Advice

What the list contains

These are all very easy and obvious facts. But explicitly reading and following them have helped me immensely.

Tidbits of what I consider to be good advice that I’ve heard

• This tidbit is related to independent learning. When doing homework, or trying to grasp a new concept, sometimes you just won’t understand. The easiest solution is to simply start over from the start. If you get stuck again, start again from the start. You will be starting with knowledge about the subject at hand. This will allow you to grasp more details that might help you to understand the topic. Not all author’s write in a linear fashion. Try looking somewhere else. Sometimes an authors explanation is not sufficient. EVERYTHING is possible to understand. You just need the proper background and a proper explanation (which is sometimes hard to come by)
• Related to finishing things… Things sometimes never get completed. The simple solution is to make sure every day you keep doing something related to the thing. Whatever you do NOW, you won’t need to do LATER. The problem that you fix NOW will allow you to do something else next time.
• Reading is extremely good for you. The brain is like a muscle, if you don’t exercise it, it will become lazy and sluggish. By reading you are giving your brain exercise. It doesn’t matter what you read. Use audiobooks to multitask with exercise.
• When learning a new topic, it’s better to do a little bit every day of the week than to do all of it in one day. This helps you digest the information better, and retain it longer.
• We can understand things right off the bat, but to remember them, we need to look at them several times.
• If you build a house on mud your house will fall down. If you build a solid foundation first, then build your house, your house will stay up. When building software, build things to make your job easier. Then build the real project using those built tools.
• Be careful of telling someone what you’re going to do, instead tell them what you have done once it’s done. People often feel a portion of accomplishment when they tell you what they are going to do. This can and will de-motivate you to actually do the task.
• Without the bitter, the sweet is not so sweet. Don’t complain when you have to experience something negative, instead be happy that when the opposite happens it will feel that much better. Keep a positive attitude, you’ll get through it.
• Don’t feel down because things are hard. Instead be happy that things are hard, because it filters out others from doing it. If you want something bad enough push through these barriers.
• Quitting is not always a bad thing, if you are sinking your time into something you don’t want bad enough, this has a large opportunity cost. Keep your focus for what you really want. If you want something bad enough and don’t have better potential alternatives, never give up. Don’t settle for the status quo.
• There are no born experts, masters get there by effort. Praise your kids for effort and not intelligence. It’s the best way to make them grow up successful.
• When trying to solve a difficult problem find a faster way to fail, recover, repeat. Make sure you’re solving the right problem. Simplify the problem you want to solve. Don’t be afraid of failing, fail faster.
• Every time you mess up, it’s another chance to prove that you can handle the situation well. No one is flawless, everyone makes mistakes. It’s showing that you are capable of handling those mistakes that is important. It shows you can handle not only your mistakes, but other people’s mistakes as well.
• If you want something, don’t be afraid to ask for it. You’ll get what you want far more often that way.
• Actively define and seek out your goals, don’t wait for them to happen or assume because you’re doing something, that those goals will happen.
• Never stop pushing yourself beyond your limits, otherwise you’ll live your life without discovering them.
• Don’t be afraid of defining goals that you think are unachievable. The universe will help you change into who you need to be to accomplish them.