Aligning our Values
I’m terrible at blogging. I’ve stared and abandoned numerous websites over the years. My digital breadcrumbs are littered with rotting corpses. I’ll never be as good as a writer as someone like Keenan. I don’t have the knack for it. I’m one of those disturbed people that prefers public speaking to writing. However, I am good at being curious about the world around me.
Most of the websites I follow are places that share really interesting shit. Places like Kottke, Daring Fireball and various newsletters I subscribe to. I think that’s the direction I’m going to take my little home on web. I read a lot. I highlight, I take notes, and I save articles like a crazed digital packrat.
Stuff I’m doing 🏃🏻♂️
- I’m looking for work. If you’re in the tech space and need someone to look after your customer-facing teams please give me a shout.
- Gearing up for my next marathon in Vancouver on May 4th.
Stuff I’ve read 📚
Reading with K
A fantastic newsletter that deconstructs popular self-help books. One of her latest covers Mel Robbins new book “The Let Them Theory”. Why do all of her books have to be “theories”?
Now, did Robbins’ plagiarize an entire book, word for word on the subject? No, of course not. However, she did take someone else’s idea without credit, and I believe this is on purpose. It’s incredibly easy to just add half a sentence to a book and say, “One day I read a poem by Cassie Philips and I was so moved that I decided to start researching how this could impact someone’s life.” I’m sure she didn’t because 1. She wants the credit and wants to monetize off of it and 2. Citing sources isn’t exactly common practice in the self-help industry.
Looks as though Mel may have taken the whole thesis for her latest book from a former student who wrote a poem on the subject that went viral years ago.
In my experience “self-help gurus” and “thought leaders” aren’t writing or talking about anything new. They’re just really good at repackaging old ideas and then selling them back to us.
Why it’s so hard to align our work with our values, and how we justify not trying.
I’m in the middle of making a pretty big career transition for exactly the reasons in this wonderful article. It’s also the same reason I left the high-demand religion I was raised in years ago. My values need to align with how I spend my time and that includes what I do for a living.
People often, for example, oppose the actions and belief systems of billionaires, but take jobs at companies that increase the power and influence of those same billionaires. It’s not because these job-seekers are bad people, but because we are all operating in a system that makes aligning our values and our everyday lives seem impossible.
🙋🏻♂️Hello! Years long Tech and SaaS employee here.
Work doesn’t have to be the central thread of your life, and it doesn’t have to be your only lever of impact. Work can occupy a limited place in your life, but still be meaningful. Work can represent just a portion of who you are and not be completely in conflict with the rest of your identity.
I know this statement is true and yet it is so, so hard to internalize.
What do you do?
I cringe inside every time I’m asked that question.
The hypothetical questions I posited in the previous section are part of a broader consideration: What are your actual priorities? This is a practical question, and a holistic one. It puts every consideration—material and non-material—into the hopper. This question can help you determine the place you want to live, the kind of house or apartment you want to live in, your family’s essential needs (food, electricity, healthcare), and the cost of the activities that add pleasure and meaning to your life—traveling, hobbies, etc. It also allows you to consider what your priorities are from an impact perspective—involvement in your community, being there for your friends, reducing your waste—at the same time as you’re thinking about your material needs. Rather than cordoning off your value-oriented priorities into a less urgent category, to be pursued when you’ve reached financial satisfaction, you are making them of equal importance.
When was the last time any of us sat down and really pondered these questions? What are my priorities? What kind of life do I want to live? What do I value? I wish I’d considered questions like theses in more detail when I was younger but that doesn’t mean I can consider them now.