11/25/2019 The Most Important Skill in Life | Mark Manson

The Most Important Skill in Life

markmanson.net/most-important-skill-in-life

by Mark Manson September 14, 2017

If you think back to when you were a slobbering, drooling kid, life was pretty simple. Mom told you
to say “thank you” so you said thank you. Dad told you to clean your room, so you cleaned your
room. Teacher told you to stop picking your nose, so you stopped picking your nose (in public, at
least).

Life was algorithmic. Do X and be rewarded with Y. The X was always clear and given while the Y
reward was dependable. You could count on it. You could expect it.

Most of life passed this way. Teachers deigned assignments upon you and you knew that
completing them in a certain way would earn you specific rewards. Your friends told you what was
cool and what was lame and you followed accordingly. Your boss told you that if you didn’t stop
falling asleep during important client meetings, he’d fire your ass (and now look at you, lazy sack
of shit).

And so it goes: Do X; expect Y result. Everything is predictable. Everything is understood.

Whenever you do something, you always know what result to expect.

Let’s call this “The Algorithmic Life.”

The Algorithmic Life works at first for the …

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11/25/2019 The Most Important Skill in Life | Mark Manson

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