Info refinery #16: Potential of awareness
đ§ Whatâs on my mind
Last Friday I attended a meditation meetup like I do many Fridays. The exercise was apparently simple: Just put attention to your thoughts.
Even in a meditative state, the mind is going all around. Thoughts come and go at amazing speed, and are very varied. This happens all the time, but we are just not wired to pay attention to them.
We donât realize most of our thoughts, and we run around them. Taking a coding session as an example: It is an exercise of opening lots of tabs, looking through them, closing, trying a change, rerun the code, fail, try again, it is quite hectic. And we might suddenly solve it, but since we were going so fast and without really being aware of our thoughts we can be in the situation that we donât even know how we solved it.
Which brings me to the question:
How would it feel to be able to slow our thoughts down and act on them with awareness?
I donât know since my awareness level is low, but sounds like there is a better way. Kids might have the answer since they are much better at awareness than us, but inevitably life and the information overload donât work in our favor.
𤯠What have I learned this week
Do what makes you feel good: Want to get rid of harmful habits? Try to do something that feels good and is good in the long term. Then place it in a location that is related to a bad habit, the author suggests putting a list in the cupboard (close to the unhealthy food). I made a post-it and put it near the phone, so every time I go to pick up the phone I am reminded to Stretch/ Meditate/Read/Go to the balcony or do some breathing exercises. Make the environment work in your favor (link)
Being vs doing: Reza reflects on being on the moment, this phrase particularly resonated: âLife has nothing to do with what youâre doing and everything to do with what youâre being.â (link)
Your self-control is weak: Stop lamenting your poor self-control, instead of brute strength for self-control be strategic. Focus instead on reducing temptation. (link)
Making a checklist app: As part of a JavaScript learning club I have managed to create an app from scratch, very simple but I am so proud (plus is something I am planning to use myself, for recurring tasks). It was done by working a bit every day during the mornings for 30 minutes.
đŽ Interesting things
Proof of X: Social networks are about signaling something to others. Julian defines Instagram as âpics or it didnât happenâ -as-a-service. Then he proceeds to make a point on how signaling could be used for more âpositiveâ things such as learning. (link)
Biometrics analytics in Formula 1: F1 analytics team measures emotional arousal with âGalvanic Skin Responseâ sensors. A panel of people wear them and helps them to keep track of the level of engagement and excitement, which helps them to do recommendations to what to put in the video recaps. Emotions-based analytics. (link)
James Clear improvising: He decided to ask people to write topics and he replied with so many genius answers, here are my favorite responses: (link)
Hedonic treadmill:
Awareness:
@mrcbailo The first task of behavior change is awareness. Your habits will run your life whether you realize it or not. This is true for habits of thinking (beliefs, self-image, social norms) and habits of acting (daily rituals, mindless routines). Awareness provides the chance for change.The 4 qualities of a great career:
@sherlearns https://t.co/xgAInLe1JxThe 4 qualities of a great career: 1) I enjoy it 2) Iâm good at it 3) I make good money 4) Iâm around fascinating people Answer in reverse order: 1) Where are fascinating people? 2) In what ways can I make money with them? 3) Which ones am I good at? 4) Which ones do I enjoy?James Clear @JamesClearSoftware engineer: