Unbounded freedom, infinite possibilities, and illusive empowerment can make the best prison. What do I mean by that? One example: The things I’m currently insecure about are things I think I can change: thinning hair, protruding belly, and verbal communication skill, to name a few. While my flat-bridged nose or square jaw feel more “it…
Category: Armchair Philosophy
I can’t be the only one who finds these “work hard anywhere” photos in Instagram as silly and shady, can I? When I work, I look at screens. My sight and thought are completely glued there. I am focused. In flow. If I am at some place nice, then I want to enjoy the view…
I can sum up the past three years of my life into three core themes: The world makes a lot more sense. Gaining a more complete description of reality. I’ve come to understand myself a lot better. Noticing and disarming the unconscious mechanisms preventing me from experiencing and seeing reality as it is. Life is…
Is it better to be a generalist or a specialist? I started thinking about this question after seeing Dave Epstein’s new book, Range, mentioned many times in the past week within the productivity and intellectual corner of Twitterverse. The book is making a case for generalists (“people with range”) in this era of specialists. I…
life is about stuffs and moments collecting them. holding onto them. letting go of them. remembering, forgetting. hmmm manipulating stuff and moments by whom? ego. self. depending on who/what is perceiving the life. the desire to own, conquer, appreciate things that conjure the moments things that afford us the stuff stuff. moments. those are the…
Nothing matters, really. All those deadlines. All those plans. Goals, wishes, worries, what ifs. Most of them don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. They keep on changing. Remember what you were obsessed about last year? Remember what was so important to you this time last month? All imaginary and fleeting. You are not…
Whoa. I paused for what felt like 1 full second in the middle of my home-alone cardio session on the stairs and said out loud. I was listening to an interview with Annie Duke on The Knowledge Project where she told a story about trying to order food at a Chinese restaurant. Trying to explain…
I try and keep these thoughts in day to day moments. They help me break free from the mental traps and get back into the present moment. Before seeking external validation, ask yourself, “What do I hope that person tells me?” Then tell it to yourself. Iteration, not destination. Experience, not performance. How do I…
Suffer when it’s time to suffer. I created this phrase to calm me down whenever I get anxious, stressed, and worried about something. Because the only time you need to suffer is in the moment of action; not before, not after. You should suffer only during the action. When you are writing the code, when…
Human behaviour is really easy to understand. At the very core, human nature boils down to two ideas: We are wired for survival and replication. Which means inherently we are driven by self interest. We are wired for connection because being a part of a tribe ensures some level of survival. We compete for dominance because…