"Valuable Life Advice" Reading Notes#
Author: Kevin Kelly
Reading Time: 1 hour
These are the notes and excerpts I recorded while reading "Valuable Life Advice" on WeChat Reading.
Exclusive 40 Life Advice in Chinese Version#
A worthy life goal is to become an influential person whose behavior cannot be predicted. In other words, do things that are hard for AI to imitate. Be someone who cannot be modeled by algorithms, and you will be irreplaceable.
Making assumptions about things that have already happened is a waste of time. Making assumptions about the future is very beneficial.
Most arguments have nothing to do with the argument itself. Therefore, in most cases, people cannot win an argument through debate.
When you consider the words "What’s next?", your decision-making will become wiser.
When you find yourself procrastinating, do not resist. Treat procrastination as something to do right now. Procrastinate wholeheartedly. Try doing nothing for five minutes. Treat this as your task. You will not be able to complete this task. After five minutes, you will be ready and eager to work.
Fail quickly. Fail frequently. Learn from failure. If you can continuously grow from failure, then failure is not a shame.
Doing good is a reward in itself. When you do good, people will question your motives, and any good deed of yours will soon be forgotten. But still, do good.
A worthy life goal is to become an influential person whose behavior cannot be predicted. In other words, do things that are hard for AI to imitate. Be someone who cannot be modeled by algorithms, and you will be irreplaceable.
Making assumptions about things that have already happened is a waste of time. Making assumptions about the future is very beneficial.
Most arguments have nothing to do with the argument itself. Therefore, in most cases, people cannot win an argument through debate.
When you consider the words "What’s next?", your decision-making will become wiser.
When you find yourself procrastinating, do not resist. Treat procrastination as something to do right now. Procrastinate wholeheartedly. Try doing nothing for five minutes. Treat this as your task. You will not be able to complete this task. After five minutes, you will be ready and eager to work.
Fail quickly. Fail frequently. Learn from failure. If you can continuously grow from failure, then failure is not a shame.
Doing good is a reward in itself. When you do good, people will question your motives, and any good deed of yours will soon be forgotten. But still, do good.
Valuable Life Advice#
When you forgive others, they may not notice, but you will feel relieved. Forgiveness is not for others; it is a gift we give ourselves.
Taking a short break is not a sign of weakness, but a symbol of strength.
Pain is always inevitable. Whether to be tormented by pain is a choice.
If you find something at home, and after using it, do not put it back in its original place. Put it in the first place you looked for it.
Whenever you cannot choose which path to take, choose the one that brings change.
Don’t aim to be the best. Aim to be the only one.
If you seek feedback from others, you will receive criticism. But if you seek advice, you will gain a partner.
When thinking, walking or jotting down notes can help open your mind. Thinking is not just done with the brain.
Taking responsibility for your mistakes is the best way to elevate oneself. If you mess things up, admit it frankly. By being brave enough to take responsibility, you will become incredibly strong.
Resentment is a curse; it does not affect others but only harms yourself. Let go of resentment as if it were poison.
Perhaps the most counterintuitive truth in the universe is: the more you give, the more you receive. Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom.
Forgiveness is accepting the apology you will never receive.
Being the richest person in the graveyard means nothing.
While you are still young, attend as many funerals as possible and listen to what people say about the deceased. No one talks about the deceased's achievements. People will only remember what kind of person you were in the process of achieving.
Acquiring material things rarely brings deep satisfaction, but gaining experiences can.
When someone is vicious, hateful, or mean to you, view their behavior as a sickness. This makes it easier for you to empathize with them and ease the conflict.
Urgent requests are cloaked scams.
When you lend something, treat it as a gift. If the other person returns it, you will feel surprised and happy.
In the long run, the future is determined by optimists. Being an optimist does not mean ignoring how many problems we have created. You just need to imagine how much our problem-solving ability can improve.
Urgency is a tyrant. Importance is the king.
Ironically, the most evil things in the world are done by those who truly believe they are fighting against evil. Be especially vigilant about yourself when facing evil.
When failure is expected, it is not failure.
Superheroes and saints never engage in artistic creation. Only imperfect people can create art because art begins with flaws.
On the path to great goals, celebrate the smallest victories as if each small victory is the ultimate goal. This way, no matter where the journey ends, victory will belong to you.
The foundation of maturity: just because it’s not your fault doesn’t mean it’s not your responsibility.
The best response to an insult is, "You might be right." They often might be right.
If you do not deliberately seek the approval of others, you possess infinite power.
When you figure out what your life mission is, you will fulfill your life mission. Your goal is to discover what your purpose is. This is not a paradox. This is the path of life.
When others tell you where the problem lies, they are usually right. When they tell you how to solve the problem, they are usually wrong.
If you cannot determine what you urgently need, perhaps what you urgently need is sleep.
Write down one thing you are grateful for each day; this is the cheapest healing method ever.
If someone's foolish beliefs annoy you, consider understanding why they hold such beliefs to alleviate your annoyance.
Whether it’s wealth, relationships, or knowledge, the greatest rewards in life come from the magic of compound interest, where small, stable gains are continuously amplified. To achieve abundance, all you need is to consistently ensure that your inputs exceed your losses by 1%.
Humans are not bodies carrying souls; rather, souls are given bodies, which we did not choose, but we must take good care of.
Finite games are about winning and losing. Infinite games allow the game to continue. Play those infinite games because infinite games can bring infinite rewards.
Always give praise quickly and take responsibility.
There are no secrets in the world. It’s best to deliver unpopular news directly to others. Paper cannot cover fire; secrets will inevitably be spread. At the same time, all who hold secrets will be corroded by them. Do not pry into secrets.
Greatness and short-term optimization are incompatible. Achieving great accomplishments requires long-term vision. Use a longer-term perspective to elevate your goals.
If winning becomes too important in a game, modify the rules to make the game more interesting. Modifying the rules themselves can become a new game.
The importance of efficiency is greatly overestimated. The importance of leisure is greatly underestimated. To achieve top performance in any work, regularly scheduled academic breaks, vacations, rest, and aimless walks are necessary prerequisites. The best work ethic requires a good rest ethic.
The biggest lie we tell ourselves is, "I don’t need to write it down because I can remember."
What you do on bad days is much more important than what you do on good days.
Ask someone you admire, and you will find that their lucky breakthroughs often happen when they deviate from their main goals. So embrace the detours. Life is not a straight line for anyone.
We often overestimate what we can accomplish in a day and underestimate what we can achieve in ten years. Give it ten years, and you can achieve incredible miracles. Stick to long-termism, accumulate small victories into big victories, and even if you make big mistakes, you can slowly correct them.
The best investment advice: pursue average returns and hold for longer than average time, which will create extraordinary results.
When being introduced to someone, make eye contact and count to four, or say to yourself, "I see you." You will remember each other.
To achieve worldly success, you can do some strange things. Make your weirdness a habit.
In negotiations, do not seek to get a bigger cake, but seek to make the cake bigger.
Do more things that are work for others but feel like play for you.
Every breakthrough initially seems ridiculous and absurd. In fact, if it doesn’t seem ridiculous and absurd at first, it is not a breakthrough.
How many people do not appreciate you or your work does not matter. How many people appreciate you is the only important thing.
On the path of life, do not try to avoid accidents, but face them head-on.
When you truly think independently, your conclusions will be unpredictable.
A superpower worth cultivating is learning from people you dislike. This is "humility." It takes courage to let stupid, hateful, crazy, and mean people teach you something because, despite their character flaws, they know things you do not.
The true test is how you treat power. The only way to heal from power addiction is humility while acknowledging that your power comes from luck. Small-minded people think they are superior, while those with a higher perspective know they are just lucky.
If you can see problems from others' perspectives, you can navigate the world effortlessly. This shift in perspective can bring heartfelt empathy. It also gives you the ability to persuade others, which is key to great design. Mastering the ability to see problems from others' perspectives can help you open countless closed doors.
When meditating, sit quietly and focus on your breath. Various thoughts will arise in your mind. Then bring your attention back to your breath; at this point, your mind will stop wandering. If you get distracted, bring it back. Always return your attention to your breath, not to your thoughts.
You cannot change the past, but you can change the narrative of the past. What matters is not what you went through, but how you treat those experiences.
Even if you are an ordinary person, half of the people in the world are less capable than you. Although it is not their fault, many of them cannot handle forms, complex instructions, or tricky situations. Be kind to them because the world has not been kind to them.
Do not attribute what can be explained by incompetence to malice.
You think you see the future clearly, but what you see is actually the present.
If you believe that any setback is only temporary, you have chosen luck.
In disputes, if you want to ease the tension, you only need to mimic the other person's body language.
Learn from mistakes, starting with laughing at your own mistakes.
It is regrettable when those you have carefully nurtured leave; worse, when you do not nurture them, yet they stay.
In your twenties, you can do some unusual, quirky, bold, irrational, crazy, foolish, unprofitable things that seem unrelated to "success." In your later life, these experiences will become your muse of inspiration.
Your ideal partner is not someone who never disagrees with you, but someone you enjoy having differing opinions with.
An open mind is the most direct path to open thoughts.
If you have grown, but your sense of responsibility has not increased, then you have not truly grown.
No matter how old you are, now is your golden age. Good things bring golden memories, while bad things bring valuable lessons.
It is best to leave this world with no money. Before you die, give your money to your beneficiaries; it will mean more and be more useful to them. Spend all your money. Your last check should be made out to the funeral home; it should be a blank check.
There are very few regrets in life about what you did. Almost all regrets are about what you did not do.
When you forgive others, they may not notice, but you will feel relieved. Forgiveness is not for others; it is a gift we give ourselves.
Taking a short break is not a sign of weakness, but a symbol of strength.
Pain is always inevitable. Whether to be tormented by pain is a choice.
If you find something at home, and after using it, do not put it back in its original place. Put it in the first place you looked for it.
Whenever you cannot choose which path to take, choose the one that brings change.
Don’t aim to be the best. Aim to be the only one.
If you seek feedback from others, you will receive criticism. But if you seek advice, you will gain a partner.
When thinking, walking or jotting down notes can help open your mind. Thinking is not just done with the brain.
Taking responsibility for your mistakes is the best way to elevate oneself. If you mess things up, admit it frankly. By being brave enough to take responsibility, you will become incredibly strong.
Resentment is a curse; it does not affect others but only harms yourself. Let go of resentment as if it were poison.
Perhaps the most counterintuitive truth in the universe is: the more you give, the more you receive. Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom.
Forgiveness is accepting the apology you will never receive.
Being the richest person in the graveyard means nothing.
While you are still young, attend as many funerals as possible and listen to what people say about the deceased. No one talks about the deceased's achievements. People will only remember what kind of person you were in the process of achieving.
Acquiring material things rarely brings deep satisfaction, but gaining experiences can.
When someone is vicious, hateful, or mean to you, view their behavior as a sickness. This makes it easier for you to empathize with them and ease the conflict.
Urgent requests are cloaked scams.
When you lend something, treat it as a gift. If the other person returns it, you will feel surprised and happy.
In the long run, the future is determined by optimists. Being an optimist does not mean ignoring how many problems we have created. You just need to imagine how much our problem-solving ability can improve.
Urgency is a tyrant. Importance is the king.
Ironically, the most evil things in the world are done by those who truly believe they are fighting against evil. Be especially vigilant about yourself when facing evil.
When failure is expected, it is not failure.
Superheroes and saints never engage in artistic creation. Only imperfect people can create art because art begins with flaws.
On the path to great goals, celebrate the smallest victories as if each small victory is the ultimate goal. This way, no matter where the journey ends, victory will belong to you.
The foundation of maturity: just because it’s not your fault doesn’t mean it’s not your responsibility.
The best response to an insult is, "You might be right." They often might be right.
If you do not deliberately seek the approval of others, you possess infinite power.
When you figure out what your life mission is, you will fulfill your life mission. Your goal is to discover what your purpose is. This is not a paradox. This is the path of life.
When others tell you where the problem lies, they are usually right. When they tell you how to solve the problem, they are usually wrong.
If you cannot determine what you urgently need, perhaps what you urgently need is sleep.
Write down one thing you are grateful for each day; this is the cheapest healing method ever.
If someone's foolish beliefs annoy you, consider understanding why they hold such beliefs to alleviate your annoyance.
Whether it’s wealth, relationships, or knowledge, the greatest rewards in life come from the magic of compound interest, where small, stable gains are continuously amplified. To achieve abundance, all you need is to consistently ensure that your inputs exceed your losses by 1%.
Humans are not bodies carrying souls; rather, souls are given bodies, which we did not choose, but we must take good care of.
Finite games are about winning and losing. Infinite games allow the game to continue. Play those infinite games because infinite games can bring infinite rewards.
Always give praise quickly and take responsibility.
There are no secrets in the world. It’s best to deliver unpopular news directly to others. Paper cannot cover fire; secrets will inevitably be spread. At the same time, all who hold secrets will be corroded by them. Do not pry into secrets.
Greatness and short-term optimization are incompatible. Achieving great accomplishments requires long-term vision. Use a longer-term perspective to elevate your goals.
If winning becomes too important in a game, modify the rules to make the game more interesting. Modifying the rules themselves can become a new game.
The importance of efficiency is greatly overestimated. The importance of leisure is greatly underestimated. To achieve top performance in any work, regularly scheduled academic breaks, vacations, rest, and aimless walks are necessary prerequisites. The best work ethic requires a good rest ethic.
The biggest lie we tell ourselves is, "I don’t need to write it down because I can remember."
What you do on bad days is much more important than what you do on good days.
Ask someone you admire, and you will find that their lucky breakthroughs often happen when they deviate from their main goals. So embrace the detours. Life is not a straight line for anyone.
We often overestimate what we can accomplish in a day and underestimate what we can achieve in ten years. Give it ten years, and you can achieve incredible miracles. Stick to long-termism, accumulate small victories into big victories, and even if you make big mistakes, you can slowly correct them.
The best investment advice: pursue average returns and hold for longer than average time, which will create extraordinary results.
When being introduced to someone, make eye contact and count to four, or say to yourself, "I see you." You will remember each other.
To achieve worldly success, you can do some strange things. Make your weirdness a habit.
In negotiations, do not seek to get a bigger cake, but seek to make the cake bigger.
Do more things that are work for others but feel like play for you.
Every breakthrough initially seems ridiculous and absurd. In fact, if it doesn’t seem ridiculous and absurd at first, it is not a breakthrough.
How many people do not appreciate you or your work does not matter. How many people appreciate you is the only important thing.
On the path of life, do not try to avoid accidents, but face them head-on.
When you truly think independently, your conclusions will be unpredictable.
A superpower worth cultivating is learning from people you dislike. This is "humility." It takes courage to let stupid, hateful, crazy, and mean people teach you something because, despite their character flaws, they know things you do not.
The true test is how you treat power. The only way to heal from power addiction is humility while acknowledging that your power comes from luck. Small-minded people think they are superior, while those with a higher perspective know they are just lucky.
If you can see problems from others' perspectives, you can navigate the world effortlessly. This shift in perspective can bring heartfelt empathy. It also gives you the ability to persuade others, which is key to great design. Mastering the ability to see problems from others' perspectives can help you open countless closed doors.
When meditating, sit quietly and focus on your breath. Various thoughts will arise in your mind. Then bring your attention back to your breath; at this point, your mind will stop wandering. If you get distracted, bring it back. Always return your attention to your breath, not to your thoughts.
You cannot change the past, but you can change the narrative of the past. What matters is not what you went through, but how you treat those experiences.
Even if you are an ordinary person, half of the people in the world are less capable than you. Although it is not their fault, many of them cannot handle forms, complex instructions, or tricky situations. Be kind to them because the world has not been kind to them.
Do not attribute what can be explained by incompetence to malice.
You think you see the future clearly, but what you see is actually the present.
If you believe that any setback is only temporary, you have chosen luck.
In disputes, if you want to ease the tension, you only need to mimic the other person's body language.
Learn from mistakes, starting with laughing at your own mistakes.
It is regrettable when those you have carefully nurtured leave; worse, when you do not nurture them, yet they stay.
In your twenties, you can do some unusual, quirky, bold, irrational, crazy, foolish, unprofitable things that seem unrelated to "success." In your later life, these experiences will become your muse of inspiration.
Your ideal partner is not someone who never disagrees with you, but someone you enjoy having differing opinions with.
An open mind is the most direct path to open thoughts.
If you have grown, but your sense of responsibility has not increased, then you have not truly grown.
No matter how old you are, now is your golden age. Good things bring golden memories, while bad things bring valuable lessons.
It is best to leave this world with no money. Before you die, give your money to your beneficiaries; it will mean more and be more useful to them. Spend all your money. Your last check should be made out to the funeral home; it should be a blank check.
There are very few regrets in life about what you did. Almost all regrets are about what you did not do.
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