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Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

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Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#691

Post by JoeAltmaier »

jjice wrote: post #160

Ignorance can be bliss. Didn't change my life, but has definitely helped me in a lot of cases, especially recent times. Generally speaking, I can't affect what is currently happening in the news, despite how upsetting it might be, and it won't even affect me in a lot of cases. I try to consume little information for things I don't care about or will have a negative effect on me as a way to spare myself from anxiety.…

Its some sort of Western nonsense, that we're all Kings and must keep up on politics, current events etc. Something about being right, or being the smartest person in the room, or something.

So much satisfaction from living your life, right where you are. Trust that it all won't come crashing down without your input, and go back to your garden (or whatever you cherish).

Definitely leave facebook memes behind, forever.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#692

Post by JoeAltmaier »

LouisSayers wrote: post #512

My Grandmother once told me: "If you want to work at a company, dress like the people that work there. Because those are the people that the company hires." I've used this general philosophy in my life to pass courses at university, win competitions, and get through job interviews. I don't know if my grandmother meant this in a literal sense, or was hinting at the fact that (as Tony Robbins says) success leaves clues…

Oh I like that one! Its like the disabled Scout who sold more popcorn than anyone in the district, when asked "How do you sell so much popcorn?" answered "I go to the houses where the lights are on!"

Sometimes we jump right past the simplest, most direct solutions. We're looking for a shortcut or something. But all successful journeys start, not with a single step, but by facing in the right direction!

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#693

Post by alexandercrohde »

darkerside wrote: post #192

This might be super basic, but... assume positive intent. Your parent is not your enemy. Your teacher is not your enemy. Your boss is not your enemy. The other team at work is not your enemy. The corporation is not your enemy. The other political party is not your enemy. Or, more accurately, YOU are not THEIR enemy. At best, you're an NPC in their game. Many of them probably even want to help you, because you are ano…

Meh. I think you can assume the average person is casually well-meaning. You can't assume the average person is trying to help you with all/most of their actions.

I don't think you can assume the average person is honest/transparent. You can't assume the person you're negotiating your salary with is going to tell you if your offer is much too low. You can't assume HR isn't going to lie about the reason the fired somebody. You can't assume the company will give you any heads up if they're thinking about firing you.

A lot of people offering "feedback," especially public, especially if it's negative, are just angry venters. And this goes both directions E.g. Glassdoor.

Not saying it's good to have a chip on your shoulder about any of this, but it definitely shouldn't be swept under the rug.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#694

Post by brailsafe »

1) Give yourself time, not too much and not too little, to spend alone. Then spend as much as you can with or talking to others who would return the gesture.

2) Most work, especially in tech, isn't that important and won't change anything, so reduce your sacrifice for some company. Whatever SaaS thing you're working on to save small business owners 5 minutes a day just isn't worth your mental health, and some aspects of American industrialism is toxic af. I used to think of Apple as a world changing product designer, but later I realized that it's just a company with a vaguely interesting story, and one that does make well-designed objects, but most people could do without their iPhones for a long time and be better off.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#695

Post by hmd_imputer »

smckk wrote: post #572

Weeks. Segment your time to complete things into weeks. Months have too much wiggle room and days are too tight. Most people don’t even have the weeks option displaying on the digital calendars (phones, laptops) they use. For long term projects of any kind using the week as a unit of time is the best way to cross the finish line. This is possible for personal projects and for entrepreneurs. If you can get into this t…

In my current company, we have a "calendar week" based schedule. Everything is planned based on that time segmentation principle. For example, "the start of production is planned for calendar week 45" - that is it, no month, no quarter no date - simply, the 45th week of the year.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#696

Post by aklemm »

The concept of Comparative Advantage unlocked a helpful perspective on politics for me. It led me to shed a series of errors in thinking by confronting me with the idea that a lot of critical political issues are complicated and non-obvious.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#697

Post by dgritsko »

teraflop wrote: post #170
endymi0n wrote: post #150

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot o…

"Dude, sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something." -- Jake the Dog

Whenever someone says they "aren't good at something" I'm fond of reminding them (and myself) that "you don't get better at something by _not doing it_".

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#698

Post by blackboxlogic »

hef19898 wrote: post #642
Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> assume positive intent. I feel like this is somewhat related to Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." Maybe the guy driving like an asshole and making a sudden lane change is actually unfamiliar with the area and noticed a bit late that their lane ends or is becoming an exit/turn-only lane.

Sometimes I have the feeling that, at the very extreme ends of each spectrum, stupidity and malice converge and become indistinguishable.

Sometimes, I would spent time trying to understand if someone was "asshole" or "idiot", the distinction being whether or not they understood the negative effects of their actions. I've recently decided that it didn't matter because I deploy the same polite mitigation strategy for both.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#699

Post by hmd_imputer »

mam2 wrote: post #622

The trump 2016 election (and even the whole presidency) was a slap in the face for some people, but if you look objectively there seem to be a bunch of unconventional truths / ideas in it. Like - "Become a good person doesn't matter and can even look weak, being aggressive and though is more important". (I still remember jeb bush offended saying to trump that he will not 'bully his way to the presidency' while he was…

there is a saying, although very vulgar, "if you f* you will be loved if you love you will be f*d"

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#700

Post by dgritsko »

"It is always better to not have a problem than to mitigate it", from this article that John Carmack wrote several years back[1]. In the context of the article it feels almost like a throwaway line, but I've found it to be deeply profound and it has since affected how I choose potential solutions in almost any situation. Should I do the "quick fix" (mitigating a problem), or would it be better if the problem _didn't exist in the first place_?

[1]: https://www.wired.com/2013/02/john-carmacks-latency-mitigati...

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