start when you’re not ready. action creates information, not the other way around. my mum told me, “if we waited until we felt ready to do things, nobody would ever do anything.”
people are kind. even the worst people in the world think what they’re doing is good. assume the best in people.
never complain. do the work to fix your problems, or just let them go.
your past, your genetics, your mortality, & other people are the only things that you have no control over. every other problem you have is because you lack the skill to solve it.
if something offends you, ask yourself why. usually, it’s because it challenges something you assumed was true, but might not be. if i told Jeff Bezos he’s broke, he’d laugh because he has undeniable proof of the contrary. but if i said he’s lonely, bald, & searching for meaning in life, that might sting. truth only hurts where there’s doubt.
you don’t become confident by shouting affirmations in the mirror, but by having a stack of undeniable proof that you are who you say you are. you are what you do. choose your actions wisely. give yourself proof.
the info you consume → what you think → what you do → who you are. be very strict with your information diet.
people almost always do whatever rewards them the fastest, even if it’s not what rewards them the most.
reading & writing are ridiculously important, & if you don’t understand why, you need to read & write more.
there are no rules to reading. judge a book by its cover. skip chapters. skim through boring parts. read the same book 10x. read what you love until you love to read.
think from first principles. start with what is undeniably true (ex. laws of physics) & work backwards. the goal of thinking is to get a clear picture of reality — even if it goes against what you want to be true.
ignorance is bliss. knowledge is power. but knowledge without action is useless.
the smartest people i know are the ones who never stop learning.
you’re gonna die & everybody will forget about you. don’t run away from that fact. use it. think about it every day & remember that just being alive right now is a gift.
you are under no obligation to be the same person you were a moment ago.
anger is a hot coal you hold in your hand while waiting to throw it at someone.
it’s very hard to hate someone & to understand them at the same time. to understand is to forgive.
the only true test of intelligence is getting what you want out of life.
some things i learned
you’re probably killing your laptop by unplugging it
i just found out that keeping your laptop plugged in is way better for the battery than constantly draining & charging it. this is because newer laptops have bypass circuits in them that let them use power direcly from the charging cable once the battery is at 100%. i’ve been doing the opposite. oops!Warren Buffet’s wealth is largely due to his age, not his skill
he’s still the GOAT investor imo, but he’s had ~80 years in the game. if he had stopped at age 65, his net worth would be only $11 million — nothing compared to the $142 billion he’s worth today. time in the market beats timing the market.what happens to your money when you put it in the bank?
“Imagine a coat check at a hotel.You hand in your coat
Get a ticket, and trust it will be there later.
But what if the attendant lent your coat to someone else overnight?
That’s how banking works.”
~ Sharran Srivatsaa
cool stuff i found
different philosophies explained with donuts
how ticket companies like StubHub use ‘dark patterns’ to rip you off
a dark pattern is when a UI (ex. a website, app, etc.) is designed to trick people into taking actions that they otherwise wouldn’t choose. this website is dedicated to exposing all of the shitty things companies do. check out their article about StubHub.some really good advice
that’s all for this week’s edition of morning wood.
as always, your support recently has meant the world to me. thank you for the comments & messages you send me — i read & respond to all of them!
i’m still working on the skill of self-discipline, & going phone-free has been a massive boost. i slipped up today & played chess for a couple hours instead of writing this earlier when i wanted to, but oh well.
i’m glad to be writing this now.
in the next few days, i’ll be putting the finishing touches on a YT video called ‘how to change your life.’
i think it’s really good, & i wish someone made a video like it for me 10 years ago.
anyways, i hope this made your day a little bit better.
take 2 minutes & do something right now that brings you closer to your goal, even if it’s small.
~ liam (:
PS - if you don’t know what your goal is, ‘find a goal’ is a good place to start.
“rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I built my life.”
~ J.K. Rowling