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Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

awesomekling.github.io

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Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#71

Post by 331c8c71 »

blfr wrote: post #13
wccrawford wrote: post #4

Life is about taking risk. We make daily decisions that involve big and small risk constantly. Choosing to enjoy life today instead of waiting for tomorrow for that enjoyment isn't a failure , it's a choice. It comes with risk and tradeoffs. Everyone thinks there's a magical line that everyone else should take that straddles that line between enjoyment today and tomorrow. That lines doesn't exist, and isn't even the…

"Choosing to enjoy life" is not how most people get fat. It's not meals with friends and family but rather scrolling tiktok and eating potato chips.

Not really I think. I think people eat more than they need because 1) it's a form of self soothing 2) habits and choice of food.

I for one gain weight pretty easily when I start eating carbs such as pasta and bread without restraint - even on holidays when I am pretty physical.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#72

Post by sanderjd »

Arisaka1 wrote: post #14

Ever since I quit my first job I've been tinkering with languages and frameworks. And every time I would complete a book or course I'd face the decision of building something on my own. That building never happens. 1 month later my portfolio is nonexistent, there are no projects, and my blog is a figment of my imagination. And right now I'm in the process of learning yet another framework. So I've been thinking: This…

I would give you different advice than "just start building projects": The language and framework that the first iteration of something is built in does not matter. You already know enough tools to build anything you want. If you want to build stuff, stop learning new tools. Maybe you'll replace the time you've been spending learning new tools with video games or TV shows, but maybe you'll replace it with building stuff, instead.

This is a classic trap that young programmers fall into, to fetishize tools and condition doing useful work on learning a bunch of tools. Just say no!

(This isn't anti-intellectualism - you'll eventually learn a bunch more tools as you go.)

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#73

Post by mason55 »

TheHumanist wrote: post #22
Arisaka1 wrote: post #14

Ever since I quit my first job I've been tinkering with languages and frameworks. And every time I would complete a book or course I'd face the decision of building something on my own. That building never happens. 1 month later my portfolio is nonexistent, there are no projects, and my blog is a figment of my imagination. And right now I'm in the process of learning yet another framework. So I've been thinking: This…

Man you just hit me hard with this... Also add one insanely overbearing mother that expects straight As and a perfect child, on top of some bullying and such... Really leads you to just want to curl up and not take risks anymore. I've just been discovering, through the aid of therapy, just how much my mother has affected my whole life up to this point. I love her and she was doing her best. I really believe she was,…

> and also my terrible ADHD

FWIW, programming and ADHD tend to go well together once you can get past the basics. Especially when you're in the flow of things, it's just a constant loop of small change -> visible progress -> dopamine hit. Combine that with hyperfocus on the occasional deep bug and it can feel like a superpower.

Don't get me wrong, there are lots of other times where it doesn't work like that, and this assumes you can actually get started, but when you do it can be magical.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#74

Post by taeric »

xupybd wrote: post #59
unmole wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But is unlikely to make a difference.

All the small things add up. You'd be surprised how effective they can be when combined

Indeed, walking punches way over expectations for keeping weight off. You have to do a good hour of a walk, but an hour walking is probably better than a rushed workout of similar time.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#75

Post by PaulHoule »

CyberDildonics wrote: post #49
PaulHoule wrote: post #23

I think it’s going to come out eventually that obesity is not a failure of willpower but a derangement of your metabolism caused by some environmental chemical such as PFAS, glyphosate, etc.

What evidence makes you think that instead of the idea that sugar and sugar addiction is a major cause of obesity? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Obesity rates rise sharply circa 1980, when the deregulatory climate became entrenched in the US and UK and there is a proliferation of new chemicals. You might say corn syrup became popular then but cane sugar was around long before obesity became epidemic.

Dietary and lifestyle interventions notoriously don’t work, or rather they work temporarily. There seems to be a set-point for weight and you just won’t eat enough to go over it and have a very hard time to go under it. That set point seems to have gone up.

Here are some reviews

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-0...

https://academic.oup.com/endo/article/161/3/bqaa024/5739626

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3076189/

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#76

Post by tgv »

That title: how is excellence a habit? You can't excel without consistent practice (unless it's a completely new field, possibly), but that doesn't make it a habit. The reverse doesn't hold. While failure may also be lack of habit.

Clickbait is a habit, I suppose.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#77

Post by [deleted] »

wccrawford wrote: post #4

Life is about taking risk. We make daily decisions that involve big and small risk constantly. Choosing to enjoy life today instead of waiting for tomorrow for that enjoyment isn't a failure , it's a choice. It comes with risk and tradeoffs. Everyone thinks there's a magical line that everyone else should take that straddles that line between enjoyment today and tomorrow. That lines doesn't exist, and isn't even the…

[deleted]

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#78

Post by CyberDildonics »

PaulHoule wrote: post #75
CyberDildonics wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What evidence makes you think that instead of the idea that sugar and sugar addiction is a major cause of obesity? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Obesity rates rise sharply circa 1980, when the deregulatory climate became entrenched in the US and UK and there is a proliferation of new chemicals. You might say corn syrup became popular then but cane sugar was around long before obesity became epidemic. Dietary and lifestyle interventions notoriously don’t work, or rather they work temporarily. There seems to be a set-point for weight and you just won’t eat enou…

Obesity rates rise sharply circa 1980

This is explained directly in the video I linked. Cane sugar is more expensive and less consistent commodity while corn syrup is cheap and consistent. Fat became demonized from bad science and sugar was added to almost everything.

Dietary and lifestyle interventions notoriously don’t work

They absolutely work individually. If someone changes their diet to cut out sugar they lose weight very consistently. Expecting that of people is not a systemic solution however. Watch the video I linked instead of trying to explain everything with looser correlations.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#80

Post by 300bps »

wccrawford wrote: post #4

Life is about taking risk. We make daily decisions that involve big and small risk constantly. Choosing to enjoy life today instead of waiting for tomorrow for that enjoyment isn't a failure , it's a choice. It comes with risk and tradeoffs. Everyone thinks there's a magical line that everyone else should take that straddles that line between enjoyment today and tomorrow. That lines doesn't exist, and isn't even the…

OP's take on this resonated with me deeply. Throughout my life I've held the belief that, "I generally choose the right path." That's helped me in five decades of life to never be overweight, never smoke cigarettes, never do an illicit drug, etc. Your take on this topic does not come across as helpful or beneficial to me:

First, in the moment, be conscious of what the risks are, and if they are worth it. If they aren't, take pride in settling for less at the moment so you can safeguard your future.

I think it's important to forgive ourselves when we don't choose the right path. Shame isn't good for anyone. But to take pride in it? I don't believe that's helpful at all.

Calling those meals "failures" now would be saying that it was a mistake to enjoy that time with my family and friends

This really sounds like a rationalization. You could enjoy a healthful meal with family and friends. But you're likely addicted to sugar, fat and salt like most people are. So you need a bunch of sugar, fat and salt to be satisfied by a meal.

A decade ago I had slightly high triglycerides. I stopped all obvious sugar cold turkey for a year. It was brutal for two weeks - craving soda and all kinds of other sugar. Then an amazing thing happened... I stopped craving sugar. Fruit and other food started to taste amazing! Imagine getting as excited about eating a clementine as you used to get eating chocolate cheesecake.

I reframed the topic in my mind to, "I just don't eat those things." which was successful. Thoughts of, "I won't eat those things for the next two weeks and then I'll do what I want" just exhausts your will power and leads to a roller coaster of weight gain and loss.

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