Kon'nichiwa! Welcome to this week's digest. This is a very special "Happy" edition, as the week was filled with two happiness-generating trips to the Comedy Cellar (including an incredible Dave Attell drop-in that made our faces hurt), and we share content related to a few conventional sources of happiness.

This week's topics include ruthless ambition, smartphone compulsion, and delightful EDM. Enjoy!

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TDD TL;DR

BOOK - What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg (My full Kindle notes) - There is a tremendous intangible cost of exercising ruthless ambition in the service of one's goals.
RESEARCH - ScienceDaily: Patterns of compulsive smartphone use suggest how to kick the habit - Our smartphone compulsions are primarily triggered by escapism and anticipation, and can be mitigated by having better alternatives in real life, and finding comfort with discomfort and silence.
MUSIC - Worlds by Porter Robinson - Porter's music can feel like an infusion of happiness.
OTHER INTRIGUING CONTENT - Cannabis & Exercise (Research); Happiness & Connection to your Future Self (Research); Gossip (Research); Health Support Groups on Facebook (Article); Ethics & Confirmation Bias in Scientific Worldview (Article); Against Cheerfulness (Article); Inflammation's Effects on Health (Article); PPP-Adjusted Salary Quotes (Blog Post)

"We only hate the results of people. But people, Henry, aren’t just results. They’re a process. And to really give them a break we have to judge the process through which they became the result we see when we say So-and-so is a heel." ~ Budd Schulberg

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SHAMELESS PLUGS

Sensible Living: Reflecting on the Fine Essentials of a Beautiful Life
TSD Ventures Consulting: We give Proactive Health companies strategic and financial clarity.

BEST OF WHAT I CONSUMED THIS WEEK

BOOK - What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg (My full Kindle notes) - Budd's classic novel is an intriguing and fun exploration of motivation, ambition, and greed. This book serves as an important reminder that we are all born innocent and malleable, and then shaped by our environments and contexts, contorted into end results that are easily stamped as 'good', 'evil', and everything in between. Essentially, this book is an exercise in unbiased empathy, even for the egotistical. Per the famous line from the Roman playwright Terence, "I am human, and I think nothing human is alien to me." Someday in the future, we may look at people like Sammy as simply having a mental health issue, similar to other abnormal mindsets. This story also reminded me of Naval Ravikant's re-frame of jealousy, where we must embrace the full cost of having something: "I realized that all these people that I was jealous of, I couldn’t just cherry-pick and choose little aspects of their life. I couldn’t say I want his body, I want her money, I want his personality. You have to be that person. Do you want to actually be that person with all of their reactions, their desires, their family, their happiness level, their outlook on life, their self-image? If you’re not willing to do a wholesale, 24/7, 100% swap with who that person is, then there is no point in being jealous." Sammy is willing to do anything to serve his ambitions, sacrificing any sense of morality or values along the way. This helps his career, but he pays dearly in other, intangible ways. In a time when many prominent figures are sacrificing morals and values for the sake of ambition and money, this story sheds light on the true cost of those decisions. As Naval also says, "If being ethical were profitable, everybody would do it."

One-Sentence Takeaway: There is a tremendous intangible cost of exercising ruthless ambition in the service of one's goals.

Answering The Drucker Question: Remember a time when you put aside your principles for the sake of achieving something important to you. What did you think was going to happen? How did you feel afterwards? How do you feel about it now? Are there specific principles you hold dearly today which you consider inviolable, even if it means not realizing your wildest dreams?

Complement with Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care and The Dark Side of the Light Chasers.

My highlights:

I suppose the reason Sammy was getting my goat was because he was the smartest and stupidest human being I had ever met. He had a quick intelligence, which he was able to use exclusively for the good-and-welfare of Sammy Glick.
...he was as uninhibited as a performing seal. He never questioned his right to monopolize conversation or his ability to do it entertainingly. And then there was his colossal lack of perspective. This was one of his most valuable gifts, for perspective doesn’t always pay. It can slow you down... It can make you very unhappy.
Work hard, and, if you can’t work hard, be smart; and, if you can’t be smart, be loud.
...the only love Sammy Glick was capable of was a violent passion for his own future.
You know the cripple who peddles papers outside the Derby? We’re sorry for him because a germ he didn’t have anything to do with got inside him and twisted him out of shape. Maybe we ought to feel the same way about guys with twisted egos.
We only hate the results of people. But people, Henry, aren’t just results. They’re a process. And to really give them a break we have to judge the process through which they became the result we see when we say So-and-so is a heel.
I thought how, unconsciously, I had been waiting for justice suddenly to rise up and smite him in all its vengeance, secretly hoping to be around when Sammy got what was coming to him; only I had expected something conclusive and fatal and now I realized that what was coming to him was not a sudden pay-off but a process, a disease he had caught in the epidemic that swept over his birthplace like plague; a cancer that was slowly eating him away, the symptoms developing and intensifying: success, loneliness, fear.

RESEARCH - ScienceDaily: Patterns of compulsive smartphone use suggest how to kick the habit - Intriguing, but not surprising, research out of the University of Washington on compulsive smartphone use. The typical phone compulsion triggers, escapism and anticipation, resonated with my experience (and Buddhists totally called it ;D). The researchers also highlighted a primary issue with mitigating smartphone use (per Homer Simpson) - it can be perceived as both the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. We all have a story for why we need to be on our phones some of the time. Like struggles with food and a healthy diet, we have to have some, but we don't want too much; and finding that middle ground can be really hard. Luckily, the solutions are not too bananas: 1) Have something better to do; and 2) Learn to feel comfortable in uncomfortable and silent moments, so there is no need for a smartphone defense mechanism.

One-Sentence Takeaway: Our smartphone compulsions are primarily triggered by escapism and anticipation, and can be mitigated by having better alternatives in real life, and finding comfort with discomfort and silence.

Answering The Drucker Question: Track your screen time, to see if you are spending an appropriate amount of time staring at your screen! iOS users get Screen Time included, and Android users can use apps like Moment or a launcher like Siempo.

Complement with How to Turn Off and Drop Out of The Attention Economy.

My highlights:

In general, interviewees had four common triggers for starting to compulsively use their phones: 1) During unoccupied moments, like waiting for a friend to show up; 2) Before or during tedious and repetitive tasks; 3) When in socially awkward situations; 4) When they anticipated getting a message or notification.
The group also had common triggers that ended their compulsive phone use: 1) Competing demands from the real world, like meeting up with a friend or needing to drive somewhere; 2) Realizing they had been on their phone for a half an hour; 3) Coming across content they'd already seen. The team was surprised to find that the triggers were the same across age groups.
"...participants mentioned how although they feel bad about their behavior, they didn't really feel bad enough to utilize their sketched solutions. There was some ambivalence."

MOST FAVORITE FROM THE PAST

MUSIC - Worlds by Porter Robinson - I first discovered Porter Robinson when he was playing at a music festival in Melbourne, way back in 2012, on a small side stage. From minute one, I was hooked. The last seven years have been nothing short of a love affair with his music. Porter crafts a musical experience that is far beyond your typical EDM DJ - in addition to a more melodic musical style, he gives incredible energy in his live performances. And with his album Worlds, Porter complemented his music and energy with astounding visuals. I have been fortunate to see Porter perform Worlds a few times, and these shows are analogous to a raw infusion of pure happiness.

One-Sentence Takeaway: Porter's music can feel like an infusion of happiness.

Answering The Drucker Question: Take an hour to relax and listen through the album. Perhaps journal before and after about how you are feeling and your state of mind, to see if the music had an impact.

Complement with Shelter.

My favorite songs from the album:

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