Why don't I do fewer things?

 Why don't I do fewer things?

• Dont put all eggs in one basket syndrome -

• Due to a Lack of conviction upon oneself in one doing fewer things, I want to mitigate risk by doing many things and end up doing things that don't make an impact at all!  

• FOMO - fear of Missing Out!  I fear that I may miss the party if I do fewer things! 

• Social proof: a psychological and social phenomenon wherein people copy the actions of others in choosing how to behave in a given situation ; we dont want to look the odd-(wo)man out! I want conformity ! I don't want to endure pain , by standing out! Without realizing that Excellent is enduring the right pain!

How do I do not rush?

 How do I do not rush? 

My Notes

How do I do not rush?

How do I do not do something seeking something?

How do I , say, just go for walking , for the sake of walking? 

Like Nietzsche

He was supposed to keep walking in forests

For 7 hours every day

And through that: he probably stirred his inner voice

Which he simply scribed post his walk! 

How do i not rush? 

Be it Ironing clothes 

Or writing or Listening? 

That is the moot question…

One way seems to be : irrespective of the urgency 

To start slow : 

Don't just rush!

Start slow

Even super slow 

Say, you are writing with pen and paper : check how tight you hold the pen. 

Write each word consciously! 

And let the words flow

For the next 25 minutes or so without distraction! 

As Steven Pressfield talks about his writing routine:

In his Book : The War of Art : 

I just sit and write for the designated hours of the day 

And when i start having typing mistakes - I know i am done for the day! 

Are the words any good? Don't know! 

Will it make sense to my readers? Dont know! 

All I know is I overcame resistance for the day 

And showed up to write !

Dont just be a Theorist!

Dont just be a Theorist!!!

Maria Popova Blog

By Neuroscience founding father 

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (May 1, 1852–October 17, 1934)

 Cajal takes care to note that while hypotheses have their use “as inspiration during the planning stage of an investigation, and for stimulating new fields of investigation,” the theorist’s mistake is a blind attachment to her theories not as a means to truth but as an end of intellectual labor:

One must distinguish between working hypotheses … and scientific theories. The hypothesis is an interpretative questioning of nature. It is an integral part of the investigation because it forms the initial phase, the virtually required antecedent. But to speculate continuously — to theorize just for its own sake, without arriving at an objective analysis of phenomena — is to lose oneself in a kind of philosophical idealism without a solid foundation, to turn one’s back on reality.

Let us emphasize again this obvious conclusion: a scholar’s positive contribution is measured by the sum of the original data that he contributes. Hypotheses come and go but data remain. Theories desert us, while data defend us. They are our true resources, our real estate, and our best pedigree. In the eternal shifting of things, only they will save us from the ravages of time and from the forgetfulness or injustice of men. To risk everything on the success of one idea is to forget that every fifteen or twenty years theories are replaced or revised. So many apparently conclusive theories in physics, chemistry, geology, and biology have collapsed in the last few decades! On the other hand, the well-established facts of anatomy and physiology and of chemistry and geology, and the laws and equations of astronomy and physics remain — immutable and defying criticism

Don't wait for the News!

 Rule of Thumb - 

If you wait for the news to inform you

You’ll be wrong or late! 

George Mack

Dont wait for your friend to 

Tell you to get the mole checked! 

By then its too late! 

Dont wait for your boss

To call you into their office! 

By then its too late! 

Dont wait for your competitor

To launch the new technology

By then its too late! 

One common trait for High-Agency folks : 

They dont wait for the news ;

They Work from first principles

They craft own information sources

They make the move before consensus agrees

If you wait for the news to inform you

By then its too late!

Happiness

 Happiness! 

John Stuart Mill

The best way to being depressed is 

Avoid being self-absorbed!

The only people who are happy, 

Are those who have their minds

Fixed on some object other than

Their own happiness.

On the happiness of others

On the improvement of mankind

Even on some art or pursuit

Followed not as a means

But as itself as an ideal end.

Aiming at something else

They find happiness by the way!

Keep it Simple!

 Keep it Simple!

Les Schwab

Founder , Les Schwab Tires Center

Sell Tires,

Keep Expense low

Make sure everything is billed out

Keep good communication with Employees

Be careful with credit

Watch for Leaks

Do these things

And you will come out alright! 

Otherwise, you need to keep

Reading hours and hours of office reports

To figure if you are doing right! 

Infact if the store manager is spending

Hours and hours in office of reading emails

The store is sure bound to suffer!

Freedom from Desires!

 Freedom from Desires! 

Seneca

Pg.13 : Letters from a Stoic!

Athenodorus asks us - 

“ Know that you are freed from all desires 

When 

You have reached a point that

You pray to God for nothing,

Except what you can pray for openly”

Seneca adds: (I have put my masala here : wink! wink!)

Hey Man!

You fool !!!

You whisper the basest of prayers to Heaven!

But if anyone listens to you 

You are silent at once! 

Do you commune to that 

Which fellow men should not be hearing? 

Rather , Live among men , as if 

God beheld you! 

Speak with God as if everyone is listening! 

If you can do so

You can be sure that you are free from all desires!

Good Luck and Bad Luck!

 Good Luck and Bad Luck!

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

Bad luck is the unfortunate thing

That can happen from Outside-in

Out of your control

So dont worry! 

But what is within your control is this 

Facing the unfortunate events 

Without distress 

That is good luck

Use the analogy of the

Waves beating the Rock

Waves hitting the Rock is bad luck! 

But the Rock bearing it valiantly 

Is the Good luck! 

So as human : 

How do you bear it?

Through

Being fair, High-minded,

Honest, Moral and Self-reliant

Luck beats you everytime

You cannot control it! 

But if you can bear it 

Everytime

Through reason, training of mind

By Habits

Choose a Mentor!

Choose a Mentor!

Use them as a ruler to straighten your crookedness!

Seneca

Pg.14 : Letters from a Stoic

I have written about this before ; 

But its worth re-writing 

Seneca is masterful today as he  says:

“Choose a master whose life, conversation and

Soul-expressing face have satisfied you! 

Picture him/her always to yourself as your 

Protector or your pattern; 

For we must indeed have someone

To regulate our characters;

You can never straighten that which is crooked

Unless you use a ruler”

For me I am thinking who are my gurus 

About Whom when I think 

They are straightening my daily crookedness!

Here is my list:

• Seneca : Stoicism
• Henry David Thoreau - Simplicity
• Eknath Eswaran - HappinessRichard Feynman - Thinking
• K Balakumar - Comedy

On this guru purnima day I salute them

In gratitude!!!

Who are yours? Are you remembering them today?

One day is equal to every day!

 One day is equal to every day!

Seneca

Pg.15 : Letters from a Stoic

A day represents the longest space time

As an unit value

Because , a day possesses 

Every single element of the longest time

Like Summer, Winter, Autumn and Spring

Every morning is a spring!

Winter the night!

Evening the Autumn

And Noon the Summer! 

I need to regulate every day 

Beginning with the morning

For a day well lived leads to a 

Life well lived! 

The Autumn and winter of the day : 

While it brings rest to the body

Also bring restlessnes to the spirit

That need to be regulated through Morning Habits : 

Physical exercise , Spiritual reading and Intellecutal Problem solving!

KISsss.........

 KISsss

As you feel you're in Clutter,

you need to cut the clutter; 

KISsss principle will help you get there! 

I know it sounds cringy! But let me explain:

KISsss  => Keep it Simple, Small, Short and Slow! 

First step is to Simplify:

However deep the problem: spend time with yourself 

Through writing and Thinking Time:

Set aside a thinking and reflection about the problem on hand;

Set aside 30 minutes with pen and paper on hand and 

See if you can Simplify the complexity

Consistent thinking time helps you to attain clarity and go to the next step which is: 

Second Step : Small : 

This is the organizing step

After your thinking time , take a look at your notes 

Break out the potential solutions into small chunks - tasks;

Say you have a pile of clothes that need to be Ironed! 

Don't look at the pile and demotivate yourself! : rather sort out and pick one cloth at a time! 

Divide and conquer!

Third step: Keep it short! 

Focus on the single task: 30 minutes at a time on the solution

Don't worry about completion!

Focus on the time! 

30 minutes! Pomodoro technique! 

Fourth step: 

Incorporate slowness as you start the task 

Deliberately start slow - to become mindful; 

Going back to the ironing board,

deliberately press the cloth slowly

Iron out each wrinkle! slow! Slow! Mindful!

Again don't focus on the completion!

Play out the time - 30 minutes - slowly! deliberately!

Go slow to move quick! 

As you do the above: you will realize : 

How simplification is

the ultimate sophistication!

Your work is to Work!

 Andrew Huberman with Rick Rubin

Andrew:

How does one convince oneself that what they’re doing and working on is worth doing?

Rick:

The question of worth it, is reliant on an outcome. 

We don't make these things for an outcome. 

Its not our mindset to make something great.

The outcome happens.

You’re making the best thing

Its a devotional practice

Whatever happens after that happens!

And that part

That happens after it-

Is completely out of your control

Putting any energy into that part

That is outside of your control

Its a waste of time

All it does is to undermine your work

Your work is to make the best thing you can!

My note:

Goal need not be to reach a destination

Goal can be to Keep going and Keep going

So long as I can

Deliberately ,

With Purpose as Rudder,

Goal can be to keep going

And make best thing you can with purpose

Journey itself then can become the Goal

To Think is to Ink

 Thinking Time:

When your mind is cluttered!  start writing: 

Ink is the great cure for all human ills, as I have found out long ago.

(inspired from C S Lewis Quote)

To Think is to Ink

Source: VV @visualizevalue

·

Focus

 Focus

Peter Thiel

Focusing on one thing yields increasing returns for each Hour of effort

At a micro-level, an extra hour of focus on the current project

Has a higher return than an hour on something new.

Before you do something new, 

You should understand the opportunity cost vs existing things

At a macro-level,  understanding that applied effort

Has a convex output curve is a very useful discipline

In considering new market areas! 

This convexity means that opportunity cost of 

Transferring new resources 

from existing projects to new ones is high

Notes:

Opportunity cost is a concept in Economics that is defined as those values or benefits that are lost by a business, business owners or organisations when they choose one option or an alternative option over another option, in the course of making business decisions.

Convex Function: ex:  Y = exp(x)