Psychology of Life-Engagement, World’s Most Interesting Optimist, and The Way to a Meaningful Life
Existential Espresso Vol. 37
What I’ve been reading:
“Get out of your mind and into your life” by Steven C. Heyes and Spencer Smith
"Get out of your mind and into your life" is a book on ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy), a form of psychotherapy.
ACT is focused on helping people dealing with depression, anxiety, and other psychological issues, not by teaching them how to control their thoughts and emotions better or by revisiting their past experiences, usually from childhood, to find the supposed cause of their problems.
Rather, ACT focuses on noticing your thoughts and emotions, accepting them as they are, and then moving on with your life and acting in a value-oriented manner.
Me reading this book is a result of going down the rabbit hole of different forms of psychotherapy that can help people live more fulfilling lives. With all due respect to the Freudian and Jungian psychologists I had been reading for the past couple of years, I felt it was time to start studying forms of psychotherapy that are more focused on helping people engage in life rather than endlessly dig into their psyche.
Going down this rabbit hole also involved me reading some academic papers that compare ACT to other therapies and look at its place in the history of psychotherapy. By doing so, I’ve already found some much older forms of therapy and schools of thought that were proposing the same things as ACT. I feel that’s necessary to mention as it shows that, no matter how helpful ACT is, it is not as revolutionary as its founders would like to say. Nevertheless, the book does a great job of explaining the main concepts of ACT in an engaging way. Concepts which, I believe, are underrated in the psychology and psychotherapy world that focuses so much on analyzing feelings and so little on engaging with the world.
Me going down this rabbit hole will continue for at least the next couple of months, so you can expect me to write about and share a lot of material on this area of human flourishing.
What I’ve listened to:
Kevin Kelly on the Rich Roll podcast
Last week, I recommended listening to Rich Roll as a guest on the Tim Ferris podcast.
In that podcast, they mentioned a man they both agreed was one of the most interesting people in the world: Kevin Kelly.
Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review, a writer, photographer, adventurer, artist, futurist, and the list could continue, but I think this is enough.
Why should you listen to this podcast?
Generally speaking, Kevin Kelly really is a highly interesting individual with a lot of valuable advice to share.
A more specific reason that I can offer you is that Kevin Kelly is a big optimist. He is an optimist in terms of where the world is heading, but also, and this is most relevant for our time, an optimist when it comes to the development of AI.
As someone whose natural inclination is to first look at all the potential dangers of AI and any disruptive change going on in the world, listening to Kelly required me to make an effort to stay open-minded and listen.
Even after listening to this episode, there are points where I disagree with Kelly. But I guess the point is for us to listen to opposing views objectively and give them a chance, not for all of us to think alike.
What I especially like about this episode is that, at multiple points throughout the conversation, Roll challenges some of Kelly’s stances and offers a different perspective. I believe that’s something that has become rare in the world of podcasts.
What I’ve been thinking about:
Your life will be meaningful in proportion to your willingness to take risks.
Take a moment to look back on your life.
Look back on all the things you did that made your life more meaningful.
Now look back on all the risks you’ve taken in life.
How many of those things overlap?
Is there a single meaningful thing you did in your life that didn’t require taking a risk?
Look back on all the moments in your life when you were at a crossroads and you had to make a choice.
Did you ever see a path that was at the same time meaningful and risk-free?
Is there even such a thing as a path that is perfectly certain and safe, but taking it wouldn’t mean betraying yourself?
"If the risk is not taken, the meaning of life is somehow violated." -Carl Jung
Thank you for reading.
Stay strong, love life, and never feel sorry for yourself.
If you get value from my work and you are interested in becoming more consistent, consider checking out my new book “The Art of Showing Up: A Clear and Practical Method for Mastering Consistency,” by clicking here.
Since I was writing this book in public, if you haven’t already you can read the free parts by clicking here.
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“Get out of your mind and into your life” the moment I saw this, it resembled so much of my current situation. It’s astonishing how most of the times we tend to live in our bubbles, not getting to act deeper on our existence