Love this. People need both creation and consumption. Everyone's ideal ratio will be different, and it's not useful to beat ourselves up for not meeting an imaginary standard. It all starts with noticing.
Love that you say 'imaginary standard'. Felt caught instantly. I'm sometimes (probably often when I'm honest) quick to adopt others standards, or not questioning mine. And mostly the trigger to notice is by the input from others.
I still remember I told the same thing to one my close friends with whom I can talk about philosophy, running, health, first principles thinking in every facet of life, decision making in life.
In February of 2025 while I was preparing for my 24 Hour Track race, I was running all the time listening to podcasts. I would wake up and the first thing I would do is connect my earbuds to my phone and listen to podcasts. Sometimes I had listened to 10 hours of podcasts till I have finished my run. But I listen to it on 2x, consuming tons of podcasts(sometimes 10 in a day).
I asked him Don't you feel like We are drowning via the amount of inputs/or the consumption of content in every context? he straight away said YES. He could relate in my circle as he is the only one who reads books(50-60 yearly), listens to podcasts and no cheap dopamine form of content like reels and all.
I also have uninstalled IG couple of weeks ago and have been writing extensively on Substack even though they are not my blogs but I write long form comments which pushes me cognitively to write down in correlation to the blog I read. It feels rejuvenating when after a couple of hours I know I haven't just consumed mindlessly or wasted time. Rather I wrote down my perspective about certain different things. This is what I do and have shifted in a way.
Max I am writing from India. I am not successful or you can say right now I am kind of dependent on my parents at the age of 28. Living in India I belong to a collectivist culture but I have a tendency to live in a small circle & individualism also, not to say collectivist culture is bad.
Almost 90% of people are living life on automation or spending on things.
I have read your book & have deep dived into psychology of every kind, almost all the psychologists are from USA. For decision making be it Annie Duke, Gary Klein, Josh Waitzkin, Shane Parrish, Khaneman, Tversky, Dan Ariely, Morgan Housel and other hundreds of people.
In India there is in general a lot of pressure for men to marry before 30. The men's family is under some sort of pressure to give gold to the bride at the time of wedding. And the same people wouldn't let her pursue what she wants, what she wants to wear or other n number of things. They believe in giving lakhs of gold but not supporting her in life about what she wants pursue or other things. They impose what they want & don't ask what she wants. This is how hypocrisy gets shows in the society. Give all the money and materialistic things to her but not freedom, what about creating a good environment for her to live & thrive.
People would buy expensive cars or pretty okay with spending hefty on cars or smart phones or any other thing but then see what kind of diet they eat, they will be like this is expensive- I am like you spend 100x of this on cars and other things but when the point comes to taking care of your body you are like this is expensive. Then I have to realize that more than 90% people are living life on automation & if not on automation they aren't aware of biases or how psychology works. I am big proponent of living with freedom. Not buying expensive things until & unless I have a huge bank account. I find there is no point in getting hooked to things, experiences are what matters most and especially with the people whom you love the most. Spend money with them experiencing things and not vice versa that you buy a expensive car and now for next couple of years can't spend much because hefty amount has been spent.
After completing my graduation in law in 2021, I went down the rabbit hole of reading books and listening to podcasts. I wanted to take a year break, so I kept reading books and listened to podcasts almost 8-10 hours in a day. Everybody talking about their calling, finding passion, a lot talking about happiness, some talking about fulfillment & not happiness, some taking it more further with the word enlightenment. They are n number of school of thoughts of almost everything- be it regarding diet, be it regarding exercise, be it how to live in life, be it how & where to invest money.
So, I was also kind of influenced by all these readings and podcasts that heck yeah one needs to pursue what they like and feel flow state in. I used to also keep saying what's the point of doing this for money when one isn't at all happy & satisfied. All of this was coming from the notion that I didn't wanted to pursue law and it was sheer pressure from my family that they enrolled me in a 5 year program which I completed.
Then I understood all of these things are just fleeting terms and every body is creating a content around this. All of life revolves around impermanence. There is no static state of happiness, no enlightened state- everybody has to go through peaks and valleys of life. When we reach this or that, a whole bundle of ifs & buts in life- then we will feel satisfied, then we will feel like successful, then we will have some increased both self worth & society's validation as well, then we will feel like we are rich.
As Robert M Pirsig mentioned in his book Zen & The Art of Motorcycle- The only Zen you find on tops of mountains is the Zen you bring there. Socrates also told- He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.
One needs to be net positive to what he/she is consuming.
Love this. People need both creation and consumption. Everyone's ideal ratio will be different, and it's not useful to beat ourselves up for not meeting an imaginary standard. It all starts with noticing.
Love that you say 'imaginary standard'. Felt caught instantly. I'm sometimes (probably often when I'm honest) quick to adopt others standards, or not questioning mine. And mostly the trigger to notice is by the input from others.
Thanks Mike!
Spot on … free someone who worked until 4.30am creating and still woke at 10 feeling refreshed.
I still remember I told the same thing to one my close friends with whom I can talk about philosophy, running, health, first principles thinking in every facet of life, decision making in life.
In February of 2025 while I was preparing for my 24 Hour Track race, I was running all the time listening to podcasts. I would wake up and the first thing I would do is connect my earbuds to my phone and listen to podcasts. Sometimes I had listened to 10 hours of podcasts till I have finished my run. But I listen to it on 2x, consuming tons of podcasts(sometimes 10 in a day).
I asked him Don't you feel like We are drowning via the amount of inputs/or the consumption of content in every context? he straight away said YES. He could relate in my circle as he is the only one who reads books(50-60 yearly), listens to podcasts and no cheap dopamine form of content like reels and all.
I also have uninstalled IG couple of weeks ago and have been writing extensively on Substack even though they are not my blogs but I write long form comments which pushes me cognitively to write down in correlation to the blog I read. It feels rejuvenating when after a couple of hours I know I haven't just consumed mindlessly or wasted time. Rather I wrote down my perspective about certain different things. This is what I do and have shifted in a way.
Max I am writing from India. I am not successful or you can say right now I am kind of dependent on my parents at the age of 28. Living in India I belong to a collectivist culture but I have a tendency to live in a small circle & individualism also, not to say collectivist culture is bad.
Almost 90% of people are living life on automation or spending on things.
I have read your book & have deep dived into psychology of every kind, almost all the psychologists are from USA. For decision making be it Annie Duke, Gary Klein, Josh Waitzkin, Shane Parrish, Khaneman, Tversky, Dan Ariely, Morgan Housel and other hundreds of people.
In India there is in general a lot of pressure for men to marry before 30. The men's family is under some sort of pressure to give gold to the bride at the time of wedding. And the same people wouldn't let her pursue what she wants, what she wants to wear or other n number of things. They believe in giving lakhs of gold but not supporting her in life about what she wants pursue or other things. They impose what they want & don't ask what she wants. This is how hypocrisy gets shows in the society. Give all the money and materialistic things to her but not freedom, what about creating a good environment for her to live & thrive.
People would buy expensive cars or pretty okay with spending hefty on cars or smart phones or any other thing but then see what kind of diet they eat, they will be like this is expensive- I am like you spend 100x of this on cars and other things but when the point comes to taking care of your body you are like this is expensive. Then I have to realize that more than 90% people are living life on automation & if not on automation they aren't aware of biases or how psychology works. I am big proponent of living with freedom. Not buying expensive things until & unless I have a huge bank account. I find there is no point in getting hooked to things, experiences are what matters most and especially with the people whom you love the most. Spend money with them experiencing things and not vice versa that you buy a expensive car and now for next couple of years can't spend much because hefty amount has been spent.
After completing my graduation in law in 2021, I went down the rabbit hole of reading books and listening to podcasts. I wanted to take a year break, so I kept reading books and listened to podcasts almost 8-10 hours in a day. Everybody talking about their calling, finding passion, a lot talking about happiness, some talking about fulfillment & not happiness, some taking it more further with the word enlightenment. They are n number of school of thoughts of almost everything- be it regarding diet, be it regarding exercise, be it how to live in life, be it how & where to invest money.
So, I was also kind of influenced by all these readings and podcasts that heck yeah one needs to pursue what they like and feel flow state in. I used to also keep saying what's the point of doing this for money when one isn't at all happy & satisfied. All of this was coming from the notion that I didn't wanted to pursue law and it was sheer pressure from my family that they enrolled me in a 5 year program which I completed.
Then I understood all of these things are just fleeting terms and every body is creating a content around this. All of life revolves around impermanence. There is no static state of happiness, no enlightened state- everybody has to go through peaks and valleys of life. When we reach this or that, a whole bundle of ifs & buts in life- then we will feel satisfied, then we will feel like successful, then we will have some increased both self worth & society's validation as well, then we will feel like we are rich.
As Robert M Pirsig mentioned in his book Zen & The Art of Motorcycle- The only Zen you find on tops of mountains is the Zen you bring there. Socrates also told- He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.
One needs to be net positive to what he/she is consuming.