TDLR:
Conceived from random shower thoughts - I propose two principles to live by:
- Increase your engagement with the world. You’ll feel better
- Aspire to make the world less sweaty (with caveats). The world will feel better.
A rough pen down of thoughts today - not intending this post to be too polished.
A former (fantastic) manager once told me that he would annually scan through and review a book by the late Clayton Christensen on How Will You Measure Your Life? Such an exercise helps one to take stock of where you are today and reflect on where you would like to go next.
…This post is not about that. I am yet to read the book. (and I will do so! Promise)
Instead, this post will share two inquiries on how to optimise my energy.
Engage the world…
Having been through the ebb and flow of positive and negative thoughts, another idea that i felt neatly encapsulates a goal one could work towards. This surfaced from a discussion with a good and wise friend.
Most books and literature these days agree that happiness in itself is not the goal. One could instead aspire to contentment, helping communities, overthinking less, saving the environment and much more.
But perhaps ultimately it is to keep yourself engaged with the world. Implicit in this is to keep yourself occupied, away from negative thoughts and to keep contributing to all the world has to give and take; be it people, living things, inanimate things, intangible things and more.
Perhaps this is the root of it all? A simpler, neater way to focus your energy on a single objective.
… and make it sweat less
Disclaimer: this came out of a shower thought. Does it hold water? Who knows - but I felt it was something novel enough to entertain.
What if the world could be a better place as measured by the amount of sweat humanity produces?
This could result in a:
- Less laborious world, with people living in environmental comfort
- Less anxious world, where the sweat is warm and never cold
- Less stressful world, where our bodies are at ease and free from maladies
- Less odoriferous world, where everyone need not be ashamed of stinking up a vehicle post-exercise (an example that hits close to home)
To achieve this as a KPI, what might we need to do?
- Solve climate change - and cool our weather
- Improve the mental health crisis
- Eliminate emotional trauma and all round suffering
- Ban wars and conflict
- Uplift billions from agrarian work (may have unintended consequences)
- Use more deodorant
Wouldn’t that be great?
Of course - if one had to criticise:
-
Firstly, sweat is a hugely effective self-regulating system that keeps our bodies working. Incredibly important, and I highly encourage everyone to sweat more when they need to. A less sweaty world may incentivise dehydration. This is bad.
-
Secondly, sweat does feature in positive activities. I can think of two. Exercise for one* and the throes of passion as another.
*though perhaps this is a modern day phenomena for us animals who are actually meant to be running around in the wild.
Summary
So in short, two guiding principles for the lost and confused that i feel is meaningful for anyone to work towards.
- Increase your engagement with the world. You’ll feel better
- Aspire to make the world less sweaty (with caveats). The world will feel better.
Something I shall aspire to work on as the insanity of 2020 continues…