Post #1460
370
humblespace Principles https://substack.com/home/post/p-154681274
#BM
Think about what makes you ‘imbalanced’ as a personality, & do things where this gives you an edge.
Once you are ok with people telling you ‘no’, you can ask for whatever you want. (Make reality say no to you.)
Fun is underrated. The best and most creative work comes from a root of joy and excitement. You can feel this in your body.
Environment matters a lot; move to where you flourish maximally. Put yourself in environments where you have to perform to your utmost; if you can get by being average, you probably will. (Greek saying: “A captain only shows during a storm.”)
Later, you’ll be nostalgic for right now.
Do things fast. Things don’t actually take much time (as measured by a stopwatch); resistance/procrastination does. “Slow is fake”. If no urgency exists, impose some.
Moving fast forces you to strip things down to the bare bones.
Wealth can be created, there is not a fixed amount of it in the world. Somebody doing well doesn’t always come at someone else’s expense.
“The world is a museum of passion projects.”
Doing as much as you can every day is a form of life extension.
Always be high integrity, even when it costs you. The shortcuts aren’t worth it.
Figure out what your primary focus is and make progress on that every day, first thing in the morning, no exceptions. Days with 0 output are the killers. (Tyler Cowen)
Pay attention to your production/consumption balance. If you’re only consuming and not producing, fix that.
You don’t do anyone any favors by lurking, put yourself out there!
If you don’t “get” a classic book or movie, 90% of the time it’s your fault. (It might just not be the right time for you to appreciate that thing.)
If you find yourself dreading Mondays, quit.
Lean into the good kind of fear.
Pick some kind of fitness/athletic activity to get addicted to, and get addicted to it for its own sake. (For me, this is running. Zone 2 cardio is underrated.)
Learn how to meditate, even if you don’t end up doing it regularly. The techniques are useful. (99% of books/resources on this are quite bad - I’d recommend looking at Rob Burbea’s talks and jhana practice as a way in.)
No matter how bad things seem, everything passes.
You are probably too risk-averse. Write out the worst things that can happen, realize they’re not that bad, then take the leap.
Do a review of your year, every year, write it out, figure out what was good and what was bad, use this to make your goals for the next year.
Doing things is energizing, wasting time is depressing. You don’t need that much ‘rest’.
Being able to travel is one of the key ways the modern world is better than the old world. Learn to travel well.
Form opinions on things and then find the strongest critique of those opinions. Repeat.
If you really can’t disprove something, it has a chance of being right. (Fallibilism.)
Memorize a few old poems, or texts that mean a lot to you.
At some point in your life, work on a startup, or at least a thing driven by a small group. Small group energy is amazing.
Be careful about rationalizing something that does not feel right. (Utilitarians, this means you!)
Know your ‘triggers’ / what makes you the worst version of yourself.
Figure out what creates enduring value. (A non exclusive list: great cultural artifacts such as books; great companies/institutions).
Don’t let anyone make you feel small.
Working with people you really respect, and are secretly worried are much better than you and will figure out how dumb you are, is the best.
“Aim for Chartres” (Christopher Alexander) — when doing something, aim to be the best there ever was at it. This compensates for your natural bias, which is to do something mediocre. You have to really aim to be as good as the greats.
Send more cold emails. People respond! Assume everyone’s your friend.
Have a lot of crazy experiences in your 20s.
There are some people who, after you talk to them, you feel more energized and you want to conquer the world or climb a mountain or something. They’re rare but they exist. Go find them and make friends with them.
