Reflecting on Simon Sinek’s philosophy

If you need an introduction to Simon Sinek I recommend you go watch one of his many videos, he does a better job at introducing himself than I will ever do.

He came up with the golden circle, put simply he argues that:

  • Companies usually know WHAT they do,
  • Most companies know HOW they do it,
  • Only a few know WHY they do what they do.

I used to work for the automotive industry, I have nothing against cars but the high paying job didn’t give the fulfillment I needed.

You might say: “Oh you are an artist, artists don’t like to work in a corporate organization.”

That’s not true, we don’t care as long as we know our work has an impact. And to be aware of our impact we need to know why we are doing what we are doing.

Fast forward nearly two years later, I am still working in the same country but now for a language center. I am not going to lie I get paid just enough to pay my rent, my bills and have some for food and the occasional get together with friends. I feel so happy that I feel guilty enough to question my happiness (later on this topic).

So what’s the difference? Was I meant to be a teacher? Maybe but I can’t prove that. I believe nobody can prove for what job they were destined to, otherwise everybody would be taking that magic test to do what they love or at least to find out what they love to do.

After listening to Simon Sinek’s philosophy, I believe the reason why I love going to work even on a Saturday when most people complain 5 days a week and are shaking like addicts to get to Friday, is because I know WHY I am doing what I do.

I help people communicate so that they can achieve what they want and I can see that in my students’ faces.

Bonne journée.

Cartoon blog day 21: Can you be happy and healthy?

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Let’s talk about HAPPY. (Not the graphic novel by Grant Morrison)

Does the state of happiness exist?

When you say you feel happy, aren’t you really just feeling a rush of chemicals in your brain? if so, how do you differentiate chemicals of happiness from chemicals of pleasure?

We are programmed to fulfill needs and act on our desires. If you call acting on desires happiness you are not different from other animals. Unless we choose our desires and needs in the first place. But, Do WE?

If I have learned from the massive book that is SAPIENS (by Yuval Noah Harari) is that we don’t seek happiness, we seek pleasure.

I started reflecting about this. If you were really happy you wouldn’t be thinking about what to do next after reading this. Most of us live in checklists of things we have to do.

-Wait, wait, there is more to that Boris.

-Of course, I am not a scientist, just a cartoonist, but there are also more reasons why people cheat on their partners, for now let’s stay simple.

All this to say, I’ve given up on eating chocolate on a regular basis. I eat chocolate only on Saturdays. This is not going to change anything in my body but I do love sweets and chocolate was my GO TO.

This craving made me think of whether people who are into strict diet are really happy. Because a strict diet means that they have sacrificed their old eating habits which would have been synonymous with pleasure.

What do you think, can you be healthy and happy?

Bonne journée.