Life
1. Most things in society are lies, from education to pension; Real education starts when you realize what you have been taught was wrong.
2. Most misery in life comes from dependency, but you should be the one who is responsible for your life.
3. Most people don’t even understand what problems they want to solve yet are too busy looking for the how-tos.
4. Incompetent people are everywhere. The competent ones maybe want to be left alone.
5. One of the hacks to solve problems is to think from within.
6. You need a calm mind and free time to do great things.
7. Asking silly questions is fine, but expecting to be spoonfed or taking things for granted is not.
8. Nitpicking people must be so bored in their life.
9. Maybe partly growing up means being able to tell apart from all the little games that different people are playing.
10. Why are so many people so busy networking while they barely add value to others.
11. Social media are so good at hacking one of human’s weaknesses: being short term focus; Interactions are so superficial, yet most of us are spending so much time and energy on it; Or worst, creating a fake life to please strangers.
12. The whole society keeps emphasizing how important it is to make money, buy big houses, gain social status; be pretty, dress well, use makeup, deep down, all of these simply for one purpose: finding a good partner ( mating )
Yet we are barely taught how to be self-aware, how to communicate better, how to form deep connections, and how to sustain long-term pleasure.
13. The more I dig into how the human body works, the more fascinated I am.
We are gifted the coolest thing on earth, yet we take it for granted.
14. Minimalism is knowing what you want, not for the sake of being “cool.”.
15. Most people are not reliable, be careful of who you are dealing with; I trust code more than humans. Less unnecessary dramas too.
16. People on social media are so busy portraiting to others that they have a fun life, is it tho? Because the people I had met who have a happy and contented life barely use any social media.
17. Hacks in life: being self-efficient at solving your own problems and finding the right people to work on those you couldn’t solve alone; But the less you need to rely on others, the happier you generally are.
18. I had learned that I don’t and should not be excited by new tools anymore ( they used to be my fun toys ). Framing the problems first and then finding the right tools to mix and match is more efficient.
19. In order to play any game well, you need to learn the best you can so to outplay it – everything has weaknesses, especially when it involves humans.
Picasso said it better than me:
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.
20. I don’t chase; I attract – trying too hard is annoying.
21. I Used to hate seeing dentists, but now I love it – the trick is to find the right ones: honest, patient, and really listening, and I found two! woohoo
22. A day is wasted – if I didn’t learn something new or improve a bit.
23. I love sitting quietly watching people running around like a chicken without its head – trying to understand are they either incompetent or too lazy to think how to be more productive?
24. I am amazed at how virtually everything is connected. Reading old books feels like treasure hunting.
25. I believe everyone could learn EVERYTHING if they WANT to – put on the work and be patient.
26. Use voice messages considerately– convenient for you, but maybe not for others.
27. Men-made horror is everywhere. No wonder most wise people were so quiet throughout history.
28. I see the whole world as my home. Countries are imagery borders, basically more like a nametag – easy to memorize.
29. True seeking 101: see through the marketing
30. Tax, passport, and fiat are like the ultimate power exercise.
31. Modern travel: too busy taking selfies to enjoy the places.
32. Most news or media are not about informing or educating, but it’s about attracting more eyeballs so that the advertisers will pay more; Stop reading news is one of the best decisions I have made.
33. Reading books are one of the best-cheated codes to learn ANYTHING, and of course, the most important thing is to use them in practice. Otherwise, all the reading and not doing ended up being useless.
34. You can not make everyone happy, but you can make yourself happy.
35. Someone was finally pointing out those so-called “influencers”: mostly are marketers and clothes hangers for companies to use. Well said.
36. Sad to see how everything is about profit in our society: 24/7 feeding people fake lies, fake news, fake food, and the worst – a “perfect internet life.”
37. Bet against the mass, especially in investing.
38. No point keep doing things that you don’t enjoy doing, life is short.
39. The world is like a playground for a few people, a prison for the majority. But the good news is you are only being prisoned by your own mind.
40. “Smart” devices are for dehumanizing
News and schools are for brainwashing
Social media are for distracting
Drugs store products and modern medicines are quick fixes
Business
1. The bigger the companies are, the messier inside – I’d stay away from them, especially those TOO BIG TOO FAIL ones.
2. People purposely make things complicated to sell you products, especially in the financial-industrial.
3. Bankers are essentially salespeople. Private bankers are high-end babysitters and sales.
4. Full of marketers everywhere, first-hand experiences are priceless.
5. You can’t get rich by selling your time.
6. So many get rich quickly these days; how to slowly find out what you enjoy doing and keep crafting the work?
When work feels like a play to you, is retirement even needed?
7. Dare to say NO, especially to the annoying customers – 20/80.
8. Consume less, build more.
9. Building a business is not as hard as people think, and you certainly don’t need an MBA for it – it’s all abt problem solving, letting the RIGHT ppl know you are capable of solving it, and finding a healthy way to scale it.
10. Products from long-time existing businesses are not necessarily good ( I used to think they must be so good to survive, but it turned out I was wrong.)
11. When do people start to value honesty over hype marketing and empty talks?
12. Have the courage to restart.
13. Make things right, even tho it might financially affect you in the short term, but it is worth it in the long term.
14. Building a business is not hard. The HARD part is building a sustainable business, and you are happy building it.
15. Build things the way you want. Otherwise, you gonna burn out.
Money
1. Money essentially buys you freedom – not to participate in those stupid games created by endless lies. It’s being able to choose.
2. Figure out how to make your first $100k, then learn how to invest it.
3. The majority of people who got enough fuck-you money are still not really doing anything they enjoy doing, which is so weird to me.
Quotes I like
“The more you know, the more you don’t know.”—Aristotle
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to change you is the greatest accomplishment.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.”—Naval
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” —Mark Twain
“If you want to be great, walk the rope without a boss and without a net.” —Naval
“You must unlearn to learn.”—Yoda