Life Advice
unoptimal and
Life Advice
“and when nobody wakes you up in the morning, and when nobody waits for you at night, and when you can do whatever you want. what do you call it, freedom or loneliness?”
A quote by Charles Bukowski
Increase your surface area for luck
The last couple times I was looking for a project, I made a point of meeting as many people doing related work as I could, even if there was no obvious benefit to doing so. At first, I did this just to advertise my existence to people as I entered a new field, because someone is always hiring or looking for a... See more
The last couple times I was looking for a project, I made a point of meeting as many people doing related work as I could, even if there was no obvious benefit to doing so. At first, I did this just to advertise my existence to people as I entered a new field, because someone is always hiring or looking for a... See more
Cate Hall • How to Be More Agentic
I’m not great at advice—I share Oscar Wilde’s opinion about it, for the most part—but with that caveat I’d say this: don’t be afraid of seeking. Don’t be afraid of your own depth. Don’t dumb yourself down to be less threatening to others. Don’t let the shallow present monoculture shame you into vacuousness.
Ray Nayler • Ray Nayler: Don't Be Afraid of Your Own Depth
Anna Wintour’s biography turned into maxims:
1. Hire talented people as found, not as needed.
2. Taste is as rare as a unicorn.
3.Your employees should describe you as “easy to understand.”
4.Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are.
5.Have a sharp eye for the weaknesses of others.
6.Combine ruthless efficiency with... See more
1. Hire talented people as found, not as needed.
2. Taste is as rare as a unicorn.
3.Your employees should describe you as “easy to understand.”
4.Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are.
5.Have a sharp eye for the weaknesses of others.
6.Combine ruthless efficiency with... See more
David Senra • Tweet
Court rejection
Ask for things. Ask for things that feel unreasonable , to make sure your intuitions about what’s reasonable are accurate (of course, try not to be a jerk in the process). If you’re only asking for things you get, you’re not aiming high enough.
Ask for things. Ask for things that feel unreasonable , to make sure your intuitions about what’s reasonable are accurate (of course, try not to be a jerk in the process). If you’re only asking for things you get, you’re not aiming high enough.
Cate Hall • How to Be More Agentic
21 best ideas in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay on Self Reliance (via justin murphy)
Most people do not trust their own beliefs. The essence of genius is simply to trust yourself—to infer that whatever seems most true in your heart is most true in reality—and for everybody else, too, despite whatever they may claim.
There is hardly anything more painful
Human life is not a competition in which everyone places somewhere between one to eight billion. That’s because each person has different capacities, aims, relationships, projects and identities. These are all relevant to deciding what a good life is for them.
- NYT magazine, The Ethicist, Kwame Anthony Appiah