Hello there!
Welcome to the 33rd edition of ‘The Lighthouse’!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.
If anything, 2020 has been a year of giving thanks - for everything that we have.
My daughter asked me why the name ‘Lighthouse’. I asked her, “What does a Lighthouse do?”. She replied, “It helps sailors.”
And so, we both had the answers to our own questions.
I hope every edition adds value to your life and helps you improve marginally. I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback to make this better.
Let’s dig in.
There’s a small change in the format of the newsletter. If you prefer to read my post on my blog, you can click on the title of the post.
Life Is Like Driving Your Car
Cover Photo by Jack Hodges on Unsplash
Your past has a significant bearing on your life. Your life is the sum of all your past experiences and the learning associated with it. How you see and act in the world today is because of your past. It also serves as your library to go back to reflect and ponder about life. You’re enamoured by it. Why?
Because it was once your present.
The key – ‘was’.
No matter how you look at it, the past can never be your present reality. The moment that you have in your hand is all that life has to offer you now. You cannot hold both of them at the same time and go through life. You either reflect on your past experiences or live in the present.
This is like driving. Looking into the rearview mirror and driving is an impossible task. You either look into the mirror, or you look at what is immediately ahead and drive. Peering into the rearview mirror will blind you to what lies ahead – be it life’s small joyous moments or greatest miseries. Looking into the mirror is also hazardous for your co-passengers. In life, this could be members of your family, your Team, or Employees at your company.
Every time you’re stuck in the past for a little too long, remind yourself not to stare in the rearview mirror. It is dangerous for both driving as well as living your life.
Here’s some interesting stuff I came across last week:
The Infinite Game by Blas Moros: On work - “The goal with work is to find a vocation, not just a job. A situation where work doesn’t feel like “work.” A role you love, where you can learn and grow, where you are surrounded by people you love, where you work on hard and meaningful problems that can make a big difference. Maybe even a situation that feels easy to you but others struggle with. This can be a strong signal of your talents and potentially what you should focus on. While seeking this vocation, understand that it is far more effective to ask who you want to be than what you want to do.”
40 Mental Models by Gurwinder Bhogal (A Twitter thread): Gurwinder explains 40 mental models in 40 tweets for us. No one said it better. We should be grateful to Gurwinder for doing this. This is the kind of power technology has blessed us with - sharing awesome stuff.
Be Good by Paul Graham: “Being good is a particularly useful strategy for making decisions in complex situations because it's stateless. It's like telling the truth. The trouble with lying is that you have to remember everything you've said in the past to make sure you don't contradict yourself. If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything, and that's a really useful property in domains where things happen fast.”
Here’s a thought I’m ruminating on: “How satisfying it is to dismiss and block out any upsetting or foreign impression, and immediately to have peace in all things.” ~ Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.2”.
To avoid the things that provoke you is a superpower. It brings you peace.
Till next weekend, take care.
Cheers 🍻
Prashanth.
If you would love to discuss anything I’ve written about and shared, please reach out to me by replying to this email or sending a direct message on Twitter 🐦 @iam__prashanth. The tribe there is 1700+ members and continues to grow.
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