
The Advantage of Abundant Thinking - sftueni
http://firstround.com/review/the-remarkable-advantage-of-abundant-thinking/
======
manibatra
The main thing that has really impacted my productivity and happiness is
following a set routine for an hour whenever I get up. So I do the following :

    
    
      1. Brush
      2. Meditate - 15 minutes
      3. Write - I usually write "3 things that I am grateful for" and "3 things to focus on that particular day"
      4. Exercise - 15 minute run
    

I do this whenever I get up. So it's not like I get up at 6 in the morning
everyday. I just get up 6 hours after sleeping. The advice was given one one
of Tim Ferris' podcast and has done wonders for me. I would highly recommend
trying it out.

Start small. If 15 minutes of anything is too much start with 5 minutes.
That's what I did.

~~~
dsugarman
6 hours is not enough sleep

~~~
pavel_lishin
It is for some people, and it isn't for others, which is why this kind of
generic advice is amazing if it fits you exactly, and awful if it doesn't.

I can function on six hours, but not well. I also can't easily take 15 minutes
to meditate in the morning, because I have a two month old baby I have to help
care for in the mornings. This somewhat limits my ability to meditate and
exercise.

~~~
akovaski
I don't really understand how your baby makes it difficult to take 15 minutes
to meditate, because I would imagine you were sleeping in increments longer
than 15 minutes. So why is this? Is the baby waking up when you wake up?

~~~
pavel_lishin
> _Is the baby waking up when you wake up?_

It's more accurate to say that I wake up when the baby wakes up - I hear her
start to stir because she's hungry/awake, and that rouses me.

But yeah, she also tends to wake up when one of us does in the morning, unless
we're very quiet, since she's just about slept out at those times.

I tend to also let my wife sleep in and take care of the kid in the morning,
since she takes care of her all day, and half of the night. It seems unfair to
dump the kid on her in the morning, too, while I exercise and meditate.

> _I would imagine you were sleeping in increments longer than 15 minutes_

Some bad nights, you'd be surprised.

~~~
marcusgarvey
This is off topic, but while we are on the subject: does anyone regret having
children because of issues like lack of sleep, etc? Did that feeling change
after the baby stage?

------
Animats
This looks like an attempt to monetize an evangelical Christian concept.[1]

From the article: _The ideal attitude is what she calls Abundant Thinking — a
mindset that gives you the creative agency and grit to reach your vision —
and, on a daily basis, to design your own life. When Verresen first meets most
of her clients, they’re in reactive mode. It’s like they’re in a movie, acting
in their job and life without knowing the script or having perspective. Her
goal is to put them in the director’s chair, with more choices, perspectives
and possibilities to rewrite and upgrade the script as they go._

From an evangelical site: _One way of viewing abundant life is to see when
people have been changed by the power of Christ; they live different lives,
which affects all aspects of their experience. In missiololgy, we call that
"redemption and lift." This isn’t just true individually, but can also be on a
cultural level. So, spiritual change, accompanied by better decisions, does
often lead to better circumstances financially. (Sometimes it get's you
arrested and martyred, so don't miss the point here.)"_

[1]
[http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/march/what-d...](http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/march/what-
does-it-mean-to-have-abundant-life.html)

~~~
dang
Lest anyone dive into religious polarization around this, it's worth pointing
out that such psychological doctrines have a long history, back through Norman
Vincent Peale and Napoleon Hill to the New Thought movement of the late 19th-
early 20th century [1] and a whole kaleidoscope of religious splinter groups.
Many of these were Christian, but mostly marginally so; a famous example is
[2]. Then there's the New Age wing to this (think The Secret) that goes back
to the Theosophists and alchemical traditions. Then again there were more
philosophical versions, like the Transcendentalists. You can find this type of
thing in Emerson. The history and literature is rich. More recently it is
beginning (as one would expect) to take scientific and quasi-scientific forms,
including attempts to test it experimentally. Not clear yet what will come of
those.

1\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Thought](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Thought)

2\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_a_Man_Thinketh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_a_Man_Thinketh)

~~~
theoh
I'm happy to see the intellectual history of this subject discussed in a
cautious way.

The New Age contrast between scarcity and abundance is compelling when applied
to the question of adapting to changed circumstances. (Take for example the
link posted in the last day or two about people raised in poverty finding it
difficult to regulate their food intake.) The New Age arguments boil down to a
simple diagnosis that we have been conditioned, by scarcity, into habits that
are no longer appropriate.

There was a Wired article about 7 years ago which discussed this contrast from
another angle. In that article, like the original link under discussion here,
the Scarcity mindset is caricatured as mean and rigid. The Abundance mindset
is healthy and open to alternatives. It's not at all about "manifesting"
abundance out of nowhere, as per The Secret. I think Stephen Covey might be a
major source for the Wired version of the polarity.

From the Wired article "When scarce resources become abundant, smart people
treat them differently, exploiting them rather than conserving them. It feels
wrong, but done right it can change the world.

The problem is that abundant resources, like computing power, are too often
treated as scarce."

Hard to disagree with that.

[http://www.wired.com/2009/06/mf-freer/](http://www.wired.com/2009/06/mf-
freer/)

------
allisthemoist
_Called Paths to Power, it emphasizes the importance of neutrality: The world
is not fair or unfair. It simply is. The more you can suspend judgment, the
more you can learn and grow your power._

Not to be cynical about this approach, but having studied some of these
concepts from a Mahayana Buddhist perspective, the idea of utilizing the
perspective of Beginner's Mind to "grow your power" is a gross
misappropriation and misunderstanding of the entire framework. In fact, within
the traditions that originally conceived of these approaches, attachment to
power, fame, and/or wealth is seen as the root cause of suffering and mental
disenfranchisement and the very conceptualization that is to be let go [0].

Perhaps I need to look into this course a bit more to understand their
approach but it seems that this is right in line with what many Buddhist
scholars have worried - i.e., that these ancient traditions will be
misunderstood and reformed in a way that may have wholly unhealthy effects on
those who practice it.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#Second_truth...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#Second_truth:_arising_or_origin_of_dukkha)

~~~
mbrock
What if you use that power to help other beings, though?

~~~
swombat
Using your power, whatever it may be, to help others is one thing.
Deliberately, actively, perhaps even desperately seeking more power to help
more people is another. The first is a form of compassion. The other is a form
of pride. Why do these others need your help? Have they asked for it? Are you
seeking that power to help or because you like power? Lots of questions that
muddy the water there.

There are certain things, like enlightenment, which naturally slip out of your
grasp the moment you try to deliberately reach out for them.

~~~
maxerickson
What if there are easy paths to enlightenment and we just don't understand
them yet?

This is one reason that very well established traditions make me nervous.

~~~
chris_wot
If you find it, please let us know before you reach the state of Nirvana.

~~~
bpchaps
Here's another path - a mixture of pride and compassion. One nirvana please.

------
coldtea
> _The ideal attitude is what she calls Abundant Thinking_

When I see a marketable name for such things, I immediately know it's some BS
mix-match of hogwash to sell to people in need.

And sure enough: "sought-after executive coach Katia Verresen, who counsels
leaders at Facebook, Stanford, Airbnb, Twitter, and a number of prominent
startups".

------
rcconf
These concepts also work really well for dating and relationships. If you
approach girls with a scarcity mindset, you tend to be a lot more needy,
insecure and generally feel like a victim.

If you approach girls with an abundance mentality, you're much less needy,
more confident and you don't really care about the outcome. You're just there
to learn about her, and if she's not interested, well, there's plenty of other
girls that will be.

~~~
llamataboot
Or maybe if she isn't interested, she just isn't interested? If she was the
last woman on earth and she wasn't interested in you would that make it
somehow alright to keep approaching her?

I mean really, I get what you are saying here, but it comes dangerous close to
a guy viewing women as a "resource" and saying that he behaves better when he
views that resource as unlimited.

~~~
dwaltrip
I think you are projecting onto the comment a bit.

If the usage of the word "scarcity" was what caught your eye (as an
association with women being "resources"), it was simply pulled from the
article, which labels the two contrasting types of thinking as "scarcity" and
"abundance".

~~~
andrewflnr
I think the real trick the top-level comment was trying to talk about is that
you shouldn't think of women as a resource at all. It just kind of got framed
as a resource thing because of the context you mentioned.

------
Kurimo
So she sells coaching to already successful and wealthy people that amounts to
those banners they used to have around my elementary school that said
"Attitude is a little thing that goes a long way"?

Hooray for snake oil.

------
junko
>>"Priming is engaging in any activity that boosts your emotional and mental
energy ... [like] photos that make you happy." That's Asian cats from
Instagram for me!

I'm usually a bit skeptical of bullet point advice like this as reading it
always seem like self-evident truism; I think people have to really experience
it in order to understand its proper depth. But I'm glad that self-compassion
is mentioned here because it's not preached very often and prob less
intuitive. When I realised about it in one eureka moment (I know!) almost
immediately I could have more respect for myself and found it much easier to
forgive personal flaws and mistakes. So if you ever find yourself kicking and
loathing over something, do a mental "There, there" patting on your head!
You'll begin to see life in a much more whimsical, Woody Allen way :)

~~~
PavlovsCat
Well, one should be fair to other people, and if possible friendly, right?
Turns out oneself is a person, too :)

> _I have expressed my strong interest in the mass of the people; and this is
> founded, not on their usefulness to the community, so much as on what they
> are in themselves. Indeed every man, in every condition, is great. It is
> only our own diseased sight which makes him little. A man is great as a man,
> be he where or what he may. The grandeur of his nature turns to
> insignificance all outward distinctions._

\-- William Ellery Channing

I think that can be extended to more than humans, maybe everything.

And hey, don't knock eureka moments, especially not your own! When I was 20
and late for work in the morning, I walked by a lawn with a bird on it who was
looking for worms, and looked straight at me. I didn't think about it at all,
but nodded and said good morning. Then I had to laugh at myself, then I
thought about it, and I never quite saw animals the same way. Suddenly it
seemed so obvious, of _course_ they're persons. Not ones who speak my language
or care about my salutations, but still. I feel similarly about plants,
central nervous system or not. I mean, it's not like I could tell you what I
mean with "person" to begin with, where the cutoff point is, but something
changed and it felt and feels right.

But compassion for animals and plants is easy, compassion for humans is
trickier... and compassion* for oneself, that's the trickiest part, and as you
said, the most often overlooked. It's like we understand just fine that we
shouldn't dehumanize others, shouldn't hold grudges, not disappoint people or
break promises, and so on, but simply affording ourselves that same respect
and basic goodwill often eludes us, which we then compensate with all sorts of
things which are far from both compassion and real confidence.

* which is a great way to put it.. self-love just doesn't have the same ring of understanding, patience etc. to it; like "loving Justing Bieber" and "having compassion for Justin Bieber" are two completely unrelated things.

------
awinter-py
Famous counterexample to this is the stuff about crisis leadership from a few
years ago:

[http://www.salon.com/2011/08/02/first_rate_madness_interview...](http://www.salon.com/2011/08/02/first_rate_madness_interview/)

This guy's thesis is that in tough times, mental illness is associated with
leadership effectiveness. His examples are Lincoln and WT sherman. (the stats
argument here ends up being pretty weak).

Bottom line -- it's really hard to grade heuristics unless you have enough
knowledge to restrict the situations which may occur in the future (and if you
do, it's no longer a heuristic).

------
everyone
Why you shouldn't trust successful people's advice..
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k7jeQQdqPA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k7jeQQdqPA)

~~~
billmalarky
To me that video is not making the absolute claim that the clickbait title
suggests (their words not yours of course). The actual video seems to suggest
to the viewer to be wary of _only_ looking at the winning perspective and
being subjected to survivorship bias. That is, there's nothing wrong with
hearing advice from successful people, but make sure to get input from
unsuccessful people as well to get a more complete picture.

~~~
everyone
True, I think in this case you could argue that the title is warranted as it
is exceedingly common in our society to examine and emulate successful people
whereas it is exceedingly uncommon to do the same for (or even be aware of the
existence of) unsuccessful people

------
sidi
The power of positive thinking has to be one of the most undervalued capital.
I would really like to see if there are any counter examples to this thinking
that have worked for others.

~~~
phil21
I've been called negative before. For good reason :)

I tend to see the problems with things. The stuff that is good enough, why
spend time thinking about? Seems boring to me - it's already done, lets move
on.

I actually somewhat don't like being labeled as "negative person" since the
actual result in my thinking is usually very positive outcomes. I improve
things and make them better. How could I do that if I didn't identify what is
wrong with something? The new webapp you wrote for me might be 95% awesome,
but I'm going to probably be immediately drawn to the 5% that sucks just by
the nature of who I am and that's what I'll be focusing my energy on to
improve.

This worked well for me in my personal life for some time. Identify bad
habits, get rid of them. However it can be a grind and I think folks that
think the way I do are much more prone to depression and negative feedback
loops that result in isolation (largely out of perhaps a frustrated idealist
point of view). That's when it get's dangerous.

As in all things in life I think it's about balance. As I get older, I
absolutely see and believe in the power of positive thinking. I just think
some people can take that a bit (or a lot) too far and use it as an excuse to
delude themselves.

~~~
cylinder
Yep. Haven't read, but you might like:Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking Is
Undermining America
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312658850/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_d...](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312658850/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_dkRfxb5YS55X2)

------
llamataboot
Dressed up Calvinism IMHO. You're poor? You just aren't tapping into the
abundance of the universe.

~~~
chris_wot
That's not a tenet of Calvinism.

~~~
llamataboot
sure, but ascribing some sort of otherwordly virtue to people by virtue of
their material success is. inverted Calvinism perhaps. Regardless, still taps
into the weird part of the US psyche that has a Protestant work ethic that
believes that everything is possible for everyone if they just work hard
enough filtered through a sort of divine blessing (only this case it is
dressed up in a New Age "tapping into the power of positive thinking schtick")
-- in any case, it has the same outcome of blaming individuals for the
structural circumstances they find themselves living in -- in one case, it is
that you obviously weren't one of the chosen, in the mainstream meritocratic
case, it's a more easy to digest "you just didn't work hard enough", in this
case it is dressed back up with psuedo-religious trappingsabout how the
universe wants you to succeed and you get back the energy you put out.

~~~
chris_wot
Inverted Calvinism isn't really Calvinism though, is it?

~~~
llamataboot
all goes back to the divine right of kings for me...

~~~
chris_wot
I guess you could call me a Calvinist, but I find Calvin's treatment of
Severetus (burning him at the stake) appalling. I just think that he got a lot
of what I believe about Scripture correct - the whole TULIP summarization of
his theology I largely agree with.

I just don't think that properity was ever part of his beliefs - if anything
Calvin has been accused of being a gruel eating killjoy...

~~~
llamataboot
so basically you believe God chose some people to go to hell, some people to
go to heaven, there's nothing you can do to change that, and there's nothing
you can do to lose that, without the part that the Elect are showered in
riches here on earth.

~~~
llamataboot
chris_wot -- the HN algorithms keep from from responding to your post again,
but I hope you don't think I was being sarcastic (I wasn't, I was just stating
the bare minimum of how I understood your views). I don't believe in a
Christian god (though I did for a long while) nor do I believe in heaven or
hell (though I'm still probably less rational and more mystical than 95% of HN
- but thanks for the nuanced response. I do admit that it is completely
logical to take the view that we all have free will yet God exists outside
time and space so knows everything that will happen so therefore of course
predestination and free will are not at odds with each other. I'd urge you to
reflect on how an all-loving being could condemn anyone to torture for all
eternity based on the decisions they made in one tiny lifetime, but that's
neither here nor there. We're getting far afield of the main topic here, but I
hope you would admit that prosperity HAS been a tenant of mainstream Calvinism
in so far as god showering his elect on earth with blessings, etc.

~~~
chris_wot
Not at all - I knew exactly what you were saying and I didn't think it was
sarcastic. I also wasn't offended, you basically summed up a lot of Calvanism
(and rather starkly but accurately summed up my view on it!), and there was no
real sugar coating of it. I respect that.

To be honest, when I read about the Prosperity Gospel, it's so far away from
the New Testament gospels I have read a few times now that I just frankly
don't understand it at all. I mean, in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is
reported to have said "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not
destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also."

I've definitely grappled with the concept of hell and damnation. It's not the
appropriate forum to really discuss this in too much detail, suffice it to say
that I think a perfect, loving God who is rejected and wronged by a creation
made in His own image (with all that entails) because that creation needed to
be given the freedom to accept or reject it's creator must give that creation
a response.

------
chaostheory
It sounds like a self improvement system built on top of this:

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3304496/Be-lucky-
its-a...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3304496/Be-lucky-its-an-easy-
skill-to-learn.html)

------
levemi
That table layout is really bad on a large screen, at some point there's a
nice max for a font and I really don't need giant fonts or text as images.
That image is gigantic [1]. And that header hiding animation is so annoying.
Why do you do this. :(

[1] [https://s3.amazonaws.com/marquee-test-
akiaisur2rgicbmpehea/W...](https://s3.amazonaws.com/marquee-test-
akiaisur2rgicbmpehea/Wzqzlm1ITymebh6BLin3_Screen%20Shot%202016-04-19%20at%208.04.33%20AM.png)

~~~
djloche
Unfortunately, this appears to be the trend. With mobile/tablet driving ad
revenue growth, desktop visitors appear to be on their way to being an
ignored/forgotten segment.

Fortunately, a quick hop into dev tools fixes the problem. For the primary
paragraph content, switching from the current 22px down to 16px makes this
read so much easier.

------
maxxxxx
I think the most important thing about this kind of advice is not to
generalize it. For some people it works and for some people it doesn't work.
There is no self-help advice that works for everybody.

Also: The advice given is not complete. The people who have success with this
do the things the article describes, but they also do some important things
the article doesn't describe.

------
bottled_poe
Hand-wavy garbage. In my mind, there are only three things that matter when it
comes to business success: Company reputation, ability to deliver and who you
know. Everything else is either not important or fits under one of those
tenets.

------
eggman
some people produce more benefit half-sleep than thirty-five of those who
appear to be awake. I'll pass on 'abundant thinking'...

------
dbkaplun
The author clearly doesn't practice abundant thinking, as the title should be
"The Advantages of Abundant Thinking".

