4-Point Weekend #128

On sleep and affect

Hi everyone,

Please enjoy this week’s 4 points!

• 1) Life is affective

We very rarely view something around us as neutral. Instead we tend to attribute all kinds of meaning to our interactions, as psychologist Robert Zajonc explains:

There are probably very few perceptions and cognitions in everyday life that do not have a significant affective component, that aren’t hot, or in the very least tepid. And perhaps all perceptions contain some affect.

We do not see ‘a house’: we see ‘a handsome house’, ‘an ugly house’, or a ‘pretentious house’. We do not just read an article on attitude change, on cognitive dissonance, or on herbicides. We read an ‘exciting’ article on attitude change an ‘important’ article on cognitive dissonance, or a ’trivial’ article on herbicides.

• 2) Leadership

Legendary coach John Wooden on leadership:

The joy and satisfaction I derived from leadership - working with and teaching others, helping them reach their potential in contributing to the team's common goals - ultimately surpassed outscoring an opponent, the standings, even championships.

• 3) On Sleep

Checking in on the quality of your sleep, via sleep scientist Matthew Walker:

After waking up in the morning, could you fall back asleep at ten or eleven AM? If yes, you are likely not getting sufficient sleep quantity and/or quality.

Second, can you function optimally without caffeine before noon? If no, then you are most likely self-medicating your state of chronic sleep deprivation.

• 4) Quote of the Week

“There are always plenty of rivals to our work. We are always falling in love or quarrelling, looking for jobs or fearing to lose them, getting ill and recovering, following public affairs. If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavourable. Favourable conditions never come.”

-C.S Lewis

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Thank you for your time and attention this week.

Much love,

Kyle