Scott Berkun
@berkun.bsky.social
Author and speaker. Books include: How Design Makes The World, The Myths of Innovation, Making Things Happen & The Year Without Pants. Seattle, WA scottberkun.com/about/
1. I asked over 100 people for their life philosophy as research for my book How To Live. The primary way people arrived at their own philosophy rules was from suffering or things they did not control.
“The mind wants to live forever, or to learn a very good reason why not. The mind wants the world to return its love, or its awareness... The mind's sidekick, however, will settle for two eggs over easy. The dear, stupid body is easily satisfied as a spaniel. ” ― Annie Dillard
The best work that anybody ever writes is the work that is on the verge of embarrassing him, always. —Arthur Miller
"On the days you're tired of the world, remember that there is never a shortage of captivating, unbelievable things. Bees dance to give directions. Butterflies taste with their feet. At daybreak it's actually the bird song that awakens the trees." - L.E. Bowman
oin me tomorrow at 12pm PST - I will teach you How To Live! And teach philosophy from the new book. open.substack.com/live-stream/...
LIVE SOON: How To Live: Learn Rules weekly lesson
Starting Sep 2 at 3:00 PM EDT
open.substack.com
My mission was to rethink self-help books & make one that actually works. In How To Live these were the goals: - Be honest - Be fun - Be short - Use learning theory - Tell great stories - Don't assume because *I* did it, it's easy for others - Share the best of a lifetime of studying philosophy
“Sooner or later, life makes philosophers of us all.” - Maurice Riseling
The two questions to ask about your life philosophy: 1. What rules do you follow in life? 2. When do you break them? We have a pretend philosophy and a real one. The pretend makes us feel good (e.g. the golden rule). The real we don't see well because we're not as self-aware as we think.
The fastest life philosophy audit: just two questions. 1. What rules do you claim to live by? Work hard. Tell the truth. Do unto others. Everyone has their list. 2. When do you break them?
The 6th commandment is Thou Shall Not Kill. It's a classic example of exceptions defining the rule. Just moments after Moses showed the commandments, he decided to start killing people. The history of rules and our ability to follow them is fascinating and surprising.
Everyone believes they have a philosophy for life. The problem is self-awareness - we don't see the gaps. Our true behavior is our rules, minus the exceptions. And we don't realize all of the exceptions and excuses we make.
The two questions to ask about your life philosophy: 1. What rules do you follow in life? 2. When do you break them? We have a pretend philosophy and a real one. The pretend makes us feel good (e.g. the golden rule). The real we don't see well because we're not as self-aware as we think.
When you read a book only a fraction of what you get from the experience is the information in the book. The vast majority of what comes from reading is a new experience of yourself that comes to exist in relation to the book’s unique patterns.
Coming this fall - my next book. How To Live: Rules for People Who Don't Like Rules. It's a self-help book for people who do not like self-help books. This is book #10 - it shares the best wisdom I've learned from my life experience in a short, fun and memorable way. Stay tuned for details to come.
“Almost nothing important that ever happens to you happens because you engineer it. Destiny has no beeper; destiny always leans out of an alley with some sort of 'psst' that you usually can't hear because you're in a rush to something important you've tried to engineer.” ―David Foster Wallace
Join me tomorrow for a fun chat about what's coming next. I'll share some big news and then it's Q&A/AMA. Hope to see you.
Scott Berkun@berkun.bsky.social · 3mo agoI have big news coming: new book, new website and new brand. You're invited for a sneak peak and chat about what I'm up to next. Tuesday July 14th, at 1pm PST. Will be fun and interactive, but you can just lurk and watch if you like. 20 mins + Q&A/AMA. us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
I have big news coming: new book, new website and new brand. You're invited for a sneak peak and chat about what I'm up to next. Tuesday July 14th, at 1pm PST. Will be fun and interactive, but you can just lurk and watch if you like. 20 mins + Q&A/AMA. us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
I wish American holidays all had a ritual of learning something rather than just eating certain foods. For example, for July 4th we all should read the Constitution. It's short enough to read with a beer while waiting for food to cook on the grill.
Beyond AI there are always these questions: - Is this a good decision? - Do we have wise goals? - Should we prioritize long term or short? - Are the right people involved? - Is good work happening? - Are customers and staff happy? - Is this good for the world?
Last chance to vote on the cover design for my next book rulestolive.substack.com/p/vote-on-co...
Vote on cover design concepts for How To Live
Help me decide the face of this book!
rulestolive.substack.com
I hate how in sports if someone makes a mistake at the end of game everyone blames them for the loss and completely forgets all of other, often larger, mistakes that were made by other players much earlier. These are team sports.
It is a mistake to think that moving fast is the same as actually going somewhere. - Ursula K. Le Guin
“If you think technology will solve your problems, you don’t understand technology and you don’t understand your problems.” - Bruce Schneier
One of my hotter academic takes is that every college degree should include a class in the first month where the new students have to engage with the most boring parts of the ideal job associated with the degree *before* spending many thousands of dollars
Celebration time: It's the 20th anniversary of my author career. And book #10 is on the way. Thanks for following me making all this all possible. I had a party here in Seattle. I even wore a tie! If you're a local fan LMK and I'll put you on the list for the next book party.
