This is essentially a question about motivation. To do any type of action we need to be motivated enough to do so. Motivation comes in two forms, pain and pleasure. As a human, you want to avoid pain and seek out pleasure. That’s why you get out of bed in the morning. Maybe because of seeking that sweet and tasty pleasure of your morning coffee. Maybe of the excitement of making progress on your pet project. Or to avoid your boss yelling at you for being late to the meeting. Pain and pleasure are the needles of our compass.
But is that it?
Why yes, however, there is more to pain and pleasure than the whip and the carrot. Fundamentally, we’re striving towards happiness. A somewhat elusive term and concept, but feelings always are. Naval Ravikant has a wonderfully simple formula for happiness, which I personally like as a basic definition:
Happiness = Wealth + Health + Good Relationships
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