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The Tyranny of the Perfect Life
Incoherency of a Utopia
We believe people have many needs and values that can come together in perfect harmony. We think, under the right conditions, education, technology and political systems, we can completely solve all our problems.
But we have to stop and consider these questions: What if our values and needs contradict each other? What, if we gain somewhere, we will lose somewhere else?
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Key Ideas
The Perfect Day
Life is always more out of our control than we would prefer it to be. Even with the most meticulous planning, the perfect day only shows up now and then.
If we were to have a perfect day every day, it would quickly become just another normal part of our experience. Then we would need a new fantasy to take its place.
The Quest for Uniformity
Similar to the desire for the perfect day, an ideal life can mean enforcing a rigid uniformity that does more harm than good.
Chasing utopian dreams never takes us exactly where we want to go, because ideas change, people change, and new technologies develop.
Chasing A Perfect Paradise
Dictators from history had an ideal world in mind that would last. But their dreams were never realized, and instead left catastrophic destruction behind.
We are unable to plan a perfect life without also fully understanding the complexity of life. Things we think we want now might be different from what we want in the near future.
Incoherency of a Utopia
We believe people have many needs and values that can come together in perfect harmony. We think, under the right conditions, education, technology and political systems, we can completely solve all our problems.
But we have to stop and consider these questions: What if our values and needs contradict each other? What, if we gain somewhere, we will lose somewhere else?
Needs or Values
Choosing one way of life means giving up many others. A desire for privacy is at odds with convenience tools like Google and Facebook. Long-term travel will mean being lonely at times.
It is not possible to combine a diversity of forms of life within a single person.
The 'Perfect Life'
Obsessing over the idea of having a perfect life where you compress yourself into a focused point, means that you will suffer from tunnel-vision. Tunnel-vision means that you will miss much of life.
The perfect life is always around the corner, but the decent life is right here already if you can stop for long enough to see it.
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Managing our time
It needs to become a ritual. Not simply a list or a vague sense of our priorities. That's not consistent or deliberate.
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Set Plan for Day: 5 min
Before turning on your computer, sit down with a blank piece of paper and decide what you can realistically accomplish that will further your goals.
Take your calendar and schedule those things into time slots, placing the hardest and most important items at the beginning of the day.
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Manage your day hour by hour.
Set your phone or computer to ring every hour. When it rings, take a deep breath, look at your list and ask yourself if you spent your last hour productively.
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A Distracted Life
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How To Get Clarity
A few pointers to help you get clarity in life:
- Create some space, carving out a few hours or a weekend when unclear about something.
- Write daily, giving yourself an outlet, and a space to reflect.
- Talk to others, sharing your thoughts and feelings.
- Write down your experiences and insights.
- Take action first, and get clarity. Reflect on your actions and get further clarity.