Finding happiness through passion

vutran | Aug. 29, 2021, 9:30 a.m.

3 types of happiness: pleasure, passion, and higher purpose.

1. Pleasure: This type of happiness is about always chasing the next high, very hard to maintain.
2. Passion: Also known as “flow,” where peak performance meets peak engagement, and time flies by.
3. Higher Purpose: This is about being part of something bigger than yourself that has meaning to you.

The happiness that arises from pleasure is highly unsustainable. Once the pleasurable stimulus ceases, or if you habituate to it, then your happiness returns to your default set point. Happiness that arises from flow is much more sustainable and you are far less likely to habituate to it. Happiness arising from higher purpose, is highly sustainable, this form of happiness is very resilient and can last for a very long time, especially if that higher purpose has an altruistic origin.

Interestingly, we instinctively chase after pleasure believing it to be the source of sustainable happiness. Many of us spend most of our time and energy chasing pleasure, sometimes enjoying flow, and once in a while, we think about higher purpose. Happiness insight suggests we should be doing precisely the reverse. We should be spending most of our time and energy working on higher purpose, sometimes enjoying flow, and every now and then, savoring rock-star pleasure. This is the most logical path toward sustainable happiness.

— Chade Meng Tan, Tony Hsieh in Search Inside Yourself

1 path for Passion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai

for Higher Purpose

Neri Oxman on the Krebs Cycle of Creativity (KCC)

vutran | Aug. 22, 2021, 2:30 p.m.

The Krebs Cycle of Creativity (KCC) 

The role of Science is to explain and predict the world around us; it ‘converts’ information into knowledge. 

The role of Engineering is to apply scientific knowledge to the development of solutions for empirical problems; it ‘converts’ knowledge into utility. 

The role of Design is to produce embodiments of solutions that maximize function and augment human experience; it ‘converts’ utility into behavior. 

The role of Art is to question human behavior and create awareness of the world around us; it ‘converts’ behavior into new perceptions of information, re-presenting the data that initiated the KCC in Science.

Central (disciplinary) vision will get you far, but peripheral (antidisciplinary) vision will get you farther. So while the ability to occupy all four domains simultaneously requires the kind of expertise that sacrifices expertise, it is a sine qua non for a worthy spin.

— by Neri Oxman at https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/ageofentanglement/release/1

Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic on communication mechanism and slideument

vutran | April 27, 2021, 6:29 a.m.

—  Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic

On the expressiveness and effectiveness of visual channels

vutran | April 24, 2021, 2:52 p.m.

— Data Visualization Foundation on Coursera

Food for thoughts on momentum by James Clear

vutran | Oct. 16, 2020, 5 p.m.

Momentum is a double-edged sword. It can propel you to new heights or keep you locked into previous choices and old habits.

Where do I have healthy momentum right now? Where do I have unhealthy momentum?

On Knowledge Management

vutran | Sept. 26, 2020, 5:29 p.m.

1. Collect the dots

Daily knowledge enjoying through Audible, Blinkist, Reading Graphics, Amazon books, LinkedLearning/Pluralsight courses

2. Connect the dots

80% of information absorbed will slip away, daily review is needed at some spaced repetition system e.g. Readwise, MarginNote, Anki.

3. Apply the dots

Apply the newly acquired knowledge is the first return on investment of learning, aquiring knowledge for the sake of learning is great, but with practicality orientation is even better.

4. Strategizing the dots

From the trials and errors, experiences collected, arm the experience with good tooling, automation e.g. Omnifocus for Getting Things Done, Keyboard Maestro for muscle memory, Habitica for habit formation. 

5. Intuiting the dots

Acquire 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, roughly 4 hours daily in 10 years. 

— Be Better, to be updated 6-weekly

My career development mental map

vutran | Sept. 26, 2020, 5:09 p.m.