Category: happiness

Social Supply and Demand

Stop seeking external validation by buying disposable crap made overseas, with its sub-optimal working conditions and carbon footprint from manufacture & transportation & distribution.

How?

Start acting out your truer self and continually making your world a tiny bit better, meaningfully deepening connections with the communities of which you’re already a part.

HOW?

Please steal this idea. It could save the world. I’m serious. And I call it: Social Supply and Demand. Continue reading Social Supply and Demand

The Last Metric

Once, I dreamt I had cancer. Conversations quickly turned to what I wanted to do in life. And then I woke up. It was literally a… wake-up call. Yet what I wanted to do in life was… a lot. How would I prioritize my bucket list? How would you prioritize? I’m using what I consider the last metric: deathbed regret. I had one clear thing. And then I did it! (And it sucked!) More on that in a sec… Continue reading The Last Metric

I Am Writing A Musical

What’s the next logical thing for me to do? Write a musical, of course.

Started almost 5 years ago, “Annie Get Your Scrum” is a tale of personal struggle, communal dynamics, and software development, of course.

In the course of writing my book, I’ve come to realize that the purpose of the book may have been already accomplished by a purpose of this blog! In learning about who I am and who I want to be, I have written about messages like:

And what’s a conclusion I’ve come to, almost 5 years ago?

Of course.

And thus, I surrender to my playful & silly & punny nature, drawn to create in a curious area where two of my gifts meet: music & Agility.

What’s the next logical thing for you to do?

Hate the Self-Help Genre?

Hate how positive & fake-feeling the self-help genre can seem?

Then read this longer New Yorker article: Improving Ourselves to Death by Alexandra Schwartz. It’s an impressive survey & criticism.

Self-help advice reflects the beliefs and priorities of the era that spawned it.

In the January 15, 2018 issue, it’s fitting for those who ponder New Year’s Resolutions, which she addresses, and then she covers:

  • The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg
  • SuperBetter, by Jane McGonigal
  • Grit: the Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth
  • Smarter Better Faster, by Charles Duhigg
  • The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne
  • Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement: A Year Inside the Optimization Movement, by Carl Cederström and André Spicer
  • The Wellness Syndrome, by Carl Cederström and André Spicer
  • Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers, by Tim Ferriss
  • Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It’s Doing to Us, by Will Storr
  • You Do You: How to Be Who You Are and Use What You’ve Got to Get What You Want, by Sarah Knight (my blog post on her TED Talk)
  • Stand Firm: Resisting the Self-Improvement Craze, by Svend Brinkmann

Ending with Stoicism, this reminds me of my buddy Jesse, and what’s surely his addition to the above:

  • The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking, by Oliver Burkeman

So what’s the answer?

There’s a lot of different ones in the article. I’m currently looking into Stoicism.