Episode 08: 7 Paradoxes That Will Change How You See Everything
About the Episode
Some of the most important truths in life are found in paradoxes. Paradoxes seem like opposites on the surface, but once you look deeper beneath what are seeming contradictions, there are real grains of wisdom that emerge.
In this video I cover some of the most life-changing paradoxes I’ve ever come across, and discuss how they can improve how you approach your life.
Mark Manson Quotes From the Episode
People confuse freedom with optionality. They think freedom is having more choices, but this actually paralyzes us because the more choices you have, the more afraid you’re going to be to commit to one.
There’s a premium to doing the thing most other people don’t want to do.
If there is no friction between two people, then there are no stakes. There’s no sense of, I gave up something for this relationship.
The thing you think is a homerun is almost never a homerun. And the thing that ends up being the home run always shocks you. I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I am still consistently wrong in my predictions of how my work will be received.
Episode Notes
Referenced in This Episode
- Mark’s newsletter
- How We Judge Others Is How We Judge Ourselves
- Mark’s books
- Everything Is F*cked by Mark Manson
- The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
- Mark’s “I Quit Drinking Alcohol” video
- Mark’s podcast touching on hard choices, easy life
- Mark’s podcast with Derek Sivers
- Mark’s podcast with Morgan Housel
- Stockholm syndrome
- Psychological projection (Sigmund Freud)
- The shadow self (Carl Jung)
- Self-fulfilling prophecy
- Memento mori
- Terror management theory
- Tim Ferriss
- Jerzy Gregorek
- Jeff Bezos
- Oliver Burkeman
- Steve Jobs