Ray Muzyka

Angel/impact investor, former ER MD, BioWare co-founder, poker player, videogame fan, avid photographer/traveler

[James Ohlen @JamesOhlen]

Today I want to show off a cutaway view of an Arkship from our art director. Enjoy!

[Billy Oppenheimer @bpoppenheimer]

Days after a quarterfinals loss in the 2010 French Open, Novak Djokovic told his coach, Marián Vajda, that he had decided to quit playing tennis.

He was No. 3 in the world, a grand slam winner, and a favorite to win Wimbledon.

After Djokovic said he was quitting, Vajda asked,

“Why did you start playing this sport?”

Vajda immediately sensed what the problem was:

Djokovic was focusing too much on rankings, records, titles, and external expectations. As a result, Djokovic said, “I was mentally at one very messed up place.”

As Djokovic thought about Vajda’s question, he thought about how many of his earliest childhood memories include his “most beloved toy”—a mini tennis racket and a soft foam ball.

He started playing tennis, answering Vajda’s question, “because I just really loved holding that racket in my hand.”

“Do you still love holding a racket in your hand?” Vajda asked.

Djokovic thought about it for a few seconds, got excited, and said:

“I do. I still love holding a racket in my hand. Whether it’s a grand slam final on center court or just playing around on a public court, I like playing for the sake of playing.”

Vajda nodded, “Well that’s your source. That's what you need to tap into. Put aside rankings and what you want to achieve and what you think others are expecting of you.”

Vajda then suggested that Djokovic take a few weeks off.

Djokovic agreed that he would.

But when he woke up the next morning, Djokovic was dying to hit tennis balls. He went to the courts to play for the sake of playing. “And I never looked back ever since that moment.”

The following season, Djokovic enjoyed one of the greatest seasons in sports history. He won 43 straight matches. He won three Grand Slams, including his first Wimbledon title. And he finished the year as the number one player in the world.

“I started to play freely,” he says of that season. “I became the kid that I was when I started playing.”

Takeaway 1:

There's a word for being like the kid who does something for the sake of doing it:

Autotelic.

From the Greek "auto" (self) & "telos" (end)—an Autotelic is "someone or something that has a purpose in, and not apart from, itself."

As opposed to someone who focuses on rankings, records, titles, and external expectations—for an Autotelic...

”The work is the win,” as Ryan Holiday once told me.

Since you control the effort more than the outcome,

“Ultimately, you have to love doing it,” Ryan said. “You have to get to a place where doing the work is the win and everything else is extra.”

Takeaway 2:

When reading about Autotelics—people who describe their work as play, who simply seem to love what they do—a common mistake is to think that it’s all bliss all the time.

One of my favorite Autotelics is the legendary skateboarder Rodney Mullen, who is in his 50s and still skateboards every day.

“There are days,” Rodney said, “where you don’t want to go out. Or it hurts. Or you’re sore. Or you just suck—you're not making progress, and you feel defeated...But that's the nature of love—it's got hate in there, it's got pain in there. And that’s what draws you in, that's the magnetism.”

At one point during the recent Wimbledon final, Djokovic angrily smashed and shattered his racket. And after losing the match, he admitted that it will take him a while to get over the loss.

That’s the nature of love—it’s got hate in there, it’s got pain in there.

- - -

“I see people with talent, with all those things, but the one thing they don't have is just that love for doing it for the sake of it.” — Rodney Mullen

Follow @bpoppenheimer for more content like this!

[Ray Muzyka @RayMuzyka]

"How Canada Saved My Life (And Why It Still Matters)" - by @umairh https://t.co/gLsrItbRc8

[Edgar McGregor @edgarrmcgregor]

🧵Since it is becoming hard to track, here is a thread of the simply astounding weather records planet Earth has started shattering in recent weeks:

1. Dramatic flood events have begun striking various countries around the world simultaneously this week.
https://t.co/BLiyOyxHHp

[MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch]

This is a must watch

[tobi lutke @tobi]

This is the Canada we love

[Balaji @balajis]

If you’re an H-1B stuck in an endless green card line, set your alarm for July 16.

Canada now has an experimental program where they’ll give 10000 permanent residencies to engineers that the US is repelling.

Part of their new tech talent strategy.
https://t.co/aTCwNoRgSw

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

Did not age well.

Donald Trump in 2016: “ In my administration, I'm going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law."

[Brett Meiselas @BMeiselas]

Whereby a bunch of unvaccinated MAGAs describe the symptoms of Long COVID without quite making the connection.

They are sooooo close to getting it.

[laurie allee (retired account) @laurieallee]

Just a reminder. Even CDC, the most Covid-minimizing public health group, reluctantly admits approximately 1 in 5 adults now have a health condition caused by previous Covid.

That's after only 3 years.

[Mitch Benn @MitchBenn]

I’d love to go back to 1987 and tell all my Smiths fan friends who gave me all kinds of shit for not being a Smiths fan that by the 2020s not only would Morrissey have been cast into outer darkness as a bitter old racist, but Rick Astley would be the coolest motherfucker alive

[Igor Sushko @igorsushko]

So, here's what happened in those 24 hours in Russia in case you are still confused:

Defenders of Russia decided to seize power in Russia, therefore other defenders of Russia flew to kill the first defenders of Russia, but they got killed by the first defenders of Russia.

Hero of Russia Prigozhin went to kill Hero of Russia Shoigu and as a result Hero of Russia Kadyrov went to kill Hero of Russia Prigozhin.

Then, Hero of Russia Bortnikov initiated a criminal case against Hero of Russia Prigozhin because the grandest Hero of Russia Putin guaranteed that traitors will be punished.

But then Hero of Russia Bortnikov closed the criminal case against Hero of Russia Prigozhin, because the grandest Hero of Russia Putin guaranteed that traitors will not be punished.

Most importantly, everyone is a defender and a hero, and Russians continue to take pride in the heroism of their defenders.

[Jes Cerdeña, MD, PhD (she/her) @jes_cerdena]

My biggest takeaway from the Titan story is that we absolutely could have coordinated, multinational efforts to ensure no migrant dies crossing the sea and we choose not to.

[Ray Muzyka @RayMuzyka]

Honored to be included amongst these video game luminaries! https://t.co/C7cEShPtOB

ray

[Ray Muzyka @RayMuzyka]

Fun article about one of my favorite video series on the internet - Hot Ones (I also love hot sauces, which may not be a coincidence?) https://t.co/ckCAXEpHDY

[Ray Muzyka @RayMuzyka]

Greenhouse gas concentrations are at their highest levels in 2 million years - and emissions continue to rise. As a result, the Earth is now about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s. The last decade (2011-2020) was the warmest on record.

https://t.co/fitv34s43J

[Ray Muzyka @RayMuzyka]

Looking forward to presenting at MacEwan University's Venture Lab February 14th between 1200-1400 Mountain, in a workshop on best practices for entrepreneurial leadership and building successful ventures - free online registration in the link below.
https://t.co/pxiWg5O21a

[Peter Kalmus @ClimateHuman]

We need to shift into climate emergency mode. Soon, everyone will desperately wish that we had. Those who think there is no problem or that we are handling it sufficiently are fools.