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Sloww Sunday Newsletter 116 (Sep 11, 2022) — Lifestyle Design, Passion Pointers, Free Will, & More
Happy Sunday!
Here’s the latest from Sloww along with the most interesting things I discovered last week. Here’s the latest from Sloww along with the most interesting things I discovered last week. If you enjoy this issue, please forward the email version it to some friends and family. 🙏
🌎 Lighter Living
Lifestyle Design 101: What is Lifestyle Design? (& 35+ Questions)
5 mins | Sloww
I was recently asked if I had any recommended resources on lifestyle design. Well, here you go!
Pair with: 🔒 Behind the Scenes: A Look at My Personal Lifestyle Design
“Lifestyle design would effectively be a contrasting, philosophical lens through which to look at career and personal development that is juxtaposed with ‘slave, save, retire’—I’m going to cash in my chips in 20-30-40 years that will then redeem this period of doing many things that I dislike doing.” — Tim Ferriss
🧭 Higher Purpose
7 Pointers to find Passion
Short Lesson
These days it seems like “passion” has become a dirty word, but don’t believe it! Here are some pointers:
- Passion is life fuel.
- Passion can’t be faked.
- Passion feels like play (vs work).
- Passion is what you can’t not do.
- Passion can be found through pain.
- Passion regenerates you (vs depleting).
- Passion is the key ingredient in purpose.
For those who believe they have too many passions and could never pick just one: think deeply about #4 to help prioritize.
For those who believe they have no passion: think deeply about #5. It’s amazingly powerful to realize that you can transform your wounds into wisdom, trauma into treasure, pain into passion. For instance, I found my passion (synthesizing the art of living) through my pain (existential crisis).
Either way, remember that life = energy (#1). “Work” is energy usage you don’t enjoy that depletes you. “Play” is energy usage you enjoy that regenerates you (#3). The goal is to have a life of play that’s enjoyable, regenerative energy (#6).
Passion is a key ingredient in purpose (#7) and covered in more detail in the Ikigai 2.0 eBook.
🧠 Mental Wealth
Getting Started with Cognitive Biases
10 mins | Sloww
What are the top cognitive biases? This post gives you 25 of the most useful cognitive bias examples from some of the best cognitive bias books.
For a full list of 100+ cognitive biases (across self, interpersonal, belief, perception, emotion, planning, judgment, decision making, memory, learning, and more) check out Mini Mind: 365 daily emails of bite-size brain food.
☯️ Timeless Wisdom
The Need to Win
Short Passage
Here’s a powerful passage from The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton:
“When an archer is shooting for nothing
He has all his skill.
If he shoots for a brass buckle
He is already nervous.
If he shoots for a prize of gold
He goes blind
Or sees two targets—
He is out of his mind!
His skill has not changed. But the prize
Divides him. He cares.
He thinks more of winning
Than of shooting—
And the need to win
Drains him of power.”
Anthony de Mello shares this same passage in Awareness (Book Summary | 🔒Premium Summary). He follows it by saying:
“Isn’t that an image of what most people are? When you’re living for nothing, you’ve got all your skills, you’ve got all your energy, you’re relaxed, you don’t care, it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose. Now there’s human living for you. That’s what life is all about. That can only come from awareness. And in awareness you will understand that honor doesn’t mean a thing. It’s a social convention, that’s all. That’s why the mystics and the prophets didn’t bother one bit about it. Honor or disgrace meant nothing to them. They were living in another world, in the world of the awakened. Success or failure meant nothing to them.” — Anthony de Mello
🤯 Mind Expanding
Your Go-To Guide on Free Will
Various Lengths | Sloww
I’m finally wrapping up my lottery of birth and free will rabbit holes (for now)! If you’re a Premium member, discuss this in the 🔒Sloww Society community. I’ve also started tracking humans who understand the lottery of birth (Twitter thread).
Public Posts:
· The Lottery of Birth: All the Things You Don’t Control in Life
· The Ovarian Lottery: A Thought Experiment from Warren Buffett
· “Creating Freedom” by Raoul Martinez (Book Summary)
· “Free Will” by Sam Harris (Book Summary)
· No Free Will: The Biology of Behavior with Robert Sapolsky
· The Homunculus Fallacy & Mitigated Free Will (Robert Sapolsky Short Excerpt)
🆕 25 Ways to Melt Away the Feeling of Free Will
🆕 50+ Free Will Questions to Examine the Nature of Your Reality
Premium Posts:
🔒 Behind the Scenes: Dissecting my own Lottery of Birth Ticket
🔒 How to Unravel Free Will with Sam Harris (+ Infographic)
🔒 Stream of Consciousness: What is the Subject-Object Relationship?
🔒 Stream of Consciousness: What is Enlightenment?
🆕 Stream of Consciousness: Is this the Holy Shit Moment?
Sharing: If you enjoyed this issue, please help grow Sloww by forwarding the email version of this issue to some friends and family. It’s free for them to subscribe here.
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Feedback: Have something you want to say, or just want to say hi? It’s always greatly appreciated. Just send me an email or reach out socially.
Have an alive week!
Kyle Kowalski
Founder, Sloww
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