Habits, opportunities, and guidance
Mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead once wrote, “Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them.”
With this, he meant that civilization builds upon the shoulders of your forefathers, and you don’t have to discover or map the innovations which came before you. Imagine all the things we take for granted nowadays. We have societies and homes that shelter us from the harsh nature outside, and when nature occasionally comes knocking on our door—like e.g., with the Covid pandemic—we know that skillfull scientists are working on a vaccine, which gets distributed via our vast infrastructure in a matter of months, and there are nearby hospitals in place if you get really sick—truly amazing stuff.
If we take the vaccine as an example on Whitehead’s quote—then the scientific basic research in mRNA vaccines was done beforehand, the scientific training of the people involved was done beforehand, the factories which produced the vaccine were (mostly) in place, and the distribution infrastructure was also in place. This means that “all” we had to do, was to relocate adequate resources to fix the problem at hand. If something like this had happened 50 or 100 years ago, the outcome would have been very different.
We stand on the shoulders of generations of people who were smarter than most of us, and if we respect and listen to the aggregated wisdom, then our lives become better, more productive, and more enjoyable in general.
So, how does this apply to you? Well, we think there is a lot of overlap between the dynamics that advance civilizations and how we as individuals live our day-to-day life. This idea is divided into two topics—let us explain…
The first is accessibility to information. We have written about this topic before, and we think it’s worth reiterating. In previous generations, you got a formal education in your 20s, and then you specialized. Most people didn’t learn much more than their original profession, and you had to decide your “path” at a young age. Today, life is different. If you want to achieve something or learn about something, now is the easiest time ever to do that. There’re endless resources on the web about any topic under the sun. So, remember life is long and you can always change lanes.
The second insight is daily habits. Whitehead states that Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. In the context of your daily life, this is called habits. Use the first insight to aim at something worthwhile and utilize the second to structure your daily habits.
Remember—according to Whitehead—the key to advancement is by the number of important tasks you can do without thinking about them. So how do you build habits?
As we’ve mentioned in a previous blog, we are big fans of the author Steven Pressfield (The War of Art, Do the Work, Turning Pro, and others). He talks about building momentum with “little successes” throughout your day. We love this idea, and it’s a great way to develop habits that become the “operations you perform without thinking” that Whitehead is talking about. We talk a lot about morning routines—setting the stage for the day by taking a series of self-care actions. It could be breathwork, meditation, yoga, cold water therapy, journal writing, a quick bout of exercise—or a combination of a few of these. These are all “little successes” to help you build momentum, keep you feeling good, and enable you to do your best in the day ahead. From there you’re ready to launch into any project that is your passion. Whether you are fitting in your project around a more regular workday—or if your passion is your workday—there are some key things that have worked for us to develop habits and keep getting stuff done (we elaborate on them in a previous blog called Resistance Training):
· Seek expert help—get a coach or research and model yourself after someone who has been successful in the field you’re interested in
· Set the bar low—build on sustainable efforts over time
· Set the stage—create systems that make your projects as easy to jump into as possible
· All work is good work—get stuff done and don’t judge your efforts
· Make a pact with a like-minded friend to keep each other accountable
· “Don’t die with your music still in you.” This is our one shot at life—now is the time.
As always, consistency is king. So, keep at it and you will have to think about it less and less. Over time you’ll reap the advances that Whitehead describes so eloquently.
Until next time,
Scott and Lennart