Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

George Santayana

I have a hard time of letting things go every now and then. In my mind I always tend to be 10 – well to be honest 100 – steps ahead. I guess this is second nature to me as I am always pondering all possible variations stuff can go either good or bad. You can call this my own multiversal mind.

The problem with this mindset is that when I eventually see a “timeline” going as I have thought it out and things take a turn for the worst. I often feel anxious and depressed. This is something I have to work on, as you cannot change people’s behavior if they are not willing to listen and learn.

This train of thought fits nicely with a book I recently finished: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.

People who base their self-worth on always being right will prevent themselves from learning from their mistakes.

Mark Manson

So advice to my future self and others in similar situations. It isn’t you, you should not worry if people always want to be right and do not want to learn from past mistakes. Try to be at peace with the situation or either leave the situation so you can be at peace.

Together we create the world we inhabit.

David Graeber

From his book Bullshit Jobs I recently finished (write up will follow soon). This was an hopeful message worth repeating. An example he gives is the world we are currently living in, is controlled by capitalistic values. But… if one day we would all wake up and stop buying things and don’t get motivated by capitalistic ideals, capitalism would (eventually) stop to exist. And when you think about it, this is at the core on how we can change the world. You already see it by the next generation becoming more politically engaged, unionizing and so on.

We are the future and we can determine how the world is shaped for us and generations after us. We will create a better world, we just have to.

It’s easy to make things hard, but hard to make them easy

Jos de Blok

Currently reading Humankind by Rutger Bregman and this quote was mentioned. It made me think of life and work in particular. Why is it that we often choose to make things difficult when the answer is so simple. Like just calling someone to verify a story, getting people together so any miscommunication or tension can be talked about or just simply listen to someone as they vent, instead of wanting to solve everything.

Life as it is, is complex already. Why make it hard for yourself? Remember that you have only one life to live, so use your time well. You can only spend it once.

What is the value of free speech if we have nothing of value to say.

What purpose does freedom of religion service if we no longer believe in anything.

Rutger Bregman

This quote is from his book Utopia for Realists, which I wrote about a couple of days ago. Something to think about when we stand for basic human rights. We keep fighting for them for various reasons, but do we add value to society with things we are saying, doing or believing? Or is most of it just for selfish reasons.

Life’s an adventure. If you are not choosing the adventurous path then you are not living.

Susan Iger

Currently reading (listening) to Robert Iger’s book The Ride of a Lifetime and when making various career steps his now ex wife gave him this piece of advice. Other versions are often quoted like “do things that make you feel unconformable” or “push yourself out of your comfort zone”.

I feel this type of advice holds true to one of my sayings which loosely translate to: “never stay in a position long enough that you no longer can get out of it”.

Obstacles are opportunities

James Gunn

From the latest The Suicide Squad movie written and directed by James Gunn, one of the main characters Rick Flag wears a T-Shirt with this quote on it.

According to Gunn he follows this philosophy to overcome problems he has had in the past, one of course being his firing from Marvel Studios (he since has returned). His mantra has grown on me and I think it is a nice way of looking at problems you might face. It reminded me of a great manager I had, who always said: “You can come to me with any problem, but only if you have also thought about possible solutions.”

In life you either:

Know someone

Hire someone

Or be that someone

NrFive

From a discussion my partner and I had. I am someone who either knows or learns how to do something. If I am not capable to do it, I will hire a professional to help. For example when you need help building a shed. I am not skilled enough to do it, so I would hire someone and save time and effort to do other things in the meanwhile. This could be relaxing, but it could also be working more hours so I can pay for the shed. Others however, rely more on their circle of friends, family or acquittances to get things done, which often result in an IOU.

The problem arises when you get stuck in life with things where help or support is harder to acquire. Say you are feeling depressed, burned out or having bad thoughts going through your head. Sure friends and family can listen to your story and might even have a good suggestion on how to proceed, but getting professional help should be the option the go for.

And when it comes to life in general? So far I’ve learned that no matter how many idols you have, how religious you are or how much support you are getting from your family and friends, it is you and you alone who can move the needle forward.