The God Emperor himself. Can you think of any other modern day hero who went through more than he did to get elected?
Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
211–220 of 243 posts
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#212The only option if you want to succeed is to keep trying. A while ago I went to China. After visiting Hong Kong, where I had a few friends who lived there to help me out, and the city itself is fairly westernized and friendly to foreigners, I flew directly into Xi'an. Xi'an is where the Terra Cotta warriors are, but despite those being a fairly large tourist attraction, the city itself is very...Chinese. Very few peo…
I went to Japan a few years back. Almost no one speaks any practical English in Japan. So I was like "Well, after wanting to go for years and years, I'm finally here. It's a different country, home is a planet's breadth away, and no one speaks my language. If I want anything, I can ask for it in shitty Japanese and be thought a fool, or I can repeat English phrases as if that would help any and remove all doubt."
I did gain considerable experience with the language, and I found a way to do or obtain anything I wanted (sometimes by asking for an English speaker to help me).
My mom still wonders how I did it -- find my way in a completely foreign country where the language and customs are so thorought different. I keep telling her, it's just a matter of having the gumption to do it. Knowing Japanese helps, but learning as I went (as I was forced to do) helped me more.
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#213Having a constant that stays with you in good times and bad has helped me. Could be a person, a piece of music, a book, a video/tv series/movie or just a long a walk. Following stoicism helps. I read the book listed below that explains it well. My main takeaway from that book was that it is much easier to be happy if one stops caring about two things - External validation and Instant Gratification. "One of the great…
I'm from India. Glad you quoted from gita. There is another succinct version, loosely translated as "the essence of gita". I scoured for a relevant English version and found something here which might be relevant - http://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/52974-English-tra...
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#214Learned optimism - or at least this blog post - https://github.com/raganwald/presentations/blob/master/optim... Changed my whole outlook.
I keep finding that no matter how much I want to be an optimist I cannot. The problem I have with it is that it feels as if I'm deluding myself whenever I try to be optimistic about anything and I can't hold it for any significant amount of time, perhaps I get too carried away when I become "optimistic". Maybe it's just me but would you have any tips to overcome or at least come to terms with this mentality?
IIRC that's what the researchers found also- gains were short-lived.
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#215For me, failure is just a railroad switch on a railway of life. It can be a bumpy turn, but most of the time everything ends just fine.
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#216For me, failure is just a railroad switch on a railway of life. It can be a bumpy turn, but most of the time everything ends just fine.
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#217Reminding myself that perseverance is the only thing that works.
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." -- Calvin Coolidge
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#218I realized a while ago that inspiration isn't very helpful for getting you through adversity. Inspiration gets you going, but grit and discipline ultimately help you push through. I'm going to go against the grain of most of what's being said in this thread and say that the best way to get through adversity is to discard a goal-based mentality entirely, in favor of a system-based mentality. Figure out the stuff you h…
> started with making my bed as soon as I got up every day This is exactly the advice from Admiral Mc Raven at the university of Texas commencement ceremony. He recalls it as one of the most important lessons he got from its navy SEAL training: https://news.utexas.edu/2014/05/16/mcraven-urges-graduates-t...
I also had to comment. That was awesome.
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#219I realized a while ago that inspiration isn't very helpful for getting you through adversity. Inspiration gets you going, but grit and discipline ultimately help you push through. I'm going to go against the grain of most of what's being said in this thread and say that the best way to get through adversity is to discard a goal-based mentality entirely, in favor of a system-based mentality. Figure out the stuff you h…
This is very close to Buddhist philosophy. Shorter goals means your mind is closer to living in the now. Which in reality is the only time it's possible to live in. But if your mind isn't with you in the now, then you aren't fully enjoying it. It would go futher and say that after making plans to do the dishes, the joy now comes from doing the dishes. Not in having them done, which only lasts a fraction of an instant. The past can't sustain you. But the present does. The feel of the warm water on your hands. The sound of the water running. The smell of soap suds. That's what life is made up of.
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
I respect your comment and the one you responded to. Being an old school nerd, only the toughest survived with a love of technology back then. I recall a stream of bullying and it either makes or breaks you. However, being a nerd is no longer the same as it was back then. What frustrates me today is how the media (collectively) have revised the history books and promote some fairly extreme bullying (see the verge's a…
>Being an old school nerd, only the toughest survived with a love of technology back then. Ah yes, only the toughest survive. Tech nerds are so tough that they get offended when somebody doesn't like their shirt. >What frustrates me today is how the media (collectively) have revised the history books and promote some fairly extreme bullying (see the verge's article on Matt Taylor as an example of some extreme and unj…
>Ah yes, only the toughest survive. Tech nerds are so tough that they get offended when somebody doesn't like their shirt.
No, you would know it was due to real, physical bullying back then. Not "someone said something I don't like on the internet", but injuring someone and/or degrading them publically due to them loving technology.
Oh, while we're at public degradation. >They were complaining that he was wearing a shirt with scantily clad women on it? How is that gender-based harassment?
He was wearing a shirt his female friend made for him. She wasn't harassed for making it, he was - because he is a white male in a science field, the social justice warriors of the internet decided he is a target for abuse and public degradation, that a shirt is a reason women aren't getting into science. They decided he is a "misogynist" and a "sexist pigdog". That's abuse. That's bullying.
>Unless you are in the category of people with the highest level of privilege in our society, you are not allowed to forget these aspects of your identity. The police, public restrooms, inaccessible buildings, and other people will relentlessly remind you of your abnormality and victimize you.
Really? And let me guess, that would be a straight white male. You're doing a good job of reminding people of their abnormality and victimizing them.