There is no purpose or meaning to life, that we know of. Many people have come up with their own philosophies, which I see divided into three main categories.
- Pleasure-seekers. Hedonists. Druggies. Whatever you want to call them, these people pursue pleasure above all else. Short term pleasure, here and now, instant gratification. These people want to chill and relax all day, doing nothing, soaking up the sunshine.
- Ascetics. Avoiders. These people see the suffering and pain in the world and want no part in it. They try to distance themselves from anything dangerous, fun, difficult, or challenging, instead living a life of meditative bliss.
- Workers. Players. Poetics. Hermetics. The people don’t just pursue pleasure or pain, but both, and apply some meaning to the process. THey strive to create for the sake of creation itself.
When I say “work”, I really just mean taking action to change the world. Doing anything productive, not just wage jobs. Work includes stuff like cooking meals, gathering groceries, cleaning your body, training your cardio, doing pullups, doing the laundry, making someone a card, calling your mom, planning out a vacation, earning money to support yourself and others. Not just economic activity to earn money, but all work done to benefit your own and other’s lives. Technically, it doesn’t have to be beneficial either.
Side note, building relationships is some of the most important work any of us will ever do in our lives.
Mastery leads to autonomy and purpose
- Develop mastery of rare and valuable skills
- Leverage those skills to increase your autonomy
- With sufficient mastery and autonomy, serving your purpose becomes much easier.
References
Luke Smith. Hedonism, Asceticism and the Hermetic Answer. Luke outlines the hedonics, the ascetics, and the hermetics. I think he is right. Also, distractions are literally evil since they keep us from creating.
Alex Hormozi. Happiness is a dumb goal to strive for. It’s just hedonism under a different label. Of course, do it if you want, but striving to be useful is a much better goal since it forces you to think outside yourself about who you can help, and forces you to get better. Happiness is self-centered, service is selfless. Service makes you happier in the end.
- Relinquish your need to be happy. The people who most want to be happy are often the least happy. It’s a self-centered goal, all you think about is “me, me, me”. Focus on being useful instead, and you start thinking about serving others.
- Realize that work is the path. Work is the way to get what you want. The magic you’re looking for is in the work you’ve been avoiding. Get rid of everything else that doesn’t contribute.
- Working is the goal. Working as hard as you can, learning how hard you can work, how well you can work, how right you can make things, how well you can do them.
- Put 100% in, leave it all on the field. You want to be exhausted at the end of the day. Used up. Doing something that was challening, that stretches you, that you have never done before. Be 1/0.
- Mastery means the act itself (the work) becomes reinforcing.
Dan Millman. Way of the Peaceful Warrior. Meditate in every moment. We can find just as much fulfillment doing the dishes and brushing our teeth as we can having sex and making millions. If you don’t believe this, you’ll always be unhappy, but once you realize that there really is no difference between those activities, you’ll be free to enjoy life now.
Dan Millman. Way of the Peaceful Warrior. How you do one thing is how you do everything. Meditate in every moment. Are all of those drugs making you into the best person you can be? Are you doing your best in everything? Everything has a purpose, it’s up to you to find it. Find the love in what you do. A warrior isn’t about perfection, he’s about absolute vulnerability, that’s the only true courage. Every action has its price and its pleasure. Life is your training.
Mark Twain has some bangers about work.
- “The law of work seems unfair, but nothing can change it: the more enjoyment you get out of your work, the more money you will make.”
- “What work I have done, I have done because it has been play. If it had been work, I shouldn’t have done it. The work that is really a man’s own work is play and not work at all. When we talk about the great workers of the world, we really mean the great players of the world.”
Mitch Albom. Tuesdays with Morrie. In this book, Morrie advocates that we focus on “relationships, community, and service.” Specifically, loving those around us and building communities of loving people, and finding some work to do that serves this community and makes it better. Again, when I say “work”, I mean taking action to improve the world for the better.