Principles

A collection of principles from various sources - articles, books, blogs, podcasts and tweets.

They are mini lessons, mental models, words of wisdom to navigate the world.

See list of business principles here. Open to debates, additions or counter points.

I review and update periodaclly. Typically 1-2 times per year.

Humans have a moral obligation to reshape the universe. Technology (which is knowledge) enables us humans to do this. We should always strive to invent more, not less.
Hard times create strong humans. Strong humans create good times. Good times create weak humans. Weak humans create hard times.
The only purpose of work is to improve your life.There are many ways work can improve your life. If it doesn’t improve your life, stop. No one way is correct, good or bad.
We know less than we think. Everything that people once believed to be true has been proven wrong. It is likely that what we believe to be true now, is also wrong. We often are not even asking the right questions.
Model the world as 500 people, not 8 Billion. 99% of the time you need to rationalize something, it’s a more accurate heuristic of the world. Nothing applies to all 8 Billion people.
Civilize the mind, make savage the body, beautify the soul. It will take a lifetime. Start young enough, and your rewards will compound early enough in life to reap tremendous rewards. Prioritize in equal portions, balance is important.
How you walk through the fire matters. It’s less about what you do, and more about how you do it.
There are 1000’s of ways to live. No one way is right. Learn and try many different ways. Gain enough experience, then pick your way. Don’t be afraid to change ways if it no longer serves you. There is also the way which is - pick one and stay with it.
The most addicting drug is comfort. Life exists on the edges. The edge of being scared and the edge of comfort. Comfort is adicting, seek to push out of the comfortable. This is where you find the ultimate rewards. Get comfortable being uncomfortable, this is how you grow. Too much comfort will sedate your mind. Focus comes from a place of discomfort.
Life is hard, pick your hard. There is no easy way through life. Examples: work a job for 30 yrs = hard, start a biz = hard, be an artist = hard, be a civil servant = hard, be a doctor = hard, raise a family = hard, don't raise a family = hard, traveling the world = hard, living in the same spot = hard. Do not play the game of biggest victim. There is no easy way, don’t look.
Dare Mighty Things. Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure…than to rank with those poor spirtis who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.
The strongest prison lives between your two ears. Master your thoughts, master your reality. Master your life.
If you cannot be corrected without being offended, then you’ll never truly grow. Mistakes are what shape us. Not success.
Control your attention to control your destiny. Paraphrasing Lao Tzu: Control your attention to shape your thoughts. Control your thoughts to shape your actions. Control your actions to shape your habits. Control your habits to shape your character. Control your character to shape your destiny.
Have a code (an Ethos), and live your life by that code. Walk straight through hell with a smile and wear your code on your sleeve for everyone to see.
Win and help win. If you are going to play a game with rewards. Play to win. Help those around you win, you will more. Find games that are positive sum. The rewards in those games are limitless. Avoid status games, they are zero sum.
Comparison is the thief of Joy. Get inspiration from others, not jealousy or anger. Only compare against the person you were yesterday. Get 1% better every day. We’re apes. We think we’re all sophisticated with our toaster ovens and designer footwear, but we’re just a bunch of finely ornamented apes. And because we are apes, we instinctually measure ourselves against others and vie for status. The question is not whether we evaluate ourselves against others; rather the question is by what standard do we measure ourselves?
Action first. Study Second. Organize third. To much research is an advanced form of procrastination. Creating long to-do Lists is an advanced form of procrastination in disguise. Take action, gain forward motion, the reflect, the recalibrate. Nothing causes more anxiety than lack of action. Go !
The paradox of life is that everything is a disaster and yet everything is fine. Where you focus your time and energy is the difference. Whatever has your attention owns you.
Become a time billionaire. Retirement with money is a bad goal, a stupid optimization. Maybe once it made sense. 31 years = a billion seconds of fun, satisfaction, and meaning with great physical health is a better way to live. Being rich is having money, being wealthy is having time.
Work Like a Lion. 9-5, punch a clock work culture, is a relic of a old way of doing things. It resembles a cow, constantly walkng around and slowly grazing. Another option is to follow a lions playbook. Wait Wait some more. Chill out. Sprint. Eat. Rest. Repeat. The only measure of success is how much time you have to kill.
Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. Pain is what the universe does to you, suffering is what you do to yourself. Don’t seek pain, but don’t feer it. Conquer suffering as soon as you know it exists. Better a hard truth than a comfortable lie.
Value Experiences not things. You live your life with your brain. Enjoy it. Fill it with magic memories. Revisit those memories frequently. Tell tales, sing songs, make videos, never forget them. Except, there is a long list of “things” that add very valuable.
Essentialism & Minimalism are the ways to live. “Until we have begun to go without them, we fail to realize how unnecessary many things are. We’ve been using them not because we needed them but because we had them.” - Seneca. It’s not about nothing. It’s about removing the excess.
Meaning is found in doing things that are important, that otherwise wouldn’t get done.
The economy is just smart people paying beautiful people to promote stuff to insecure people. Understand this. Don’t let it anger you.
Create more than you consume. Consuming is fun, creating is hard. If all you do is consume, you will get bored eventually. Creating brings joy, creating fills the soul, creating brings satisfaction to your life. Create.
You are the product of the 10 ppl you spend the most time with. Choose your friends, who you work with, and the people that teach you wisely. This include things you read, videos you watch, podcasts you listen to. Time together is what influenes who you become. The things you like, the clothes you wear, the way you talk, all of it.
When people show you who they are, believe them. Second chances are a good thing. Develop the intution that will let you realize when to give them, and when to believe the persons action are who they say.
You can engineer serendipity. It’s called building good habits. Your daily habits can put you in a position where “luck” is more likely to strike. It’s possible to increase your serendipidty surface area and engineer your own luck.
Smart people are less happy. Knowing too much can make you sad and lonely. If you’re really smart you’ll learn how to undo this, by seeking deep truths. The deep truths can set you free.
You can't have everything you want, but you can perfect a small amount of things.
The cure for envy is gratitude. Master envy, and you mast happiness. The world is driven by Envy, not greed. Play a different game.
Hell Yes or No. If it's a Maybe it's a No.
Hard Choices Easy Life, Easy Choices Hard Life.
Religion is the Opiate of the masses.
No Vision, not much of a plan. The unexamined life is not worth living.
In science, if you know what you are doing, you should not be doing it. Science only exists on the fringes. If it’s not crazy, it’s not true science.
In engineering, if you do not know what you are doing, you should not be doing it.
In business, if you don’t know the problem you are solving, you shouldn’t be building anything.
Accept everything just the way it is. The world is full of things you won’t like. Accept them, focus on what you can control.
Do not seek pleasure for it’s own sake.
Do not, under any circumstance, depend on a partial feeling. Mindless actions are typically stupid ones. Mindless experiences are typically forgettable ones.
Think lightly of yourself, and deeply of the world. Ego blinds and ego destroys. Humble and respectful are the ways of man.
Do not hold onto possessions you no longer need. If you don’t use it for 2 years. It’s gone.
Do not pursue the taste of good food. Food is consumed for nutrition. Taste is secondary. Man cannot live on ice cream alone.
Do not act following customary beliefs. Learn and think for yourself. Find your own traditions and rituals.
Don’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy.
Use the advantages of youth when you have them, and the advantages of age once you have those. The advantages of youth are energy, time, optimism, and freedom. The advantages of age are knowledge, efficiency, money, and power. With effort you can acquire some of the latter when young and keep some of the former when old.
A person's success in life can be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.
Sometimes a big problem has a small solution and people hate to hear it because their big problem deserves a big solution