46 Fleeting happiness and inner tyrant
No. 46 – 20 Oct 2023
Welcome to the 46th edition of the True Progress Newsletter, a weekly newsletter on building resilience.
Article
The two simple and timeless ways for unleashing your formidability.
— Read more
Quote
Maxim Gorkyhave, on happiness:
“Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is.”
Insight
8 cognitive traits for thriving in any high-stress environment:
1/ Intellectual humility
We don’t know what we don’t know, and, we can only be so much aware of our own biases.
How to get it: Don’t be pretentious, boastful, or conceited with your knowledge. Practice humility.
2/ Intellectual courage
This one’s about addressing viewpoints, ideas, and beliefs you don't agree with. You can’t be true to your thinking and decision-making if you avoid ideas you disagree with.
How to get: Welcome ideas and see where they take you. Suspend judgment and what you know, at least initially.
3/ Intellectual empathy
If you want to understand a problem, you have to place yourself in the shoes of other perspectives.
How to get: Put aside ego for a little while to absorb other perspectives different from your own.
4/ Intellectual autonomy
Think for yourself. It requires that you think for yourself.
How to get: Learn not to follow the majority.
5/ Intellectual integrity
This is the need to be consistent in one’s own thinking.
How to get: Focus on being consistent in thoughts and actions.
6/ Intellectual perseverance
This is none other than embracing serendipity and continuing to push forward despite it. This helps achieve deeper understandings and insights.
How to get: Understand that learning is not a straight line.
7/ Confidence in reason
This is focused on trusting that reason will get us closer to solving our problems and making better decisions.
How to get: Understand that critical thinking is the path to increased clarity.
8/ Fairmindedness
This trait tells us to reserve judgment on different ideas and perspectives until we've given it a fair shot to examine it.
How to get: Catch yourself when your emotions are about to arise and remind yourself to be objective and fair.
Emotion Signpost
Neuroscience and brain-imaging research shows that properly naming an emotion is critical to managing and taming it.
It's key to building resilience, becomes a pause for reflection, and increases understanding of yourself and others.
Here are 2 to explore:
Jealous
Definition | Feeling or showing envy of someone or their achievements and advantages.
Origin | From medieval Latin zelosus (zealous).
Bitter
Definition | Angry, hurt, or resentful because of one's bad experiences or a sense of unjust treatment.
Origin | Related to Dutch and German bitter, and probably to bite.
Question
Progress is a byproduct of proactive responsibility. Waiting around for things to happen is a recipe for disappointment.
What can you do to move the needle?
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Till next week,
— Carlos & Stef
