Hoping to move towards a career that’s interesting this year, so I spent some time researching and collecting a few pieces of advice I liked: to have decicion making herusitics that help guide you (Naval), and to decide on 6 starting principles and remind yourself of them daily until they’re memorized (Julian Shapiro).
Decision Making Heuristics:
- “When faced with a difficult choice, if you cannot decide, the answer is no” Naval
- Moving to a new city could be a 10-20 year decision. You have to be set on it since there are nearly endless options and you might miss out on an opportunity that pops up after.
- “If you have 2 choices to make, and they’re relatively equal difficulty (50–50), take the path that is more difficult and more painful in the short term.” Naval
- Taking the one that is less painful in the short term often means sacrificing more in the long term due to the brain’s tendency for conflict avoidance.
- “Make the choice that will leave you more equanimous (calmer and peaceful) in the long term. If you chase happiness instead what you’re actually chasing is pleasure.” Naval
- This helps avoid regrets
- If something is expensive to do or make, then ask yourself: would it still be expensive at scale? If the answer is yes then the process is the issue. Elon Musk
- Another form of this is that simplicity is the end goal in design
My 6 Starting Principles:
Inspired by this Julian Shapiro thread.
- Create and adventurer card and become the most powerful mage
- Be a net creator.
- Avoid perfectionism and therefore despair.
- “Luck is a function of surface area” so you need to make as many moves as you can.
- Don’t fall into the “Valley of disappointment.” Growth happens slowly then goes exponential.
- Work like a Lion not a Cow. “We have limited time in life, so enormous success can only come from having superior judgement, not from working harder.” -Jordi Alexander
- The end result must be beautiful