“Is this all there is?” - Finding meaning in life
This is a summary and appreciation post for this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arPo-CVv23E by Amy Wang.
I’m truly moved by this piece and I want to share my thoughts with anyone struggling with depression or feeling dissatisfied most of the time - it might be because you are trying to chase happiness and that does not work. Assuming I have done thing-A and now I should have become happy does not make you happy but it leaves you with despair and sense of being lost - “Is this all there is?”
Right now - work is associated to Hard Work and Pain
Humans can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness - George Orwell
Solution to depression is not chasing happiness but to chase meaning in life
Putting life in auto pilot and just thinking that:
“I need more breaks to be more happier”
“I need a self-care routine to make myself feel better”
Above leads to DESPAIR - “Is this all there is?”
Make things we do meaningful - NOT happier
“Actionable steps comes on its own if you have the right mindset” → Action & Mindset go together
Reframing every thing you do in life as whether they are giving you meaning.
What is the meaning of LIFE?
Meaning comes from belonging and serving something beyond yourself and developing the best within you.
Work hard to developing yourself (making yourself a better human) and helping others. Be able to help others better in future.
Being rich does not make you happy.
Reframing
Work = ME MOVING CLOSER TO WHAT I KNOW I CAN ALREADY ACHIEVE
I can achieve anything in this world, if I want to.
WORK
Work is NOT something you are forced to do
Work is NOT something that MIGHT get you a result
💡 Believe that what I’m pursuing, is already part of my destiny and all I need to do is to put in the action necessary to get me there.
Believe in the qualities I’m born with and Everything in life that has happened to me is all for a reason:
all of my knowledge
my job
my experiences
my relationships
All of the above are there because it’s all steps taking me to my destiny.
What helped me in my college to get ahead of everyone, do better meaningful projects, land a job the quickest is because I CAN become the best, IF I put in the hard work.
And hard work is what I put in
One advantage of college/universities is you are being evaluated (MEASURED) at regular intervals and that gives to the feedback necessary to improve. Bad scores ⇒ Need to put in more effort; Good scores is something I can achieve for sure, IF I put in the effort.
Life does not give me such standard evaluations in regular intervals. I might even figure out at a later time that, “that presentation that happened on that day felt informal, BUT in fact was actually an evaluation of where I stood.”
💡 You only improve those things which you measure.
In real life - Feel Good Productivity - Ali Abdaal - relentless hard work won’t cut it. It is not just about discipline.
[example meditation]
Being a dependable, positive, energetic, assertive, crisp & clear Vice president at my firm with a great network of connections is something I can already imagine myself to be.
Strive to be that.
THIS IS HOW I SHOULD SEE MY WORK.
SEE MYSELF AS SUCCESSFUL & CONFIDENT
WATCHING TV / YOUTUBE
TV = SOMETHING TO DO WHEN I GET BORED WHILE WAITING FOR SOMETHING
Watching TV is not giving me memories.
💡 Memories give meaning to life. Your life is memories of your experiences.
Experiences in real life and your life
>>
Experiences of somebody else in a fictional drama
Watching TV is for passing time when I’m bored.
If I have excitement towards My life and the experiences I can get, there is no need to be filling those times with something else that can make you not bored.
💡 Watching movies and shows with other people builds better memories and a bonding experience
SCROLLING ON PHONE
SCROLLING = LACK OF CONTROL / OUT OF CONTROL
💡 Seeing things that I did not want to see in first place.
Associate scrolling with the possibility of being getting offended or seeing something that makes me feel uncomfortable.
How often is I actually go back and find that one tip that popped up at the 17th scroll? - No point in saving tips and hacks.
I will be shot with facts that I did not need to know
💡 If I want to know something I will purposefully do the focussed research on it myself
I don’t need to be knowing that one/two extra things that randomly shot up while scrolling, RATHER, when doing my own research, do it thoroughly.
VIDEO GAMES
💡 Be addicted to the game called Life. Be addicted to levelling up in my job, my relationships and myself physically and mentally.
Read more books - Be it fiction or non-fiction. Be it about system designs or coding.
Do more exercise - Be more active, go for swimming, go to the gym, go for morning and evening walks, go play badminton
Call up your friends, talk to your family and extended family.
VIDEO GAMES / SCROLLING / WATHCHING TV = Am I being held up from levelling up / earning things in real life, skills, opportunities, money etc.
SPENDING TIME WITH LOVED ONE
TIME WITH FAMILY = PRODUCTIVE
💡 Prioritise time with Family and Loved ones
You won’t get your family and loved ones in the same good state as they are now in future.
Either they shrivel
Or you shrivel
💡 Human connection is ESSENTIAL for sustained hard work
Adios for now and I will leave you with the following quote from Einstein:
Strive not to be of success, but to be of value - Albert Einstein