Letter #12: What we’re reading and thinking about at Nuclei
- Play the gratitude game and get rid of anxiety.
Working in a startup is mentally and physically tough. Long hours. Continuously juggling between urgent and important tasks. Context switching. Taking multiple decisions everyday, mostly with limited information. Not being able to get through your to-do list. Almost always feeling that things are not in your control. being fatigued — both mentally & physically. All this makes you anxious.
Honestly, in such situations, anxiety is inevitable. And if it’s inevitable, the question to ask is not how to avoid anxiety, but how to deal with it?
The answer lies in a simple psychological trick you play on your mind.
Replace anxiety with gratitude.
Our brain has only so much energy. It’s very difficult for it to focus on both positive and negative stimuli simultaneously. i.e. one can’t be grateful and anxious at the same time. So whenever you feel anxious, think about 3 things you are grateful for in that moment, and see your anxiety disappear. Simple, no? :)
Strength / Success come with tradeoffs. Especially the extreme versions of it.
Once this realization hits, suddenly the real question changes from “Define the success you want to achieve” to “Define the pain you want to bear”.
Answering this question gives you insight into what you really care about.
- Media is nothing but a tool to manipulate people’s opinion.
The newfound materials reveal that in 1942, as Hitler’s war machine was nearing the height of its European occupation, Disney ordered his studio to produce animated propaganda praising a global empire ruled by Germany, Italy, and Japan. Hidden away in a vault for nearly 75 years — and starring classic characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck — the never-before-seen shorts and feature-length works depict Americans as lazy, corrupt, and inferior to the morally upstanding German patriots who will soon conquer them.
- Your personality & upbringing has a lot to do with your choice of music
What is also interesting about these findings is the extent of overlap between those who like musical styles that are, on the surface, very different. Country and classical music fans overlap considerably in everything but their income, in reflection of a shared conservative worldview; and opera and heavy metal fans also united on more than just their love of dramatic music, as they share similarly creative and gentle personalities.
- Take the world’s shortest IQ test. All of three questions.
