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Ask HN: What mindset change made the biggest positive change for you?

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Re: Ask HN: What mindset change made the biggest positive change for you?

#51

Post by heurisko »

photochemsyn wrote: post #30

I admit this may sound a bit odd (and possibly even mildy schizophrenic), but I adopted the shell-kernel model for interactions. Now, when someone says something I agree or disagree with, it goes first through the shell, giving me some time to filter it, analyze it, and consider whether or not a response is really required. If the shell says, hey, take a look at this, only then does the kernel respond. The result is…

That sounds a lot like the descriptions in the book "The Chimp Paradox", which posits that within us, there are both a chimp, and a human. The chimp reacts emotionally, the human reacts logically.

Re: Ask HN: What mindset change made the biggest positive change for you?

#53

Post by HorizonXP »

davidguetta wrote: post #31

This one is going to be controversial, but as much as I despise misogyny, the motivational videos which I watched out of curiosity of Andrew Tate are quite powerful. You are feeling bad ? Get in shape, work more. Do the thigs you have been trying to avoid doing. Feeling depressed / suicidal ? No youtube / reels, do 1h of kickboxing or fitness everyday, sleep well. No excuses. Ever. Your mind IS stronger that you thin…

Jordan Peterson mostly did this for me, and I feel precisely the same way about his viewpoints. You have to have a critical mind to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Re: Ask HN: What mindset change made the biggest positive change for you?

#54

Post by okeuro49 »

davidguetta wrote: post #31

This one is going to be controversial, but as much as I despise misogyny, the motivational videos which I watched out of curiosity of Andrew Tate are quite powerful. You are feeling bad ? Get in shape, work more. Do the thigs you have been trying to avoid doing. Feeling depressed / suicidal ? No youtube / reels, do 1h of kickboxing or fitness everyday, sleep well. No excuses. Ever. Your mind IS stronger that you thin…

> This one is going to be controversial, but as much as I despise misogyny, the motivational videos which I watched out of curiosity of Andrew Tate are quite powerful.

I've found Jordan Peterson to offer similar, minus the brainless misogyny.

However when I talk about Peterson to a valued friend, there is a sense of distaste. But I can't pretend to not find what he talks about really interesting. I think he offers good advice to young men (and indeed women), however I think his advice particularly resonates with young men, as he doesn't subscribe to the view that they are by default part of a toxic patriarchy.

Re: Ask HN: What mindset change made the biggest positive change for you?

#56

Post by cc101 »

While I have advance well beyond Ayn Rand's "virtue of selfishness", her book was the most empowering philosophic perspective in my 76 years of life. Don't imagine that I think much of her followers today because I don't. However, her book attacking self-denial and guilt has provide the foundation for my empowerment.

Re: Ask HN: What mindset change made the biggest positive change for you?

#58

Post by mftb »

icu wrote: post #17

Switching from seeking happiness to seeking meaning. Happiness is fleeting, and at some stretches of time, out of reach. Meaning is a more solid foundation to build a life around. It will get you through dark times, but it surprised me how much more I appreciated happiness as a result.

Camus thought it was the noblest of pursuits to try and create meaning in an absurd universe. Jung, thought meaning was the one thing a person couldn't abide living without. With those thoughts I think you're in pretty good company.

Re: Ask HN: What mindset change made the biggest positive change for you?

#59

Post by Hippocrates »

To be a producer more than a consumer. I use this to stay focused on things that better myself, or others, or create value. I avoid sinking time into areas that may be satisfying in the short term but are ultimately wasteful or destructive to value.

Productive: building, bonding, exercising, taking care of necessities like personal finance or doctors visits.

Consumptive: watching TikTok and other aimless scrolling, playing video games, binge watching TV, eating/drinking poorly, looking for unnecessary items to buy, and buying them.

Re: Ask HN: What mindset change made the biggest positive change for you?

#60

Post by tomku »

Realizing that my focus and attention are limited resources and that situations/environments/platforms where they are treated as something to exploit are at best merely wasteful and more likely dangerous.

If you don't fight to direct that energy into things that are genuinely important to your life, it'll get drained out in useless ways by scrolling through Twitter/Reddit/HN, obsessing over the (national/international) news, getting into futile arguments with strangers on the internet, trying to have an "informed" (but actually shallow) opinion about everything, etc.

Intentionally spend time (and money) on good resources and practices instead. Read books, not Twitter threads. Learn to draw, or write, or make music, or any other creative endeavor and do it for yourself, not because other people will appreciate it. Surround yourself (physically, if you can) with thoughtful people who respect both you and your boundaries.

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