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Tuning Your Systems
The Digital Economy
April 05, 2024
Man is by nature a goal-striving being. And because man is “built that way,” he is not happy unless he is functioning as he was made to function – as a goal striver. Thus true success and true happiness not only go together but each enhances the other. – Maxwell Waltz
This quote from Psycho Cybernetics can be connected to another from Flow.
The optimal state of inner experience is one in which there is order in consciousness. This happens when psychic energy—or attention—is invested in realistic goals, and when skills match the opportunities for action. The pursuit of a goal brings order in awareness because a person must concentrate attention on the task at hand and momentarily forget everything else. – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Humans are goal-oriented creatures.
And goals create systems.
Systems don’t exist without goals (take that, James Clear).
The mind has two key purposes for survival:
Achieving known goals
Discovering unknown goals
The mind is an information processing and pattern recognition machine that we have a certain amount of control over based on our level of consciousness.
The mind is a system – containing a complex set of systems – that accepts, rejects, and uses information to aid in the goals you feed it.
If you’re always focused on negative outcomes, they will become reality, and you’ll blame everyone but yourself for the misfortune in your life.
The man who conceives himself to be a “failure-type person” will find some way to fail, in spite of all his good intentions, even if opportunity is dumped in his lap. The person who conceives himself to be a victim of injustice, one who “was meant to suffer,” will invariably find circumstances to verify his opinions. – Maxwell Waltz
In other words, if you think you can, you can, and if you think you can’t, you can’t.
At the root of your mind, like a puppet master, is your identity.
Identity is synonymous with self-image or personality for the sake of this letter.
Your identity is a system of ideas, beliefs, values, and standards that shape your perspective.
Your perspective is like the lens of a camera.
You can zoom in and out.
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You can focus on one part of the scene – while the background is blurred – or focus on the detail of the entirety of the scene
Your perspective influences your perception of situations.
Meaning, your identity will limit the information it can perceive, and if it receives information that does not match its beliefs, values, or standards it will reject it.
Your mind automatically accepts and rejects information that aids in the achievement of the goals that are programmed into your head.
If you want to get a job, dopamine will signal the importance of information and opportunities that help you get that job.
Your book highlights will reflect that goal. How you approach conversations (with anyone) will reflect that goal. What you engage with on social media will reflect that goal (and the algorithm will help deepen the roots of that identity by showing you more of that information, for better or worse).
If you want to quit your job, dopamine will do the same thing, but for information that provides the opposite effect.
Your Google searches will change from “best careers to go into in 2024” to “best businesses to start in 2024.”
Your book highlights in even something like a novel will be vastly different from someone else with a different goal.
With or without knowing it, we are all reinforcing our potentially mediocre identity that determines the outcome of our lives. For most people, this will be negative.
If you want to change the outcome of your life, change who you are.
If you want to change who you are, change the direction of your life.
Expose yourself to new experiences, environments, and information to allow your mind a chance to discover new goals you can adopt that will carry you toward a better future.
The Mastery Method – How To Learn Anything, Fast
It’s safe to say that you are going to have to learn… a lot.
Education expands your mind.
It introduces you to novel perspectives.
It increases dopamine in the brain as a consistent source of energy.
It gives you the knowledge to act with clarity toward your goals.
It exposes you to the potentials that you hadn’t yet become aware of.
A consistent flow of education increases your chances of encountering meaningful events.
Meaningful events occur at the edge of the known, when your nervous system signals that you should pay attention.
When you have one foot in the unknown, you can just barely metabolize new aspects of reality and put that information to use.
Becoming the person you want to be is the most painful and rewarding process you can dedicate your life to.
You begin this path when you realize that the pain and pleasure of where you are now are of lesser magnitude than the pain of not receiving the rewards that come from seeing what you are capable of.
With that, let’s discuss how to master almost anything as you trek toward becoming a new you in the next letter!