This is a really interesting post! I’ve been thinking about exactly this issue lately, mainly in the context of trying to figure out what I’m doing right. A lot of people my age live either in a state of perpetual Level 1 (working as a lifeguard and swim instructor at the same pool for 4 years and earning $11.00 an hour) or Level 2 (constantly embarking on and then abandoning projects because “it’s not really what they want to do”). For whatever reason, I don’t have this problem.
My hypothesis is that Level 2 comes naturally to me, something to do with the fact that my internal monologue never turns off and I like to think about stuff...but at the same time, probably thanks to 5 solid years of competitive swimming with up to 7 practices a week, I know that doing something once isn’t enough to improve at it, or even maintain a constant performance...you have to do it indefinitely. So I put some thought into big life decisions, but I still get up the next morning and go to class/work/gym, because that’s just maintenance, the things I need to do to stay at the level I’m at now (financially, in terms of grades, in terms of fitness, etc).
To me this is really obvious. I maybe lean a little far towards focusing on Level 1 at the expense of Level 2, but this is partly strategic as well...I like being perceived as a borderline workaholic who can handle stress and get stuff done, because that comes with its own perks.
This is a really interesting post! I’ve been thinking about exactly this issue lately, mainly in the context of trying to figure out what I’m doing right. A lot of people my age live either in a state of perpetual Level 1 (working as a lifeguard and swim instructor at the same pool for 4 years and earning $11.00 an hour) or Level 2 (constantly embarking on and then abandoning projects because “it’s not really what they want to do”). For whatever reason, I don’t have this problem.
My hypothesis is that Level 2 comes naturally to me, something to do with the fact that my internal monologue never turns off and I like to think about stuff...but at the same time, probably thanks to 5 solid years of competitive swimming with up to 7 practices a week, I know that doing something once isn’t enough to improve at it, or even maintain a constant performance...you have to do it indefinitely. So I put some thought into big life decisions, but I still get up the next morning and go to class/work/gym, because that’s just maintenance, the things I need to do to stay at the level I’m at now (financially, in terms of grades, in terms of fitness, etc).
To me this is really obvious. I maybe lean a little far towards focusing on Level 1 at the expense of Level 2, but this is partly strategic as well...I like being perceived as a borderline workaholic who can handle stress and get stuff done, because that comes with its own perks.
Thinking of Level 1 actions as maintenance is an excellent analogy.
This talk of swimming suggests another analogy for spending too much time on high level actions:
Overoptimizing is like trying to infer the properties of an optimal raft while you are drowning.
http://robotandghost.com/wp-content/gallery/scp-2010/mindmapping.jpg
Like many good ideas, somebody had it before and it was taken as a joke.