Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

“Become Abnormal”: traits to cultivate for top performance

capitalandgrowth.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 116 posts

Re: “Become Abnormal”: traits to cultivate for top performance

#81

Post by proverbialbunny »

taurath wrote: post #33

I've watched enough people grow up, become rich and powerful, then find in their 40s they have absolutely no skills to enjoy the fruits of their labor. They stopped practicing empathy so long ago to get to where they were they don't even realize how much of life's genuine enjoyment they are missing. There are a few who have the time of their lives the whole way through. Not very many. In short, just because one can,…

When I was in my late 20s I won the bitcoin goldrush. I had more money than I knew what to do with and from that I fell into depression.

It took me a while to come to the realization that I love doing things, eg I love programming, but I don't always have projects I want to be doing. Thankfully, I love just doing fun things, so turns out companies are perfect for giving me things to do.

I'm not a workaholic, quite the opposite. I have hobbies and what not, but I enjoy working.

Maybe I never learned how to enjoy the fruits of my labor, or maybe I have, being lucky enough to go through psychological growth bumping into these challenges and prospering from them.

The human condition is odd, isn't it?

Re: “Become Abnormal”: traits to cultivate for top performance

#82

Post by lihaciudaniel »

unfunco wrote: post #80
lihaciudaniel wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Understand that you are closing off doors as much as opening new ones You can't have everything. You must sacrifice family if you want success and if you want family you must sacrifice success. Some people aren't even aware of that and blame the former for their lack of success.

I don't think that's true at all, pulling two obvious examples out of the air, both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, two of the most successful men in history, are both seemingly dedicated to their families. Success is also a subjective term, success here is (I think) implicitly being defined as wealth, both Gates and Buffett are hyper-successful, and I know plenty of more-ordinarily successful people with families too…

>both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, two of the most successful men in history, are both seemingly dedicated to their families.

So the richest (for most part of time) and second richest man have privilege to spend time with family? What a surprise

>Success is also a subjective term

Let's not play the word game, if you made a billion dollar last year. You are successful, this is pretty much the normal definition of it. Don't change it to fit something like family matters, community matters or noble purposes imho

Re: “Become Abnormal”: traits to cultivate for top performance

#83

Post by GlennS »

thomk wrote: post #41
holografix wrote: post #31

Warning: this post is a generalisation that could offend some people. I’m writing it because I feel I have to. This reads _very_ American. By that I mean both a good and, more so than ever in 2020, a bad thing. The good is obviously the undying optimism, self belief resilience and competitiveness I see displayed in the American way of life so often. The bad is how it lays the responsibility for outcomes solely at the…

Your points here are exactly why I am no longer religious. Also, if you are easily offended, I'd skip the rest of this, I do not want to offend anyone, these are my opinions alone. If you worship any God, then you can never be as good as your God. You can never be #1 even after you die. The whole framework sets you up for a life of the inability to win. You are at BEST going to be #2 because you can never ever be #1.…

This one really threw me.

I'm often critical of religion myself, and find it all a bit baffling to be honest, but I feel like you've really misread believers here.

Surely the point of religion is not to compete with the divine, but to humble yourself in obeisance to it?

One example: "Islam means submission".

OK, so there are televangelists and muscular Christianity and so on, but they make up a small part, don't they?

Re: “Become Abnormal”: traits to cultivate for top performance

#84

Post by thedoctor79 »

friendlybus wrote: post #52
thomk wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your points here are exactly why I am no longer religious. Also, if you are easily offended, I'd skip the rest of this, I do not want to offend anyone, these are my opinions alone. If you worship any God, then you can never be as good as your God. You can never be #1 even after you die. The whole framework sets you up for a life of the inability to win. You are at BEST going to be #2 because you can never ever be #1.…

You're not necessarily meant to compete with a being conceived as omnipotent, omni-powerful and creator of the universe. I'd be wary of american churches too, given the role religion plays in american culture.

It's not the competion that matters, not even playing against or defeating the #1 tennis player. Think of it as a tennis point being played. If both you and #1 play the point perfectly, a beautiful play that will remain in tennis history and create a sense of wonder in many people that watch that point, it does not even matter if you win or lose the point, what truly matters is being part of something great, greater than yourself, greater than the current #1 in the tennis. But to be able to do that, it requires a lot of work, a lot of dedication, and a mindset of playing for the game's sake, playing to feel good and have fun and make other people feel good watching, not trying to win a competition. Also, it doesn't mean that the point could not be played in a different way which is also perfect and beautiful in its own, so other people could potentially play that point and that doesn't mean they're lesser players that you, and it doesn't mean that somebody who can win all points and matches is also playing the most beautiful tennis ever.

Re: “Become Abnormal”: traits to cultivate for top performance

#85

Post by [deleted] »

bluedays wrote: post #11

Yeah, I get this a lot. I spend hours every day dedicated to doing things to improve my skills to become more valuable in IT. People think I'm crazy, but in the time frame I have begun to do this (since my daughter was born) I can now probably run circles around anyone else who would have started at the same time. Hours of dedication, every day, is not normal. It's probably not healthy either, but I got a late start…

[deleted]

Re: “Become Abnormal”: traits to cultivate for top performance

#86

Post by friendlybus »

thedoctor79 wrote: post #84
friendlybus wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not necessarily meant to compete with a being conceived as omnipotent, omni-powerful and creator of the universe. I'd be wary of american churches too, given the role religion plays in american culture.

It's not the competion that matters, not even playing against or defeating the #1 tennis player. Think of it as a tennis point being played. If both you and #1 play the point perfectly, a beautiful play that will remain in tennis history and create a sense of wonder in many people that watch that point, it does not even matter if you win or lose the point, what truly matters is being part of something great, greater…

You've described the hero's journey but I don't see how it applies to the context of this thread? Is your point; that the metaphor for something greater than yourself is an adequate replacement for religion or something?

Re: “Become Abnormal”: traits to cultivate for top performance

#87

Post by Cthulhu_ »

austinl wrote: post #18
bluedays wrote: post #11

Yeah, I get this a lot. I spend hours every day dedicated to doing things to improve my skills to become more valuable in IT. People think I'm crazy, but in the time frame I have begun to do this (since my daughter was born) I can now probably run circles around anyone else who would have started at the same time. Hours of dedication, every day, is not normal. It's probably not healthy either, but I got a late start…

Curious about what you're doing. I also dedicate a good amount of time each day to learning, but am still pretty skeptical about the ROI for some of the things I'm doing. I spend a lot of time on Coursera, reading eng. blogs, watching WWDC videos (since I do iOS).

Doing that will make you more better in the iOS space, so it's definitely worth doing; there is a LOT to learn in that area.

What has been my personal compounding interest kinda thing has been architectural design, data modeling and databases (SQL), loads of things that are not exclusive to one language or environment.

Re: “Become Abnormal”: traits to cultivate for top performance

#88

Post by FireLiar »

unfunco wrote: post #80
lihaciudaniel wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Understand that you are closing off doors as much as opening new ones You can't have everything. You must sacrifice family if you want success and if you want family you must sacrifice success. Some people aren't even aware of that and blame the former for their lack of success.

I don't think that's true at all, pulling two obvious examples out of the air, both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, two of the most successful men in history, are both seemingly dedicated to their families. Success is also a subjective term, success here is (I think) implicitly being defined as wealth, both Gates and Buffett are hyper-successful, and I know plenty of more-ordinarily successful people with families too…

I don't view anyone who has amassed anything under $10MM in networth as successful; I believe me and the parent are in agreement on this.

You cannot amass this much wealth in a reasonable -- 40-50 y.os need not apply -- timeframe if you have a family commitment. Even significant others may become detrimental to that end, if they cannot accept that they're #2 now. Close relationships take time. An absolute fuckload of time.

In order to gain that amount of wealth, it takes years of 70+ hour work weeks. You will neither have the time nor inclination to spend time with tour loved ones if you're truly operating on all cylinders. If you're not, that's fine. That's your choice, but there's many more out there that don't have those kinds of personal hangups and will dedicate more time to winning.

You would not be able to understand unless you've been there.

Oh and Warren Buffett is not a paragon of family values. He has had falling outs with and disowned one of his children -- the rest is washed away by PR firms.

Gates too. Melinda would barely see him in the early days of MSFT. Neither would his first newborn child, while Gates was wrapped up in the antitrust suits.

These people were businessman first and foremost. They did not get to the top of the food chain by spending quality time with their children. Theire businesses (or passions) will always be #1 to them.

Invariably, these men have spent less time with their children and wives than any poor south americans -- who happen to have higher emotional wellness than their American counterparts.

This isn't about not having a family. Many high perfomance men have families, but they always take a back seat to their missions. Perhaps in later life when they're more established, that changes; I've seen it happen.

Re: “Become Abnormal”: traits to cultivate for top performance

#89

Post by TomMarius »

thcricketfan wrote: post #79
jierenchen wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funny thing about knowledge work is that it sits somewhere between additive and compounding. Additive like: Let's say you shovel sand into a pit and you shovel 1% more than your peers every day for a year. By end of year, you will have shoveled 1% more. Compounding like: You're a derivatives trader and make 1% more returns every day for a year than your peers. By end of year you will have made 3780% more. Knowled…

Great idea. As a beginner i struggle with this. Since you have thought about this, Any tips on how to achieve the compounding? Thank You.

Spend time looking for absolutely well curated, well reviewed learning texts regarding a topic that interests you, often in the form of a university course or a blog on a specific topic. Then dedicate time every day to go through it, really be present, make notes and finish. Try learning approaches like spaced repetition learning.

If you want to solidify your knowledge, make a 30-min talk for your peers about the topic. Commit to make it perfect and be prepared for their questions.

And remember that friendship must be actively maintained.

Re: “Become Abnormal”: traits to cultivate for top performance

#90

Post by simplyinfinity »

proverbialbunny wrote: post #81
taurath wrote: post #33

I've watched enough people grow up, become rich and powerful, then find in their 40s they have absolutely no skills to enjoy the fruits of their labor. They stopped practicing empathy so long ago to get to where they were they don't even realize how much of life's genuine enjoyment they are missing. There are a few who have the time of their lives the whole way through. Not very many. In short, just because one can,…

When I was in my late 20s I won the bitcoin goldrush. I had more money than I knew what to do with and from that I fell into depression. It took me a while to come to the realization that I love doing things, eg I love programming, but I don't always have projects I want to be doing. Thankfully, I love just doing fun things, so turns out companies are perfect for giving me things to do. I'm not a workaholic, quite th…

A lot of people want to be rich and do 'nothing'- eg. sit on a beach all day or travel all the time. Most people will experience the same thing as you did, but don't know it before hand. People want to be useful and do something, what they don't want is crap bosses and poor work conditions. From what I've observed, people with good bosses & work conditions (including adequate salary to cover their needs and save some) tend to desire less to be rich as all their needs are covered. More often people under poor working conditions & pay desire to be rich as means to get away from their situation thinking it would solve their problems.
Post reply on HN