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November 9, 2024 • 1hr 24min
#862 - Visakan Veerasamy - An Ode To People Who Take Things Seriously
Modern Wisdom
Visakan Veerasamy is a writer and entrepreneur who explores the nature of seriousness, earnestness, and what it means to pursue meaningful work. This conversation delves into how to maintain motivation while being serious in an often unserious world, dealing with procrastination, managing expectations, and finding balance between drive and sustainability.
#862 - Visakan Veerasamy - An Ode To People Who Take Things Seriously
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Key Takeaways
- Seriousness is love and curiosity expressed earnestly over a long period of time - it's not about being rigid or solemn, but rather having dynamic persistence
- Being serious often makes you unpopular initially because it challenges social norms and makes others uncomfortable with their lack of seriousness
- True seriousness requires time to demonstrate - anyone can claim to be serious, but only consistency over years proves it
- Procrastination is often a protective mechanism signaling misalignment between stated goals and true desires
- Success brings new challenges including fear of loss, increased responsibility, and pressure to maintain performance
- Self-compassion and scheduled leisure are crucial for sustaining long-term serious pursuit of goals
Introduction
Visakan Veerasamy is a writer and entrepreneur who explores the nature of seriousness, earnestness, and what it means to pursue meaningful work. This conversation delves into how to maintain motivation while being serious in an often unserious world, dealing with procrastination, managing expectations, and finding balance between drive and sustainability.
Topics Discussed
The Nature of Seriousness (04:02)
Visa explains that seriousness stems from recognizing life's finite nature and wanting to make the most of it. However, he emphasizes this doesn't mean becoming rigid or joyless:
- True seriousness involves playfulness and dynamic persistence
- Best experiences often come when surrounded by other serious people
- People naturally gravitate toward others with similar levels of seriousness
Social Challenges of Being Serious (10:06)
Being serious often faces social resistance, especially early on:
- Society tends to favor appearing "chill" over being openly serious
- Early seriousness often faces skepticism - "who do you think you are?"
- Support from even one person can make a crucial difference in maintaining seriousness
- "The great man, in order to exist, has to overcome the resistance of millions of people from his family, his friends, his school, his society"
Authenticity vs Reaction (43:33)
Discussion of earnestness and authentic expression versus reactive contrarianism:
- Following your genuine interests leads to more original positions than deliberate contrarianism
- Reactive positions always lag behind what they're reacting to
- "A black sheep is still a sheep" - even opposition can be a form of following
Managing Success and Growth (1:02:08)
Success brings its own challenges and responsibilities:
- Having means creates pressure to actualize possibilities
- Survivor's guilt can affect creators who succeed
- "When you haven't succeeded yet, it's fun to fantasize... but once you have some means, you have responsibility to make things happen"
Procrastination and Productivity (1:11:33)
Visa offers a fresh perspective on procrastination:
- Focus on desired outcomes rather than avoiding procrastination
- Procrastination often signals misalignment between stated goals and true desires
- People are often poor managers of themselves, giving vague directions and unrealistic timelines
- Progress should feel good - if it doesn't, examine inherited beliefs about work
Self-Compassion and Rest (1:21:13)
The importance of balanced approach to work and rest:
- Schedule pleasure and rest first to avoid desperate binges
- Good performance requires proper recovery
- Historical wisdom (like Sabbath) recognized need for regular rest
- "To do your best work you have to be emotionally well, morale has to be good"
Type A vs Type B Personalities (1:18:39)
Discussion of different personality types and their challenges:
- Type A people need to learn to relax
- Type B people need to learn discipline
- People tend to overextend their natural modes
- Balance requires understanding and compensating for natural tendencies
Conclusion
The conversation emphasizes that true seriousness is sustainable and life-affirming rather than rigid or joyless. Success in serious pursuits requires balancing drive with self-compassion, understanding procrastination as feedback rather than failure, and recognizing that different phases of achievement bring different challenges. The key is maintaining authentic connection to one's interests while developing healthy patterns of work and rest.
For those wanting to pursue serious work, the path involves:
- Finding genuine interest and maintaining it over time
- Building support systems of like-minded individuals
- Developing healthy work patterns that include scheduled rest
- Maintaining playfulness and dynamic persistence
- Learning to manage both success and setbacks with grace