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Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

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Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#371

Post by EricE »

jglmn wrote: post #348
suction wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'd flip the script. Start willing yourself to be super positive, interested and committed, and no matter what you'll get much better. More than that, you'll become better liked in the eyes of people who write the checks, and overall be considered more indispensable. That will parlay into additional opportunities, responsibilities and eventually pay. After that, leverage to either negotiate pay, or attract interest f…

Successful people make their own luck! You are so right - our attitudes have more to do with our own happiness than we often like to admit. Which is why I see the cesspool of negativity that often permeates the online world as being so pernicious. It's hard to not get caught up in it, even if you are aware it's there and inherently evil. I've dramatically cut back on the amount of time I spend online in general and I am noticeably better off for it!

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#372

Post by switchbak »

cableshaft wrote: post #326
zrail wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think HN overlaps a lot with what I imagine from OP's description. I personally would want more content along the lines of showing what random projects people are working on and far less focus on the companies that a particular VC firm happens to back.

> I personally would want more content along the lines of showing what random projects people are working on YES. Anyone know of a good place for this?

Lobste.rs does this occasionally, which can be interesting.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#373

Post by kfarr »

bjourne wrote: post #137

Most posters on Hacker News doesn't strike me as particularly happy, yet I know they are among the most brilliant hackers in the world. > Retain employees who are happy. The pandemic has reminded us of some tough realities, namely that organizations can contract in turbulent times just as fast as they expand when the economy is booming. In other words, fire those that are unhappy. The bottom line is more important. C…

Agreed with your first point, and to extend with some of my thoughts: I think there is a unique motivation from depression, anger, and other unhappy thoughts. It feels like (although I don't have hard data) that most of the famous and prolific artists (writers, painters, musicians, comedians) turn out to be the most depressed and mentally unstable of us all.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#374

Post by fairity »

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…

Almost invariably, people like your role model have benefited from an excellent upbringing (e.g. parents) that trained/instilled their positive and resilient value framework. This doesn’t make their mindset any less admirable, but hopefully helps with the humiliation aspect :).

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#375

Post by allisdust »

kwertyoowiyop wrote: post #267
allisdust wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Soon to be launched on leet code : Coaching sessions on how to convey (fake) happiness effectively. How do the authors separate out the causation part? May be the top performers are happy because they are performing well? Will they retain their happiness if lets say, they are thrown in something with stack ranking like Amazon. How about something like on calls? How happy are they going to be if their nights are conti…

Work Units whose happiness is below 3.0 must attend mandatory 6:30 AM Joy Sessions.

I love this term 'work units'. Far more demeaning than 'resources'. Hr is going to soon start using it.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#377

Post by switchbak »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #307
suction wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> 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. This is the myth that keeps people trapped in bad jobs, but it’s not true. Yes, most of us have to continue working. But no, that doesn’t mean your job must be miserable and you must be surrounded by miserable people. Look around. Try something different.…

Can't agree more. I've turned away from many a high paying gig (and even left a couple) for exactly this reason. With (much) more money comes much higher expectations. If they aren't reasonable, you're typically going to deal with a load of stress.

This can also happen with lower paying gigs, so you still have to qualify your jobs appropriately, but prioritizing quality of life over raw compensation is a great trade in my book. With the high salaries of the current tech market, it's not actually that hard to make a very comfortable living while still staying sane/happy and avoiding burnout.

The upside being that you can also take some time to learn new tech / get your head out of the weeds, and often make much more important and broad impacts. Like Kent Beck used to say: "program as if you had enough time".

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#378

Post by wppick »

nicbou wrote: post #202
suction wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I can confirm. Stepping off the treadmill - or just slowing it down - gives you so much more space to be curious. It's not just a matter of precariousness. You just have a lot more time and energy for these things. You can always sleep a bit longer, or delay work to follow an impulse with your full energy. There's always time for projects, even if they're not part of some hustle. It's an incredible privilege. Forget…

What about the Victorian period made this possible? Seems strange that we have so much more wealth and efficiencies now (even just refrigeration/freezers as one example) yet seem to have gone backwards in this regard. What could be the underlying cause of this?

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#379

Post by Jasper_ »

wppick wrote: post #378
nicbou wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can confirm. Stepping off the treadmill - or just slowing it down - gives you so much more space to be curious. It's not just a matter of precariousness. You just have a lot more time and energy for these things. You can always sleep a bit longer, or delay work to follow an impulse with your full energy. There's always time for projects, even if they're not part of some hustle. It's an incredible privilege. Forget…

What about the Victorian period made this possible? Seems strange that we have so much more wealth and efficiencies now (even just refrigeration/freezers as one example) yet seem to have gone backwards in this regard. What could be the underlying cause of this?

The few people with the wealth to be able to live this lifestyle are the ones who left enough records to read about. The commoners definitely existed, they just didn't leave records, or the ones they did leave weren't preserved, or the ones that were, common folk don't study or read about. That's all.

In another 1,000 years, think about who around you right now might have the chance to be remembered. Someone like Bezos or Musk? Those reading about our life in the year 3,022 might believe everyone in our time was a wealthy CEO funding rocketship companies if they go by the names that have stood through time.

Re: Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

#380

Post by credit_guy »

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…

I think you mean humbled, not humiliated.
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