MONDAY BYTES – December 2, 2013
That Thanksgiving hangover may be about more than over-eating. The holidays often get people thinking about where they are in their careers and in their lives. Here’s an antacid for your psyche:
It’s a terrific talk by the entrepreneur and game developer Max Temkin on why the career advice “Do whatever makes you happy” is bullshit.
Ultimately, what trumps happiness is meaning: we want to live meaningful lives. The way we create meaning, as Max has it, is “to find the things that we value that are more important than our own individual happiness, and then we try to take those things we value and reveal them through the work that we do.
“In this surprising and provocative talk, Max gives us a cook’s tour of practical philosophy – with bits of Socrates, Plato, Hume, Wittgenstein, Adorno, and Aristotle – but he does this through his lens as the co-creator of the games Humans vs. Zombies and Cards Against Humanity.
Max challenges us to get much more specific about why we do what we do. It’s too easy to say “I value music.” Because if what you value is your own self-expression, this can be selfish, right? Is it really just all about you and your own happiness?
Listen to how Max sees his own values as key to shaping the entrepreneurial projects he’s undertaken and the life he’s created. Invest 29 minutes in THIS.
A post-holiday funk can be a great time for aligning your values with your work.
Questions for the week: What do you value? What is it you believe about the world that you are demonstrating (or not) through the work you do?
As always, I’m interested in your feedback and ideas!
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Dream big, Plan smart, Live well!
