Lifehacks

random ramblings

1. outsized results require unusual weirdness

2. when was the last time you were rejected?

3. you should start a startup

   1. being the first employee of a startup is a much worse deal than starting one yourself

4. bad things will happen to you. you'll be surprised which of those things you’ll weather and which will totally derail you

5. believing that suffering makes you stronger is cope. suffering is bad and we must destroy it

6. antidepressants are great and don't deserve as much scorn as they receive

7. using social media is like speedrunning life – you suddenly find that whole hours have disappeared in minutes. get off your phone

8. money is the way grown-ups get things done

9. stop overcomplicating it. there’s probably a direct solution to your problem – you just need more courage

10. you can just push back on people's demands. often they don't know their own mind and will just go “ok fine”

11. take more photos (and ask people to take photos of you!)

12. ask for what you want. don’t hint – ask, and get to an answer

13. projector > TV

14. landfill is probably fine, stop worrying about it so much

15. hold some small amount of crypto, not because it makes any sense but because you can't afford not to be exposed to the irrationality of that market at least a little

16. lift weights. start with stronglifts, move onto something else when you can't progress further

17. move quickly. slow is fake. speed is often the only advantage you have over your competition

18. aging is a great injustice which we are almost totally blind to; do more to stop it

19. factory farming is by some margin the worst crime committed in human history; do more to stop it

20. no-one will tell you honestly how good-looking you are; the world will tell you implicitly

21. as a man, your path to becoming less of a loser will be either (a) stripping back all the things that make you a loser to reveal a cool guy beneath, or (b) a total reworking of what's underneath

22. remember that people are trying to help you and it's annoying to them when you don't take their advice

23. the people that were once trying to help you and have now stopped probably don't think you're "done" – they've just given up on you

24. seek people who want the best for you

25. we are an ultrasocial species, and talking to strangers is a genuine superpower. do it everywhere you go

26. assert that you are lucky and you will become so

27. build a concrete, positive vision of the future

28. have a single guiding principle that makes everything else shift into focus

29. everything is power-law distributed. keep looking!

30. one day you will be dead. go up to her and say the words

31. nudity is great

32. you can just do weird things

33. destroy your reputation. be notorious

34. you get the true measure of a person when they're under duress

35. sometimes the price of growth is outgrowing people

36. set up standing social events. throw more parties

    1. throwing parties that are even slightly unusual – e.g. people to come with a question they want to ask others – often makes for really memorable events

37. having a pretty girl draw you is impossibly erotic

38. writing isn’t just a way to record your thoughts – it’s a way to figure out what you believe

39. avoid twitter. it’s mostly the brain droppings of the most addled people alive

    1. but occasionally, twitter will be a source of interesting ideas and friends, especially if you reach out to people directly

40. to be truly great you need: a superiority complex, the crippling insecurity of not being enough, and good impulse control

41. technology is so cheap that you can and should just buy stuff and see if it improves your life (Kindle, smartwatch, kale phone, second monitor)

42. don't just wait for things to go wrong. anticipate them going wrong and have a plan

43. the best time to get LASIK was ten years ago. the second best time is now

44. write stuff and get your friends to read it

45. do not permit anyone to harm you

46. if you're so smart, how come you're not happy?

47. you can just leave. if it sucks... hit da bricks!!

48. technology is magic, and it pays to understand how it actually works

49. ordering food delivery is mostly a disappointment, and worse than cooking something yourself

    1. find the best cheap delivery place near you and just order from there 1000 times (<3 Camberwell Falafel & Shawarma)

50. medical professionals are likely normally distributed, and you should expect some of them to be actively harmful

51. in most places you're just allowed to buy and import prescription medication and take it

52. don't be miserable on your own. be miserable with other people!

53. desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want

54. keep a paper journal

    1. Muji make the best pens

55. relationships really are the most important thing

56. you should start a blog :)