Hacking Your Life vs. Hacking Your Computer, Abundance 2.0, and Dealing with Bugs

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[Note #2: I've been on a small summer hiatus. Thanks for sticking around.]

In this conversation on Duff McDuffy’s Precision Change , we talk about…

Why computer hacks probably shouldn’t be considered “life” hacks…and what should.
Why “if there’s a path, it’s not your path,” and how to find yours!
How no Firefox add-on is going to help you ask the tough questions of what life’s about.
Why there’s no “there” there in doing things that are “going to lead to somewhere.”
Why you should never affirm “everything I touch turns to gold” or risk ending up like King Midas!
The many forms of lifestyle design, and why only a custom design will do.
Why if you are truly lifehacking, you might appear flaky for a while, but eventually you will work out the bugs.

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19 Comments so far »

Jonathan Mead said,

Wrote on July 21, 2008 @ 6:37 pm

So apparently hacking your sweater isn’t hacking your life either.

Damn.
Vered said,

Wrote on July 21, 2008 @ 8:12 pm

I REALLY like the idea of debugging your life, and especially of using a different, unique operating system.
Clay Collins said,

Wrote on July 21, 2008 @ 8:25 pm

@Jonathan: no. Hacking your sweater IS hacking your life :-)
Clay Collins said,

Wrote on July 21, 2008 @ 8:25 pm

@Vered: :-). Yeah… Windows vista just isn’t cutting it.
Jonathan Mead said,

Wrote on July 21, 2008 @ 8:41 pm

Dude. I just hacked my coffee cup.

I’m drinking beer out of it now.
Adam King said,

Wrote on July 21, 2008 @ 10:13 pm

Great interview! Loved listening to it. Dude, you Lifehacker! So true what you and Duff were discussing concerning life paths. So many people walk the path of the almighty RSS!! Teach me, Oh Master feed of productivity blogs!
Although I can’t believe you guys are dissin’ Tony Robbins!! I thought we all needed a Jet-Helicopter to take us to our Island! My thoughts shall create this jet-o-copter. Ok. Ok. I’m done now. Seriously, great stuff, Clay. I got a lot from it. Thanks for posting the interview.
Clay Collins said,

Wrote on July 21, 2008 @ 10:25 pm

@Jonathan: Dude, I’m hacking my napkin to muffle my laugh and keep me from disrupting others at my coffee shop table who are trying to study.
Clay Collins said,

Wrote on July 21, 2008 @ 10:27 pm

@Adam: Yeah, Duff’s Tony Robbins impersonation is about the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time. Thanks for listing, and I’m glad you liked the interview.
Daniel Richard said,

Wrote on July 22, 2008 @ 12:56 am

The part on becoming flaky at first is true. Lol. The good part is that we hack till we find our balance ey (throwing out those that are irrelevant while keeping those that matters)?
The Financial Philosopher said,

Wrote on July 22, 2008 @ 10:57 am

So true. Our path, or potential, already exists — we simply need to discover, or uncover, it. What keeps our true self “covered” is social conventions, media noise and language.

The process of self-discovery (finding our own path) is not necessarily one of doing but one of UN-doing; rather than learning, we un-learn; rather than constructing we are de-constructing; and so on…

“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” ~ Buddha

Cheers…
Clay Collins said,

Wrote on July 23, 2008 @ 12:01 am

@The Financial Philosopher: your comments are pure gold. I have nothing to add to what you’ve said. Thank you for consistently providing value in your comments.
Dave said,

Wrote on July 23, 2008 @ 2:51 pm

Excellent blog. Very insightful and refreshing!

I, like most Americans, grew up with the notion that there is essentially one Path…

go to college > get “real” job > buy house > keep up with Jones’s > climb corporate ladder > retire > die

That’s probably a little overly simplified, but I think that’s pretty much how I saw life up to a few years ago. I’m trying to change all of that in my life now and it’s great to have people like you that can help wake up and inspire the rest of us to find ourselves and change our lives.

Again, great blog! Really looking forward to “Project Liberation”
Tim Brownson said,

Wrote on July 23, 2008 @ 5:50 pm

You guys are waaaay behind. We’ve been hacking in the UK since the 1800’s and we even invented Hacking Jackets to Hack in. Do you have any special attire to hack in? I think not.
Annie said,

Wrote on July 23, 2008 @ 6:46 pm

Clay, I’m a new reader and I love this site! This interview was really terrific and I almost think that it was geared straight to me :) Last October, I quit a high-paying, high-life-sucking job. Literally every single friend and family member I knew thought, that at 27, I was making a miserable, foolish mistake.

I haven’t gone to work since. Instead, I took a 10 month “incubation” period where I did a number of system resets. First, I sold over $5000 worth of low value items on Ebay. All of a sudden, even the hint of clutter made me mental. That problem got solved. I ditched 2 toxic relationships and felt lighter the instant I did so. I lost 20 pounds that I didn’t really realize I had gained. I have read countless books and started selling the finished ones on Amazon. My bookshelf is nearly empty! I developed a really awesome personal finance system that works like a charm and…as you mention in this interview…I installed a new operating system :)

Best of all, I hardly recognize the person I was a year ago. I don’t know where my brain must have been in order to string along so many consecutive days of being paralyzed with short & long term hyperactive goal setting, being “sooooo busy” and “impossible to get ahold of.” What was I thinking?

By the end of the summer, I should have the beginnings of some new plans in place. I will have a new job that allows me to keep very moderate hours in a field that I really find interesting. Best of all, I’ll be called upon to do quite a bit of writing which will help my 2nd venture: blogging. I finally think that I mustered the courage to start a blog and I’m calling it “The Hobbiest.”

During this time off, stringent relatives would endlessly say, “So what DOES your ideal career look like? You’d be a good lawyer!” Rolling my eyes, I thought, in a perfect world, I just want to pursue my hobbies! For a living! So the blog will be my day-to-day account of getting knee deep in every single hobby I love! Piano, travel, ballet, writing, current events, reading, personal finance, cooking, sailing, speaking french…..jack of all, master of none :) But here’s to designing a life that has room for everything.

Keep up the great work. It’s extra inspiring!
Peregrin said,

Wrote on July 24, 2008 @ 10:24 am

@Annie: first of all, good for you! :) Keep pursuing those passions. I recently read a book called The Renaissance Soul by Margaret Lobenstine which is perfect for those of us who are naturally ‘jacks of all trades’. I loved it, and I think you might, too.

@Clay: I agree with Annie–keep up the good work! :)
Annie said,

Wrote on July 24, 2008 @ 11:18 am

@Peregrin: Thanks for the book rec! Just the word “renaissance” has me :) I’m on it…
Duff said,

Wrote on July 28, 2008 @ 6:05 pm

I just hacked my RSS reader. Now it has a direct connection to God. Beat that!
Michael M. said,

Wrote on July 29, 2008 @ 5:38 pm

Clay, thanks for sharing your story. I did not realize you had started a software company at age 15. I’m sure the path you chose for yourself at that time enabled you to be the person you are today.
Michael M. said,

Wrote on July 31, 2008 @ 3:06 pm

Congrats on making the Technorati top 15k!