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Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

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Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#121

Post by ehnto »

Dansvidania wrote: post #47

What a simplistic way to put things in. You need to do a lot of things you do not love before you have the skills, the vision and the attitude to actually do what you love, and accomplish the goals you want to accomplish... As a millennial, I think this kind of attitude is the problem with our generation. I mean both simplifying things into instagram-quote-sized senteces like "always do what you love" and also convin…

There are many issues that go into making the stereotypical Millennial psyche. But I think an issue overlooked is the loss of context for your own life in your own community, which in my opinion has been brought on by the internet and media machines, overwork, and with the individualist movement pointing the spotlight squarely on yourself. We have disconnected and disenfranchised a generation from the community, then told them to compare themselves on the global stage of highest achievers, while their local avenues for community support get diluted into commercial ventures and shallow social media connections.

Couple that with the commercializing of pretty much everything that the sun bares down upon, such that nothing around you has much authenticity, which leads you to have bizarre situations like humans who think brands are their friends, and there being no non-commercial spaces to meet new people at. It's no wonder there are so many confused Millennials who don't really get how to fit into society anymore.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#122

Post by pdimitar »

tluyben2 wrote: post #80
pdimitar wrote: post #42

Gosh, the dismissiveness of the average HN comment in this thread! I am surprised. Whatever you might think of the author's age or number of data points or whatever other platform you choose to berate him on, he still has a very solid argument: there are things that simply exhaust you when you are doing them. That's a fact. Haven't you all ever experienced this? And no, I never grew to like doing the dishes or cleani…

> I am surprised. I think this all turns to reddit (the comments are very much Reddit like) because this is the 20billionth article about 'following you passion' basically. And this title really seems to annoy people who have seen it all before; most people cannot just drop everything and do whatever. No matter if you are thinking 24/7 about playing in a bluesband; most (by far and wide) people cannot and will never…

> I think this all turns to reddit (the comments are very much Reddit like) because this is the 20billionth article about 'following you passion' basically.

Sure, I get that, but this bring the nuance of the point of view of a working programmer.

For a long time I had a hustling voice inside me that was very toxic and insisted on me working on things it thought were useful but I hated doing (sadly I was used to hate doing everything in my life back then so I couldn't tune out the noise and pinpoint any particular problem). Took me like 10 years until I finally said "f that crap" and just started working on whatever I found interesting. Almost immediately, I felt better (even with a health condition that I now have to actively fight to cure).

So okay, we've all seen such posts and maybe we grew cynical about it but anything that adds a bit of a further nuance might help others reduce the toxicity in their lives by at least commanding some happiness in their leisure time.

> And this title really seems to annoy people who have seen it all before; most people cannot just drop everything and do whatever. No matter if you are thinking 24/7 about playing in a bluesband; most (by far and wide) people cannot and will never be able to do that unless they win the lottery.

Not many have the chance to make a U-turn late in their careers, true. The eternal pessimism and cynicism don't help as well though; and they might even set your brain up on a path where it doesn't actively look for opportunities to give you a better life. Depression in general desensitizes you so if you can avoid that you're already ahead compared to many.

> And then you have all the negative thoughts; the anxiety attacks and the cravings that you really should not give into...

Here I can agree (if I got you correctly) -- giving in to fantasies is very toxic and makes your landing back in reality extremely painful. But we shouldn't cut it off entirely; some day-dreaming helps us push forward.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#123

Post by tehwebguy »

taauji wrote: post #117
LoveMortuus wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The following quote helped me a lot: "The professional knows that the mundane physical act of sitting down and starting to work, sets in motion a mysterious process that produces inspiration. The amateur waits for inspiration, the professional knows that it will come after he starts. The professional therefore acts in the face of fear, when the amateur fears a big creative endeavor he waits for the fear to disappear,…

I have observed that most of the times, when I am not motivated to work, it is becasue my sub-concious mind is unable to correctly traverse the behavior tree and find a route from 'the non intuitive task' leading to the 'sexy results' I am after. My concious thinking mind has already done that. But your sub-conscious brain being able to link the results with the efforts is not a precondition to start working. It only…

What an apt description of how I often feel.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#124

Post by eshyong »

ulisesrmzroche wrote: post #56

More productivity porn. War on leisure! Only this one particularly bad because it’s trying to say “no pain no gain” is a lie. That if the gains come with pain, the gains must not be worth it He’s not strong enough to squeeze the orange (rails contributor life perks) so the juice must not be worth squeezing Basically, that hard work ain’t worth it. Fun Uber Alles But it’s like, the process of building a sexy body is n…

Except that's the opposite of what he's saying. Instead of valuing feeling productive, he now values feeling energetic and excited every day. I think you may have missed that part.

Not everyone wants to get swole or be a rails core maintainer.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#125

Post by CrazyStat »

ellius wrote: post #78
LoveMortuus wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The following quote helped me a lot: "The professional knows that the mundane physical act of sitting down and starting to work, sets in motion a mysterious process that produces inspiration. The amateur waits for inspiration, the professional knows that it will come after he starts. The professional therefore acts in the face of fear, when the amateur fears a big creative endeavor he waits for the fear to disappear,…

"The War of Art," if anyone needs a source.

Thanks!

As it happens I was looking at the book the other day and decided not to buy it. Maybe I should take another look.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#126

Post by peteradio »

vikramkr wrote: post #104
rtkaratekid wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you and I can’t say for sure but I think it’s even worse in the next generation as well. I’ve talked with/tried to mentor more than a few but usually one gets fed up with the other because of this very issue. I knew a girl who wanted to be an astrophysicist. She could’ve done it too. But she started rock climbing (I was mentoring her), and eventually gave up college so she could be a climbing guide becau…

The next generation after millennial - they're like 18 right? That doesn't sound like a generation thing that sounds like a teenager/young adult thing. And I think the hippies in the 60s were way further on the "follow your heart" thing than teenagers now, and a lot of them grew up to be like conservative bankers or whatever.

The number of hippies from the 60s are vanishingly small proportion of the population. There're 100x people spitting on Vietnam protesters than there were protesters.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#127

Post by pier25 »

Dansvidania wrote: post #47

What a simplistic way to put things in. You need to do a lot of things you do not love before you have the skills, the vision and the attitude to actually do what you love, and accomplish the goals you want to accomplish... As a millennial, I think this kind of attitude is the problem with our generation. I mean both simplifying things into instagram-quote-sized senteces like "always do what you love" and also convin…

"Do what you love" at face value doesn't make much sense, but IMO that's the wrong way to look at it. "Doing" is not only the mere act of doing something but also the time you invest towards a goal.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#128

Post by airstrike »

clarry wrote: post #63
airstrike wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There’s more to washing dishes than you think. I also find it quite relaxing, perhaps even therapeutic

I do too, sometimes. If I'm not in a hurry to do anything else. Unfortunately that's not often. For example, I don't want to waste much time on lunch break doing dishes. I usually try to clean my plate and utensils, but sometimes even that has to wait. After work, I might just want to grab a coffee and something to eat and go relax with music & books (or HN..). After that, I might have more pressing chores -- go buy…

I hear you, and I'm glad I have a dishwasher now after 30 years without one... I hope you get yours very soon!

I mostly only do a subset of dishes like pots and pans, or an odd plate / knife from making a sandwich here or there, mostly on the weekends. But still, after cooking a big meal on the weekends, it's nice to find time to just not think for a while and decompress while feeling the water in my hands, listening to the silence...

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#129

Post by pier25 »

fulafel wrote: post #66
mikestew wrote: post #13

The author is quoting someone else: “Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.” Depending on how literally one takes that, you’re going to be one sorry motherfucker when you’re old. I like taking a shit, but I don’t love it. But I gotta do it, my Yelp review on “taking a shit” notwithstanding. Personally, I quit being so spo…

The 80 year old you you and the current you are two different people with different interests. Of course the future 80 year you would love it if you made every effort to make his life better, but the current you may value comfort more than going on terrifying adventures that make for amusing reminiscing if you survive them.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

Our 20-25 year old influences our education/career based on our interests at that age. But shouldn't we make those decisions based on what our 40 year old will be like?

Of course a career change at 40 is totally doable but wouldn't it be better if we had been working 15-20 years towards that goal instead of starting from scratch at 40?

Impossible, I know, but something interesting to think about.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#130

Post by jv22222 »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #24
mikestew wrote: post #13

The author is quoting someone else: “Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.” Depending on how literally one takes that, you’re going to be one sorry motherfucker when you’re old. I like taking a shit, but I don’t love it. But I gotta do it, my Yelp review on “taking a shit” notwithstanding. Personally, I quit being so spo…

> But I’ve also learned to love the mundane. There’s more to washing dishes than you think. When I was looking for an entry-level New York studio apartment four years ago, one thing I absolutely insisted on having was a dishwasher. Screw the overall size of the kitchen or the square footage of the apartment, or even whether I had a stove or an oven—I needed a dishwasher god damn it! My parents and a lot of my friends…

Yayy for dishwashers AND dishwasher Tetris is a totally fun game!
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