Gandhi's autobiography is one of the most profound books I’ve ever encountered. A dear friend of mine gave me a copy.
I knew about his life through my history studies, watching the movie, etc., but never studied his deeper philosophy of Bachmachaya (spiritual and practical purity), his Ahimsa (non-violence), and finally maura and shanti (silence and peace). Gandhi stopped reading newspapers for years, fasted on numerous occasions, was vegan, was celibate, made his own clothes, rode only third class on trains, etc. He faulted Indians as often lazy and filthy, and was highly respectful to the Empire. And yet, of course, he is the Father of India and its Home Rule.
Not a simple guy, and yet he travelled with 5 items maximum.
Gandhi’s writing is profound, introspective, and very honest. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is doing OK in life, but yet hungry to get to the next level.Gandhi’s life is complex, and his views are not always predictable. What is so exciting is his vow-taking. Each step in his life seemed governed by self-control and self-reflection. This book has prompted me to tackle numerous goals in many areas of my life.
Friday, August 31, 2007
A circadian, solstice-centric sleep schedule, Part II
To figure out your particular location’s sunrise and sunset, just search on the internet. I’d recommend starting with just the summer and winter solstices, June 21 and December 21. From there, you’ll be able calculate the “solar noon” and more importantly “solar midnight”, around which you’ll figure out your own custom sleep schedule. Later you can fill in the days between the solstices.
Obviously, times will vary based on your geographic latitude. Here’s some figures for New York City:
ANALYSIS OF OPTIMAL SLEEP BASED ON THE SOLSTICE
June 21: Sunrise at 5:24am, sunset at 20:30. Thus, solar midnight is 0:58.
December 21: Sunrise at 7:16am, sunset at 16:31. Thus, solar midnight is 23:58.
Data From:
http://www.geocities.com/dtmcbride/science/astronomy/sunrise_sunset.html
The data above show that, in the summer, I’d need to go to bed around 9pm and get up around 5am, which in the winter I should go to bed around 8pm and rise at 4am. For most people, these times seem quote earlier than typical. It seems that modern society has us off kilter by an hour or two, and often far more. Consider that this schedule maximizes the percent of amount of darkness you’ll experience while sleeping, and the amount of light you’ll experience while awake. There are massive environmental and cost saving benefits as well, but they are beyond this article’s scope.
I have been using the schedule (roughly) for nearly a year, and having improved my sleep quality, decreased the amount of sleep I need, and experienced higher mental acuity during the day. Lastly, I feel a more regular connection to nature that provides solace in a world increasingly ignorant of nature’s wisdom.
Obviously, times will vary based on your geographic latitude. Here’s some figures for New York City:
ANALYSIS OF OPTIMAL SLEEP BASED ON THE SOLSTICE
June 21: Sunrise at 5:24am, sunset at 20:30. Thus, solar midnight is 0:58.
December 21: Sunrise at 7:16am, sunset at 16:31. Thus, solar midnight is 23:58.
Data From:
http://www.geocities.com/dtmcbride/science/astronomy/sunrise_sunset.html
The data above show that, in the summer, I’d need to go to bed around 9pm and get up around 5am, which in the winter I should go to bed around 8pm and rise at 4am. For most people, these times seem quote earlier than typical. It seems that modern society has us off kilter by an hour or two, and often far more. Consider that this schedule maximizes the percent of amount of darkness you’ll experience while sleeping, and the amount of light you’ll experience while awake. There are massive environmental and cost saving benefits as well, but they are beyond this article’s scope.
I have been using the schedule (roughly) for nearly a year, and having improved my sleep quality, decreased the amount of sleep I need, and experienced higher mental acuity during the day. Lastly, I feel a more regular connection to nature that provides solace in a world increasingly ignorant of nature’s wisdom.
A circadian, solstice-centric sleep schedule, Part I
There is little doubt that modern life disconnects us with the natural cycle of day and night. Light bulbs, monitors, TVs, and even curtains all conspire to give us the power to choose the brightness in our lives. And generally, we do the opposite of what nature intends. Research has noted that the average American gets only about 30 minutes of direct sunlight (over 1000 lux) per day. So paradoxically, we get less sunlight than our Neanderthal ancestors, and yet also less darkness.
Our energy levels and our sleepiness follow a rhythm based on, among other things, the amount of light we see. Therefore, we’re less awake during the day, and less sleepy during the night, and in order to reconnect ourselves to the rhythms of the day, we need to better understand how that connection occurs.
What is the rhythmic connection between the world and our bodies? Externally, there are quite a few: light, temperature, social interaction, and eating and drinking schedules. These synchronizing agents are called Zietgebers (German for “Time Givers”), of which light has the strongest effect our own bodily rhythms. (Obviously, all the Zietgebers listed above are correlated.) Since light is the strongest Zietgeber, the actual connection between the world and our bodies comes most strongly from our eyes. Our retinas pick up the light, which travels through the optic nerve into suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) region of our hypothalamus.
What functions to our bodies perform based on these signals? The three most pertinent are body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure are the most clear.
So, what would be the most natural sleep pattern? Since humans sleep when it’s dark, the most sensible sleep schedule should maximize the percent of sleep done in the dark.
To calculate this, one must figure out what I call the “solar noon” (middle of the day) and “solar midnight” (middle of the night). Interestingly, neither change that much. The changes in sunrise and sunset are close to symmetrical. Just find the time midway between sunset and sunrise.
Next, one should figure out how much sleep one needs. Be generous. For this analysis, I assume that I need 8 hours. For this example, once you have those stats, find the solar midnight, and go to bed 4 hours before then and get up 4 hours after then.
Part II will get more specific.
Our energy levels and our sleepiness follow a rhythm based on, among other things, the amount of light we see. Therefore, we’re less awake during the day, and less sleepy during the night, and in order to reconnect ourselves to the rhythms of the day, we need to better understand how that connection occurs.
What is the rhythmic connection between the world and our bodies? Externally, there are quite a few: light, temperature, social interaction, and eating and drinking schedules. These synchronizing agents are called Zietgebers (German for “Time Givers”), of which light has the strongest effect our own bodily rhythms. (Obviously, all the Zietgebers listed above are correlated.) Since light is the strongest Zietgeber, the actual connection between the world and our bodies comes most strongly from our eyes. Our retinas pick up the light, which travels through the optic nerve into suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) region of our hypothalamus.
What functions to our bodies perform based on these signals? The three most pertinent are body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure are the most clear.
So, what would be the most natural sleep pattern? Since humans sleep when it’s dark, the most sensible sleep schedule should maximize the percent of sleep done in the dark.
To calculate this, one must figure out what I call the “solar noon” (middle of the day) and “solar midnight” (middle of the night). Interestingly, neither change that much. The changes in sunrise and sunset are close to symmetrical. Just find the time midway between sunset and sunrise.
Next, one should figure out how much sleep one needs. Be generous. For this analysis, I assume that I need 8 hours. For this example, once you have those stats, find the solar midnight, and go to bed 4 hours before then and get up 4 hours after then.
Part II will get more specific.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Self-satisfaction vs. Humility
Anyone who pursues a goal needs to walk the line between self-satisfaction and humility. Leaning too far in either direction is unhealthy.
At work I see this all the time. I'll be sitting in my office, and someone will come in to say how great the things are, how happy the staff are, etc., etc. So I have to acknowledge the successes, and yet underscore the need to more improvement, and that there is no real "end" in this job, and that we are not done.
Three minutes after they leave, someone else will come in to say how poorly things are going. Morale is down, sales are low, competition is high, or whatever. So then I go into cheerleader mode, and describe all the victories we've had that month.
In a learning environment, ego often makes both the teacher and student less teachable.
EGO
"Ego" just means "I" in Greek and Latin. However, obviously its meaning has evolved over time, just like "mensa" only means table in Latin. (Actually Freud never used the term Ego, but rather the German, Ich.)
Freud obviously changed all that with his theories on psycho-analysis. He basically divided the psyche into three parts: ego, super ego, and id. The ego is part of the conscious that deals with reality. (The id is unconcious and is where primal drives derive; super ego is where moral judgments occur.)
The Ego has a tough job, basically becoming the angel on one shoulder, and the devil on the other. :-) Seriously, though, the ego balances the drives of the id, and the morals "shoulds" of the superego. So, when I see a hot girl walking down the street, my Id is saying one thing, my Superego quite another. My Ego tries to figure out what to do.
So, what happens if the Ego gets really confused? Then Freud says that defensive mechanisms kick in. For example, suppose I believe that I am not manly, and want to be manly. I compensate by buying a big fast car. Or maybe I just sublimate the issue and study hard in school so I can make a lot of money. Heck, I might even use humor to defend against my fears.
There are many defensive mechanisms, but I think the ones that are most relevants to us are denial and projection. Denial is just avoiding the problem, and projection is finding fault with others to make me feel better.
At work I see this all the time. I'll be sitting in my office, and someone will come in to say how great the things are, how happy the staff are, etc., etc. So I have to acknowledge the successes, and yet underscore the need to more improvement, and that there is no real "end" in this job, and that we are not done.
Three minutes after they leave, someone else will come in to say how poorly things are going. Morale is down, sales are low, competition is high, or whatever. So then I go into cheerleader mode, and describe all the victories we've had that month.
In a learning environment, ego often makes both the teacher and student less teachable.
EGO
"Ego" just means "I" in Greek and Latin. However, obviously its meaning has evolved over time, just like "mensa" only means table in Latin. (Actually Freud never used the term Ego, but rather the German, Ich.)
Freud obviously changed all that with his theories on psycho-analysis. He basically divided the psyche into three parts: ego, super ego, and id. The ego is part of the conscious that deals with reality. (The id is unconcious and is where primal drives derive; super ego is where moral judgments occur.)
The Ego has a tough job, basically becoming the angel on one shoulder, and the devil on the other. :-) Seriously, though, the ego balances the drives of the id, and the morals "shoulds" of the superego. So, when I see a hot girl walking down the street, my Id is saying one thing, my Superego quite another. My Ego tries to figure out what to do.
So, what happens if the Ego gets really confused? Then Freud says that defensive mechanisms kick in. For example, suppose I believe that I am not manly, and want to be manly. I compensate by buying a big fast car. Or maybe I just sublimate the issue and study hard in school so I can make a lot of money. Heck, I might even use humor to defend against my fears.
There are many defensive mechanisms, but I think the ones that are most relevants to us are denial and projection. Denial is just avoiding the problem, and projection is finding fault with others to make me feel better.
Fit
The concept of fit is simple yet profound. Essentially, fit is "the congruence of the requirements of a task (location, financial investment, time, etc.) with the available resources at the time."
Often people are constrained by externally controlled schedules, locations, etc., and "fit" allows us to maximize our productivity given those constraints. For example, if one encounters a gap of 15 minutes in their schedule, it is typically more efficient to complete a task that would require 15 minutes, than to complete a task that can be done in 5 minutes, or to start a task that would take 4 weeks. This concept also applies to time of the day: free time at 7am is probably less usefully applied to the goal of learning the drums, and more productively a time to read a book. Lastly, fit can be applied to location: free time at home would be used differently from free time at work, in town, etc.
Your "Do Now" is to take your to-do list, and consider what times of the day, and days of the week, would be most appropriate for their execution. Warning: if done correctly, you'll find you have tons of left-over time.
Often people are constrained by externally controlled schedules, locations, etc., and "fit" allows us to maximize our productivity given those constraints. For example, if one encounters a gap of 15 minutes in their schedule, it is typically more efficient to complete a task that would require 15 minutes, than to complete a task that can be done in 5 minutes, or to start a task that would take 4 weeks. This concept also applies to time of the day: free time at 7am is probably less usefully applied to the goal of learning the drums, and more productively a time to read a book. Lastly, fit can be applied to location: free time at home would be used differently from free time at work, in town, etc.
Your "Do Now" is to take your to-do list, and consider what times of the day, and days of the week, would be most appropriate for their execution. Warning: if done correctly, you'll find you have tons of left-over time.
Activity =/= Accomplishment
Prioritization:
The magic of getting a lot of things done involves working hard and working smart. There are two important parts to this:
1) Make sure you stay busy. If you have a spare hour, review your tasks and see if one can be done in that timeframe. Never give anyone the power to take you from your goals. Even the MTA: one of my best New Year's resolutions was to always keep a book, or a paper and pencil, with me on the train or bus. Some of my most productive time is on a broken (oops I mean "sick passenger") train during rush hour.
2) Organize goals both by time and task. Sure, running a marathon AND scoring a 2300 on the SATs are both great goals, but probably not for one Saturday morning. However, you may find that goals such as "learn Karate" and "learn Japanese" may be somewhat complimentary.
The main part of prioritization is making sure you're hitting upon all aspects of your life that you think are important. Everyone will be different on this, but for me general areas such as health, family, friends, finance, learning, career, etc. remind me to try to set goals in these areas, and work on them relatively evenly.
Another part of prioritization is within each goal. For example, while there's something wholesome and productive about trying to hit the gym 5 days a week, it won't help mask a cocaine addiction. Start with doable goals, and also the most important ones.
One paradoxical opinion I have regarding prioritization is that I don't believe that one should always do the most important things first. In fact, my most productive days involved doing the easiest things first. The risk of course is that one spends so much time doing the less important, easy things that one never gets to the important stuff. However, my experience is that time is NOT the chief limiting factor to a person's success, but rather the emotional baggage they bring.
The magic of getting a lot of things done involves working hard and working smart. There are two important parts to this:
1) Make sure you stay busy. If you have a spare hour, review your tasks and see if one can be done in that timeframe. Never give anyone the power to take you from your goals. Even the MTA: one of my best New Year's resolutions was to always keep a book, or a paper and pencil, with me on the train or bus. Some of my most productive time is on a broken (oops I mean "sick passenger") train during rush hour.
2) Organize goals both by time and task. Sure, running a marathon AND scoring a 2300 on the SATs are both great goals, but probably not for one Saturday morning. However, you may find that goals such as "learn Karate" and "learn Japanese" may be somewhat complimentary.
The main part of prioritization is making sure you're hitting upon all aspects of your life that you think are important. Everyone will be different on this, but for me general areas such as health, family, friends, finance, learning, career, etc. remind me to try to set goals in these areas, and work on them relatively evenly.
Another part of prioritization is within each goal. For example, while there's something wholesome and productive about trying to hit the gym 5 days a week, it won't help mask a cocaine addiction. Start with doable goals, and also the most important ones.
One paradoxical opinion I have regarding prioritization is that I don't believe that one should always do the most important things first. In fact, my most productive days involved doing the easiest things first. The risk of course is that one spends so much time doing the less important, easy things that one never gets to the important stuff. However, my experience is that time is NOT the chief limiting factor to a person's success, but rather the emotional baggage they bring.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Archery, Religion, and Gambatte!
In the sport of Archery, the distance from the bull's eye to where your arrow hit is called the sin. Thereafter, the definition of sin expanded to be used to describe wrongs of a religious type. This article is about missing your targets.
Inevitably, you will miss a task, not hit a milestone, or perhaps even quit the goal. Perhaps even the direction is being questioned. Here's what you can do.
When you come upon a missed goal, or a missed deadline, resist all impulse to turn incident into drama. Unless you set a vocationally-based goal and are an airline pilot or surgeon, keep everything in perspective. Obviously, the first thought should be, "do I get a retry?" The second and more painful question should be, "what went wrong?", not in the spirit of "blamestorming", but rather to review your process. Be honest with your evaluation, if even only to yourself. Then get back up and Gambatte (keep going in Japanese)!
An important question I ask myself is: "Does my lifestyle make the goal easy, if not inevitable, or difficult, or postponable?" Was I my own enemy? If so, how? What other things could I have done to make it easier? It is a tragedy that people ignore their weakness (success has many fathers, and failure is an orphan); I believe weaknesses are where you can learn most about yourself. Don't confuse activity with accomplishment, or change with progress.
TALKERS AND DOERS
"Speak softly and carry a big stick."- Theodore Roosevelt
The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour (Prov. 21:25).
Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Inevitably, you will miss a task, not hit a milestone, or perhaps even quit the goal. Perhaps even the direction is being questioned. Here's what you can do.
When you come upon a missed goal, or a missed deadline, resist all impulse to turn incident into drama. Unless you set a vocationally-based goal and are an airline pilot or surgeon, keep everything in perspective. Obviously, the first thought should be, "do I get a retry?" The second and more painful question should be, "what went wrong?", not in the spirit of "blamestorming", but rather to review your process. Be honest with your evaluation, if even only to yourself. Then get back up and Gambatte (keep going in Japanese)!
An important question I ask myself is: "Does my lifestyle make the goal easy, if not inevitable, or difficult, or postponable?" Was I my own enemy? If so, how? What other things could I have done to make it easier? It is a tragedy that people ignore their weakness (success has many fathers, and failure is an orphan); I believe weaknesses are where you can learn most about yourself. Don't confuse activity with accomplishment, or change with progress.
TALKERS AND DOERS
"Speak softly and carry a big stick."- Theodore Roosevelt
The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour (Prov. 21:25).
Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
To grow, you must destroy
Metamorphosis is, of course, the sudden change of form of a creature. The abrupt change is totally disruptive to the previous form, as it's quite hard to see the butterfly in the caterpillar.
Outside of the biological sphere, other terms describe similarly non-linear change. "Paradigm shifts" describe changes in the way we perceive something. It is the perceptional analog to metamorphosis. Man's Weltanschauung changes constantly through changes in paradigm, but also changes of paradigm.
Industries do the same thing. Joseph Schumpeter, the Austrian and Harvard economist, used the term "creative destruction" to describe how entrepreneurs disrupt and eventually destroy established product markets through the innovation of better products and services.
Personal change requires a similar term. Change can be linear for only so long; at some point, we must change, often totally, our beliefs, tactics, systems, and modes of execution to create such future growth.
A concrete example of how improvement and growth require a metamorphosis is in driving. Barring cost, environmental concerns, and legal considerations, the best way to achieve a speed of say 40 mph is in an Abrams tank. Very few things are going to stop 135,000 pounds going 40 mph. (Of course, the Abrams gets worse than 2 gallons to the mile, so that'll be an issue).
But suppose you wish to improve your speed, to say 70 mph. Alas, the $4 million Abrams is worthless. There's no reasonable way to get one up to that speed. What got you to 40mph can't get you to 70 mph. So, you may need to 'morph' the tank into a Hummer HMMWV (which incidendally get a far better 4 mpg). Again, however, one would need a different vehicle if one wanted to go say 1000 mph. In that case, you might need a F/A 18E Super Hornet.
The important point of this tortured analogy is that, the Abrams can't do 1000 mph, and the Super Hornet can't do 40 mph. What you needed at first, you can't use forever, and what you'll ultimately need later won't work at first.
Getting back to PD, remember that to get linear improvement, sometimes you need to create non-linear transformation. So, if you're at the "sticky 7", your next step might be to throw out what got you there. Spend some time building the systems you'll need to get to 8, which of course you'll tear down to get to the 9.
Outside of the biological sphere, other terms describe similarly non-linear change. "Paradigm shifts" describe changes in the way we perceive something. It is the perceptional analog to metamorphosis. Man's Weltanschauung changes constantly through changes in paradigm, but also changes of paradigm.
Industries do the same thing. Joseph Schumpeter, the Austrian and Harvard economist, used the term "creative destruction" to describe how entrepreneurs disrupt and eventually destroy established product markets through the innovation of better products and services.
Personal change requires a similar term. Change can be linear for only so long; at some point, we must change, often totally, our beliefs, tactics, systems, and modes of execution to create such future growth.
A concrete example of how improvement and growth require a metamorphosis is in driving. Barring cost, environmental concerns, and legal considerations, the best way to achieve a speed of say 40 mph is in an Abrams tank. Very few things are going to stop 135,000 pounds going 40 mph. (Of course, the Abrams gets worse than 2 gallons to the mile, so that'll be an issue).
But suppose you wish to improve your speed, to say 70 mph. Alas, the $4 million Abrams is worthless. There's no reasonable way to get one up to that speed. What got you to 40mph can't get you to 70 mph. So, you may need to 'morph' the tank into a Hummer HMMWV (which incidendally get a far better 4 mpg). Again, however, one would need a different vehicle if one wanted to go say 1000 mph. In that case, you might need a F/A 18E Super Hornet.
The important point of this tortured analogy is that, the Abrams can't do 1000 mph, and the Super Hornet can't do 40 mph. What you needed at first, you can't use forever, and what you'll ultimately need later won't work at first.
Getting back to PD, remember that to get linear improvement, sometimes you need to create non-linear transformation. So, if you're at the "sticky 7", your next step might be to throw out what got you there. Spend some time building the systems you'll need to get to 8, which of course you'll tear down to get to the 9.
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