Stress Test

During our bookclub meeting tonight, one of the guys told a story about a stressful work situation. One of the leaders he works with, referring to the situation, said, “I can’t wait to read the book on this in 10 years.”

Now, I don't know if this is what he meant, but I think that’s great advice for deciding whether or not to stress about something. If something isn’t worthy of having a book written about it, it’s not worthy of stressing about. Books take time to write. They have to be researched, edited, proofread. They have to be interesting enough that an agent will submit it to a publisher, and have a strong enough hook that a publisher buys it. No one’s gonna write a book about you losing your wallet. Or even getting fired. But 9/11?

Along the same line of thought…

Jarod Lanier talks about only creating things that take 100 times longer to create than it does to consume. A blockbuster movie takes months, sometimes years, to create, and 110 minutes to consume. That passes the Jarod test. A novel, say about an ambitious NYC attorney who has to spend the holidays with her ex, for example, takes months to write, and several hours to consume. That passes too. But a tweet? Or a Reel?

The story was especially fitting given the book we read, Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot. The author, a Vietnam Vet and former fighter pilot, was shot down over Vietnam and survived as a POW for more than 8 years. That was worth stressing about, but, for the most part, he incorporated the Stoic lessons of Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius, and didn’t.