The Unreflected Life
The unreflected life is not worth living. The depth of this statement is one that I seem to more fully appreciate daily. I've just finished The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin, which serves as a sort of blueprint for getting better at the things you're doing.
In a podcast with Tim Ferriss, Josh mentions that some of the keystone habits of top-tier asset managers and investors include:
- Writing immediately upon waking up
- Meditation
- Ending the day with high-quality work — this one is particularly interesting because it is likened to a skiing analogy: "What are the three most important turns going down the slope?" One particularly poignant answer is "the last three you do before you get on the lift." Because while you're on the lift, your body is internalizing the habits from the last reference points.
- And most importantly — deep regular reflection on their craft, identifying bad habits and mental addictions, and successfully implementing new routines into their lifestyle
Of all of these, while I could be more disciplined in all of them, it is this second half of the last statement which has held me back. I have a deep innate sense of self, and I can tell in the act if I'm doing something I shouldn't be. I know my weaknesses — more specifically, I am deeply aware of my mental addictions and bad habits. Yet, I have struggled with successfully incorporating changes into the core of my being.
What to do. I see two really important steps for me:
- Write reflectively three times a day — 30 minutes in the morning immediately upon rolling out of bed, at the end of my workday reflecting on successes or shortcomings, and at 9:30 every night.
- Successfully integrate important changes to my lifestyle: identify a need for a change, evaluate the benefits of the change to the losses it will create in my current routine, then adjust my entire weekly routine to determine which current pieces will be dropped and which should be rearranged.
— Jay