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The Ambition Project

betonit.ai

58 pointsherbertl11 comments

I think it's one thing to do this for yourself or subject others to it in a somewhat mild form (e.g. have them listen to bad karaoke) but "2. The Impossible Day Project" goes too far for me. If I was one of those people who are asked, thought about what we could do together, and then get rejected as part of some game or experiment, I'd be upset.

I'm assuming most decent people just help out their friend the next day, right? The lesson appears to be prioritisation, not being a jerk.

As someone would have graduated from college for 10 years, I found the ambition project fascinating. As I grow old, I understand myself much more about my own weakness and strength. I would like to take the project as a catalog to train some part of myself out of it.

> The Failure Project

Is this an exercise in self-deprecation? Because, I suck at singing, and I would experience a tremendous amount of anxiety if I were to go to a pub and try singing karaoke for any kind of audience, but I know that I just show up, down 4 pints of beer as fast as I can and then do it, have a blast and move on with my life, doing it stone cold sober will scar me for life.

Doing it sober will not scar you. There's no such thing as a bad singer.

I appreciate your optimism but there definitely are bad singers

> There's no such thing as a bad singer.

Presented for your approval: https://youtu.be/hMzIk2pUuNU

That was not my experience with karaoke. I suck at singing. I don't like karaoke much. I still go there sober and have a blast.

This is not a place where you take yourself seriously. Nobody expects Whitney Houston, just a random guy with good vibes.

I think it’s worth recognizing that for some people sober karaoke is just going to be filled with anxiety and no framing will make it fun. I would hang out with friends and do it if they wanted to, but I’d prefer literally any other activity. It doesn’t become more fun just because I cognitively know there’s no reason for the anxiety. The fact that it becomes more acceptable after a few drinks is a testament to the disinhibitory power of alcohol more than anything.

All that said, the article references something you’re bad at, not something you dislike. It’s true they tend to overlap, but there are plenty of things I’m bad at that don’t give me anxiety (like drawing), and I think that’s the point in the article.

I only speak for myself, but when it comes to social anxiety, I didn't enjoy a lot of things because of the anxiety, not because the activity itself wasn't enjoyable. Anxiety is what I was working on, not singing better.

Being bad at these things and doing them anyway ("do it scared") has allowed me to enjoy so many more things.

Become an anti-democratic economist. I call this the easy mode project.

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