Comment by lionhearted | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lionhearted | Hacker News Reader

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> Sometimes I wonder if I'm creating any value in the world. ... Hopefully this'll be a stepping stone towards financing a startup that'll be a little more meaningful.

I think almost everyone thinks this, but y'know what?

It's a lie. People keep saying they'll do what really motivates and engages them real, real soon... just as soon as this obviously-must-be-done thing is done.

But life, life is a series of obviously-must-be-done things. At some point, you need to stop doing them and start doing what actually matters to you.

You can break away from the grinding routine in a responsible, steady way. Easiest way to start? Wake up 1-3 hours earlier, and spend your peak creative time on something incredibly meaningful to you. Could you do that?

I don't trust the future. Everyone says they're going to do things in the future, and most people don't do 90% of them. If you're really serious about changing the world, the best time to start is yesterday, but the second best time to start is right now.

Although I am probably not the intended audience of your message, I can't agree with the sentiment. Akrasia has to have a reason, even if it makes no rational sense, and all my believing in "stop doing [unimportant things] and start doing what actually matters" seems to do is make me feel guilty and worthless for being unable to find the motivation to do what actually matters to me. I know what I'd like to be doing, but I also know I'm not motivated to do it. What's a real solution?

> I know what I'd like to be doing, but I also know I'm not motivated to do it.

You just contradicted yourself. Being motivated to do something means wanting to do it.

The problem is that "What do I want to do" actually has two meanings. It means "What would I like to be doing each day" and it means "What do I want to have done". These are very different questions, and they have different answers. I'd like to have fed the poor, but I would not enjoy standing on the street asking for donations from passers-by. I want to be designing computer games, but I won't be particularly proud of writing Battlefield N+1.

I've spent years optimizing for how my life will look in retrospect. This came as a revelation to me, but if I look back at my fondest memories over the past few years, none of them have involved big goals. Instead, they've all been things that were fun to do, like gamejam and trapeze lessons. This year I've got a new plan: -Ofun. I might not change the world, but maybe if I'm enjoying myself a lot more that'll be ok.

Actions tend to follow emotions, not rational decisions. And connecting your long term plans to your present day emotions is nontrivial.

This is where Personal Development resources like Neuro Linguistic Programming, Hypnosis, etc. can be very useful. I know it's not particularly scientific, but I, and several of my friends, have personally found visualization exercises to be extremely helpful in aligning my motivation with my long term goals. Here is a starting point that worked well for me: http://www.petermichaud.com/essays/5-steps-to-overcome-procr...

I'd like to reiterate that connecting emotions with rational, long term decisions is not especially easy, but it is by far one of the most useful skills I developed.

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