Hi there, I’m taking a break this week as I’m out for a holiday in Krabi, Thailand with my family. You’ll be receiving the 9th edition of this newsletter next week.
Before I go, let me tell you about the two selves that we always live with. One is our experiencing self. It’s current self, living and experiencing the moment.
The other is our remembering self. It’s the memory in charge. It chooses what to save in memory and what to discard. To be efficient, it doesn’t save the entire experience. It discards the duration. Intead, it saves just these two:
Peak is the extreme part of the experience (whether pain or pleasure).
End is the last bit of the experience (how you felt at the end).
There’s a name for creating memories this way. It’s called the peak-end rule.
e.g., After a roller coaster ride, you’d remember the most thrilling turn that got your adrenaline pumping the most (peak). You’d also remember how you felt at the end of the ride. Whether the ride lasted one min or two doesn’t matter much.
Holidays are a treat for both selves. Your experiencing self enjoys all the new experiences. Your remembering self turns the offbeat ones into happy memories.
It was a rainy day at Krabi yesterday 🌧.
We were strolling through the night streets with our umbrellas ☔️ when we discovered a cozy little corner cafe.
As we sipped coffee/hot chocolates in that beautiful cafe, I knew both my experiencing and remembering selves were cherishing the special moment.
Whether you are out on a holiday or working, I hope your experiencing self is living the moment. I hope you are making happy memories for the remembering self. In case not, maybe it’s time to reboot 😇.