⏳ Happiness & August Quote Dump

Hey there,

After losing momentum in August, yesterday felt like a good reset to get back to normal. Also doing research into other apps, I’m more optimistic about how much we can achieve by simply working intensely for bursts.

💎 There was a beautiful quote from Jerry Seinfeld in this video: “I’m supposed to make people laugh.” He said it like it’s not work, not an active action, just what is meant to happen. Matches what Atomic Habits says about identity based actions being the strongest. Other quotes: “It’s not a job, it’s a life” & “The blessing in life is finding the torture you’re comfortable with”

💎 Some quotes from Mark Manson on MFM: “I miss being bad at something” | “Happiness is from solving problems” | “Have arrows in thumbnails” (the last one is just so I remember)

💎 From Ryan Holiday: “The meaning of life is leaving this place better than you found it”. He also referred to working for the common good as key to ancient stoics.

💎 From Founders episode on Paul Graham: “Do things that don’t scale… aim for a 10% weekly growth rate…. how big could this company get if the found did the right thing, the right things seem laborious and inconsequential at the time”

💎 Syed Balkhi on MFM: “Heads I win, tails I don’t lose much” on his acquisition strategy.

💎 Few takeaways from Brave New World: “Choose to be happy or free” | “Happiness is blah because then nothing needs to change… you need to be willing to sit with your negative feelings”

This mirrors some other quotes on happiness from the Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck movie:

📌 “Happiness doesn’t come from removing your problems, it comes from solving them”

📌 “You can’t always trust your positive emotions”

📌 “Everybody wants the same things… but that’s not interesting. What’s interesting is the struggles we take on to get those things”

📌 “We are forced to have problem, we might as well choose problems that we enjoy - we have to give a fuck about something, wehn you find that, you don’t give a fuck about the sacrifices.”

📌 “Why are you so afraid to live? If there is no reason to do anything, there is no reason not to - no reason to be ashamed, no reason to be afraid”

Misc thoughts I wrote down:

• If you want to see someone’s authentic self, be super direct and see their knee jerk, unplanned reaction. Might be the closest you get to it.

• Meaning comes from people and endless games. People = respect, reputation, legacy, family, sex. Endless games are everything else you are willing to do continuously that determine your identity.

• Favourite movie of August has to be The Deepest Breath.

• Favourite show of August was The Last of Us - makes you really grateful for even the basic stuff we have in our lives (don’t worry, not a spoiler). I wrote: savour the little moments as you would trade life for them all in an apocalypse.

Kind regards,

Jay