Without an inkling of doubt, Richard W. Hamming lectures and the book based on them “The Art of Doing Science and Engineering, Learning to Learn”. Nothing has had a greater impact on me.
Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
31–40 of 178 posts
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#32[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#33Marriage, parenting, bankruptcy & then learning proper financial management from Dave Ramsey, almost getting a divorce and then going to marriage counseling, OA & other 12 step groups, reading the entire Bible, leaning into hobbies (like learning electronics, learning guitar), home ownership.
Whew.
Wow. I'm surprised I'm still alive!
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#34Reading. 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…
Strongly agree. Something that really helped me was to start listening to audiobooks. It made reading something that required just a little less effort, and so it was easier to do it more often. And I can listen at times when I can't read, like driving or walking.
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#35Not 100% convinced about it, but I wanted to say: that I stopped smoking pot. Told myself well in advance that I'd quit 11 months in to my girlfriend's pregnancy (EDIT - obviously the residual effects are still there. I quit 8 months in to her pregnancy. This is what drugs do, kids.) Since then (now almost a year later) my ability to comprehend and concentrate on technical things has improved a lot. I've learn things…
11 months into the pregnancy you quit? isnt 9 months the usual gestation period?
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#36I 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…
Seeing the template would be awesome.
Sure! Here you go [1]. It works for me (it's just a few hacks), so you may need to tweak it for your own use.
[1] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Nf5IfzmRephJJFiT1VWY...
P.S. This is the newer version[2] I'm using to track my daily work (goal is to do 40 pomodoros per week). I've left the data in it because still developing this new habit
[2] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vwxiz_eh3KnwuziKUqvM...
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#37Not 100% convinced about it, but I wanted to say: that I stopped smoking pot. Told myself well in advance that I'd quit 11 months in to my girlfriend's pregnancy (EDIT - obviously the residual effects are still there. I quit 8 months in to her pregnancy. This is what drugs do, kids.) Since then (now almost a year later) my ability to comprehend and concentrate on technical things has improved a lot. I've learn things…
First: props for stopping smoking pot.
Next ... 11 months in to your girlfriends pregnancy? How does that work exactly (since full term is usually 9 months)?
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#38Exercise, and books. To name a few (in no particular order):
"Choose Yourself" by James Altucher "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill "Mindset" by Carol Dweck "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#39Reading. 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…
What types of books have you read that you've found helped the most with your critical faculties and such?
This year I've finally got around to Infinite Jest. I don't know that I'm enjoying the book itself so much as I enjoy the mental exercise that I get from its reading, if any of that makes sense.
Re: Ask HN: What influenced your personal growth the most?
#40Living abroad for extended period(s) of time.
This for me too. You can't really understand the influences your culture has on you until you try to have a life in a different one.