Notes to self

Don’t make things easier for yourself

The easier you make your life, the easier it will be. But change doesn’t happen when things are easy. Wash the dishes. Clean your own house. Cook. Stop ordering takeout. Small changes for a big impact.

Thoughts on being frugal

My frugalness comes off as cheap. Although I’m not sure theres a difference sometimes. I prefer to look at my frugalness as awareness. Awareness of what I need vs what I want. Awareness for when something is not worth the money. An awareness for if I will even use the thing I’m thinking about buying.

I also enjoy the challenge of being frugal. I like the little bit of work it requires. It’s just enough to feel satisfied you did your job, and it’s just enough to learn something new, or meat someone you would’ve never met.

Short term is hard when playing for long term

When you go against conventional wisdom, you have to be willing to wait it out. No one will ever understand it in the short term, and you yourself will even doubt it from time to time. But you have to stay focused on the conviction that in the long term, your strategy will pay off. You have to rely on the other times in your life when it DID actually pan out as you planned it. But it doesn’t make it any less frustrating in the interim. Dealing with doubters, and haters is not fun, but it’s part of the territory if you want to stay true to your convictions.

The stock market

A good day for me I realize is when it’s been over 2 hours since the stock market opened and I haven’t checked my portfolio or overall market performance and news. There’s so little you can do to influence your portfolio on a daily basis, which is why days when I’m so immersed in something that I forget about it, always turn out better.

Cadence and technique

Everything has it’s own cadence and technique. Knowing that is fundamental to trying to learn what they are. But there are a few things that transcend across any discipline and you can take with you to use as a starting point. Breath, pacing, and core engagement are the bedrock of anything physical you’re going to do. Being aware of breath, pace, and core will immediately set you ahead.

Moments

Every moment, every second, is an opportunity to get back on the right track. It doesn’t mean you will, or that you have to, but literally every second is a chance to begin to turn things around. And when you do start taking advantages of all those moments, they start to add up, and that’s when change happens. More moments, more change. On and on.

Think

If it doesn’t make you think, ignore it.

Habits

I get into bad habits all of the time. The key is to first know you’re getting into a bad habit, and then to recognize that at some point soon, before it becomes habitual, you’ll need to cut it off.

Lessons

Everybody learns a lesson, but not every lesson sticks.

Big ways technology has influenced society

When you had a home phone, it was an unknown for the caller who was going to answer it when it rang. Likewise, it was an unknown for the answerer who the caller might be. That random occurrence connected people who otherwise wouldn’t have spoken, even if it was for just a moment, . With cell phones, we now circumvent conversations with anyone other than the exact person we’re trying to reach. Those small, but important conversations have vanished.

When you had a question about how to fix the garage door, or the best way to build something, or you needed a good recipe, you called your friends and family. Your mother, your father, your aunt, your uncle, your grandfather, your grandmother, your best friend. Now, you login to YouTube, or open Google, and your questions are answered. Those connections to friends and family, connections to our past, are gone.

Whether it’s hot out, or cold out, people drive with their windows up and AC or heat on. Every day millions of people drive from place to place, enclosed in their transport capsule, alone.

Accessibility

Accessibility shapes your life. What you have access to, and what you lack access to, greatly determines your path. Increase your accessibility to things you want, and decrease accessibility to things you do not want. Including people.