171–180 of 224 posts
Thank you all again.
Michael
There's a more generic term for what you're experiencing, which is "lack of motivation." On some level you don't care much about what you're doing; if you did, I guarantee you wouldn't be paralyzed. When you're motivated, things tend to fall into place. That's not an indictment of you. Contrary to popular belief, motivation doesn't much come from within. For almost everybody, long-term motivation is about other peopl…
I'd say more of the motivation comes from taking control of your environment and crafting something from your own ideas, thoughts, and methods then seeing a finished product in the end. Now that is motivating. Once you have a few finished goals under your belt it just seems to flow naturally. Come up with a goal, finish goal, repeat until dead.
One of my biggest goals at the moment is to ultimately help a lot of people. I couldn't care any less about what my status is. I want that feeling that I made a positive contribution with my life.
1. Make a dependency chart for all your things, showing which ones depend on which other ones. 2. Mark each node with some notion of what you're getting out of it in the first place. This could range from "for the lulz" to "world domination". 3. Pick the earliest, easiest, most useful/fun thing and do it, as soon as you have the time. Do not do anything else, except possibly the next easiest, most useful/fun thing if…
The whole problem is that the dependency chart will never be exhausted. There is just too much stuff you could learn in depth if you really wanted to.
I have a related question: I've been a successful consultant, though that's tailed off the last 5 years. A lot of what's in the other thread [1] rings very true. I'm massively torn in all directions, learn for the sake of learning and never have any ideas with whatI want to do with what I learn. HOWEVER... the big difference, and one I have struggled with for years, but more so recently is... "why bother?" to do anyt…
It sounds like you're suffering from some ennui. I wouldn't get too caught up in worrying whether it's a disorder or something. It will probably pass. I suggest making a pivot. Put that idealism to use and join up with a cause. You might find it gives you a sense of purpose you're missing. For example, I was bored with engineering and decided to do Teach For America 7 years ago. It turned out to be a very difficult e…
And making a pivot: absolutely. I'd like to get in touch with what I believe in or am passionate about first rather than just jump, but may have to! Having a wife and starting a family in the next couple of years complicates things more than some other commenters, but we are discussing it already. Just got to do something.
Thanks for your reply - I've saved your email address for the future :)
My problem is always identifying my goals. Once I know where I am trying to go, I usually prioritize pretty easily.
Do you have goals? Do you know what is most important to you?
I've found meditation to be very helpful. Meditating is an exercise in concentration, where one trains their mind to be completely involved with "now". It helps quiet the mind, turning turbulence into tranquility. That kind of focus can elliviate the desire to jump from one shiny thing to the next. "Zen mind, beginner's mind" is a small, wonderful book on the basics of zazen -- the art of sitting quietly, without tho…
I think Headspace is a particularly effective tool for that https://www.headspace.com/ (not affiliated in any way; just a user)
You have great advice here. This is how I do it. Create todo.txt and put everything you need to do in there. Make sure it's reasonably comprehensive and then start crossing things off. A productivity book will tell you the same thing in 200+ pages. If you save the finished items, you may be amazed by what you have accomplished. I had an app for this but I found editing todo.txt is faster. Apps like Trello don't have…
Hi, Michael) "information paralysis" Is that a problem? So, may be it is not? May be it's an opportunity) Let's solve it) Imagine very-very big mindMap (like that, but much bigger http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QCtHZYRX_0w/UcbhaceT4MI/AAAAAAAAAW... ). Imagine, each word in there is a single knowledge. All this knowledges are ether unbounded from each other or bounded in small groups and all placed chaotically. This is how…
From a learner's perspective, the map would be more like a route-planner, highlighting the particular paths to take to get from one point of knowledge to another - but it would presumably need to be able to account for what a learner already knows (what if, for example, a route requires the learner to acquire advanced algebra, but they don't yet have basic algebra?).