Ask PG: Can you do it again?

#1

Post by kuasha » Thu, May 15, 2014, 2:58 PM UTC

I have done nothing significant in life yet. Have not helped anyone or improved the world at all in almost any sense. But still it took me a lot of practice to get to where I am now. I am confident I can do it again and again given same amount of time and same attitude to life from same or little more limits I had and starting from any timeline from 1980 to 2014. Only thing it takes is same amount of practice. This is probably true for 99% people living today.

I am curious if you feel the same way. If you are given back your time and energy but taken back everything else, can you repeat what have you done? Say, starting today? If yes, how much more limits can you overcome?

I have a lot of admiration for you. I consider you my mentor (book, article and other works). This is not to challenge you or anyone- just trying to understand what successful people think about luck, environment and timeline.

Re: Ask PG: Can you do it again?

#2

Post by visakanv » Thu, May 15, 2014, 3:20 PM UTC

You are confident that you can repeat "doing nothing significant in life" again and again? Whoa, you're really setting the bar high, aren't you? :P

Re: Ask PG: Can you do it again?

#3

Post by svisser » Thu, May 15, 2014, 3:24 PM UTC

Taking back everything else? Does that include knowledge, experience and lessons learned? Because that greatly affects what pg would start doing today.

Re: Ask PG: Can you do it again?

#4

Post by kuasha » Thu, May 15, 2014, 3:25 PM UTC

visakanv wrote: post #2

You are confident that you can repeat "doing nothing significant in life" again and again? Whoa, you're really setting the bar high, aren't you? :P

I have not improved the world, but I still consider myself successful in personal life.

Re: Ask PG: Can you do it again?

#5

Post by kuasha » Thu, May 15, 2014, 3:29 PM UTC

svisser wrote: post #3

Taking back everything else? Does that include knowledge, experience and lessons learned? Because that greatly affects what pg would start doing today.

If you have all the knowledge and experience, you are who you are already.

Re: Ask PG: Can you do it again?

#6

Post by gregimba » Thu, May 15, 2014, 3:30 PM UTC

svisser wrote: post #3

Taking back everything else? Does that include knowledge, experience and lessons learned? Because that greatly affects what pg would start doing today.

He could invest in the stock market with that information.

Re: Ask PG: Can you do it again?

#7

Post by svisser » Thu, May 15, 2014, 3:31 PM UTC

kuasha wrote: post #5

svisser wrote: post #3

Taking back everything else? Does that include knowledge, experience and lessons learned? Because that greatly affects what pg would start doing today.

If you have all the knowledge and experience, you are who you are already.

Isn't your question then the same as: did you think you got lucky?

Re: Ask PG: Can you do it again?

#8

Post by visakanv » Thu, May 15, 2014, 3:31 PM UTC

svisser wrote: post #3

Taking back everything else? Does that include knowledge, experience and lessons learned? Because that greatly affects what pg would start doing today.

Yeah, exactly. If we could go back in time with just a few pieces of information, we could be gods. Predict and invest in every major startup success, write about it and look like a prescient guru, make even more money from speaking engagements, etc.

If you can't take back your knowledge and experience, then it's kind of a boring/null question- you're just back to where you started, and you'll just be affected differently by the roulette of random encounters. (Which could make a bigger difference than we might realize, but there's pretty much no way to predict whether this will turn out better or worse.)

Re: Ask PG: Can you do it again?

#9

Post by visakanv » Thu, May 15, 2014, 3:32 PM UTC

gregimba wrote: post #6

svisser wrote: post #3

Taking back everything else? Does that include knowledge, experience and lessons learned? Because that greatly affects what pg would start doing today.

He could invest in the stock market with that information.

Not just the stock market- he could hunt down and invest in every would-be-successful startup, and give them precisely the prescient advice they'd need to avoid making any mistakes. His success rate would shoot through the roof and he would seem like a god.

Re: Ask PG: Can you do it again?

#10

Post by svisser » Thu, May 15, 2014, 3:34 PM UTC

visakanv wrote: post #8

svisser wrote: post #3

Taking back everything else? Does that include knowledge, experience and lessons learned? Because that greatly affects what pg would start doing today.

Yeah, exactly. If we could go back in time with just a few pieces of information, we could be gods. Predict and invest in every major startup success, write about it and look like a prescient guru, make even more money from speaking engagements, etc. If you can't take back your knowledge and experience, then it's kind of a boring/null question- you're just back to where you started, and you'll just be affected differ…

The question is about starting today though, so it's not about going back in time with knowledge of future events.