A lot of people tell me I’m the happiest, most optimistic person they know. I’m sure this is partially because of some lucky genetics that have afforded me a high baseline level of happiness. But it’s also largely thanks to what I believe in and how I live my life. I can’t share my genetics with you (my girlfriend won’t allow it), but I can share the principles I live by.
Learn by doing - The most effective way to learn is by doing. No book or lecture can substitute the knowledge and skills gained by actually doing. You don't learn to play the piano by reading books about it, you learn by actually playing.
Exercise as medicine - Think of exercise as the required daily medication for both your mind and body. It's common knowledge that exercise makes your body stronger, but for some reason we neglect to talk about its mental effects. It's much harder to be depressed if you exercise everyday.
Cheap dopamine is the modern devil - Video games, junk food, and social media are the modern embodiment of the devil. They trick our brains into expecting instant gratification and eliminate our ability to focus. The result of their abundance in modern society is an entire generation with a broken reward system, unable to endure the time and effort required for healthier and more fulfilling long term goals.
Reality is nuanced - If you try to apply a singular way of thinking to every scenario in life you'll be certain to fail. The only way to effectively navigate the nuance of reality is to be flexible with your beliefs and to set your ego aside in pursuit of the truth. Life is extremely complex and context is everything.
Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become - Imagine that your identity is composed of sand piles. Every action you take adds a grain of sand to a specific pile and the biggest piles define your identity. Choose to go to the gym enough times and you become a gym-goer, choose to write enough times and you become a writer.
Work like your own perfect employee - We all know what makes a great employee: work ethic, strong communication skills, punctuality, transparency, etc. Yet few people do their best to behave this way. An easy mental trick I try to follow when working for someone is to behave like my own perfect employee, easy as that.
Don’t complain - Complaining is a waste of time and energy that does nothing to better your situation. Be grateful for your health and the fact that you live in the wealthiest society on earth during the wealthiest period in human history. Countless people would kill to be in the position you’re in, so stop complaining and seize the abundant opportunities around you.
You are what you consume - What you watch, read, and listen to, all influence how you perceive the world. If you expose yourself to an idea enough times without exposing yourself to dissenting ideas, you'll eventually believe in that idea. You’ll be overly confident in its truth and viability because you’re ignorant to its alternatives. This is how propaganda works. A balanced information diet filled with different ideas and perspectives from varying high-quality sources makes for a healthy mind. Too much of one idea or perspective can lead to extremism, the obesity of the mind.
Mind your own business - Don't concern yourself with other people's affairs. Resist the urge to engage in gossip, and don't talk about someone who's not present.
Skills are perishable - When you stop practicing a certain skill, your abilities with that skill deteriorate. Stagnation is not the default state with regards to our abilities, decline is. Use it or lose it.
Wooooooo Chris is on Substack!