Is this a way of saying one should always live on the edge of incompetence?
Edit: I ask this, because I have difficulties applying your ideas on fields where I don't have any good teachers around (e.g., lets say I want to become a better cook).
There's no speed limit (2009)
21–30 of 214 posts
Re: There's no speed limit (2009)
#22Derek, ended up reading the followup article about advice you gave to an incoming Berklee class where you mention:
Focus. Disconnect. Do not be distracted. This is your #1 most important challenge. If you master focus, you will be in control of your world. If you don't, it will control you.
Seems like focusing nowadays is almost impossible. There are so many time sucks, so close at hand.
Re: There's no speed limit (2009)
#23Surprised to see a post of mine here on Hacker News. (First time in a long time. Thanks!) Feel free to ask me absolutely anything here.
How to you focus? Do you also face issue with your focus some time in life?
Re: There's no speed limit (2009)
#24Surprised to see a post of mine here on Hacker News. (First time in a long time. Thanks!) Feel free to ask me absolutely anything here.
I had read this story the first time, and now I've remembered right away the question I couldn't ask then: without a Kimo near, is there any book that explain the same harmony knowledge and allows a no-speed-limit approach?
Closest book I've found on the "no speed limit" approach was Tony Robbins' “Awaken the Giant Within”. It could have just been the timing of when I read it. Tim Ferriss told me the book that changed the way he saw the world was “Maximum Achievement” by Brian Tracy, but when I read it, it seemed like conventional wisdom. So maybe it's just timing.
What I liked about Tony Robbins' message was this:
* - Change happens in an instant. People act like change takes years, but really it's almost always a key moment, an instant where you change the way you think about something, or make a promise to yourself to change the way you act (even though it feels strange at first). It may have taken years of procrastination to get to that pain point, but the change itself is instant.
* - You can change the way you think, so you can change the way you feel. People say, "I can't help the way I feel." or "This is just who I am." But you were an almost-blank slate when born, and most of what you think was just taught into you by someone, so you can un-do it, and replace it with any beliefs or even emotions that support your goal. He gives a great example of funerals in New Orleans: how they play sad music for a few minutes, then break into celebration. We think that death is universally sad, right? But this shows there's another way to think about it. So you can choose to feel happy about each person that rejects you ("one step closer!"), or choose to feel disgusted by the thought of procrastinating ("it's my mortal enemy!"), or whatever you choose to feel.
Actually there were probably 100 other things like this that changed the way I think, but just seem commonplace to me now because I've been thinking them so long.
Grab any of those classic self-help books like "Think and Grow Rich" or "Maximum Achievement" or "Awaken the Giant Within". When read at the right time in your life, it can really change everything.
(( Oh, just noticed you asked about harmony. All the stuff he taught be was very basic jazz harmony that almost any book on the subject will teach. The key was how fast he taught it. ))
Re: There's no speed limit (2009)
#25Surprised to see a post of mine here on Hacker News. (First time in a long time. Thanks!) Feel free to ask me absolutely anything here.
How to you focus? Do you also face issue with your focus some time in life?
See my other comment here about the drive to "be the next Zuckerberg".
Then look into the conditions of "flow" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29
1. A clear set of goals : you know exactly what needs to be done next.
2. The task is not too easy, but not too hard. It's just at the edge of your ability.
3. The task gives you immediate feedback.
When you're engaged in that kind of work, you FOCUS! That's why video games are so addictive! They play up these 3 conditions so well. You have no problem focusing when playing a video game!
Also it's pretty crucial to have all this work be leading to a goal that you want so badly - whether it's to be a millionaire, to be famous, to be in Y Combinator, whatever.
Then it's also crucial to have this goal be so close that you know if you just keep working well that it's very likely you'll get there.
Get those situations lined up, and you'll have no problem focusing!
(( And yes, I'm embarrassed to admit I have a major problem with focus in my life right now. Apparently it's kind of common for recent mutli-millionaires who have surpassed all their previous goals. What's next? How can I top this? Do I want to? Do I just retire now? I have some new goals, but they're not burning goals. And I just realized they aren't matching steps #1, 2, 3, above. Hmmm.... ))
Re: There's no speed limit (2009)
#26I'm almost jealous that you had a teacher as great as you did! We need more Kinos!!!
Re: There's no speed limit (2009)
#27Surprised to see a post of mine here on Hacker News. (First time in a long time. Thanks!) Feel free to ask me absolutely anything here.
How do you handle stress and burnout? Even playing video games leads me to burnout. Thanks in advance. :)
Power through it. Bitch and scream, but then do what needs to be done.
Read “The Power of Full Engagement” : http://sivers.org/book/PowerOfFullEngagement
The authors worked with the best athletes and executives for years, and found that the best ones knew how to push themselves, then recuperate, push, recuperate. Take this same approach to your emotional, mental, physical, and even spiritual life, and it's a powerful metaphor. Think of sprints, not marathons. Be fully in whatever you're in, then give time to recuperate. But push futher each time, past your comfort zone, like a good exercise plan.
Re: There's no speed limit (2009)
#28I'm almost jealous that you had a teacher as great as you did! We need more Kinos!!!
I'm jealous of my past self, too.
I wish I had a new Kimo in my life, that could help me deeply grok programming as intensely as he did.
Re: There's no speed limit (2009)
#29Derek, ended up reading the followup article about advice you gave to an incoming Berklee class where you mention: Focus. Disconnect. Do not be distracted. This is your #1 most important challenge. If you master focus, you will be in control of your world. If you don't, it will control you. Seems like focusing nowadays is almost impossible. There are so many time sucks, so close at hand.
Yes! I agree! This is one of our biggest current challenges!
Actually, Paul Graham has written two of the best essays about it:
http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
and
http://www.paulgraham.com/distraction.html
“Focus” by Leo Babauta is quite good, too: http://sivers.org/book/Focus
Re: There's no speed limit (2009)
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see how it is useful. a) The first instance of Berklee shows the full name, which isn't "University of California, Berk(lee|eley)". b) It consistently says Berklee in the article, never Berkeley, so there's no confusion caused by inconsistency. c) Your comment implies that the author is an idiot who can't even spell the name of the college he attended; which is impolite at best.
It's OK. It's a common confusion. My senior year (at Berklee) the company that prints up our report cards sent them to Berkeley California. Kind of an ongoing joke. ("Where did you go to school?" - "Berklee" - "Oh wow, that's really prestigious!" - "... College of Music." ".... oh.")
Isn't Berklee, in music, just as prestigious as Berkley in the rest of academia?