To feel truely alive
every single day
by paying close attention to the people, places, ideas, and situations that remind me I'm here, right now.
To ask respectful, open-ended questions
as often as possible, without getting bogged down or forgetting to have fun
by remembering that I'll never run out of questions1, I'll probably forget2, and that I have a responsibility to find the answers to the important3 ones.
1) Isn't that exciting!?
2) Less exciting, but might as well accept it.
3) e.g. what is the meaning of my life from Man's Search for Meaning. Important questions are concerned with a person, task, or purpose greater than myself. Important questions vary from person to person, day to day, hour to hour, and are uniquely mine to answer.
To look for inner peace
as often as possible
by letting go, and remembering I need far less than I think I do, and I can control far less than I think I can.1
1) Nothing whatsoever to remove from this.
Not a single thing there on to add.
Properly beholding the true nature.
When truely seen.
Complete liberation.
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61 minutes
To create open space for others to find peace
in every interaction & situation where I play a part
by being attentive and unafraid1.
1) Unafraid of being hurt, embarrassed, ignored, etc.
To be a kind friend
to everyone I think of, talk about, listen to, work with, and disagree with
by avoiding the us vs them1 trap.
1) Is it silly to speak of everyone as a friend? Friendship, in my experience, has more than one "state." I have friends who I don't talk to. Friends I can't be around. Friends I don't trust. Friends I love. Friends I want to keep forever. etc.
Why not speak of everyone as a friend?
I often think of groups of people I don't understand or relate to as "them" and not "us." e.g. The Chinese. Muslims. Liberals. Conservatives. Police. White people. Black people. etc.
Could I lessen that gap by adding friends at the end?
Our Chinese friends. Our Muslim friends. Our liberal friends. Our police friends.
Saying "friends" doesn't mean we ignore conflict, anger, misunderstanding, etc. It's highlights it. And it reminds us we decide who are friends are, and who is not.
To design software that is beautiful, best in class, and easy to use
for 10k customers and 10,000,000 people
by working with Tyler to make the most of Memberstack for our team, our users, and the millions of people who might use it.
January 2019:
1 customer
January 2020:
1 employee, 300 customers, and 1M processed
September 2020:
4 employees, 1000 customers, $7M processed, and 500,000 members.
To fall completely in love
with one person
by finding someone I can trust to hold my hand and heart, and who can love me for who I am now, while holding me accountable for what I can be.
Thinking: Just heard a definition of "love" as willingness to sacrifice for another... I agree and disagree.
Love is not about me. I.e. The "meaning" and "purpose" of love is so much more than me and how I feel. That's not love... that's self care and needs to be done before hand. I agree with the above statement in that we are willing to sacrifice anything which is not vital to our own self care. A willingness to sacrifice... and now I'm questing the concept of self. If I come to recognize all people as one collection we, then it's conceivable that I could sacrifice a small amount of my bodily well being for the "greater good." I.e. My feet hurt when I run but the system as a whole becomes stronger. Are the feet sacrificing when the body runs?
The poem/song "A kind invitation" also comes to mind. Not loving for the fear of loving incorrectly is no better than choosing to "fish and work" until "I [Death] always come alone in the end". It feels just as selfish, and just as foolish as waiting to love. We'll never love perfectly, but we can choose to love now, or never. And we can choose to become love through careful practice and painful mistakes, or we can hide.
The pain of knowing I'll love imperfectly and choosing to love anyways feels a bit like sacrifice 😂
To appreciate nature
every single day
by spending as much time as possible outside
To actively study religion and philosophy
every single day
by finding people who ask important questions with care, and listen to them closely.
To care for the earth
every single day
by reducing the amount of stuff I think I need, walking/biking when possible, and not buying meat products.
To share my excess wealth
with as many people as possible as I earn it
by trusting the folks at
Givewell and the charities the support to do their very best with the money
1 I do not need
2.
1) Giving pledge “I recognise that I can use part of my income to do a significant amount of good. Since I can live well enough on a smaller income, I pledge that for the rest of my life or until the day I retire, I shall give at least ten percent of what I earn to whichever organisations can most effectively use it to improve the lives of others, now and in the years to come. I make this pledge freely, openly, and sincerely.”
2) At this point, I don't need much. 35k per year for a single male is more than enough, and I don't even pay rent... how little do I really need to save & spend?
Sources
Google on Objectives and Key Results | Link
YCombinator on goal settings | Private link
YCombinator on KPIs | Slideshow
Man's Search for Meaning
Dharma Talks from Plum Village | Spotify