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Be an explorer
Friday, 13 October 2006
I often get emails from readers asking me some variant of: "How do you manage to write about so many interesting topics?" Well, first of all, thanks for the compliment. This kind of thing is said to me in the non-Paul's Tips part of my life too. People say "How come you know about so many interesting movies/ music / technology / books / restaurants / foods etc?".
The answer is simple. I'm an explorer. Others like me will tell you exactly the same thing.
Most people don't like stepping outside their comfortable little world. They know what kinds of movies, music, ideas, and food they like. They had an amazing experience with a certain thing in these categories once, and then they keep trying to recapture it. The problem with that strategy is that we humans get bored quickly.
There comes a point early in our experience of any one thing that can seem like ecstasy - the first time you eat pizza, when you first really appreciate your favorite song, that great scene in a beloved movie. After that, the feelings start to fade.
But some people can't let go. Like a drug addict chasing that first amazing hit, they just keep doing the same thing over and over again. Hoping that one day the ecstasy will return. Their consumption becomes habitual rather than pleasurable.
I take a different approach to my consumption of pleasure. Instead of settling on a few good things early on, I prefer to cast my net much wider. I'm always on the look out for something new and different to stimulate me. Not just new versions of the same old thing like most people, but something genuinely new.
There's one problem with this strategy and that is that 80% of what's out there isn't very good. Most music produced is terrible, most movies are boring, most technology is more hype than cool, and most restaurants are average. But if you're prepared to scavenge through the dross, you'll find some real overlooked gems.
Hidden among the 80% of blah is some stuff that's so unbelievable it blows your mind. And usually you don't have to look that far to find it. With practice, you can find at least one cool new thing a day, one amazing thing a week, and one spectacular thing a month.
Rather than eating the same old stuff, reading from the same sources, and consuming the same old cultural products - expand your horizons a bit. Don't just go for variations of stuff you already know you like. Instead, seek out something genuinely new and enrich your life.
 | How to be cool | | Yes, yes I know. The title of this article is a little immodest. I'm not saying that I'm the world's coolest man or anything like that. In fact, underneath it all I'm a bit of a geek. |  | What to do when you've made a life-shatteringly bad decision | | Let's face it, despite our often high opinions of ourselves, we're all human really. There's not a person on this planet who hasn't made an incredibly stupid decision at some stage that's had life-changing consequences. You'll certainly make such a dumb call yourself some day, as will I and everybody else. |  | How to get control of your body | | The evidence that people in rich modern societies have lost control of their bodies is widespread. Poor eating, drug use, and lack of exercise are common habits. Why is it that we have such difficulty gaining power over our bodies, and what can we do about it? |  | Perfect contentment leads to stagnation | | Have a look at how so many of us live our lives. We get up in the morning, go out all day and work, work, work. Whether in a rich country or a poor one, a good neighbourhood or bad, you can be sure that most of the people around you will be working most of the time. |  | Get yourself some allies | | People I know who are introverted often tell me they don't really understand why outgoing people expend so much time and effort on socialising. They see it all as being a bit shallow and a waste of effort. But I think they miss the point in a lot of ways. | | Get over yourself | | We live in a culture that's obsessed with self-esteem. A person can achieve no greater thing than believe in their own special importance, or so we're told. | | Do lots of small, cheap experiments | | I once met a guy who'd built a successful website that he'd made a lot of money from. It's always interesting to talk to people who've done well, so I asked him what his secret was. | | Learn how to deal with the unknown | | Deep down inside, it's human nature to have a fear of that which we haven't had direct experience with. The default setting for many of us seems to be suspicion of people, food, countries, organizations and any number of other things we don't know much about. | | Give away lots of little gifts | | It amazes me how many people don't pay attention to developing their relationships. Other people are extremely useful in life. Indeed, for me, I think they are probably my favourite thing in the whole world. A good connection with another can be the most wonderful thing you can have. | | It's extremely difficult to change people | | Most of us have someone in our life we'd like to change. It might be a lover, a child, a boss, or a neighbor. We try every trick at our disposal to meet that end, but in general we are likely to fail. |
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