The Machine

What is up my friend?!

You and I have one thing in common! We are human beings!

Being a human being is pretty neat. We have the ability to use our brains to solve problems. We have the skills of rationality and logic (well, I hope you do. I have low levels of rationality and logic!)

This week’s Corridors of Curiosity Letter explores the concept that comes from the book “Principles” by Ray Dalio.

The principle we are diving into today is taking advantage of our innate human ability to look down from a higher level.

Treating your life situation as a machine will drastically improve how you interact with your routines/habits/actions.

One of the coolest things about this machine analogy is that machines can be tweaked and altered without emotional responses.

Think about it — if my microwave doesn’t do what it’s supposed to, I simply find the problem and repair it. I don’t have to lament over the emotional struggle it is going to take for me to repair it because it is a machine.

What if we took this same thought process into how we view our life situations?

If I want to improve my dating prospects, I would be better served thinking about my problem from a higher level instead of sulking in the swamp of struggle.

Objectively viewing my problems and approaching them from a higher level of operation has improved my ability and resiliency to handle all kinds of problems. As I mentioned earlier, problems are just a part of life. We cannot get rid of problems, we can only improve our process of handling problems.

Here are 3 big takeaways for you to implement right away

1. Be able to distinguish yourself from the machine and the worker. Going into fixing a personal problem can be daunting, especially with emotions. Leverage your unique perspective on yourself and give the worker tips to help the machine perform at a better level. We have to operate strategically in order to complete the job tasks in a timely manner.

2. Stop seeing struggle as something that is negative. I get it — no one wants to struggle, but it’s a part of life. Leverage the struggle in order to gain perspective and experience that can help you later on in your journey. Struggle induces weakness — here are the choices you can make when you are battling weakness deep in the swamps of struggle:

• You can deny the obvious weakness.

• You can accept the weaknesses and work on them in order to try to convert them into strengths.

• You can accept the weaknesses and find ways around them.

• You can change what you are going after.

Again, no need for emotions. What option works best for the machine?

3. Successful people leave a lot of clues. No matter what industry you are trying to excel in, finding successful machines will help you develop a strong sense of what inputs to avoid. I’m not saying you should copy and paste directly — make sure to step back and understand that you are your own machine. Work on the best inputs for YOUR machine, and leave the rest for someone else’s machine.

I wish you luck on your journey towards improving your machine. Take ownership and view the struggles and problems in your life from a higher level and approach them without emotions.

It will take some time — but with consistent correct inputs, your machine will begin to cultivate awareness, discipline, and success.

I wanted to share this awesome poem I came across the other day. I have been thinking about how blessed I am to have an amazing mom.

Mother to Son — Langston Hughes

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Thanks for reading — I appreciate the support and continued love.

Embrace the Chase

See you next Sunday,

Paril