I have been on the quest for winning at life for a long time. But nothing could prepare me for a run-in with a lesswrongian.
My life has been turned upside-down, it turns out that every aspect of my life can be considerably improved or upgraded, but there is so much to do that I'm completely overwhelmed by all there is to do.
The improvement to-do list is a mile long and I've currently reached the point where I'd rather wallow in self-pity than actually get up and do something...
I have trouble sleeping because I worry about all the things I'm not doing, and then when I'm awake I'm stuck on sites like lesswrong pressing F5 all day long in the hopes that a new post will save me...
Help,Please.
The only way I can make myself do useful things is to put aside the goal of "being perfect" or "self-improvement" and just think "I want to do this one particular project just to do it." Every time I've done something that has contributed positively to my reputation, resume, or "awesomeness", I've gotten caught up at least part of the time in just wanting to do it -- solving this problem, writing this paper or code, reading about this subject.
There are limits to the usefulness of looking at yourself and asking "am I good enough? What's my score? What's my goal score?" Sure, scoring mechanisms have their uses (e.g. GPA, income, karma, awards and honors, etc.) but when you're actually in the process of doing something, you have to take your mind off your score. If "self-improvement" is demotivating (and it is, for a lot of people, including me) stop thinking about the "self" part, and just think about the specific things you want to do.
I don't think i ever let myself enjoy the just doing, its always for a cause and the cause doesn't motivate me to actually get up and do it. I really see the self-inprovement as a goal in itself and your right that this shouldn't be the main goal.