Essentialist 3

Fragments from imaginary dialogues

“How do you want to feel consistently?”

“I love Brian Johnson‘s way of phrasing it:

Radiantly alive and in love with life

“

“Does doing x help you achieve that?“

“If I’m to be honest with myself, not really. It’s just highly pleasurable.”

“Tell me, would you consider eating sweets pleasurable?”

“Yes, I would.”

“Yet you choose not to eat sweets.”

“That’s different.”

“Is it?

My point is, you’re willing to forego something pleasurable for a higher end.”

“But doing x does not detract anything from my higher end.”

“There’s an opportunity cost to everything we do.

Something that does not directly detract from your goal may still detract by distracting you from pursuing your goal, so by diverting away precious resources (time, energy, mental space, willpower).”

“Reminds me of the core tenet of Essentialism:

Whatever decision or challenge or crossroads you face in your life, simply ask yourself, ‘What is essential?’ ELIMINATE everything else.

That’s so hard.”

“Self-Actualization is all about making the hard choices.“