3 Minute Monday
Hi friend,
It’s been a really good week.
I’ve hit 120,000 Subscribers on YouTube.
Landed some awesome new sponsors for the show.
Recorded with some fascinating guests.
Had a conversation about sex robots.
Got up on time every day and stuck to all my routines and habits.
And it’s been pretty effortless, no dragging myself to the next task, just a nice sense of flow.
Even my mood has been great, despite the arctic conditions outside.
So why have I had this odd on-edge sense creeping in?
Kind of a constant, ambient expectation of something bad about to happen?
I don’t know for sure, but here’s my hypothesis:
Humans like what they are familiar with.
Our lives have habits, foods we always eat, routes we always drive to work, pubs we always go to.
Our minds are the same.
They have thought patterns they know well.
Modes of thinking, mental models of the world, inner monologues, thought loops.
You know that song that sometimes gets stuck in your head? All your thoughts are like that.
Our minds like repetition because it takes less effort and because they’re comfortable and familiar with it.
This is good if we find ourselves in a bad place mentally as it gives us a set point to compare our current mental state against.
“Something is wrong, this is too low/sad/lonely.”
Our minds are on alert for how to sort the situation out and motivate us to fix it to bring us back to that familiar set point.
I think the same thing can happen with too much happiness, fulfilment, meaning or satisfaction.
It’s still new territory for our brains.
It still requires more effort than usual because the traditional thought patterns apply less accurately here.
It doesn’t matter that this new situation is subjectively preferable to the set point.
I think our minds care less about us feeling happy than about our thought patterns being familiar.
They’d sooner have miserable familiarity than enjoyable novelty.
As far as I can see, the only solution is to step into your programming and notice when these System 1 motivations aren’t aligned with your higher order goals.
Basically – humans are designed to be effective, not happy.
And it’s your job to redirect the elephant you’re sat on when he starts to wander off-track.
Meditation, mindfulness & self awareness can count for a lot.
MODERN WISDOM
I do a podcast which marinades in Big Dick Energy. You should subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
This week’s upcoming episodes:
Monday.
Andrew Doyle – the creator of Titania McGrath returns to discuss free speech and why it matters, Jordan Peterson, JK Rowling, the N word and more.
Thursday.
Hamilton Morris – perhaps the world’s most famous documentary maker on psychedelics talks about his new Vice series and lots of drugs.
Saturday.
The Freemans – relationship councillors explain how to argue more productively with your partner and get past the hangover afterwards.
THINGS I’VE LEARNED
1.
Juice Wrld crushes it.
I struggle to get into most rap and hip-hop.
Juice Wrld satisfies the emo in me, whilst also appeasing the promoter fuckboy.
The vibe makes me think of nighttime driving in a city.
Very VERY cool.
Listen wherever you listen.
2.
Wherever you go, there you’ll be.
You are the common denominator in your life.
Whatever keeps happening to you is more likely your fault than everyone else’s.
3.
Pakistani Air might be dangerous.
Ghulam Sarwar Khan, the Pakistani aviation minister, told Parliament in June that of around 860 pilots working for Pakistani air carriers, 260 had fraudulent licenses.
LIFE HACK
Frame.io is a game changer.
This is how me and Video Guy Dean make our video editing seamless.
Integration with all major video editing platforms.
Automatically upload new versions of video edits, allow all team members to see, comment, suggest amends and highlight sections on web and mobile.
Honestly, I don’t know how people in remote-working teams edited videos before this.
Kinda pointless if you don’t work on video, and no affiliate deals or discounts sadly (soz) but it’s still sick.
Big love,
Chris x
Listen to me on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Say hi on Twitter or Instagram.
PS
I really want to grow the podcast audience over the next few weeks. If you post this link into a group chat or send it to a friend to tell them they’d love the show, I’d be very grateful – https://link.chtbl.com/modernwisdom
