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Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#43
I followed the advice of lifting weights.

Before that I was feeling pretty tired of my life, barely played with my little son, was exhasuted in my work as data scientist and my personal relationships with my wife, family and friends were poor. Also I didn't had the energy to pursue my hobbies, was abusing cannabis and alcohol and had poor eating and sleeping habits.

Since I started going to the gym and found this simple beginner routine everything started to feel better. Something changed and feel way better and improving every other aspect of my life.

I started this program, but I think anything similar will help: https://stronglifts.com/

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#44

“…for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ’If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.” - Steve Jobs' 2005 St…

It’s cute but it doesn’t mean what people think it means. It’s not a call for hedonism or short-term happiness, but the complete opposite: a call for transcendence and meaning and good deeds reflected in eternity (i.e. after you die today).

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#46
post #2

Do you have evidence or do you have assumptions? Something I learned in CBT - while I can trust my mind to return facts I know most of the time, if I'm in a heated moment or excessively stressed out I can start making assumptions of the world (to save time and think faster?) - sometimes these assumptions are wrong. Basically the therapist taught me to be less like ChatGPT, haha. I can express my assumptions and opini…

Thanks for sharing this, I’ll have to try making my own brag docs. I’ve recently started a new position & I can feel the imposter syndrome creeping back in.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#48
Work and career progression: “always take the interview”.

I reported direct to the CEO at a startup and I told him our largest customer had headhunted me, and I assumed I wasn’t special and they’re probably targeting many of us. He asked me what the process was like and what the offer was, and when I told him I didn’t take the initial call hand he shook his head. “You always take the interview. Absolute worst case is you confirm you’re happy where you are. Median case is you confirm your worth and force me to have a difficult conversation where you’ve got the most leverage. Best case is you find a new better thing. But through it all you’re exercising the muscle of interviewing while you’re at the top of your game. People always let it atrophy and then try and rebuild it when they’re at their low point. Frustrated with where they are. Unexcited about the things they’re working on, and unable to fake talking about them in the overly positive ways they need to. Don’t want until a low point to work out what comes next. Always take the interview”.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?

#49

“…for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ’If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.” - Steve Jobs' 2005 St…

This is not good advice and it largely goes against steve jobs work. This fundamentally works, for a small subset of people that are predisposed via their personality to extremely high levels of dilligence and conscientiousness who need to be told to stop working.

If you are the opposite, this advice basically says "stop sacrificing the short term for the long term, and stop working towards difficult but ultimately worthwhile things, and enjoy short term pleasure" which is terrible advice if you do that by habit anyway

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