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Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

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Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#351

Post by [deleted] »

suction wrote: post #150
hyperman1 wrote: post #128

I had the chance to work with a few people I'd consider genius level. While I'm pretty smart myself, they all have something I don't always have: The ability to be happy in any situation and interested in everything. For example, we were walking trough a hallway. On a wall is an old, damaged, ugly map of my country, half covered with graffiti. I'd walked past it almost every day for half a year. He checks it out, and…

Well, having already made enough money to always be able to just say "you know what, I'm out" whenever you feel like it is necessary to be happy in any situation and interested in everything. Anyone who's not "secure for life" and has to keep the salaries coming in will have to deal with bad people, bad decisions, bad culture, etc. and become unhappy. I've sort of dabbled in that situation: I made and lost a fortune…

[deleted]

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#352

Post by bradlys »

k8sToGo wrote: post #273
hit8run wrote: post #230

I don't know about you but I for sure don't want do be a top performer in a job. I disrespect the societal applause you get as a good cog in an enterprise. Build my own stuff and be my own boss makes me happier but then reality hits in and all the cracks in our society begin to show. Seriously. I WANT to be happy. But how can one be happy in a world like this? EDIT: Maybe I'm not in a good mood today but right now I…

I don't think it is just you and today. I remember when I was younger (college and before) I was happy because I was looking forward to something and envisioned a positive future (e.g. graduation, first job, high salary etc.). Kind of hard to do the same thing these days, especially now that I am an adult. The world has become nothing but an endless grind for greed and corruption. Every day I ask myself what is the p…

Before you had hope that it could change or that you could change things in your life enough for it to not matter. Then you saw the world didn’t change and that you failed at accomplishing enough for it to not matter.

This is the story of most people with ambition. Nothing is new there. The only thing that will keep the light on is keeping the dream alive and thinking that you still have time to do it. That - ultimately - is a mindset shift. (And is hard to do and might feel like a bit of lying but you can shift your goals and mindset to make you stay on that goal ladder)

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#353

Post by ska »

suction wrote: post #150
hyperman1 wrote: post #128

I had the chance to work with a few people I'd consider genius level. While I'm pretty smart myself, they all have something I don't always have: The ability to be happy in any situation and interested in everything. For example, we were walking trough a hallway. On a wall is an old, damaged, ugly map of my country, half covered with graffiti. I'd walked past it almost every day for half a year. He checks it out, and…

Well, having already made enough money to always be able to just say "you know what, I'm out" whenever you feel like it is necessary to be happy in any situation and interested in everything. Anyone who's not "secure for life" and has to keep the salaries coming in will have to deal with bad people, bad decisions, bad culture, etc. and become unhappy. I've sort of dabbled in that situation: I made and lost a fortune…

It sounds like you went through a path that helped you learn things about yourself, that's always a good thing.

It probably a mistake to try and project this too broadly though. I'm sure there are lots of people who would respond similarly to the way that you did, but also lots that would not.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#354

Post by [deleted] »

0F wrote: post #214

Reading these comments is forehead slap inducing. People think that just because something is mental that it has to do with your mindset, your parents, your this your that. When a dude can run faster than other people, it’s written off as genetics. When someone is resilient to depression, it’s anything other than genetics. Both cases are the same: it’s just biological. I’ve been suffering super hard with depression r…

[deleted]

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#355

Post by Madmallard »

Higher competence just comes from being way healthier genetically in the general case yeah? Why wouldn't they just have it easier across the board? They're likely more stress tolerant, less sickly, have more positive interactions with other people, more attractive to women. Etc.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#356

Post by bradlys »

kitsune_ wrote: post #146

> Even after the researchers controlled for previous performance and a range of demographic factors, soldiers who were the happiest and most optimistic went on to earn significantly more job performance awards across the next five years compared with those who were initially unhappy and pessimistic. How does this study account for the scenario where people are happy because they are on a good career track and others…

Could be even simpler - you’re unhappy because you got a shit manager. Purely contextual and unrelated to your own ability.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#357

Post by nicoburns »

nosianu wrote: post #336
nicoburns wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know plenty of people who will say "you know what, I'm out" despite living paycheck to paycheck, or maybe having 1 or 2 months living expenses saved up. They're just open to the risk of going with the flow, and confident they'll find something to keep them going. They tend to be a lot happier than those I know who are focussed on money and career. This doesn't work if you're literally struggling to make ends meet t…

I know someone who did that and in the end he went from well-paid technical sales to homeless with serious health issues. One piece of minor bad luck followed by more bad luck with the health issues, probably a consequence of the former. Some of his former colleagues, years later, when one of them had found him in the streets, collected money to help him out. There is a risk of stepping outside. It's not all roses. P…

The people I'm thinking of weren't so much "stepping outside" as they were "never inside". They have always worked casual jobs which they enjoy, and generally have strong social networks that can help them out when they're in need.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#358

Post by johndevor »

0F wrote: post #214

Reading these comments is forehead slap inducing. People think that just because something is mental that it has to do with your mindset, your parents, your this your that. When a dude can run faster than other people, it’s written off as genetics. When someone is resilient to depression, it’s anything other than genetics. Both cases are the same: it’s just biological. I’ve been suffering super hard with depression r…

> it’s just biological.

According to the ACE study, your early childhood environment has a dramatic effect on your life outcome:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverse_childhood_experiences#...

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#360

Post by tejohnso »

lupire wrote: post #240
whiddershins wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the word you want is humbled. Humiliated can almost never be positive, but people often conflate these two words.

The sad thing is 99% people mean "honored" of the the (opposite of humbled) when they say "humbled" ("I'm so humbled to be recognized by the best by so many people"), but here was a rare case that "humbled" fits.

Humbled to be recognized seems to mean something like: "You're all so astute for recognizing me in this way that your astuteness humbles me in return". I find it confusing, and likely disingenuous. Maybe I'm not understanding it properly. Or it's just being misused like you say, but it never occurred to me that what they really mean is simply that they feel honored and choose not to use that word for whatever reason.
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