness in the future.
- Lowering the bar of stimulus needed to be present without external inputs or distractions.
- Being able to enjoy simple moments without relying on peak experiences or material possessions.
- 'If you can't be happy with a coffee, you won't be happy with a yacht.'
- Money and success do not fix underlying problems or feelings of being an imposter.
Understanding human behavior and happiness
48:00 - 55:30
- The belief that more success or material possessions will fix one's problems is misguided.
- Being unable to be present in the moment cannot be solved by acquiring more wealth or followers.
- Many people are addicted to solving problems and create new ones for the sake of solving them.
- Understanding both ultimate and proximate explanations is necessary to comprehend human behavior.
- Ultimate explanations focus on why a behavior exists, while proximate explanations focus on how it works.
- Proximate reasons for behaviors are immediate, while ultimate reasons are shaped by evolution.
- Proximate and ultimate explanations support each other and exist at different levels of perspective and abstraction.
- Realizing the ultimate explanation behind our desires can make us feel less in control but finding humor in it can help alleviate discomfort.
- Happiness comes down to choosing between becoming aware of mental afflictions or being ruled by them.
- Once you become aware of certain aspects of behavior, it is difficult to unsee them.
Transcending limitations and building self-confidence
55:01 - 1:02:26
- Realizing that your noble behaviors may not be as noble as you thought
- Learning to transcend and include this realization
- Finding humor in the fact that you are a rider on top of an elephant
- Laughing about it and having a good relationship with your elephant
- The amateur views the world hierarchically and outsources self-worth to others
- Not relying on external validation for self-worth
- Committing to the podcast and adopting the ideas in Turning Pro
- Building self-confidence through undeniable proof of who you are
- Engaging in integrity-building, pride-inducing behavior
- The Tocqueville Paradox and becoming friends with admired individuals
Understanding disaffection and negative attitudes
1:02:00 - 1:09:16
- The Tocqueville Paradox suggests that as living standards rise, people's expectations also rise, leading to disaffection and populist uprisings.
- Concept creep occurs when the definition of a problem expands in order to maintain its level of significance.
- Racism appears to have declined over the last century, but certain media outlets may exaggerate its prevalence, contributing to a sense of disaffection.
- Disaffection can lead to a victimhood mentality and a constant search for problems in various aspects of life.
- Negativity bias makes it easier for humans to identify things that go wrong rather than things that go right.
- Understanding the Tocqueville Paradox and concept creep can help explain why some people feel detached from their experience of the world and develop negative attitudes.
- Comparing oneself only to high achievers can skew perceptions of one's own progress and abilities.
- Engaging in activities like listening to podcasts already sets individuals apart from the norm and signifies curiosity about self-improvement and the world.
- Working on oneself, holding high standards, caring about truth, agency, potential, and paying it forward are admirable qualities that set individuals apart from the norm.
Appreciating progress and living in abundance
1:08:48 - 1:09:58
- Realizing the difference between the center of the normal distribution and where you are is massive.
- Even on your worst days, you are still so much further ahead.
- Living in a growth abundance mentality gives hope, reassurance, and confidence.
- Thank you for listening to nearly 600 episodes over five years.