Smile more. Because it will make you happier and everyone around you happier. Everything will become easier if you smile more.
Ask HN: What's the single best piece of advice you've ever heard?
41–50 of 54 posts
Re: Ask HN: What's the single best piece of advice you've ever heard?
#42Do what you love, what you are good at and what people are willing to pay for.
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Re: Ask HN: What's the single best piece of advice you've ever heard?
#43Health is a precious resource you don't squander. Lack of it can take down even the richest of men. Steve Jobs.
Re: Ask HN: What's the single best piece of advice you've ever heard?
#44I'll paraphrase it because I can't remember how it went. Choose some interest/activity aside from your career and commit to pursue it for the rest of your life. Such a sustained effort will one day prove to be of immense value. If you don't make your choice right now, you never will. I didn't, and I didn't, and at the age of 70 how I wish I had.
It's never too late!
Could you put some examples or make some suggestions? I'm looking for a new hobby, which, apart from being a hobby itself, could help me in other aspects of my life.
Re: Ask HN: What's the single best piece of advice you've ever heard?
#45I'll paraphrase it because I can't remember how it went. Choose some interest/activity aside from your career and commit to pursue it for the rest of your life. Such a sustained effort will one day prove to be of immense value. If you don't make your choice right now, you never will. I didn't, and I didn't, and at the age of 70 how I wish I had.
It's never too late! Could you put some examples or make some suggestions? I'm looking for a new hobby, which, apart from being a hobby itself, could help me in other aspects of my life.
How about climbing? It's awesome exercise, and has been the source of many of my friends and countless road trips for me.
Re: Ask HN: What's the single best piece of advice you've ever heard?
#46Don't believe your thoughts. Stop calling them "my thoughts" -- observe how they emerge and investigate if you're the one causing them.
Wow, genuinely interesting but complicated advise. Literally wouldn't know how to do that but I certainly wish I could attribute thoughts better.
Re: Ask HN: What's the single best piece of advice you've ever heard?
#47Don't believe your thoughts. Stop calling them "my thoughts" -- observe how they emerge and investigate if you're the one causing them.
Wow, genuinely interesting but complicated advise. Literally wouldn't know how to do that but I certainly wish I could attribute thoughts better.
You can start by investigating your thoughts with a sceptic mind.
Especially the ones creating emotional response.
For example "I am a failure."
How do I know this is true? Does failing at one or n things classify me as something?
Would I have failed if I wasn't trying? Was there learning involved?
Do I have a recollection of succeeding at something at least once?
This example is a bit long to show multiple ways of questioning.
Emotionally charged thoughts are more often than not unoriginal and irrational.
You can also look at Byron Katie's "The Work" methodology.
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As for investigating the emergence of your thoughts, simply point your attention to where a thought comes from when you notice you have a thought.
Like, why am I thinking that I am failure? What happened right before that? Did I decide to think that thought before I did?
You may discover that most thoughts are repetitive, unoriginal and automatic. Are they "your thoughts" then if they're just happening to you? Are they "yours" if they happen to a bunch of people?
And, bonus: do you act on all your thoughts? If not, what decides if you'll act? Observe these decisions. Do you will them into existence? Are they happening to you?
"What makes me tick?" Is a question I have curiosity about. These are some directions to put your attention in if you have this curiosity, too.
Re: Ask HN: What's the single best piece of advice you've ever heard?
#48Read the classics!
Re: Ask HN: What's the single best piece of advice you've ever heard?
#49I'll paraphrase it because I can't remember how it went. Choose some interest/activity aside from your career and commit to pursue it for the rest of your life. Such a sustained effort will one day prove to be of immense value. If you don't make your choice right now, you never will. I didn't, and I didn't, and at the age of 70 how I wish I had.
It's never too late! Could you put some examples or make some suggestions? I'm looking for a new hobby, which, apart from being a hobby itself, could help me in other aspects of my life.
A musical instrument.
Re: Ask HN: What's the single best piece of advice you've ever heard?
#50Few worthwhile efforts are every successful on the first attempt.
Failure is a necessary part of eventual success. It provides improved context and insights. As a young man, I thought that something must be wrong with me because I always failed when I tried something new and so I usually gave up.
Guilt has nothing what-so-ever to do with failure.
Failure is just another useful metric.