When I was in my twenties, I was asked to write an essay on “What matters most to you, and why?”

Most people that I know say that what matters most to them is finding happiness. Unfortunately, I was so far away from finding (or even recognizing) happiness that “finding myself” by “meeting more people” and “doing more things” was what mattered most to me. I felt this was a more satisfying answer than other options such as career, money, impact, changing the world, and so on.

It was more satisfying because I think it represented the curiosity that instinctively energizes me. Being in a state of curiosity was like being in a state of bliss. May be it was the child in me. One aspect that I missed was that staying in a curious state requires continuous learning and is a state of progression. Progression implies an objective. Without an objective, learning might be little better than meandering, even if one were discovering new things along the way…

What is the objective then?

One option is to define the objective to be a function of exploration and exploitation, perhaps with shifting proportions at different stages? This would allow for some wandering and some progress. But is it possible to effectively mix wandering and progress? When I’ve stopped making progress, it’s fun to wander. When I’m making progress, distractions and invitations to wander can be annoying. Is it because I’m human?

What if the purpose of wandering (exploration) is to find objectives for making progress (exploitation)? Then finding as many right objectives and then making progress on them would be the uber objective.

This week I’ve been discovering that generative AI has made a lot more objectives achievable. If I can identify the right objectives and make progress on these, I could find self-fulfilling progression, the forward energy that makes me intrinsically happy.

This week I’ve made progress on three projects, and starting this blog is one of them. Excited to write about the two other projects. Soon!