Terrific interview! I loved the unraveling of the myth that genuine ambition necessarily comes with intense personal suffering. I also appreciated Gena's idea that we don't have to fret about fixing all our shortcomings, perceived or real. My favorite takeaway (among many) is about honoring "the genuine ambitiousness needed to build your own flourishing, fully lived life." Thank you for this rich, thought-provoking conversation!
We don’t need to suffer to thrive, but we probably need to try and do “less.” We are only human, we can only influence of direct impact so much. Our ability to confront entropy is and will always be limited. Thus, when it comes to betterment, limiting oneself is often the key
Dr. Gorlin's aim of raising ambition struck me as having some interesting resonances with the work of Jacques Lacan, who claims that "the only thing of which we can be found guilty is giving way on our desire." Basically, we're deeply confused about our own desires, often taking up others' desires as our own, and thus are constantly (unconsciously) guilty of compromising on our most foundational enjoyment. The end game of therapy is to find that central drive which animates our lives, and to lean into that *more.*
The point of life is not to chisel away at our character; the point of life is to live, and to reap all the joy and value and meaning we can from living. And it turns out we can often reap more joy and value and meaning from life by leveraging our strengths and virtues than by chiseling away at our deficits.
This is a thoughtful, intelligent, and sane conversation on effort, achievement, agency, and thriving in work. This statement sums it up so beautifully to me, ". . .the way we learn to do great work and build great things is, fundamentally, by doing and building, not by fighting or fleeing." Thank you for introducing Gena and her insights Paul, the questions you teed up to take this conversation someplace meaningful were perfect.
Terrific interview! I loved the unraveling of the myth that genuine ambition necessarily comes with intense personal suffering. I also appreciated Gena's idea that we don't have to fret about fixing all our shortcomings, perceived or real. My favorite takeaway (among many) is about honoring "the genuine ambitiousness needed to build your own flourishing, fully lived life." Thank you for this rich, thought-provoking conversation!
We don’t need to suffer to thrive, but we probably need to try and do “less.” We are only human, we can only influence of direct impact so much. Our ability to confront entropy is and will always be limited. Thus, when it comes to betterment, limiting oneself is often the key
Dr. Gorlin's aim of raising ambition struck me as having some interesting resonances with the work of Jacques Lacan, who claims that "the only thing of which we can be found guilty is giving way on our desire." Basically, we're deeply confused about our own desires, often taking up others' desires as our own, and thus are constantly (unconsciously) guilty of compromising on our most foundational enjoyment. The end game of therapy is to find that central drive which animates our lives, and to lean into that *more.*
Love it. "Suffer p*rn never resonated with me" might've been the thing that resonated within me to about your work in the first place!
Have seen Gena around on Twitter too but never knew much about her work-- rabbit hole inbound
The point of life is not to chisel away at our character; the point of life is to live, and to reap all the joy and value and meaning we can from living. And it turns out we can often reap more joy and value and meaning from life by leveraging our strengths and virtues than by chiseling away at our deficits.
This is great
What’s the saying… “don’t try to out-happy, happy.”
This is a thoughtful, intelligent, and sane conversation on effort, achievement, agency, and thriving in work. This statement sums it up so beautifully to me, ". . .the way we learn to do great work and build great things is, fundamentally, by doing and building, not by fighting or fleeing." Thank you for introducing Gena and her insights Paul, the questions you teed up to take this conversation someplace meaningful were perfect.