Mark Manson is in Australia at the moment. I remember noting he was coming and wishing I could go to hear him speak.
I’m not a MM devotee but I like his writing and reference his posts often because I can relate. I know the concepts he raises aren’t new or particularly earth-shattering but I like his blunt no-bullshit approach.
I have been listening to Mark Manson’s posts quite a bit lately. (I like that his site has an audio option, so you can listen to them, rather than just read them.) I keep coming back to one or two; about purpose, values and passion. I suspect this is because I’m currently wading my way through my own existential crisis of sorts so wondering what others have to say about it.
Well, mid March already. Or perhaps later. I can’t recall what the date is, so… the month might actually almost be over.
The year’s been a bit of a weird one for me. Although in all honesty the time since finishing up my last job (in September) and travelling to Italy (in September – October) has been kinda challenging.
Last Thursday I mentioned a post I’d started writing after being inspired by Mark Manson. I’m not a MM devotee, though don’t get him confused with Charles or Marilyn (unlike a friend of mine). While I don’t agree with what everything he says, I very much like his way with words and find myself listening to his posts (as he offers audio and reading options) again and again… hoping stuff will sink in via some sort of subliminal mind control.
There are two I’ve been listening to of late and – as I mentioned last week, they’ve become linked in my mind – so the post I was originally writing became confused and unwieldy. This week I’d initially planned to – in wanky corporate speak – ‘unpack’ the two themes… but they continue to be inexplicably entwined for me so I’ll include links to Manson’s two articles and focus more on what I ‘took away’ from both posts (more corporate-speak, #sorrynotsorry).
You would have loved today’s post.
It was about goal setting and the fact that it’s kinda crappy, and (apparently) it’s far better instead to establish habits to get us to where we need to go. I was referencing a Mark Manson post, though realised later I somehow confused two separate posts (and topics) as MY post went on to talk about how to identify priorities and make decisions and talked about the importance of ‘regret’ in whatever it is we’re weighing up.
I’ve been spending WAAAAY too much time lolling on my bed looking at Instagram pictures of Harry and Meghan (on their recent visit to Oz) and clicking on Facebook links to articles on No Sidebar, Tiny Buddha and Mark Manson.
The latter sites tend to re-share the same pieces over and over again. I know this because I tend to click on the same links over and over again.
I know many (MANY) people will envy the fact that I haven’t had to buy a book for a few years. I receive more review books than I can read – including many I don’t request. And though there are often books I miss, because they’re not offered for review or I don’t get them, I haven’t had the time to go back and read them myself.
One of the many online pieces I’ve bookmarked in the past year or so is one about mediocrity in Elephant Journal: Why Perfectionists Should Pursue Mediocrity. And I know I’ve written about this before, referencing Mark Manson’s In Defense of Being Average.
Both pieces kinda boil down to the suggestion that lowering our aspirations or goals, lowers our expectations (of our own achievements), meaning we’ll be happier with ourselves and our lives. Apparently.
I couldn’t decide what to write about today. A few ideas popped into my head, but none seemed fully formed. Until I realised there was a common thread running through all of them. One of unrequited potential and mediocrity. Well, kinda…
It all started yesterday morning as I woke up from a dream… *insert wavy vision and dream sequence as seen on 1980s TV here*
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