GRANTED: Connecting with your future self and learning from the past

November 2022

The learning process isn't finished when you acquire knowledge. It's complete when you consistently apply that knowledge.
 
Many people accumulate information. Far fewer use it to evolve and improve. The ultimate test of growth is closing the gap between awareness and action.
 
Some ideas on how to close the gap:

1. You Don’t Actually Know What Your Future Self Wants (Shankar Vedantam, TED)
A key to making wiser choices is to reject the illusion of continuity—the false conviction that your future self will share your current goals.
 
2. The “Concept Creep” of Emotional Labor (Julie Beck and Arlie Hochschild, Atlantic)
Emotional labor is not invisible work or unpaid chores. It's when a job requires you to show or hide emotions—flight crews staying calm, teachers displaying passion, nurses showing compassion. It's as vital as physical and cognitive labor.
 
3. What Hunter-Gatherers Can Teach Us about the Frustrations of Modern Work (Cal Newport, New Yorker)
Humans used to work on one task at a time, with clear feedback and immediate returns. It might be time to try that again.
 
From my desk
 
4. Re:Thinking (TED)
Some of my latest conversations:

• The 4-day work week: luxury or necessity? Apple | Spotify | Transcript

• The problem with setting goals, with NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho: Apple | Spotify | Transcript

• If teachers took over the government with Sharon McMahon: Apple | Spotify | Transcript

In solidarity,

Adam Grant, Ph.D.
Organizational psychologist at Wharton, author of THINK AGAIN, and host of the TED podcasts Re:Thinking and WorkLife