Things I learnt in my 20s (WIP)
Gamification
Working in Gaming made me realize how powerful gamification is. It appeals to psychology and neuroscience in ways we can’t fathom. It’s concepts can be applied to life, goals, learning, and more. The use cases are unlimited. Gamification goes beyond leaderboards and points and into meaning, accomplishment, ownership, scarcity, problem-solving, influence etc.
Making games forces you to look beyond cognitive understanding and into human motivation. Games appeal to some of the deepest of our evolved needs.
“ Unlike movies or books, games are not passive: they require active participation and in that sense, they’re problems to be solved. Games are problems people pay to solve with time or money”
Society rewards followers and why we are happy doing so.
Behavioral theories have long maintained that humans reduce cognitive costs and actions are chosen to minimize demands for exertion. Thinking takes effort, and our brain tends to use shortcuts or "heuristics" to conserve energy, often leading to less rigorous thinking.
To question the norms and rethink systems requires immense effort. Adhering to these norms requires less mental energy than questioning them. Hence by conforming, we simply avoid the mental strain of overanalyzing our environment or challenging established systems.
Besides this, society. rewards this behaviour with social acceptance/validation.
Contentment = (Mental relief + Social validation) x Conformity
These two factors are multiplied by conformity (C), meaning that the more individuals conform, the more they experience mental relief and social validation, thereby increasing their contentment.
Rethinking systems and change takes generations because it demands critical thinking, creativity, and the courage to face potential social rejection. It's a much more exhausting path because it involves stepping outside the comfort zone of societal approval and into the unknown, where our decisions carry weight and uncertainty. Despite the upside of growth our brain favors ease over effort.
Founders are people like us.
Working with founders for the last 6 years has allowed me to see what sets them apart, how they work, and what makes them founders.
Confidence and determination. You can't be the sort of person who gets demoralized easily.
Drive, Clarity, and irrational optimism. They seem to handle stress well. Pre-PMF chaos is a true test of the human ability to manage stress. High energy and high agency.
They are rule breakers and delight in it. The hope is to stay on the right side of crazy.
People at the top can often be the kindest, most empathetic leaders.
(Leaders and high achievers can often struggle with empathy. It is truly a rare combination of qualities)
A CEO I worked closely with made such an impression on me early career that it shifted the entire trajectory of my goals and life. He’s successfully exited his startup now, it is well deserved.
He handled stress with such resilience and grace that it shifted my perspective on challenges. There are leaders who allow stress to trickle down, and their entire team suffers as a result, and there are those who hold a 5-inch wall between them so people can keep doing their best work. Him being the latter.
Constructing who we are for the rest of our lives.
We start our youth with full momentum and change becomes thicker and more difficult as we age. So isn’t it worth it to start building the behavior we want for the longer run?
I agree it’s not easy to envision the longer term (brains aren’t wired for that) but it is important to be cognizant that we are continually constructing who we are for the rest of our lives. Human behavior is mostly a matter of habit. We pretend as if we make big decisions all the time but truly we’re just acting from our everyday habits most of the time.
Cutting corners early in your career?
Low on Integrity?
Don’t condemn your future self to something you don’t value and don’t like doing. Later might be further away than you can imagine.
