You sound like quite an intelligent and awesome person. (bad rap, art, rationality. only an interesting person could have such a nonstandard combination of interests. Boring people come prepackaged...)
Glad to have you around.
(I’m not a racist yet though)
It’s only a matter of time ;)
I feel like finding this website has immeasurably improved my life … and moral/philosophical/political questions that seemed like a paradox before now seem to have obvious solutions.
I remember that feeling. I’m more skeptical now, but I can’t help but notice more awesomeness in my life due to LW. It really is quite cool isn’t it?
spend several hours a day on self-improvement projects
This is the part that’s been elusive to me. What kind of things are you doing? How do you knwo you are actually getting benefits and not just producing that “this is awesome” feeling which unfortunately often gets detached from realty?
You sound like quite an intelligent and awesome person. (bad rap, art, rationality. only an interesting person could have such a nonstandard combination of interests. Boring people come prepackaged...)
Thank you :)
This is the part that’s been elusive to me. What kind of things are you doing? How do you knwo you are actually getting benefits and not just producing that “this is awesome” feeling which unfortunately often gets detached from realty?
I guess essentially what I do is try to read self-help stuff. I try to spend half my “work time”, so to speak, doing this, and half working on creative projects. I’ve read both books and assorted stuff on the internet. My goal for April is to read a predetermined list of six self-help books. I’m currently on track for this goal.
So far I’ve read
Part of the massive tome that is Psychological Self Help by Clayton Tucker-Ladd
Success—How We Can Reach Our Goals by Heidi Halverson
How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes
59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman
Thinking Things Done by PJ Eby
the first 300 pages of Feeling Good by David Burns, the last 200 seem to be mostly about the chemical nature of depression and have little practical value, so I’m saving them for later
If meditation books count
Mindfulness in Plain English by Henepola Gunaratana
most of Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha by Daniel Ingram
I also have been keeping a diary, which is something I’ve wanted to get in the habit of all my life but have never been able to do. Every day, in addition to summarizing the day’s events, I rate my happiness out of ten, my productivity out of ten, and speculate on how I can do better.
I’ve only been keeping the diary a month, which is too small of a sample size. However, during this time, I had three weeks off for spring break, and I told myself that I would work as much as I could on self-improvement and personal projects. I ended up not really getting that much done, unfortunately. However, I managed to put in a median of… probably about five hours every day, and more importantly, I was in a fantastic mood the whole break. It might even have been the best mood I’ve been in for an extended time in the last few years. In the past, every time I have had a break from school, I ended up in a depressed, lonely, lethargic state, where I surfed the internet for hours on end, in which I paradoxically want to go back to school knowing that as soon as I do, I’ll want to go back on break. The fact that I avoided this state for the first time I can remember since middle school is a major improvement for me. Additionally, the fact that I have managed to keep up the habit of diary-writing and meditating for a month so far is an achievement, knowing my past.
Also, even though I found How to Talk to Anyone mostly useless (it’s written in a very white-collar, “how to network with the big winners” mindset that doesn’t apply to my life), the one major Obvious In Retrospect thing I got from it was that in general I should never complain or criticize anyone. I used to think I was charmingly cynical. Since finishing it about four days ago, I have applied this advice, and I think, although it’s very hard to tell, that I have made a person who previously harbored dislike for me view me as a someone pleasant to be around. Only one data point, but still.
I will admit that it is very possible that I am merely cultivating the “this is awesome” feeling. However, if reading scientifically minded self-help books isn’t the solution, then what could possibly be? Meditation, but then what if that turns out to be a sham too? Therefore, I feel like it’s rational to at least try the tactics that seem to have the highest chance of success before concluding that self-improvement is hopeless. Plus, I enjoy doing it.
Where do you live? Do you attend meetups?
I live in Columbus, OH, but I go to boarding school in a rural area. I will probably go to college in St. Louis next year. If there’s ever a meetup nearby me, I would love to go.
I think you need to talk to daenerys, IIRC, she runs the Ohio stuff.
if reading scientifically minded self-help books isn’t the solution, then what could possibly be?
Actually doing, for one, though it sounds like you’re doing that too.
that doesn’t apply to my life
yet. Some day you will want to take over the world, and then you will need to talk to big winners.
I ended up not really getting that much done, unfortunately. However, I managed to put in a median of… probably about five hours every day
I’ve had this problem, too (I’ve got so much free time, why is it all getting pissed away?). Have you tried beeminder? I cannot overstate how much that site is just conscientiousness in a can, so to speak.
So far I’ve read
Thanks for the list. A variety of evidence is making me want to check out the self-help community more closely.
Actually doing, for one, though it sounds like you’re doing that too.
I have yet to read a self-help book that doesn’t emphatically state “If you do not take care to apply these principles as much as you can in your daily life, you will not gain anything from reading this book.” So, yeah, I agree, and by “reading self-help” I mean “reading self-help and applying the knowledge”.
Have you tried beeminder? I cannot overstate how much that site is just conscientiousness in a can, so to speak.
I’ve seen it, and checked it out a little, but I can’t think of any way to quantify the stuff that I have problems getting done. Also I wish there was an option to donate money to charity, but I guess they have to make money somehow.
lulz. You have my attention.
You sound like quite an intelligent and awesome person. (bad rap, art, rationality. only an interesting person could have such a nonstandard combination of interests. Boring people come prepackaged...)
Glad to have you around.
It’s only a matter of time ;)
I remember that feeling. I’m more skeptical now, but I can’t help but notice more awesomeness in my life due to LW. It really is quite cool isn’t it?
This is the part that’s been elusive to me. What kind of things are you doing? How do you knwo you are actually getting benefits and not just producing that “this is awesome” feeling which unfortunately often gets detached from realty?
keep your identity small.
Where do you live? Do you attend meetups?
Thank you :)
I guess essentially what I do is try to read self-help stuff. I try to spend half my “work time”, so to speak, doing this, and half working on creative projects. I’ve read both books and assorted stuff on the internet. My goal for April is to read a predetermined list of six self-help books. I’m currently on track for this goal.
So far I’ve read
Part of the massive tome that is Psychological Self Help by Clayton Tucker-Ladd
Success—How We Can Reach Our Goals by Heidi Halverson
How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes
59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman
Thinking Things Done by PJ Eby
the first 300 pages of Feeling Good by David Burns, the last 200 seem to be mostly about the chemical nature of depression and have little practical value, so I’m saving them for later
If meditation books count
Mindfulness in Plain English by Henepola Gunaratana
most of Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha by Daniel Ingram
I also have been keeping a diary, which is something I’ve wanted to get in the habit of all my life but have never been able to do. Every day, in addition to summarizing the day’s events, I rate my happiness out of ten, my productivity out of ten, and speculate on how I can do better.
I’ve only been keeping the diary a month, which is too small of a sample size. However, during this time, I had three weeks off for spring break, and I told myself that I would work as much as I could on self-improvement and personal projects. I ended up not really getting that much done, unfortunately. However, I managed to put in a median of… probably about five hours every day, and more importantly, I was in a fantastic mood the whole break. It might even have been the best mood I’ve been in for an extended time in the last few years. In the past, every time I have had a break from school, I ended up in a depressed, lonely, lethargic state, where I surfed the internet for hours on end, in which I paradoxically want to go back to school knowing that as soon as I do, I’ll want to go back on break. The fact that I avoided this state for the first time I can remember since middle school is a major improvement for me. Additionally, the fact that I have managed to keep up the habit of diary-writing and meditating for a month so far is an achievement, knowing my past.
Also, even though I found How to Talk to Anyone mostly useless (it’s written in a very white-collar, “how to network with the big winners” mindset that doesn’t apply to my life), the one major Obvious In Retrospect thing I got from it was that in general I should never complain or criticize anyone. I used to think I was charmingly cynical. Since finishing it about four days ago, I have applied this advice, and I think, although it’s very hard to tell, that I have made a person who previously harbored dislike for me view me as a someone pleasant to be around. Only one data point, but still.
I will admit that it is very possible that I am merely cultivating the “this is awesome” feeling. However, if reading scientifically minded self-help books isn’t the solution, then what could possibly be? Meditation, but then what if that turns out to be a sham too? Therefore, I feel like it’s rational to at least try the tactics that seem to have the highest chance of success before concluding that self-improvement is hopeless. Plus, I enjoy doing it.
I live in Columbus, OH, but I go to boarding school in a rural area. I will probably go to college in St. Louis next year. If there’s ever a meetup nearby me, I would love to go.
I think you need to talk to daenerys, IIRC, she runs the Ohio stuff.
Actually doing, for one, though it sounds like you’re doing that too.
yet. Some day you will want to take over the world, and then you will need to talk to big winners.
I’ve had this problem, too (I’ve got so much free time, why is it all getting pissed away?). Have you tried beeminder? I cannot overstate how much that site is just conscientiousness in a can, so to speak.
Thanks for the list. A variety of evidence is making me want to check out the self-help community more closely.
I have yet to read a self-help book that doesn’t emphatically state “If you do not take care to apply these principles as much as you can in your daily life, you will not gain anything from reading this book.” So, yeah, I agree, and by “reading self-help” I mean “reading self-help and applying the knowledge”.
I’ve seen it, and checked it out a little, but I can’t think of any way to quantify the stuff that I have problems getting done. Also I wish there was an option to donate money to charity, but I guess they have to make money somehow.