Ask HN: What is your “mission” in work and life?
101 comments
I read "So Good They Can't Ignore You" last year and was having the same question: "what is my mission in life and how to get/realize/understand that?"
My conclusion was: I don't know and don't have a specific mission. The closest I have to a mission is a set of positive (may probably not conscious) principles in life that I'm sticking to. Examples:
- always be improving - learn, learn, learn - work hard - presented with negative or ambiguous choices, choose the best available one (don't screw up everything because of frustration)
I'd also be curious to hear opinions on these:
- Is it "necessary" to have a specific higher mission? Can't I just stick to the set of positive principles? - Do I have to actively be looking for a mission? Or I wait and let it happen?
My conclusion was: I don't know and don't have a specific mission. The closest I have to a mission is a set of positive (may probably not conscious) principles in life that I'm sticking to. Examples:
- always be improving - learn, learn, learn - work hard - presented with negative or ambiguous choices, choose the best available one (don't screw up everything because of frustration)
I'd also be curious to hear opinions on these:
- Is it "necessary" to have a specific higher mission? Can't I just stick to the set of positive principles? - Do I have to actively be looking for a mission? Or I wait and let it happen?
I really like your principles! :)
IMHO, a mission helps focusing on things which really matter to get where you want to be in a couple of weeks, months, years,... And by that, I do not mean that one gets there faster by having a mission, but rather gets there at all.
Yes, things happen if you wait. But in my experience, not the things you want. Or, if things you want happen just by waiting, it was by coincidence, mostly? I think living by a set of positive principles is really important! I like to complement my principles with a mission, while still staying humble and open minded (i.e. having a clear focus but not blocking new and different insights, thoughts, ideas..). I hope that makes sense.
Any chance you also read "Principles" by Ray Dalio?
IMHO, a mission helps focusing on things which really matter to get where you want to be in a couple of weeks, months, years,... And by that, I do not mean that one gets there faster by having a mission, but rather gets there at all.
Yes, things happen if you wait. But in my experience, not the things you want. Or, if things you want happen just by waiting, it was by coincidence, mostly? I think living by a set of positive principles is really important! I like to complement my principles with a mission, while still staying humble and open minded (i.e. having a clear focus but not blocking new and different insights, thoughts, ideas..). I hope that makes sense.
Any chance you also read "Principles" by Ray Dalio?
Become enlightened, and if it's as good as they say, spend the rest of my life teaching others how to get there too. I know for me, it's what I'm here for. Nothing else is as important to me. I can't wait to teach, but it must be from the perspective of my own personal, direct experience. There are already enough charlatans in the world, I don't intend to become one myself.
I don't think there's enough awareness the state can be achieved through specific practice. People like Osho, J Krishnamurti, Eckharte Tolle... they all seemed to have it just spontaneously happen and then try to retrofit techniques they think will probably work. Their approaches seem biased towards people who can already do what they're talking about ("just be aware"), instead of being more systematic processes that circumvent the mind.
The people who inspire me the most are the householders, living in the world who still managed to attain this greatest of prizes. They're the people who inspire me, and something I aspire to be. I think it's a valuable backstory that makes the teaching more approachable and easier to relate to if it's clear you don't need to give up this world to attain true happiness.
Having this mission puts the corporate world and paid work really into perspective as something that supports my life, but doesn't define it. That helps me keep it at a slight distance and allows me to take more risks - which incidentally have paid off.
I don't think there's enough awareness the state can be achieved through specific practice. People like Osho, J Krishnamurti, Eckharte Tolle... they all seemed to have it just spontaneously happen and then try to retrofit techniques they think will probably work. Their approaches seem biased towards people who can already do what they're talking about ("just be aware"), instead of being more systematic processes that circumvent the mind.
The people who inspire me the most are the householders, living in the world who still managed to attain this greatest of prizes. They're the people who inspire me, and something I aspire to be. I think it's a valuable backstory that makes the teaching more approachable and easier to relate to if it's clear you don't need to give up this world to attain true happiness.
Having this mission puts the corporate world and paid work really into perspective as something that supports my life, but doesn't define it. That helps me keep it at a slight distance and allows me to take more risks - which incidentally have paid off.
> I can't wait to teach
It seems that you don't actually want to become enlightened as much as you just simply want to be helpful to other people and teach them a valuable skill.
I personally think that enlightenment and teaching others about it are quite different things that maybe don't have in common as much as one thinks they have.
As I see it, you might reach a state of mind you are very content with, and it makes you see the world "as it is" and because of it, you don't need to teach anybody anything, since it's already "as it is" and "as it should be". So, maybe it's just enough to be aware of it.
It seems that you don't actually want to become enlightened as much as you just simply want to be helpful to other people and teach them a valuable skill.
I personally think that enlightenment and teaching others about it are quite different things that maybe don't have in common as much as one thinks they have.
As I see it, you might reach a state of mind you are very content with, and it makes you see the world "as it is" and because of it, you don't need to teach anybody anything, since it's already "as it is" and "as it should be". So, maybe it's just enough to be aware of it.
I see what you're getting at, but it's not quite how I feel.
For me teaching is predicated on having seen far enough to actually be a useful guide. Having said that there may be things I could teach before then, but I'd have to have experienced something major to convince me I was on the right track and the time was right.
Also, regarding the "just enough to be aware" it probably would be enough, but I wouldn't have been able to have reached my goal without the thousands who've gone before, so it'd be paying back that debt. There's just some part of me that knows it's important for me to do that.
For me teaching is predicated on having seen far enough to actually be a useful guide. Having said that there may be things I could teach before then, but I'd have to have experienced something major to convince me I was on the right track and the time was right.
Also, regarding the "just enough to be aware" it probably would be enough, but I wouldn't have been able to have reached my goal without the thousands who've gone before, so it'd be paying back that debt. There's just some part of me that knows it's important for me to do that.
Awesome, I think the world would be a better place if more people sought enlightenment.
Writing code today is way too hard, my work mission is to try to make it easier. I’m more focused on people who already know how to code than people that don’t.
This drew me to work on React, Jest, React Native, Nuclide (Facebook IDE), create-react-app, prettier... I feel like it’s better than a few years ago but there’s still so much more to do.
This drew me to work on React, Jest, React Native, Nuclide (Facebook IDE), create-react-app, prettier... I feel like it’s better than a few years ago but there’s still so much more to do.
After reading (1) which is about a hospital management system built using visual tools, with a first version done in 6 months, I really wonder if code is the right tool when aiming at easy, even when building complex systems.
(1)https://www.outsystems.com/blog/introducing-sapphire-hospita...
(1)https://www.outsystems.com/blog/introducing-sapphire-hospita...
I just took a look at this and I don't think that the real win in terms of productivity is the fact that you are building an app with a visual environment or code. Both of them are roughly equivalent.
What likely set them apart is the building blocks they provide. If you are a consulting company and building apps for businesses, you are likely doing the same thing over and over and over again for every business. Once you build an hospital management system for three hospitals, the fourth one isn't going to look that different. There are tens of thousands (more?) hospitals in the world which all need such a system.
So the likely next step is to invest in good building blocks that are needed: I want a dashboard with last week patient intake. All of this logic is put inside of a component ready to be dragged & dropped / included in your project and it saves you weeks rather than trying to rebuild it for the nth time.
What likely set them apart is the building blocks they provide. If you are a consulting company and building apps for businesses, you are likely doing the same thing over and over and over again for every business. Once you build an hospital management system for three hospitals, the fourth one isn't going to look that different. There are tens of thousands (more?) hospitals in the world which all need such a system.
So the likely next step is to invest in good building blocks that are needed: I want a dashboard with last week patient intake. All of this logic is put inside of a component ready to be dragged & dropped / included in your project and it saves you weeks rather than trying to rebuild it for the nth time.
I think the article is about the first version, not about reuse. But I could be wrong.
But in any case, code is difficult: it requires deep attention, good memory - both short and long term(and long term memory doesn't work so well if you don't exercise the knowledge repeatedly ),good learning capabilities, and good abstractions capabilities.
Visual systems are fundamentally easier. So if they can scale well to the required level of complexity and offer similar or better levels of productivity , they may become the 'easy' route.
But in any case, code is difficult: it requires deep attention, good memory - both short and long term(and long term memory doesn't work so well if you don't exercise the knowledge repeatedly ),good learning capabilities, and good abstractions capabilities.
Visual systems are fundamentally easier. So if they can scale well to the required level of complexity and offer similar or better levels of productivity , they may become the 'easy' route.
Same here. I'd love to talk to you about this.
Feel free to send me an email: [email protected]
I feel that we're alive at a unique moment in human history, when humanity must either "figure out" how to live sustainably on a finite planet or suffer the consequences. It's a daunting but wonderful challenge. I can't imagine living at this time and not being part of this project.
For the past (almost) 15 years, contributing in some way to this project has been my "mission". In that time, I've experienced the highs of having an important purpose; and the lows of not achieving enough; and burnout.
After having worked on various projects (climate, ecological footprint, bikes, etc.), I've come to be focused on one aspect that has particular resonance for me: biodiversity conservation. This blends my higher (intellectually motivated) purpose with my selfish desire to enjoy and preserve what I love most in the world. I find this combination is the most sustainable for me personally.
For the past (almost) 15 years, contributing in some way to this project has been my "mission". In that time, I've experienced the highs of having an important purpose; and the lows of not achieving enough; and burnout.
After having worked on various projects (climate, ecological footprint, bikes, etc.), I've come to be focused on one aspect that has particular resonance for me: biodiversity conservation. This blends my higher (intellectually motivated) purpose with my selfish desire to enjoy and preserve what I love most in the world. I find this combination is the most sustainable for me personally.
My missions are as follows:
- Work: Create profitable businesses that enable my teams to have healthy life-work balance with 35 hour work weeks and 6 weeks vacation so that they have time for family, adventure, positive mental health and time to perhaps start their own businesses.
- Life: Be a great father, husband and to travel to over 100 countries. Do things that make the word a better place.
- Work: Create profitable businesses that enable my teams to have healthy life-work balance with 35 hour work weeks and 6 weeks vacation so that they have time for family, adventure, positive mental health and time to perhaps start their own businesses.
- Life: Be a great father, husband and to travel to over 100 countries. Do things that make the word a better place.
I live in a country (Italy) that has been crushed and whatever mission I might’ve ever had or sense of accomplishment I might’ve ever earned has been superseded by a never-ending sense of dread and struggle to not drown in a decaying world.
I have very little time for glib self-improvement or self-coaching. I’m starting to wonder what purpose all of this could possibly serve (”none at all”, comes my self-reply).
I have very little time for glib self-improvement or self-coaching. I’m starting to wonder what purpose all of this could possibly serve (”none at all”, comes my self-reply).
I'm not Italian, but I love the country and have Italian cousins. These things surprised me:
1. The need for licenses to build anything. I seem to recall the figure of 100,000 euros licence to open a small chemist.
2. The need of support from the local big families for your business to thrive, ie you need to be anointed to make it.
3. The cost of housing relative to income. Who the fuck owns all the housing.
I feel sad for Italians, they are some of the best people I know.
For the Americans reading, young Italians have not been dispirited by socialism, but by rampant crony capitalism.
I feel sad for Italians, they are some of the best people I know.
For the Americans reading, young Italians have not been dispirited by socialism, but by rampant crony capitalism.
Relative to point (3), housing is owned by families as a method of saving because historically inflation was high and home ownership is a coveted value.
I am Italian (living abroad in Luxembourg, Singapore, United States for the last 10 years). I feel exactly like you. I lost almost any faith in our beloved Mother country to be able to emerge from the mud and be a beacon of hope and culture once again.
I also hope that in a few years, once I have satiated my appetite for career and startups and money, I will have the willingness to go back and try to apply what I have learned - although I don't believe in doing so through the political system, but rather as an entrepreneur.
This could be a much longer discussion, of course. And I'm also sure that other people from other countries feel similarly (e.g. Greeks, Portuguese, Pakistani, etc).
I also hope that in a few years, once I have satiated my appetite for career and startups and money, I will have the willingness to go back and try to apply what I have learned - although I don't believe in doing so through the political system, but rather as an entrepreneur.
This could be a much longer discussion, of course. And I'm also sure that other people from other countries feel similarly (e.g. Greeks, Portuguese, Pakistani, etc).
You’re lucky, in a sense. I have been standing and fighting in the ’mud’ for a decade because we have a family business to defend and preserve, for the benefit of my family and all those who are employed by it. It’s a totally dispiriting experience.
In a sense, I am. In another (as you probably know), it took a dose of guts to leave Italy (and friends, parents, etc).
But, I fought in the muck for 10 years before deciding it was time to leave.
Well. What to say. I still miss Italy to this day.
But, I fought in the muck for 10 years before deciding it was time to leave.
Well. What to say. I still miss Italy to this day.
I come from Italy as well, and felt that sense of dread, and I solved it in the easiest way possible: I moved to another country. In Europe is really easy to move nowadays, and you can pick a well-governed state to move to :)
Are Italy's problems related to the hyper socialism in the country? It's something I have heard many Americans say about Europe.
Italy is not ”hyper-socialist”; presupposing it is merely renders conversation about the causes difficult. Rather, the country’s growth model was for decades based on a manufacturing economy whose competitiveness was sustained by progressive devaluation of the currency, for as long as one was available. Similarly, growth was funded by public debt whose affordability derived from inflation. The houses somebody mentions: those are mainly owned by the people themselves, as a manner of protecting their savings.
Italy’s been brought down not by socialism but by incomplete, inchoate, puerile mismanagement rooted in a misunderstanding in what capitalism actually is.
Italy’s been brought down not by socialism but by incomplete, inchoate, puerile mismanagement rooted in a misunderstanding in what capitalism actually is.
The countries that best embody what Americans think of as "European socialism" are actually the Nordic countries, which are relatively prosperous, innovative, and not corrupt by Western standards.
Italy, to the best of my understanding, is still a collection of unruly tribes most of which function under the "I'll take my crook over their crook" mentality, deeply suspicious and corrupt, all united by a thin layer of quasi-democratic practice (theater).
Italy, to the best of my understanding, is still a collection of unruly tribes most of which function under the "I'll take my crook over their crook" mentality, deeply suspicious and corrupt, all united by a thin layer of quasi-democratic practice (theater).
It’s easy for Americans to be misinformed as to the cause of the struggles Europe faces, and likewise for Europeans knowing the plight of Americans.
Italy is by no stretch of the imagination "hyper-socialist."
Cal's book is great - but for me, my gut cynical reaction was to wonder if even a successful 'mission' wasn't a false sand-castle that disappears when I die.
Two books make note of this: Ecclesiastes would call a mission mere striving after wind and Becker's Denial of Death that would call mission a an immortality project doomed to irrelevance.
As others here have noted - Ecclesiastes would agree that enjoying the immediate pleasures of food, work, mirth while in the company of friends and family is a gift.
But Cal is also correct, that without a mission you wander aimlessly. That's what makes it hard - I know it doesn't matter and yet it does matter greatly to those around me who need me to be a strong, good, and competent person.
My only bit of small advice: perhaps a mission something that gives you the ability and desire to help other people could give you a direction that has enough meaning to make it worthwhile.
Two books make note of this: Ecclesiastes would call a mission mere striving after wind and Becker's Denial of Death that would call mission a an immortality project doomed to irrelevance.
As others here have noted - Ecclesiastes would agree that enjoying the immediate pleasures of food, work, mirth while in the company of friends and family is a gift.
But Cal is also correct, that without a mission you wander aimlessly. That's what makes it hard - I know it doesn't matter and yet it does matter greatly to those around me who need me to be a strong, good, and competent person.
My only bit of small advice: perhaps a mission something that gives you the ability and desire to help other people could give you a direction that has enough meaning to make it worthwhile.
The idea of your life's accomplishments resounding loudly after you die seems like an overly lofty expectation. Kind of proud. What are you imagining for yourself? Invent something miraculous? Become President? It's unrealistic.
You can still make the world around you a better place and make your life worthwhile for the greater good. Work hard and do your job well. Be a good friend to others, and a good partner. Have children and raise them well. Donate to the less fortunate and improve your community. They aren't going to erect monuments to you for that, but if you do those things, which are certainly in your power, you will be seen as a bright light and example to others in your circle, and you will make the world a better place.
You can still make the world around you a better place and make your life worthwhile for the greater good. Work hard and do your job well. Be a good friend to others, and a good partner. Have children and raise them well. Donate to the less fortunate and improve your community. They aren't going to erect monuments to you for that, but if you do those things, which are certainly in your power, you will be seen as a bright light and example to others in your circle, and you will make the world a better place.
> wonder if even a successful 'mission' wasn't a false sand-castle that disappears when I die.
Our lives today are the accumulation of billions of sand-castles built by others before us.
It may be very hard to discern how one's life will ripple out through time in the vast future, but many small ripples undeniably combine together into something much larger.
Our lives today are the accumulation of billions of sand-castles built by others before us.
It may be very hard to discern how one's life will ripple out through time in the vast future, but many small ripples undeniably combine together into something much larger.
My mission is to breakdown barriers and level the playing field by allowing people to leverage the huge amount of knowledge we have available today to understand the world and subsequently tinker with abstraction. I want to help people make the jump from "rookie" to somebody who understands abstraction and can look past it, as smoothly as possible.
You'd be surprised what we can do as a species if everybody could understand this huge corpus of information we already have.
You'd be surprised what we can do as a species if everybody could understand this huge corpus of information we already have.
I like it! And I will check out AfterClass. Looks like a great execution of a similar idea I in mind some years ago. Kudos to you and keep it up! :)
Great mission!
Help kids to grasp the different concepts of science in form of story because kids score good grades but have no idea of how things are working. Actually a wish to revive the era when Muslims were good both in scientific and religious knowledge. I am targeting locals hence will be writing in Urdu. Not easy work though, specially picking a topic and then convert to a story and respective illustration.
My day job is to write tools for the sales people who will try to persuade their clients into buying ads on Facebook, I just can't see how that helps improve the society or humanity as a whole. Ideally, I should be using my skills and knowledge to help the people in need, but that just won't pay as good as writing CRUD apps, and I have a whole family to feed.
Providing for your family is a perfectly respectable 'mission' in life as far as many people are concerned. Pursuing grand ambitions can take a heavy toll on a family, and it's perfectly sane to choose a more well-travelled path if that's what you value.
Yeah, I agree. Ultimately I'm working so I can enjoy the rest of my life.
This desire to "help people in need" and seeming guilt over taking care of you and your own "instead" is a thing I don't understand. If you don't support you and your family, then you and your family become people in need while at the same time you have nothing to spare for other unfortunate individuals.
Charity begins at home.
Charity begins at home.
Can you find a suitable job in your area that still pays decently well (maybe not quite as good as your current job) but also makes you feel better about your work?
I think that sometimes a sense of contentment and meaning can be worth a lot of money. Assuming that the basics of life are taken care of, of course.
I think that sometimes a sense of contentment and meaning can be worth a lot of money. Assuming that the basics of life are taken care of, of course.
Maybe you could view in a different way?
There are people who want to promote services which actually help society and humanity using tools you helped to create. Even if it is just one person or company! :)
Sometimes you have to work on something that's not your mission to give you the time to work on your mission - however infrequently that may then be.
You can still help people in need, just do what you can do.
You can still help people in need, just do what you can do.
There are lots of CRUD apps that help people in need.
First, achieving a stable financial situation. Then, the big goal:
Making the world better by: - Stopping the mass murder of animals - Bringing the demise of irrational practices such as religion and astrology - Pushing knowledge forward by contributing to science or teaching those who will hopefully do so, and by making the software environment tidier
Making the world better by: - Stopping the mass murder of animals - Bringing the demise of irrational practices such as religion and astrology - Pushing knowledge forward by contributing to science or teaching those who will hopefully do so, and by making the software environment tidier
Not sure how ending religion would be better for the world. There are some religious fanatics, always will be, that will use their religion to bring about hate and violence. However there are billions of people who practice some form of religion that are peaceful people who use their religion to spread love and peace throughout the world. Don't try to throw the baby out with the bath water. Religious freedom is a cornerstone of a viable democracy.
For me: work, life, family, everything is built on these foundations (albeit imperfectly):
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
http://www.reformed.org/documents/WSC.html
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 ESV)
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
http://www.reformed.org/documents/WSC.html
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 ESV)
I would also add to this that if there does exist an eternal existence after one's death [1], then it is infinitely rational to spend this comparatively short life finding out what the nature of that eternity is and how best to prepare for it.
[1] Which incidentally, I don't think is possible to conclusively prove nor disprove. Like most things in life, you look at the evidence and make your decision.
[1] Which incidentally, I don't think is possible to conclusively prove nor disprove. Like most things in life, you look at the evidence and make your decision.
If I was created in God's image, then my goal must necessarily be to create life in my image.
I was wondering whether someone would make a statement like this. Nothing satisfies like enjoying our infinite God.
Just yesterday I offered "So Good They Can't Ignore You" to someone about to start their professional career. Mostly as a counterweight to the mainstream advice.
I recommend watching Bret Victor's "Inventing on Principle" [0] for a very interesting variant on the theme of "your mission in life & work".
[0] https://vimeo.com/36579366
I recommend watching Bret Victor's "Inventing on Principle" [0] for a very interesting variant on the theme of "your mission in life & work".
[0] https://vimeo.com/36579366
My mission is to build amazing free software that is accessible and usable by the whole world.
Effective Altruism. I discovered the charity GiveDirectly some years ago from the NPR podcast Planet Money episode that featured them. GiveDirectly is one of many charities adopting evidence based outreach, and now I follow GiveWell and it's recommendations as well. The central question of Effective Altruism is given limited resources, how can we do the most good?
1-. Leave my poor country, as i feel it keeps me from reaching superior goals.
2-. Study abroad
3-. Work for a company that makes people's lives easier
4-. Learn everything to replicate these ideas on my own country.
5-. Return to my country, help people in any way possible using what i've learned. Make the world a bit better and reduce some suffering.
I'm 25 years old and still at step 1, but I know I will make it happen.
2-. Study abroad
3-. Work for a company that makes people's lives easier
4-. Learn everything to replicate these ideas on my own country.
5-. Return to my country, help people in any way possible using what i've learned. Make the world a bit better and reduce some suffering.
I'm 25 years old and still at step 1, but I know I will make it happen.
Just curious, what country are you from?
I don't know if I can do it but I would really like to dramatically lower the bar for people to change careers. I think a lot of people get stuck in their careers which they pick too early and then the costs of switching are way too high (lack of information, available learning resources, other barriers to entry).
The job market is very skewed towards specialists which causes a lot of "must have experience to get experience" chicken-and-egg issues. i.e. "find someone who has done X for 5 years". I think that is fine, but there should be an avenue to value and recruit people with diverse experiences i.e. someone who has done X -AND- Y.
I think the key solve is to help companies take on people who want to career switch but have applicable prior experience that you're not completely throwing away either. I think this happens anyway so I'm completely unsure what if anything I can do to help it.
The job market is very skewed towards specialists which causes a lot of "must have experience to get experience" chicken-and-egg issues. i.e. "find someone who has done X for 5 years". I think that is fine, but there should be an avenue to value and recruit people with diverse experiences i.e. someone who has done X -AND- Y.
I think the key solve is to help companies take on people who want to career switch but have applicable prior experience that you're not completely throwing away either. I think this happens anyway so I'm completely unsure what if anything I can do to help it.
Software is a mess.
There are too many programming languages, libraries, frameworks, websites, apps, devices, etc. We're still far from what was imagined 50 years ago. We still use text files. Most people still can't program. That's a problem.
My mission is to clean up this mess. It could take a lot of different shapes, but the high-level pitch is to build one application/interface/language/platform/system that will replace all of the others.
Imagine if Google, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Reddit, Amazon, Twitter, Instagram, Netflix, LinkedIn, Twitch, eBay, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Google Maps, Spotify, Uber, Gmail, Pinterest, Domino's Pizza, Tinder, and Craigslist were all just one application. That's my mission.
There are too many programming languages, libraries, frameworks, websites, apps, devices, etc. We're still far from what was imagined 50 years ago. We still use text files. Most people still can't program. That's a problem.
My mission is to clean up this mess. It could take a lot of different shapes, but the high-level pitch is to build one application/interface/language/platform/system that will replace all of the others.
Imagine if Google, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Reddit, Amazon, Twitter, Instagram, Netflix, LinkedIn, Twitch, eBay, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Google Maps, Spotify, Uber, Gmail, Pinterest, Domino's Pizza, Tinder, and Craigslist were all just one application. That's my mission.
That's my mission too
My mission is to make clean energy to help people spend time doing what they want to do. As David Lilienthal said, energy is a replacement for the labor of human beings.
Very timely. I'm working on writing mine down this weekend. This is where my current thoughts are going: I want to live my life in a manner the inspires and encourages everyone I cross paths with to be the best they can be, to give their best, to continual strive to improve .5 % everyday. I want to be a bucket filler and to live out that attitude is more important than aptitude.
My mission is to:
“Empower engineers and technical leaders with the tools and mindsets to perform at their highest levels, so that they create the meaningful impact they’re capable of.”
That mission started with me writing and self-publishing The Effective Engineer three years ago. And then recently I co-founded a company Co Leadership (coleadership.com) to focus on leadership development full-time.
“Empower engineers and technical leaders with the tools and mindsets to perform at their highest levels, so that they create the meaningful impact they’re capable of.”
That mission started with me writing and self-publishing The Effective Engineer three years ago. And then recently I co-founded a company Co Leadership (coleadership.com) to focus on leadership development full-time.
My mission to help spread the message that geography is not destiny.
I was lucky enough to be born during the internet age in the 90s. Because the internet already existed I was able to teach myself skills and find work that allowed me to be anywhere as long as I had an internet connection.
With the internet, you can choose who to serve and you can do it from anywhere.
I was lucky enough to be born during the internet age in the 90s. Because the internet already existed I was able to teach myself skills and find work that allowed me to be anywhere as long as I had an internet connection.
With the internet, you can choose who to serve and you can do it from anywhere.
I don't really have a mission statement. Maybe I should, I don't know. But there are a few things that strongly interest me and long have. They probably look diverse and scattered to other people, but not to me. Yet, I don't know how to readily sum it up in a nutshell.
Perhaps it could be summed up as a desire to inject health and stability into the existing system by focusing on some humanocentric first principles. To me, that stability needs to be rooted in flexibility, not rigidity. I think most people see stability and rigidity as going together and that's part of the problem.
The world is in a state of flux. We have 7 billion people and unprecedented globalization and unprecedented tech. The tendency here is to run roughshod over people. The result is scary destabilization that has even millionaires acting as preppers because they fear the world coming apart at the seams and see no real means to stop it.
Jobs are moving to big cities and/or being replaced with gig work. Towns and rural areas are experiencing duress due to the lack of earning opportunities. Big cities are experiencing duress because they aren't affordable. Housing prices have spun crazily out of control. There is a huge lack of affordable housing nationwide in the US.
People have become prisoners of and slaves to the system. We seem to have forgotten that business should serve people, not the other way around.
I am interested in promulgating mostly market based solutions to some of the social ills of our era. I think that framing business as an evil force and charity (such as UBI) as the only hope of an antidote is part of the problem.
Business can be designed to serve basic human needs while turning a profit. It doesn't have to be pursued on a model of making a few people filthy rich while bleeding the masses or screwing them over. You have to make a conscious decision to design it in a healthy, sustainable fashion. It doesn't just happen. But it can happen.
Perhaps it could be summed up as a desire to inject health and stability into the existing system by focusing on some humanocentric first principles. To me, that stability needs to be rooted in flexibility, not rigidity. I think most people see stability and rigidity as going together and that's part of the problem.
The world is in a state of flux. We have 7 billion people and unprecedented globalization and unprecedented tech. The tendency here is to run roughshod over people. The result is scary destabilization that has even millionaires acting as preppers because they fear the world coming apart at the seams and see no real means to stop it.
Jobs are moving to big cities and/or being replaced with gig work. Towns and rural areas are experiencing duress due to the lack of earning opportunities. Big cities are experiencing duress because they aren't affordable. Housing prices have spun crazily out of control. There is a huge lack of affordable housing nationwide in the US.
People have become prisoners of and slaves to the system. We seem to have forgotten that business should serve people, not the other way around.
I am interested in promulgating mostly market based solutions to some of the social ills of our era. I think that framing business as an evil force and charity (such as UBI) as the only hope of an antidote is part of the problem.
Business can be designed to serve basic human needs while turning a profit. It doesn't have to be pursued on a model of making a few people filthy rich while bleeding the masses or screwing them over. You have to make a conscious decision to design it in a healthy, sustainable fashion. It doesn't just happen. But it can happen.
My mission is to gain knowledge in order to understand the world in a new way, and communicate this such that I can do my part to help help Life succeed in the very long term.
I wrote about what I believe the "Purpose of Life" is on my blog, though I haven't publicized it very much yet:
https://goose.us/thoughts/the-purpose-of-life/
(TL;DR - the purpose of life is to maximize the area under the complexity curve for our enclosing system. I use Sean Carroll's The Big Picture and some MinutePhysics/Earth videos to help make the point.)
Right now I'm learning more about complex systems while practicing writing and speaking in order to refine the message for wider consumption. I would love to engage with anyone on the topic who is willing.
I wrote about what I believe the "Purpose of Life" is on my blog, though I haven't publicized it very much yet:
https://goose.us/thoughts/the-purpose-of-life/
(TL;DR - the purpose of life is to maximize the area under the complexity curve for our enclosing system. I use Sean Carroll's The Big Picture and some MinutePhysics/Earth videos to help make the point.)
Right now I'm learning more about complex systems while practicing writing and speaking in order to refine the message for wider consumption. I would love to engage with anyone on the topic who is willing.
>the purpose of life is to maximize the area under the complexity curve for our enclosing system.
Can you put this in laymans terms?
Can you put this in laymans terms?
That's sort of the work I've been trying to do... if you read through the whole post I give it my current best shot and use graphs and videos that do a good job of setting it up using laymans terms, especially the MinutePhysics series narrated by Sean Carroll.
Basically the idea is that life is a process which maximizes complexity as entropy increases, by its very nature... if you consider the whole universe, there are no structures we have observed that are as complex as the structures we observe in living organisms.
The complexity of the biosphere would dwarf the complexity of the rest of our entire solar system... as in, the information required to describe the entire solar system and how it proceeds from state to state, including the storms or Jupiter and Saturn, would be trivial compared to attempts to model all the life on our planet, including the mental states of each of the 7 billion humans and the interconnected relationships of all the other bacteria, plant, fungi, etc.
This maximization occurs as life seeks to continue replicating and adapts to each other and any environment that it possibly can, even the harshest on our planet. The most advanced organisms on the planet are those which have the most complex nervous systems and thus the most complex behavior, including us (again, the complexity of the human mind most likely dwarfs the complexity of most other organisms... proven simply by being able to occupy states that allow it to understand and communicate the complexity of other organisms).
So, my thesis is that the purpose of life is to maximizes complexity, but not as an absolute, since complexity creates fragility and issues with diminishing returns on energy input. This is why I say that it the purpose is to maximize the area under the complexity curve, rather than simply maximize absolute complexity. See this graph - https://goose.us/media/complexity_entropy_graph_filled-920px...
Not sure if that was a good or not, but I appreciate any feedback on the attempt!
Basically the idea is that life is a process which maximizes complexity as entropy increases, by its very nature... if you consider the whole universe, there are no structures we have observed that are as complex as the structures we observe in living organisms.
The complexity of the biosphere would dwarf the complexity of the rest of our entire solar system... as in, the information required to describe the entire solar system and how it proceeds from state to state, including the storms or Jupiter and Saturn, would be trivial compared to attempts to model all the life on our planet, including the mental states of each of the 7 billion humans and the interconnected relationships of all the other bacteria, plant, fungi, etc.
This maximization occurs as life seeks to continue replicating and adapts to each other and any environment that it possibly can, even the harshest on our planet. The most advanced organisms on the planet are those which have the most complex nervous systems and thus the most complex behavior, including us (again, the complexity of the human mind most likely dwarfs the complexity of most other organisms... proven simply by being able to occupy states that allow it to understand and communicate the complexity of other organisms).
So, my thesis is that the purpose of life is to maximizes complexity, but not as an absolute, since complexity creates fragility and issues with diminishing returns on energy input. This is why I say that it the purpose is to maximize the area under the complexity curve, rather than simply maximize absolute complexity. See this graph - https://goose.us/media/complexity_entropy_graph_filled-920px...
Not sure if that was a good or not, but I appreciate any feedback on the attempt!
I read your post, and am still trying to wrap my head around the content.
The best metaphor I could come up with, given my potentially erroneous understanding of your thesis is thus:
The purpose of life is a dance competition, the more novel the performance the better.
The beautiful mating dances of exotic jungle birds comes to mind:
https://youtu.be/W7QZnwKqopo
The best metaphor I could come up with, given my potentially erroneous understanding of your thesis is thus:
The purpose of life is a dance competition, the more novel the performance the better.
The beautiful mating dances of exotic jungle birds comes to mind:
https://youtu.be/W7QZnwKqopo
It's not really a competition for complexity within life, complexity arises naturally within life as a product of competition. Sometimes more complexity is more fit, and other times the added fragility makes the organism less fit... during the mass extinctions it was primarily the most complex organisms that died.
The purpose of life as a whole is to spread this complexity to all parts of the Universe that can support it, so as to raise the overall complexity of the system.
Another way to think about it is that life lengthens the path that energy needs to flow through in order to reach equilibrium (maximum entropy).
The purpose of life as a whole is to spread this complexity to all parts of the Universe that can support it, so as to raise the overall complexity of the system.
Another way to think about it is that life lengthens the path that energy needs to flow through in order to reach equilibrium (maximum entropy).
Just leaving everything better than I found it.
Making life a bit easier for my family.
Making life a bit easier for my co-workers.
Making life a bit easier for my friends.
Making life a bit easier for the strangers at the grocery store.
Making an impact on the environment where I can.
Just leave the world a little better than you found it.
Making life a bit easier for my family.
Making life a bit easier for my co-workers.
Making life a bit easier for my friends.
Making life a bit easier for the strangers at the grocery store.
Making an impact on the environment where I can.
Just leave the world a little better than you found it.
My work mission is purely to do a decent job so that I can make my life mission come true. Which is to raise decent kids that are aware that this life is not just the start and end of everything but a journey of their soul.
Take a look to School of Life's "Finding your mission" video [0]
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5-LfK2i2J4
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5-LfK2i2J4
* Seek deep understanding. What are the most fundamental underlying mechanisms and processes that make up the world around us? Since the beginning of time, what events have transpired to bring us to the current moment?
* Learn how to distill ideas and communicate them effectively -- knowledge and wisdom must be dispersed and made understandable
* Search for the largest available levers that one can use to make a beneficial impact
* Try to live mindfully and humanely
* Learn how to distill ideas and communicate them effectively -- knowledge and wisdom must be dispersed and made understandable
* Search for the largest available levers that one can use to make a beneficial impact
* Try to live mindfully and humanely
To contribute something meaningful that I see being used by people daily. An example will be fixing my favorite tool in the ecosystem that is used by a lot of people and seeing my patch hit stable making life a lot easier. It makes sense for me to contribute more and also to value the work of others that I get to use in the first place.
Would you say it's possible to use computational modeling to derive a sociopolitical belief system that won't inevitably degenerate into inequality and war? If it's not purely fantastical, it's something I might want to try my hand at...
“Junior M.A.F.I.A” lyrics spring to mind every time someone asks, and I chuckle to myself.
But seriously ... if I had to have one, it’d be to get over myself eventually and abandon cleverness in favour of wisdom worth a damn in the biggest of pictures.
But seriously ... if I had to have one, it’d be to get over myself eventually and abandon cleverness in favour of wisdom worth a damn in the biggest of pictures.
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Right now it's to find my mission. There are so many things I care about and want to improve in the world. But funding the intersection of those causes and my skill set still feels elusive.
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* Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
* Learn as if you were to live forever.
-- quote by someone famous (some say its Gandhi, but am not sure)
--- Lather, rinse, repeat.
-- quote by someone famous (some say its Gandhi, but am not sure)
--- Lather, rinse, repeat.
If I were actually going to die the next day I'd probably skip going to work.
To have a massive positive impact on the world.
To crush your enemies. See them driven before you. And to hear the lamentations of their women.
lol. Comment appreciated :) HN, you're a tad serious from time to time.
Thank you so much for all the valuable & interesting comments! Much appreciated! :)
To decrease ignorance, greed, and hatred in the world (inlcluding myself).
My mission is to eat tacos. As many as possible.
Solve global warming.
My mission is to make all the people I come in close contact with "Rich".
I see money as a way to reward people who you like and use it against people who you dislike.
This is what I work for today.
I see money as a way to reward people who you like and use it against people who you dislike.
This is what I work for today.
Hope your moral compass is close to being perfect :)
Be my friend please, haha
I recently read "So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love" by Cal Newport [1].
The book is divided in different "rules". Rule #4 states that having a "mission" is important to having a meaningful and happy life, which, I understand and can agree with. Chapter 12 uses Padris Sabeti, a "Professor @harvard @broadinstitute using computational genomics to understand & impact infectious disease." [2], as an example. The chapter tells her story and concludes with her having a clear mission "to use new technology to fight old diseases".
I try from time to time to take a few steps back and review my own career and the path it's taking. Having my own mission statement seems to fit into this review process quite nicely. Currently, my most accurate mission would be something the lines "(using new technology) to help people build what they themselves can't build".
I find this an interesting topic and simply wanted to know if any of you was willing to share their own "mission" :)
Thanks in advance for your precious time! =)
- [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13525945-so-good-they-can-t-ignore-you
- [2] https://twitter.com/pardissabeti
// edit: formatting