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3MM: Presence, Black People & Jerks
3 MINUTE MONDAYHi friend, Come see me live in NYC, Boston, Denver, Austin, Salt Lake City & Chicago. I’ve been thinking about presence this week. Blaise Pascal explains the problem… “We never keep to the present.
We anticipate the future as if we found it too slow in coming and were trying to hurry it up, or we recall the past as if to stay its too rapid flight.
We are so unwise that we wander about in times that do not belong to us, and do not think of the only one that does; so vain that we dream of times that are not and blindly flee the only one that is.
The fact is that the present usually hurts.
We thrust it out of sight because it distresses us, and if we find it enjoyable, we are sorry to see it slip away.
We try to give it the support of the future, and think how we are going to arrange things over which we have no control for a time we can never be sure of reaching.
Let each of us examine his thoughts; he will find them wholly concerned with the past or the future.
We almost never think of the present, and if we do think of it, it is only to see what light it throws on our plans for the future.
The present is never our end.
The past and the present are our means, the future alone our end.
Thus we never actually live, but hope to live, and since we are always planning how to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so.”
Looking over the shoulder of the present moment is a guaranteed way to ensure that you miss whatever is true and beautiful in your life right now.. Find some presence this week. MODERN WISDOMI do a podcast where I pretend to have a British accent. You should subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. This week’s upcoming episodes: Monday. Thursday. Saturday. THINGS I'VE LEARNED1. “Black people report less severe cold symptoms than White people. The reason seems to be that, on average, Black people are less prone to depressive affect - a trait known to amplify perceived symptom severity. This is an example of a phenomenon known as the Black-White mental health paradox: the finding that, despite having worse social and economic outcomes, Black people often have better mental health.” — Steve Stewart-Williams 2. “Some talented people are jerks, and this sometimes makes it seem to the inexperienced that being a jerk is part of being talented. It isn't; being talented is merely how they get away with it.” — Paul Graham 3. “The upper ranks of corporate life are dominated by insecure overachievers: people who are driven by a deep sense of inadequacy and are not having any fun, even though they've supposedly won this very competitive race.” — Oliver Burkeman LIFE HACKMomentous Sleep Packs. What I take every night before I go to bed. If you’ve been struggling with getting to sleep, staying asleep or haven’t been waking up rested in the morning, this is a great solution. Olympic-athlete-quality sourcing. Evidence-based ingredients designed with the help of Dr Andrew Huberman. 30 day money-back guarantee in case you don’t like it. International shipping. Plus 35% off. Try Momentous Sleep Packs risk-free. Big love, Try my productivity drink Neutonic. PS |
3 Minute Monday
Podcaster with 1bn+ plays. I write about the most important lessons from the best thinkers on the planet. 300,000+ people read my free newsletter. Press subscribe to join.
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3 MINUTE MONDAY Hi friend, See my brand new solo live show in the UK & Ireland this October 🚀 Get your tickets now. I’m in Northern California on a meditation retreat. This will probably be the longest time I’ve gone without any screens in probably 20 years. May come back insane or enlightened, stay tuned to find out which. Anyway, onto what I've been thinking about this week... How much should you try to optimise your life? How much should you be thinking about ways to improve? How much...