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#import "/global/common.typ": *
#let doc = [
I outline my favourite life advice, where I have heard it, and what it means to
me.
= Everything in moderation, including moderation.
#table(
columns: 2,
stroke: none,
align: center,
img("listing-my-fav-advice/balance.jpg", alt: "balancing rocks"),
img("listing-my-fav-advice/indulgence.jpg", alt: "indulgence painting"),
)
I first heard this one from Kia, my Jitsu instructor at U of T. The first part
is fairly self-explanatory. The second part says to moderate the moderation. In
other words, on occasion, it is ok to indulge. After all, some of the best
moments in life come from indulgence. Don't be the person who is always
moderating, or you will miss out on 100% of those moments.
This reminds me of a paradigm in Computation called
#extlink("https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement_learning")[Reinforcement
Learning] (RL), where learning is maximized by balancing existing knowledge,
with occasional spurts of exploration. Without exploration, we find that we are
generally unlikely to end up at an optimal solution, thus showing us its
importance.
If the objective of life is to attain long-term (cumulative) happiness, then we
can say that moderation is the current knowledge, and occasional indulgence are
the spurts of exploration, and both must be balanced in order to maximize our
objective.
= Chew your food. Well.
#fig("listing-my-fav-advice/chewing.gif", alt: "chewing")
This one I got from my grandparents, and it is quite underrated. We all know
that our digestion health is such a large contributor to our overall
well-being. Yet we religiously neglect the first step of the process - chewing.
I specifically recall my grandpa saying "_chew it until it becomes a paste_".
Gross but effective. No matter what your diet is composed of, its not debatable
that chewing better will only ever help your digestion, never harm.
Another benefit? Sitting down and consciously chewing requires time and effort.
If you aren't doing it, maybe its a sign that you are rushing. Why are you
rushing? Maybe its time to re-evaluate some things in your life.
= Don't worry so much about budgeting, focus on earning more.
#fig("listing-my-fav-advice/money.jpg", alt: "money bob ross")
This one is somewhat controversial. I heard it from John Hill on the
#extlink("https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/super-hoopers-an-nba-podcast/id1053263719")[Super
Hoopers podcast], quoting some book. I think this stems from the notion that
there is a hard limit to how much you can restrict your spending to - \$0. But
no limit to how much you can earn. So why not focus on that?
I think this is largely a time-management principle. Maybe you've heard the
idiom "penny wise, and pound foolish". If money is the _penny_, then your time
is the _pound_. Don't be foolish with your time.
People often will go out of their way believing they are saving a certain
amount of money but hardly ever factor in the value of the time spent saving
that amount. And more often than not, that time is spent doing something that
is not enjoyable.
That same time could've been spent on trying to earn more money than what was
saved or at the very least doing something actually enjoyable.
= Never work for someone who you don't want to become.
#fig("listing-my-fav-advice/boss.jpg", alt: "boss", width: "50%")
This one has helped me substantially in my career. I believe I heard it from
someone on Shark Tank (Mark Cuban? Mr. Wonderful? IIRC). More important than
finding the right role/career is finding the right mentor. I've personally
switched roles based on this advice, and I can attribute most my success as a
direct result of this.
We tend to emulate people that we are influenced by. By working for such a
manager, you are setting yourself up to emulate someone you look up to - which
is a great thing! I also consider this one of the few advantages of being an
employee rather than an owner. Don't waste it!
]
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