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What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

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Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#261

Post by OGWhales »

nordsieck wrote: post #178
OGWhales wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dad gave me very similar advice growing up, as I love for things to be factually correct. To me, it didn't bother me if someone corrected me. However, most people don't appreciate it and it isn't worth upsetting them 90% of the time. This is something I didn't understand. Another thing he told me was not to be a know it all. One example would be when people said something and I had learned before, instead of dimin…

> when people said something and I had learned before, instead of diminishing their statement by saying I knew that, I should say something like "wow that's cool" as it makes the person feel better. That's really great. I'll have to pick that up. Sounds like your dad was/is a pretty smart guy.

He is. Today is actually his birthday, funnily enough :)

I would get super annoyed at his doing that when I was a kid and felt that he was hard on me for no reason, but man do I really appreciate that now. I still have lots to learn from that man.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#262

Post by nordsieck »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #250
nordsieck wrote: post #149

IMO, the single most important thing I've ever learned is: try to be effective when you're communicating. I used to feel an obligation to correct other people if they had false beliefs. This was not an endearing trait, and even worse, I was never particularly successful at convincing the other people. One day, I read a passage from "How to make friends and influence people". It said something along the lines of: "The…

I agree with everything you said, and love the boxing reference at the end. Anecdote... one of the proudest moments in my life was when I finally did outbox the heavy bag. I put a hole in the side where I my left hooks to the body hit. It probably took me 10 years to make that hole, and even though I needed to buy a new bag. I can't make myself throw away the old one.

> one of the proudest moments in my life was when I finally did outbox the heavy bag. I put a hole in the side where I my left hooks to the body hit. It probably took me 10 years to make that hole, and even though I needed to buy a new bag. I can't make myself throw away the old one.

Not going to lie: that's pretty badass!

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#264

Post by opportune »

nordsieck wrote: post #149

IMO, the single most important thing I've ever learned is: try to be effective when you're communicating. I used to feel an obligation to correct other people if they had false beliefs. This was not an endearing trait, and even worse, I was never particularly successful at convincing the other people. One day, I read a passage from "How to make friends and influence people". It said something along the lines of: "The…

I understand that this is effective, but I don’t understand people’s motivations for doing this unless it is explicitly required to do their job (management, sales). I would rather be thought of by some people (almost always people who I don’t like anyway) as an asshole than become a sycophant. Although I agree that argument for its own sake is not worth it

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#265

Post by taberiand »

Buttons840 wrote: post #254
csharp wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isn't a "practical" thing, it is a mental thing. "flossing my whole mouth feels overwhelming, so I'm not going to do any of it", vs "I just need to floss a single tooth, that is easy". Sure "just grow up and do it" sounds nice, but learning to build habits that generally feel unrewarding when starting out (e.g. working out, learning instrument), is extremely difficult for some people (e.g. me).

It's a bit strange that something that takes less than two minutes can seem so overwhelming, yet we've all been there.

For me it is the chore factor, the feeling that it's something bothersome that has to be done. One way around that I've found is to convert it to a desire - saying to myself "I deserve clean, healthy teeth" is enough motivation, for me, to pick up the floss. Similarly, "I deserve a clean, tidy home" gets me picking up the vacuum and mop, "I deserve a healthy body" is a useful mantra for eating well and exercising.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#267

Post by alpaca128 »

mathieutd wrote: post #94
alpaca128 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my case the flossing problem was solved by trying out certain rubber sticks made for that purpose. They're MUCH more convenient to use than the classic dental floss and make the whole process quicker, to a degree it took me almost no effort to consistently do it every day.

Do you have any brand to recommend?

TePe easypick, the orange ones. Feels a bit unusual at first but basically you just push them inbetween the teeth once and pull out again, and all the dirt comes out with them.

My dentist recommended those, works like a charm for me. Although keep in mind they're thicker than dental floss, meaning they may not fit between certain pairs of teeth if they're very close together.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#268

Post by bluedevil2k »

mathieutd wrote: post #188
slowhand09 wrote: post #174

Learn how to get out of debt!!! Step 1: List your debts from smallest to largest regardless of interest rate. Step 2: Make minimum payments on all your debts except the smallest. Step 3: Pay as much as possible on your smallest debt. Step 4: Repeat until each debt is paid in full

I disagree with this. You should pay your higher interest rate debt first.

I agree, you should pay the highest interest rate debt first. But, you should also not miss out on higher returns on your money to pay debt. Specifically in the US, I mean 401k matching from your employer. If they match 50% on your first 6%, then the 50% return on that money is going to be greater than a 22% credit card debt.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#269

Post by zackmorris »

rtpg wrote: post #125

Kinda weird to say that learning cooking takes an hour. Maybe learning one dish? I guess the nice thing would be to have actual articles that would show some principles in an hour

I don't normally share these things, but I stumbled onto this video last night:

The Ultimate Steak Sandwich - Gordon Ramsay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwu2y9x5OlM

He adds a bit of nuance to every single step of the process. I found myself wowing repeatedly.

I even had an existential crisis about it briefly as I realized that I don't love anything as much as he loves cooking. I used to love programming, but now practically hate it as often as not. I don't know how to reconnect with that kind of love and meaning in my life anymore. I sincerely don't want to do anything that society tells me to do. My days are planned around coping and avoidance. Without hope, I lack passion. Without passion, I lack focus. Without focus, I lack a means of income. Seriously, I'm stuck paralyzed at step one and have been for over 6 months.

If you aren't paralyzed with doubt, great! Be thankful for that and pay it forward. Hope this video inspires someone.

Re: What Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Learn in One Hour?

#270

Post by BeetleB »

opportune wrote: post #264
nordsieck wrote: post #149

IMO, the single most important thing I've ever learned is: try to be effective when you're communicating. I used to feel an obligation to correct other people if they had false beliefs. This was not an endearing trait, and even worse, I was never particularly successful at convincing the other people. One day, I read a passage from "How to make friends and influence people". It said something along the lines of: "The…

I understand that this is effective, but I don’t understand people’s motivations for doing this unless it is explicitly required to do their job (management, sales). I would rather be thought of by some people (almost always people who I don’t like anyway) as an asshole than become a sycophant. Although I agree that argument for its own sake is not worth it

Strange. Plenty of my coworkers are neither assholes nor sycophants. I'll pick them over the other two any day.
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