the books I read, the TED talks I watched and the people I met!
Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
11–20 of 178 posts
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#12I think sticking to things I start has contributed the most personal growth for me. I think for anything to have any effect on you, you have to stick with it for at least 6 months or more (though it definitely depends on each activity). In the last 2 years I have been able to lose 8kgs, increase my business, cure my chronic backache and become a lot happier using this one trick of sticking to things daily without fai…
I use a similar technique [1] and I’ve also yielded great results from it, but my goals tend to be more progressive. Everything that you do better than yesterday is streak, so if your aim is going to bed at 10am (why!?) the streak is what takes you closer to it.
[1] https://medium.com/@duopixel/the-qualified-self-7f69c6b23623
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#13About ten years ago, after my grandmother died, I got really into Robert Anton Wilson. That sort of set the trajectory for the rest of my life. While I think RAW was wrong about a lot of things, the meta-lesson of erring on the side of agnosis -- trusting that, when the world doesn't behave in line with your expectations (and often even when it does) it's because of unknown unknowns, and that the world is stranger an…
I can't agree more with this. Robert Anton Wilson's books are extremely readable, entertaining, and will definitely help you see a new perspective. For programmers and tech people I'd recommend RAW above Godel, Escher, Bach, for example. One of his many intriguing ideas, borrowed from Alfred Korzybski, is that "The Map is Not the Territory". Always know that whatever map or idea you have is only ever, at best, a fragmentary and limited version of whatever in the objective world it's meant to represent. Kudos.
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#14Reading. I used to tell myself that I loved to read, but I never read any books. It was a feel-good saying I told myself because everyone likes to think they love to read.
The past few years, I started to actually read. I've fallen in love with reading. The world is more open, my critical analysis is stronger, and my school and engineering work has improved. Overall, I have a much happier disposition than before I read.
I don't know whether to attribute this change to reading or maturing; it's probably a mix of both. However, I think I really enjoy reading now because I select works that I consider well-written. This single characteristic, reading something that is well-written, has changed my outlook on reading. There is some incredible writing out there, and I wish I started reading these pieces when I was younger.
> A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies... The man who never reads lives only one. > > - George R.R. Martin
Edit for parallelism.
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#15About ten years ago, after my grandmother died, I got really into Robert Anton Wilson. That sort of set the trajectory for the rest of my life. While I think RAW was wrong about a lot of things, the meta-lesson of erring on the side of agnosis -- trusting that, when the world doesn't behave in line with your expectations (and often even when it does) it's because of unknown unknowns, and that the world is stranger an…
This is not the first time I see a RAW reference when it comes to personal growth/mental health. But he has written so much. What should I start with and how should I continue?
His whole canon fits together somewhat, in that he refreshes and repeats ideas throughout his writing career, which means that you can almost jump in anywhere and pick up the thread. I'd recommend "Prometheus Rising" and "Quantum Psychology" as a good place to start. Also, don't be put off by his use of the word 'illuminati' in his work - he started that whole joke.
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#16A few different things:
- Growing up with a maker dad and an artist mom. I would routinely come home from school and my Dad would be doing something like building a robot mouse trap with an IR tripwire, and my mom would be on the phone working connections to get a radio interview to talk about a new project. Nothing seemed out of bounds or too hard to try doing yourself.
- Studying music, and learning that nothing is objectively difficult, just relatively unfamiliar. Learning that any skill is attainable through the right kind of practice.
- Joining a 2-person start up and growing with it through to an exit. Learning there's no magic to a successful company or project, it's about solving a series of practical problems like anything else.
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#17Repeatedly taking jobs outside of my "core competency".
Perspective taking.
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#18I think sticking to things I start has contributed the most personal growth for me. I think for anything to have any effect on you, you have to stick with it for at least 6 months or more (though it definitely depends on each activity). In the last 2 years I have been able to lose 8kgs, increase my business, cure my chronic backache and become a lot happier using this one trick of sticking to things daily without fai…
> The only thing which this never worked is sleeping at 10 a.m.
Do you mean "at 10 PM", or "until 10 AM", or do you just have a bizarre biorhythm?
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#19Luck.
I was going to reply with a personality trait, but let's be honest, 90%+ of every success story is plain luck.
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#20Reading. I used to tell myself that I loved to read, but I never read any books. It was a feel-good saying I told myself because everyone likes to think they love to read. The past few years, I started to actually read. I've fallen in love with reading. The world is more open, my critical analysis is stronger, and my school and engineering work has improved. Overall, I have a much happier disposition than before I re…
Also from Martin:
>[A] mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.