Douglas Murray - Do Not Waste Your Life
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- čas přidán 9. 05. 2022
- Douglas Murray explains his philosophy on hard work. Why is Douglas Murray so motivated to work as hard as he does? Is Douglas Murray's writing a labour or a love? What does Douglas think drives him to not waste his life?
#douglasmurray #drive #motivation
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I loved this last half of the episode. So great to see Douglas outside of his usual topic area. Watch the full podcast here - czcams.com/video/07PZ6fyS_Bo/video.html
I knew Douglas when he was at Eton and Oxford. We corresponded for many years and he was always really driven. As an artist myself I understand the urgency of creativity but I think there’s usually a trauma behind it that drives that desperate urge to do as much as possible because of the fear of time running out. Madonna had that because she lost her mother when a child.
Well that was a waste of 14 minutes.
@@mikejames6664 Other content is available, at any point during watching.
But thanks for sharing :)
It's very easy to tell others not to waste their lives if you are successful and wealthy, most people do not have such freedom of choice with how they spend their time
Regret is a torturous emotion. Disappointment, guilt, or remorse for things that have happened in the past can have a significant impact on your life now.
You are correct, which makes the things I see young people doing these days very hard to watch.
Could almost drive one to drink. (Mine's a large scotch).
It can drive you to work hard its never too late
@@jerrybarr3354 I agree ...
@@winstonsmith8240 The only drug we know that actually makes people aggressive. Beware of the dangers.
Watched this on 1.5x to get extra minutes out of my life. Winning!
Smart
I always wonder how many 1000s have failed on the path for every “Douglas Murray” success. People love to focus on the top level people without truly counting the cost of the journey. Bukowski infamously put it best with his philosophy of “don’t try”, because if it’s not something that you that you are internally compelled to do, the odds of success is statistically zero. I’d love to hear from people like Douglas on what were some of the major sacrifices along they way that really did cause them pause on weather they would continue and how they overcame those struggles. Obviously “luck” is an issue as no one shares the same “cards” in life, but I find it fascinating how some just have that relentless internal spark that doesn’t allow them to quit. Because I’m sure that even most of those with that spark don’t succeed.
I could listen to Murray’s voice discussing any number of things….for hours. I love him. He is such a unique individual. I wish for a friend like him.
You probably wouldnt like him as a friend. Its hard to really communicate with people like him, they like to dominate in their lives non stop, taking over conversation etc. These people can never be "off", but you know there is more to life than being constantly in that dominating mode.
@@mrfatuchi if true--you just need to limit your time with them. You can still have quality time -in small doses. Many of my friends simply do not even have interest in talking about some of these things.
So far everytime I have seen an interview or any clip of Douglas Murray he isn't really saying anything new or even something that interesting.
He's just really good speaker & articulates well. Makes sense since he works as a writer.
I find him boring and slow. He talks around subjects, there is no sharp insightful analysis.
Are you worthy as a friend
The point of meditation is not to sit there with an empty mind. The point of sitting there doing nothing is to let your mind finish processing your thoughts without adding to the queue. Once you’ve let it settle down you will be in a external observation state (much like hunting, you sit quietly and listen). Resetting your natural baseline state in this way allows you to keep the monkey mind chatter from constantly overwhelming your ability to be observant.
For the last hundred thousand years if you couldn’t stop your neocortex chatter and be externally observant you became cat food.
That’s why our baseline is externally observant with a quiet mind.
Excellent response.
Well said
Exactly right. I would describe it as trying to physically stop the waves in the small pond instead of just letting them settle.
You said that excellent..wow
Not at all shocked to hear this great modern thinker is also humble and feels privileged to do what he does.
Chris is a very good listener, let's the guest speak at his own pace and has good questions in return showing he's truly listening, I aspire to improve my own listening to be as good as this.
No life is perfect - do one thing, you miss out on another. Or you miss out on the stillness of doing nothing.
I envy Murray for making efficient use of his time. I've wasted so much time in my life on nonsense because of laziness, lack of motivation, and sheer stupidity.
I struggled to work up the motivation even to give you a thumbs up. 👍
But you are Correct !
I've even considered writing about making poor decisions.
@@hachwarwickshire292 :)
Much of the psychological literature on regret suggests that we have greater regrets for opportunities we DON'T take. Rarely will we regret things we try. The lesson being that we must try as many things as we can.
How many times have the words "if only" been said?
Learning entails trying things. Trying things entails doing mistakes. Doing mistakes teaches us things. Thus we have learnt something and then we move on.
Fear of change create stagnation and we become cripples. Clinging to the familiar lay our lives in ruins. If we love to work, maybe we should try not to work? If we like to stay lazy all day, maybe we should try to become active and pick up a job instead? Workaholics are often the laziest people because the do the same thing every day. Fear of change drive them to never rest. They keep themselves busy in order to not have to face the underlying sense of lack of meaning in their lives. They convince themselves that their struggles is meaningful and therefor worth while. Meanwhile, they storm through life without having experienced life at all. To keep oneself busy can be the most lazy and nonproductive thing we can ever do to ourselves.
Regrets work as reminders to take a leap into the unknown next time an opportunity occurs. Clinging to regrets is what becomes a burden.
Meditation forces you to face yourself. You may find it tedious, boring, wast of time, what ever. The fact that meditation is not aimed at producing anything becomes an interesting obstacle for us. What is it good for? What’s its purpose?
Meditation is just watching… what is going on with you… can you be quiet with yourself… can you allow the world around you go on without your attention… do you dare to let go… can you find rest without falling asleep…
Do you dare to just be…
Do you dare to become Awake…
I watched this with one of my daughters. She said: ‘OMG he’s got the same work ethic you have. It must be the Scottish Island DNA.’ I think it was not wanting to disappoint my family as I was the first to go to university let alone the first woman in my family to do so, and they had worked so hard for me to get there, I wanted to get the most education I could out of it. At 75, after a long career, and a lovely family, I still don’t want to waste a minute. It’s been a life well lived…and it’s too bloody short
"I have a very acute sense of life's brevity. Don't waste it." Thank you for this interview/discussion.
Here is a quote from Steps to Knowledge about the value of work and use of your time to accomplish what you came here to do: "You are in the world to work. Work is what you want to do...But what is this work that we speak of?... Is it the many tasks that you think are your own and that you assign to yourself? Your true work may be expressed in any of these activities, but it is truly greater. It will be your happiness and your fulfillment to carry out each step of your true work.... You are in the world to work. Therefore, apply yourself so that your application may reveal to you the source of your purpose, meaning and direction. It is through your work and meaningful activity that you will experience your value--the value of your individual life and the assurance of your true destiny. Your true work guarantees you all things of value and provides you escape from all things that conceal you and render you helpless and miserable." (Steps to Knowledge, Marshall Vian Summers)
Thank you, Janice.
Wonderful. So thoughtful, humble, generous.
Sublime conversation…very subtle messages
He's "got a clear view of what he needs to do". For a lot of us that doesn't come until later in life unfortunately. I respect him and I think his literary contributions are breath of fresh air, but everybody needs a work-life balance else things will get thrown off kilter.
Yes it does come later. In my earlier years I had a very good vague idea of what I wanted but it was vague. Today I know what I want. There is much more definite picture.
I work in the brewing industry. It may be hard, but i do what I love and also still don't have to even be doing anything for more that 80%of the day, most of the time at least. There's a lot of waiting between processes in this industry.
I've met my twin..fear of time being wasted. Great discussion. Thank you.
love Douglas Murray's stuff. keep it up.
Squandered life is miserable. Doing so and knowing that it was your own poor decisions or lack there of (indecision)... well that's hell. Being acutely aware of both as your creep towards middle age while not knowing how to dig yourself out or which direction to dig to... now that's haunting. What I desire most is what this man has... certainty of purpose.
There is a price to pay for that, being more narcissistic is one of them.
Where are you going? There is no problem if you don't create one with your ego.
This is painfully spot on. Indecision is a killer, I must work on it. It’s the big decisions.
Everything has pros and cons, though - I can't imagine it's particularly fun to be thinking 'Raaaah I'm not working! My competitors are beating me!' all the time. But hey ho, everyone has their own perspective and they're all more or less fine unless you're a useless man-child, alcoholic, criminal, general loser or some other obviously selfish/shit person.
He works hard because it's his natural personality type to do so. For some people, just because they have opportunities their ancestors couldn't dream of, doesn't mean those opportunities become activities to burden all your time with.
Well said. Douglas came out of the womb this way, and well, he is an Englishman after all ;))
@@gregorymoats4007 Is one who is born in this country from parents from Africa considered an 'Englishman' or 'British' in your opinion?
@@ndlugani2008you’ll have to sort that out for yourself
@@ndlugani2008 conduct yourself as an Englishman and you shall be an Englishman.
exactly, oftentimes it's genetics that largely make you what you are. If you parents were driven it's very likely you will be too etc etc.
I've always been very driven, I work almost all of the time, I'm hyper-creative, but I have never been as successful financially as I have wanted. I am proud of all of my accomplishments, which is a very long list. I do spend a lot of time just learning though, I am a sponge for science and technology and archaeology and languages and music. I do spend time meditating and other higher levels of being as well.
Don't waist your life watching this self indulgence video
He works hard because he has an enjoyable job and has a talent for it so in a way it isn't really work.
Regret means nothing, legacy means everything. And by legacy, I mean the impression you leave behind on others and what and how often they think of you. Passing on a sense of humor, a way to perceive the world, a love of certain music or literature that is then passed down again. That's eternal life.
What a crock of bs...
What about when the Sun explodes?
@@teamcoalhapcharcoal Sorry. *that's eons of life beyond your physical body that might as well be eternity
Lovely stuff, the both of you.
Love your content Chris - amazing insights
Ironically after getting the gist of why he does not like wasting time i felt i was wasting my time watching this interview and I'm leaving now! I hope you have a good day folks.
I feel him on mediation. It doesn't even sound enticing. I tried an exercise for a work event, but it's...not for me. Maybe I'll change my mind later.
Love you two together. This was brilliant ~ I feel it’s fairly unusual for Douglas to self divulge..?
“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.” - Alan Watts
Zen helped me understand, that theres literally no difference between sittin and doing "nothing" and doing "something" - it is all the same. But everyone can just sit around, so this life is already simulated for me in a way with knowing outcome. Thats why i am doing nothing by improving daily as a habit 24/7, i dont even waste energy on it, because i am doing nothing, its all done by itself cause theres no resistance.
@Some Words what part is the last one
@Some Words For me personally, i sat home for 3 years straight or more, watched everything, played games, did good in my hobbies, procrastinated, drank tea for like 10 cups a day, no sleeping regime.
Right now i learned a language in a year, moved countries, worked daily, do sport for 2 years daily straight, cold showers, wim hof breathing, OMAD, polyphasic sleep, have some money, goin on dates etc, you know, fully social.
I did that after reading Eckhart Tolle's book, then Goggins and Jocko Willink. From Bruce Lee i learned how to put goals, from MJ and Kobe how to use motivation short term, i learned everything about procrastination (Watch Dr K on it).
Beast was unleashed, but i got tired and lost "it" in 6 months of grinding the language hardcore. Then i found Alan Watts's books and it all finally made sense. I can do whatever i want in right moments! (balance and focus)
You see, i see no difference whatsoever in me between these two lives. I enjoy present moment and accept whatever is happening. I enjoyed greatly drinking tea daily and writing chaotic anxious stuff in my journal. I enjoyed moving to another country as well.
But i know how first life will end, its so easy to predict actually... so it can exist in some parallel world.
I decided to live easily the 2nd version, cause theres no more alternative... it does exist, but you can observe it any second and see - theres nothing there. I created routines from the get-go, started small and just got rid of other stuff.
I have long term goals and i know, that i need to make another before reaching first one. And i have full trust in my subconscious and routines, experience, my teachers - i dont need to do anything anymore ever.
Whatever situation is present - i see it as the best one, because the only Now exists. I got goals, so they move me, but i am free from outcome. I can focus hard for weeks-months-years, i can chill for whenever its needed (pomodoro also helped with it).
Idk how to describe that exact knowledge better and in shorter words, but thats basically how i got it.
Same Douglas, same
Visit a well stocked used-book store and marvel, as I always do, at the overwhelming ratio of ephemeral verbiage, every bit of it representing someone's "hard work", that fills the shop, and what a small proportion you'd consider paying for and taking home. When I look back on my own varied career, although I was dealing with things more solid than words and opinions, it still seems indistinguishable from idleness in terms of costs and benefits for the world at large.
Learning entails trying things. Trying things entails doing mistakes. Doing mistakes teaches us things. Thus we have learnt something and then we move on.
Fear of change create stagnation and we become cripples. Clinging to the familiar lay our lives in ruins. If we love to work, maybe we should try not to work? If we like to stay lazy all day, maybe we should try to become active and pick up a job instead? Workaholics are often the laziest people because the do the same thing every day. Fear of change drive them to never rest. They keep themselves busy in order to not have to face the underlying sense of lack of meaning in their lives. They convince themselves that their struggles is meaningful and therefor worth while. Meanwhile, they storm through life without having experienced life at all. To keep oneself busy can be the most lazy and nonproductive thing we can ever do to ourselves.
Regrets work as reminders to take a leap into the unknown next time an opportunity occurs. Clinging to regrets is what becomes a burden.
Meditation forces you to face yourself. You may find it tedious, boring, wast of time, what ever. The fact that meditation is not aimed at producing anything becomes an interesting obstacle for us. What is it good for? What’s its purpose?
Meditation is just watching… what is going on with you… can you be quiet with yourself… can you allow the world around you go on without your attention… do you dare to let go… can you find rest without falling asleep…
Do you dare to just be…
Do you dare to become Awake…
I remember Christopher Hitchens saying the same thing about writing and his career. He said he always felt like he had to "get a piece."
I think that once you have a committed partner/spouse & children, both on low wages, struggling to raise your children properly, you are too tired to live your life to the full, or reach your full potential. We were two very intelligent people but married young & life took over us & not the other way round !
He's a hero of the West (and, in general), no doubt. Thank you, Douglas.
He uses the word “waste” in regards to your life as if it means the same thing to everyone. Everything we do in life has a purpose so how exactly can we waste our lives? Unless a person’s life is tragically cut short I don’t think you can waste your life after all one man’s garbage is another man’s gold.
Exactly, if someone "wastes" their time but are enjoying that time spent, it's not a waste.
What is a HUGE waste is those people who "hustle / grind " 24/7 -- death takes all that hard work away. And for what?
What is important to avoid is getting into a position where you perceive your own life as a waste.
When one fails to reach goal they had set earlier, when one has failed to live up to their previous expectations, when in retrospect we realize we have wasted much of the time on pointless physical gratification in assorted forms and only went in circles, making zero progress on anything productive or growth oriented.
When one feels as if they are only sitting around, waiting for the end. Because this was all a huge waste of time and nothing really amounts to anything in this pointless world.
And when you say it out loud, people will scorn you and belittle you for being too negative.
Your life is full of untapped potential. You can choose fulfilling or unfulfilling paths. So wasting your life is wasting better possibilities.
Living your life with no regard to the future is a waste.
Theres also another angle which is that he doesn't have kids and can devote himself to his craft. Or that he can afford to go on some guy's podcast to talk about his life and why he is driven. Some people are so stretched for time, such luxuries as podcasting etc would be considered holiday
I consider working too much to be a waste of my life. I get that work is an essential part of life and I want to be good at it but i don't want to kill myself doing it. I just don't respect my work that much. I value relationships and experiences more. When I die, my work is probably the last thing someone will remember about me.
I spent a lot of time watching bad movies on Mystery Science Theater 3000. I don't regret a moment of it.
2:48 same, I'd rather work remote and have my clothes shipped to me, also not being in crowds walking, just write every single morning lol
massively surprised, douglas is not only intelligent but seems very aware of himself and im hugely surprised to find out that he's not massively into meditation or the inner world of peace))
It also helps that he doesn't have a child/children to be with. #morefreetime
dying his hair. Looks smashing
I read with a pencil in my hand- omg that's me, and so many other characteristics. Right now 1:50 am- working.
Sometimes I wish I knew what I was meant to do
This unrelenting attitude towards life will burn you out eventually. People who have to constantly “achieve” have deeper issues. I know, I’ve been there.
There are so many people trapped in bullshit jobs or in jobs that are necessary but where management wastes their time with bullshit, like team building crap. It's like stealing life.
I'm 35 and feel like it's too late.
It’s never too late. You can do it.
I'm 39 and it definitely is NOT too late.
Good Lord you are a baby still. Before you a thirty you’re not even fully baked!
Its not too late...you've got this
Reinvented is what you will do
If you do a job you love you’ll never have to work a day in your life.
I do recognize the urge not to waste time but unfortunately I dont have the discipline like douglas has.
there is nothing to not waste, relax
I'm wasting time watching this, forgive me Douglas.
You wasted your time commenting, sadly. This comment, however, is the best use of my time I can think of right now.
Edgy
my life is worthless. i am confronted with this everyday.
Jeez man go for a jog around a lake or something
How old are you?
Working hard at what Douglas Murray is doing is not the same as working hard at a job.
Not to diminish anything he's done, quite the opposite, but there's a big difference between being driven to think about the big issues of the day, and trying to work 8 hours at a technical career while being thoroughly distracted by--and wishing you had more time to engage in--the big issues of the day.
The flip side of not wasting your time is making the most of what you actually ARE doing, which is central to meditation. So if Douglas cares so much about how he spends his time, dismissing meditation is probably a mistake
Meditation isn’t for everyone. I find it so bloody boring. Walking brings me more pleasure and peace
You are making an assumption that everyone should enjoy meditating.
For a person like Douglas Murray whose greatest pleasure and purpose in life is to think and think critically about the world and it’s many facets and issues then meditating would feel like a waste of time.
Your comment implies you enjoy and benefit from meditating and that’s wonderful - for you. But criticising Murray for not enjoying meditating is like criticising someone who doesn’t like drinking coffee - it’s just no big deal!!
He sounds like a high consciousness (at least Industriousness) person
People still dont have many books
On you tube, twitter, instagram, Facebook or celebrity bollocks.
Don’t drink as much as Hitch….we want you around.
Is it a Britishism to say "predecessor" instead of ancestor?
The Government is doing a perfectly fine job of wasting my time on earth
You can tell Douglas has been lifting. I think his guns are bigger than Chris' at this point.
Why can’t this clever and well read writer pronounce the word ‘something’ correctly?
Seriously, is there a reason so many British have a trouble with this word?
Also ‘more and more free’, shouldn’t one say freer and freer?
Douglas Murray clearly fancies Chris.
its so nice to have two men talk like this...very soon women won't have the choice to live their best life or start living...what a joke.
Too late!
Does he feel like he's going to miss the things he could have done after he's dead? I don't get it.
As I sit here watching CZcams.
Brah, last time I saw him he didn’t have those big arms 😆😆
if douglas learned to meditate, he would be able to split the earth in his hands like an apple...
Te-dom
Do Not Waste Your Life. why not?
For a starter, it is easy to be a work acholic when you have no family and children to have responsibility for lol
Meditation is NOT turning your mind of. Those ignorant western people.
He is a slave to his ego and not happy.
You can tell he's pals with Jordan Peterson.
This guy comes across as quite sad and unhappy. Imagine not being able to shut off and just simply relax.
2:03 ego is the answer
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela
Says the guy that threw burning tires over people to help them see it his way.😁
@@George-vf7ss I was about to say the same thing. To Hell with Mandela.
I guess violence was more powerful.
@@George-vf7ss I thought that was more Winnie’s thing? Did he do it too?
Not sure about the world but absolutely true on an individual level
Is this the tight Tshirt convention. This feels like low tier Micheal mallace style trolling. I'm just not sure who is trolling who?
Puritan work ethic... The Pareto distribution helps me feel better about constantly being busy. If only the other 80% did a little more work...
Not sure what he is missing but working to much is IMO a big waste. My life wasn't meant to just work all the time to contribute to GDP.
This is not nearly as deep as he thinks it is.
You’re right and I don’t believe he has a family.
Yeah, they're both a little pretentious, I agree. Murray says and thinks some great stuff, but he's not as consistent or amazing about it as, say, Peterson.
Nihilistic crap
Don't waste time bro! Get a job and work 24/7!
dont waste your life trying to buy a house after age 50+. its much cheaper to rent. then you are not forced to work until your 70s. you can sponge off the state,
Rent a house and “sponge off the state”.
How ambitious. Ignore this ridiculous advice kids.
Talks very slow for a guy who hates time wasting.
Yeah pisses me off. Is he on drugs or just half sleeping?
He's totally wasting his life and he doesn't know it
We are all free to have our opinions.....
This video could be 2 minutes if you cut out all the filler words(uhm, ahh, hmmm) . It’s very annoying.
I wish couldn’t… but gender politics is actually preventing me from working… something has to give.
How is gender politics preventing you from working?
@@jesseshaver2262 I wrote a romantic comedy (based on my own story) raised the money for the production, had a major distributor wanting a world release, then I was told I wasn’t allowed to direct my own movie because I’m not a woman, and a women had to be hired to re-write my script… no job, or payment for me either.
@@b.dangerfield6499 insanity
@@b.dangerfield6499 Resubmit using a friend as a stand-in.
@@mike8595 it doesn’t work like that
Jesus Christ what a long winded non answer
ahaha what a pompous man
'4 columns a week, various media spots and writing a book' isn't very hard. Successful, yes. Hard, no. If Douglas is 'working all the time' then he must be extremely inefficient. But that's obvious from the way he talks like he's teasing out a particularly truculent verbal turd.
Man, the ego of this guy is just really unbearable...
Why is he mumbling like he's on drugs or half asleep? Speak clearly or don't speak at all!