· 3 min read
ROI of Fun
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{% include note.html content = ‘I am not a psychologist. So the upcoming piece is quite unscientific.’ %}
Action: Hobbies
Hobbies are weird in the sense that after an initial interest in doing it we start expecting too much from it.
Each next creation becomes a race to be better than the previous one.
Every-time you show something you cooked or something you made… the first reaction from people is… why don’t you open a business??
No! This is something I do for fun…
There is no real ROI! I don’t want to be famous or make money with this.
Life requires activities that have no other purpose than the joy that activities itself provides.1
If suddenly there is an expected ROI attached it has a probability of not being fun anymore. Though the result of having an expected ROI to a hobby is that the quality and quantity of output increase a lot.
Hobbies are an active process: The more effort that has been put in the higher is the reward. 1
Consumption: Books, Media, and Games
One of the things that many consider being a waste of time is consumption. Often quotes float around which says something on the lines of Make your own life so exciting that you don’t need to consume anything else.
On one level this may be true but it is a little too extreme.
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Is watching Silicon Valley a waste of time? Maybe.
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Did I get a boost of coding confidence ever since starting Silicon Valley? Hell yeah! ROI was higher.
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Was watching One Piece a waste of time? No. I actually enjoyed it.
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Did I get my positivity pumped? Definitely.
Most consumption only impacts the mindset of the consumer and does not result in direct action. The tricky thing is that we don’t know what will get us inspired or changed perspective for the better. If we did knew it already, it would be pretty boring.
Consumption is a passive process: You don’t have to actively work at it.
People
I actually don’t know how to write this without giving my personal anecdotes. So if you are a programmer explore this section in the DOM 😬.
The people around me have always been supportive, caring and made me less bored.
We are not dealing with creatures of logic. These are people just like me with emotions, ups/downs, discomforts, strengths, and weaknesses.
We are social animals made to support each other during the bad and the good. I was and am always available for my friends/family when a problem arose in their life and they need me. But I was never there to share happy moments with them too.
Dealing with people is both active and passive:
Active: To be there to be for them when a problem arose and they need.
Passive: To be there to share their happiness.
And since you are someone who took the effort to read this in DOM, I am really grateful. If we have, in some way lost touch just ping :)
There is more to life than increasing its speed. 2