How hard should you work?
Edition #070
Hey friends, Happy Easter Sunday Monday!
I hope you've had a great long weekend. This weeks Filter is a little late as I've been busy making videos. Each video is taking a little longer to make than I'd like, but I'm starting to define a workflow and speed up the process.
This weeks video is on the 6 Things I Wish I Knew at 20.
Alrighty, let's get into the Filter.
One Lesson
How hard should you work?
The responses to this tweet are some of the most fascinating things I've read this week.
Some people are outraged, and others completely agree. Personally I land somewhere in the middle, leaning towards agreeing with Steph.
Recently there has been this huge anti-hustle culture movement with people demonising the idea of working hard and sacrificing things to achieve success.
But I think achieving success in any field requires a degree of sacrifice.
Your definition of hard work will play a role in your outlook on this, but for me hard work isn't just about how many hours you put in, it's the intensity of those hours.
Of course hard work is not the only factor in your success, things like luck, skills and natural ability will all play a role. But I find it useful to assume I'm below average in the things I cannot change, that way I can focus on the things I can change (like how hard I work and the intensity) and ensure they are above average.
I'd love to know your thoughts on this topic (just hit reply to this email).
Two Ideas
I. The grass always looks greener on the other side, but remember that almost everything is harder than it looks and less fun than it seems.
II.
To "decide" comes from the Latin "to cut off".
Making a decision means you choose one option and cut off all others.
By committing to one outcome you become intensely focused.
Three Favourite Finds
Against Ikigai: Ikigai is supposed to make finding your calling easy. All you need to do is find what you're good at, what you can be paid for, what the world needs and what you love. Except finding that isn't easy.
This wonderful article explores how Ikigai has been manipulated to make work become the center of meaning in your life and offers some insights into finding meaning in other places.
I thought my dad lived an unfulfilled life: Exercise often, read daily, maximise productivity, help others... all of the self-help advice you hear might not be that important?
This thread shares some counter-intuative wisdom on living a worry free, fulfilled life.
Against 3x speed: More always seems like it would be better, but not when it comes to consuming information. The productivity porn movement of speed reading, listening to podcasts and audiobooks at 3x speed is so misguided.
The goal is not to consume more, but to learn and then apply that knowledge.
End note
The Sunday Filter relies on word of mouth to reach more people, if you’re enjoying the newsletter I’d really appreciate you sending it to a friend or sharing on Twitter.
Have a fantastic week!
- Stephen