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Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

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231–240 of 281 posts

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#231
post #129

Work and career progression: “always take the interview”. I reported direct to the CEO at a startup and I told him our largest customer had headhunted me, and I assumed I wasn’t special and they’re probably targeting many of us. He asked me what the process was like and what the offer was, and when I told him I didn’t take the initial call hand he shook his head. “You always take the interview. Absolute worst case is…

Sounds like an amazing CEO

Best job I ever had working with the best people, and I have to think good leadership was a huge part of it. When everything comes together like that you can't imagine ever working anywhere else (hence my initial bewilderment and why he thought I'd take the interview). Eventually leadership changes though...

Truly a privilege to experience it at least once in your career.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#232

Long time ago a friend copied some albums onto minidisk for me. When I played them I saw that he had named each album and track fully. This would have been done by manually choosing each letter using the arrow keys on the remote. It would have taken many hours to do this very tedious task. When I expressed my amazement and thanks, he shrugged and said something that stuck with me ever since: "If a job is worth doing,…

World stands on people like this. Unfortunately there are so few of us :)

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#233

When I was a child in school, we had to cut a piece of paper in the shape of a flower with a hole in the middle, to put around an utensil as a gift. When I cut my flower and tried to fit it in the utensil, the hole was a bit smaller than I needed. I was ready to cut a full circle around the hole when a teacher told me “sometimes all you need is just a little bit” and she cut the smallest piece of paper and suddenly t…

This is probably too literal an interpretation, but it’s similar to some of the best advice I’ve received for woodworking: sneak up on the cut. When I need to cut a piece of wood to an exact precision, I end up making 5-10 cuts to shave off a tiny piece of the end, check if it’s right, and shave again if needed.

Same with lathe/mill work. You repeatedly remove about 90% of the remaining material that needs to be removed, until you're within tolerance. Trying to aim for removing 100% will mean you'll definitely overshoot.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#234

Sleep on it. It's a dishonest actor who tries to rush you into a decision.

Honestly, just "programming" yourself to at least initially say no to any question with a high degree of time pressure will save you from by far most scams.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#235

Work and career progression: “always take the interview”. I reported direct to the CEO at a startup and I told him our largest customer had headhunted me, and I assumed I wasn’t special and they’re probably targeting many of us. He asked me what the process was like and what the offer was, and when I told him I didn’t take the initial call hand he shook his head. “You always take the interview. Absolute worst case is…

Interviewing isn’t free. Let’s say it is $5k of time to prep for it etc. Maybe don’t say yes to all of them!

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#236

- to get what you have never got, be prepared to do what you have never done - do not allow your inbox to manage your time - Manage, or be managed - people overpay to have you keep doing what you were already doing before. - win:wins - most people do not experience pmf that then warps their thinking into plateaus of mediocrity - it is mighty difficult to create wealth being an employee. Most mansions, large homes in…

Pmf?

product market fit

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#239
post #225

For young, single heterosexual men; cultivate deep platonic friendships with women. Get a hobby, do charity work, find something where you meet and become good friends with multiple women of different ages and backgrounds. Do not ever attempt to date any of these women. Why? Because most men know woefully few women, and your life will be much richer. A lot of men know very little about the experiences, fears, and hop…

A woman will very unlikely give you an honest advice. They are usually not made for that with friends. They usually just re-assure and "support" you. That's been my experience. There are two types of woman who will be-friend you platonically: Woman who are interested in you sexually as a partner and want to be close to your radar, just in case. Woman who are not interested in you but find value in your friendship (ei…

Holy shit you have not met many women.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#240
post #239
post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A woman will very unlikely give you an honest advice. They are usually not made for that with friends. They usually just re-assure and "support" you. That's been my experience. There are two types of woman who will be-friend you platonically: Woman who are interested in you sexually as a partner and want to be close to your radar, just in case. Woman who are not interested in you but find value in your friendship (ei…

Holy shit you have not met many women.

I have been arguing with myself about replying to the comment you replied to.

Good lord that person reveals a lot about themselves in it. And none of it is good. If they didn't seem to be angry, I'd pity them.

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