Chasing Happiness, Avoiding Burnout & A Mini-Parable
Explore hedonic happiness myths, burnout fixes, the convenience trap, an effort‑impact matrix and book insights from Derek Sivers’ Useful Not True.
Hey friends 👋
Hope your summer's going great (and that you've managed a well‑deserved break already). Around here the weather's been more mist than sunshine, but I've squeezed every drop of blue sky—hitting the trails and averaging about 13 000 steps a day. Those days out in nature keep reminding me that happiness hides in everyday moments, a theme that flows straight into this month's post.
🎥 YouTube Video: How Misalignment Burns You Out—Even When You’re Well-Rested Feeling exhausted even with a solid work‑life balance? It could be misalignment burnout. Spot the 5 warning signs and see a 5‑step path to realign.
✍️ Blog Post: Why Chasing Happiness Keeps You Unhappy
Learn how arrival fallacy and hedonic adaptation keep you chasing the next win—and the three habits that turn ordinary moments into lasting happiness.
Reflections & Insights
Real contentment still hides in the ordinary moments
Remember spending half an hour skimming blog posts for an answer that ChatGPT can now hand you in ten seconds? The upgrade felt miraculous ... until it didn't.
We adapt to convenience at lightning speed; today's magic becomes tomorrow's baseline before the loading bar finishes. Hedonic adaptation means the friction we erase rarely translates into lasting satisfaction. Instead, we raise the bar for what counts as "easy" and grow impatient with anything slower than instant.
The catch is that convenience is a one‑way street. Once you taste same‑day delivery or one‑click answers, the old way feels intolerable—you can't unknow the shortcut. It's kind of a trap, really. That's why obsessing over smoother, faster, simpler won't make us happier.
If you want to learn more about hedonic adaptation, also check out my latest blog post mentioned above.
A better way to measure and prioritize your projects and endeavors
When you’ve got more ideas than bandwidth, the classic Eisenhower matrix (importance vs. urgency) can feel like triage for someone else’s emergencies. Lately I’ve been trying an effort vs. impact matrix and the clarity is startling.
Plot every task on those two axes and the noise drops away:
- Low‑effort/high‑impact items become obvious quick wins you should knock out immediately.
- Low‑effort/low‑impact jobs reveal themselves as harmless filler best batched, delegated or just deleted.
- High‑effort/low‑impact undertakings stand exposed as thankless tasks begging for the trash or an outsource button.
- High‑effort/high‑impact ambitions earn the right to real planning and protected calendar space.
Running my side‑projects through this lens killed a weekend‑long newsletter‑redesign rabbit hole (thankless) and freed those hours to outline a new video that delivered far more reach for a fraction of the sweat.
If you want to try it: List your ideas, score each for effort and impact on a quick 1‑to‑5 scale, and sketch a simple four‑square grid. In minutes you’ll see where your time compounds and where it merely evaporates.
Monthly Favourites
🎶 Song: Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah - Lake Shore Drive
It’s been a rainy summer so far and this song brings just the right nostalgic vibe to whisk me back to bonfire‑lit summer nights.
📚 Book: Ewald Arenz - Tasting Sunlight
I attended his reading a few weeks ago and then decided to read the book myself. It’s a lovely story about mental health and healing. The German version is called "Alte Sorten".
📽️ Video: Why Mushrooms are Starting to Replace Everything
I won't pretend to be impartial—my inner nerd was hooked the moment I saw the thumbnail. Ever since my grandpa took me mushroom‑foraging 26 years ago, fungi have fascinated me.
Book Club
A while back, I finished Useful Not True by Derek Sivers, and, following my own 3-step system for effective reading, I want to share with you my top 3 actionable takeaways:
- Always assume the best when people act weird.
Look for the incentives or hidden constraints behind their behavior; once motives surface, confusion dissolves. Treat puzzling actions as misunderstandings, not malice, and watch tension turn to curiosity. - Question what other people want you to do.
"Obligations" are often just someone else's preference wrapped in borrowed authority. Call the request what it is—an ask, not a mandate—and choose freely instead of obeying by default. - Take the first step immediately.
Action stress‑tests ideas, exposing flaws and possibilities faster than any thought experiment. Momentum breeds clarity; each small move teaches you what the next should be.
Bonus insight: Since you know other people's beliefs aren't true, you have to realize that yours aren't either. Here's a lovely mini-parable that perfectly illustrates this:
A traveler comes to a river and sees a local woman on the opposite bank. He yells, "How do I get to the other side of the river?" She yells back, "You are on the other side of the river!"
Monthly Journaling Prompt
Where did I feel healthy discomfort that signals learning?
Identify one moment this month that made you squirm in a good way and jot down what it taught you. Our brains are wired to sidestep discomfort, yet every real breakthrough lives just beyond the comfort zone. Notice how dread melts into relief (and even pride) once you finally act. And if you're up for it, hit 'reply' and share it—I'd love to hear your story!
Thanks for checking in—see you next month!
Best,
Robin