Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#611

Post by rrecuero » Sat, Jul 30, 2016, 12:23 AM UTC

keyboardhitter wrote: post #368

patrickk wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotal, I was like you, extremely skeptical of meditation. Seriously, try it, it's free! Immediate benefits: * Clear, focused mind. I stop hopping from topic to topic in my mind "oh should I tidy the apartment, work on my website, etc etc" to a far more focused state. What you should do next is there with extreme clarity. You stop reading random junk on the internet too, and get down to it * Much better sleep (thi…

For those who are not familiar, or new to, meditation - I want to offer an alternative to "try not to have any thoughts". The reason why I never started meditating for a long time was because I felt it was too hard, and nearly impossible. Well... because it is very difficult. After years and years of meditating and practicing mindfulness, perhaps this is possible, but IMO not a good starting goal. I prefer to just be…

That's the same way I see it. I would sum it up as becoming aware of the Proprioception of thought.

The same way we are aware of moving our arm when we are doing so, becoming aware of your thoughts while we are thinking. We tend to take are thoughts for granted, giving them automatic truth status

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

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Post by kaybe » Sat, Jul 30, 2016, 12:27 AM UTC

gohrt wrote: post #550

naasking wrote: post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm especially interested in fasting. Not eating for 3 days a month does not seem especially healthy. I'm surprised many believe this. It seems self-evident that our bodies are well adapted to periods of starvation. Any biology that wasn't so adapted would have been out-competed by those did. The link to cancer is typically due to free radical theories causing genetic damage, and caloric restriction is being employ…

Why do we eat food at all? It seems self-evident that a biology that didn't synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide would be outcompeted by those that did.

It's more efficient to let others do the work and simply steal, which is what we are doing, up to the highest level.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

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Post by drworm » Sat, Jul 30, 2016, 12:29 AM UTC

rdegges wrote: post #526

rublev wrote: post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was honestly expecting an obese -> skinnyfat runner body transformation. Pleasantly surprised. What's your diet look like nowadays and what are your lifting stats/height if you don't mind sharing? Thanks.

I just posted some diet stuff up above. But I'm 5'11". Lifting stats? Nothing terribly impressive, I'm afraid. I don't really care about strength much, I try to focus on slow, controlled movements, and being really safe. But, with that said: - bench: 400lbs - squat: 315lbs for reps (been a while though, I recently hurt my back) - deadlift: 585lbs (before I hurt my back, now I don't do them)

If you are truly natty, it would be absurd to call a 400 bench and 585 dead "not terribly impressive".

Btw, crazy gains. You look big in that second pic

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

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Post by rrecuero » Sat, Jul 30, 2016, 12:31 AM UTC

mudil wrote: post #180

iamben wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, took the words out of my mouth. Mediation has been a game changer for me. Understanding the amount of sleep I need has been a big one as well. Also, trying to optimise the way I do things / my systems. We all have them, whether we realise it or not. I'm just trying to better get on top of mine: wake -> meditation -> exercise -> breakfast -> office -- etc.

Honest question. How is meditation different from being engrossed with a hobby? Say doing gardening or fishing, and being totally mentally in it. Just wondering..

Same here. It helps me become more present at every single moment. It prevent me from going on autopilot, and things just "happening" by themselves.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#615

Post by anotherevan » Sat, Jul 30, 2016, 12:36 AM UTC

lucb1e wrote: post #485

mixmastamyk wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure… when I still helped out family I found often I would get blamed for things not working right. Ending that was beneficial.

> when I still helped out family I found often I would get blamed for things not working right. I used to get this from family too but it's been a lot better in recent years. My advice: install the most recent version of their favorite OS and let them stick with it until the end of extended support (so 10 years or so). My people still have Windows 7, are perfectly fine with it and know what to click and what not to c…

Focusing on the technical side, yeah that’s not a bad approach. Mind you, my Dad’s PC just seems flakey that often… bloody Windoze. It died recently with an error message that meant basically, “you’re hosed, do a rescue install,” after which I pretty much had to reinstall and configure all the apps. Contemplating that, I decided there is probably an install of Linux in his not too distant future. 90% of what he uses should still work - and he is already using VirtualBox for an old business program that only works on XP, so there is precedent.

UltraVNC Single Click[1] makes a pretty good remote support solution too.

I’m seriously considering buying a chromebook, just so I can play with one and figure out how good it might be as a future replacement PC (I’m thinking mainly for my Mum — mind you, I set her up with Linux over five years ago, and it has run so smoothly ever since…)

[1] http://www.uvnc.com/products/uvnc-sc.html

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

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Post by cbowal » Sat, Jul 30, 2016, 12:40 AM UTC

stevenmays wrote: post #129

baccredited wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

probably May 2014 when I plugged my spending and net worth numbers into https://lab.madfientist.com/ and it came back with: 9 yrs until FI I had always been a guy who spends less than he makes but that kicked my ass into gear.

here's similar calculators without needing a sign-in: http://mustachecalc.com

I like the default assumed 7% interest

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#617

Post by rrecuero » Sat, Jul 30, 2016, 12:43 AM UTC

deanstag wrote: post #351

overcast wrote: post #296

1. Getting more sleep. 2. Spending more time with family. 3. Finishing projects I start. 4. Solo traveling. I'm done waiting for others to get off their ass.

+1 for solo traveling. done waiting for others and done not being concerned about making other people wait

+1. Great for self awareness and discovery.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

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Post by acangiano » Sat, Jul 30, 2016, 12:45 AM UTC

smt88 wrote: post #3

Functional programming Sleeping 8 hours a night, even when behind on work

And the two go hand in hand. :)

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#619

Post by zerotosixty » Sat, Jul 30, 2016, 12:46 AM UTC

oriel wrote: post #600

kevindeasis wrote: post #584

Most of these haven't become second nature yet, but I'm getting there. The hard part is having momentum and flow. But, generally, my day works out great if I can do all of this in a day. 1) Meditation 2) IFTTT that syncs trello and google calendar 3) Eating Healthier 4) Running 5) ABC: Always be coding 6) Talking to people who are really good at their domain 7) Sleeping: Flux helps 8) App that tracks how much time I…

Can you elaborate more on 14 (decision fatigue)? It sounds like something I've encountered recently (as autonomy increases) but never pinned as a concept that I can talk about.

Most of us have to make multiple decisions in our day-to-day lives. Decisions that varies from a range of very important decisions to less important decisions. From what I can recall we have a limited energy pool to make and execute decisions. Decisions that fall under different categories of importance. I've recently had to set up my day wherein, I don't have to make many non-important decisions and have them instead set-up for me automatically. This way I'll have more energy in my decision-making energy pool. This energy can then be used to do more important stuff that I care about. I hope this helps.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#620

Post by jondubois » Sat, Jul 30, 2016, 12:48 AM UTC

I don't think I've ever had such a moment. I've never had anything in my life work out so unexpectedly well that this thought would have entered my mind.

I am rarely surprised by the consequences of my decisions... When I am surprised it's usually not in a good way. I guess that makes me an optimist? I'm a cynical optimist.