Book 63 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title - Zoom out to zoom back in

Book: Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker

Book Description: If you think the world is coming to an end, think again: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science. Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing.

Reflection:

I read somewhere, I can't remember the book unfortunately, that we should try to view our lives as a chess board. We are the pieces on the board. As a chess piece, all you normally can see are the other pieces staring you directly in your face on a day to day basis. For me, what stares at me everyday is accomplishing my mission of living a balanced existence while Living for 2. Today, for instance, I need to take care of Luca, try to be a good husband, get this reflection done for the year of magical learning project, get to work at my day job, get my workout in, train our new nanny, play tennis, meet with Trieu on ClubAny stuff, get my reading / new learning in for the day, etc.

That is a lot to think about and worry about. Sometimes, even with the strongest why's and missions to support you, you can forget what this is all about and get stuck in the rut of what you see is all there is. That is why it is so regularly important to make it a habit to zoom out and see the whole chess board and view how the whole game unfolding. Look at your progress you've made on your mission. Gain some perspective of where you've come from and set you plan on where you want to go. Get out of the weeds of your life and view it all from a different lens.

The past week or so has been a struggle for me to maintain my balance, due to a lot of factors. It is Q4 at Salesforce which always ratchets up the pressure at work, we lost our nanny which has made managing our days chaos until we can find her replacement, and I've been reading this book about the evolution of the mind that has been really messing with my thoughts and causing doubts about the mental illusions I've built in my mind to overcame the past 18 months of trauma and pain. It was getting to me. However, right at this moment, I'm taking the time to zoom out on this whole journey since Emilia was born to see the progress that we have made on our mission.

That is what Enlightenment Now is all about. Look at how far humanity has come. In my own life, in the past 18 months, we've successfully started 2 businesses and had 20 people complete the core value quest, my co-founder and I have met everyday for 1 year+ straight, I wrote and published a book, I'm working on another book, we had another child, we remodeled our basement, I won 3 tennis tournaments, I ran a 6 minute mile and half marathon, we survived 92 days in the NICU, I've read 180+ books, Felicia started a new job, I'm on day 591 of consecutive journaling, I haven't missed a day's workout since 4.22.20, I recorded an audio book, etc. That is an insane amount of progress and I've never been more balanced in my life.

The author, Steven Pinker, says in the book, "The irony about progressives is that they actually seem to hate progress". They can't seem to get out of the game worrying about the next move vs. zooming out to take a moment and enjoy the progress of the game. I'm living a life of purpose that I've always dreamed about with my beautiful children by my side each and every day in all that I do. Emilia and I have made a ton of progress in our mission and that is something to be proud of. Let's take this time to enjoy zooming out before I leave my desk to jump back into it all again.

Question: What are some areas of progress you can be proud of today when you take some time to zoom out on your life?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Enlightenment Now

YOML Bookstore - Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress Steven Pinker