Matt Heath: Even the lamest can better themselves

I was discussing the meaning of life with my dad while cruising down Lake Drive Wednesday. Amazingly we sorted the whole thing out in a mere 33 minutes.

Meaning in life comes from knowing in the present you have something positive to achieve in the near future and then doing it. If you have nothing to do or fail to do what you planned, you feel worthless and life becomes meaningless.

Well, that's what we decided anyway.

The great Jordan B Peterson described a similar idea more eloquently on the Joe Rogan podcast.

"Life is very tragic and difficult for everyone and there's always something stupid that you or someone else could do to make it worse than it has to be. You have to find something, someone as flawed and insufficient as you can achieve. Which is probably nothing to go out on the streets and celebrate with placards. So I say clean your room. That's something someone as insufficient as you might be able to achieve. Then you are on the path to transcending your former self."

This is what I think he means. If things aren't going great and you want to make them better don't compare yourself with people who are miles ahead of you. Don't try and be Elon Musk by tomorrow afternoon because you'll fail.

Instead, compete with yourself. You are a good reference point. You only have to be slightly better than you were to be getting somewhere. Which gives your life some kind of meaning.

You're not going to be amazing in one step, so pick something you can actually pull off. Achieve a small thing once and you're on a path. Do it every day and over time you'll become a tougher, more resilient person.

Which is handy if things go really bad.

Originally posted on The Herald