Productivity & Growth

• I believe in learning by doing. Life is a “Do it yourself” project.
• Quotes are interesting, inspiring and provocative. But, it doesn’t work magically by listening, writing or reading them. Quotes are not going to rescue you. You have to work on it.
• “There is nothing magic about magic. The magician merely understands something simple which doesn’t appear to be simple or natural to the untrained audience. Once you learn how to hold a card while making your hand look empty, you only need practice before you, too, can “do magic.”
• Progress is not an illusion; it happens, but it is slow and invariably disappointing. [You need to fight with patience].

Q. How to improve decisions about health, wealth & Happiness in a complicated world?

1. Make rational decisions: Don't get too influenced by emotions, biases & heuristics.
2. Make informed decisions
3. Positive Reinforcement
4. Try to make it easy to do the right thing & make it easy to avoid doing the wrong thing.
5. Choice architecture: Be aware of the way choices are presented to us
6. Frame choices in a positive way
7. The quality of your decisions determines the quality of your life.
8. The power of compounding applies not only to money, but also to knowledge, skills, habits, and relationships.
9. The key to success is not intelligence, talent, or luck, but persistence, discipline, and hard work.
10. 

Q. How to (Read) Learn?

1. Learn Theory + Math [For multiple iterations by taking notes] [Create a note-taking framework that best suits you]
2. Repeat
3. Get Intuition
4. Code
5. Go to 1. until you understand the Big Picture, then go to 6.
6. Reality check: Use your data (prior + likelihood) to inform your decision of understanding. Do I make myself clear or am I trapped in an Intelligence trap?
7. Identify Information Gap. [Difference between existing Knowledge and objective]
8. Focus on high-impact tasks. Don't get caught up in simply being busy. [Be productive, not busy]
9. Practice a lot
10. Get out of tutorial hell: Watching lots of tutorials/online courses gives you a false sense that you are making progress. [Take time to choose the right/useful tutorial only.] 
Courses are good to know what you don't know. But quickly starting a project is a practical approach to progress. 
SOLUTION: Build things with your current skill set but not so complex that you drown.
11. Spaced Repetition
12. Retrieval Practice
13. Meta-cognition (thinking about thinking)
14. Continuous Learning (Be aware of the power of compounding ´|`)

Q. How does failure contribute to success? Growth Mindset!

It becomes super easy once you've failed a few times.

Q. What and How to focus? Do more in less time!

Different ways to pay attention:
1. Selective: Choosing what we pay attention to
2. Divided: Focusing on multiple things  at the same time (not effective)
3. Maintained: Pay attention to one thing for a long period of time
4. Executive: Pay attention to a goal with a plan. [Hyper Focus]

Basic requirements.
1. Self-discipline.
2. Be aware of your environment and workspace.
3. Power of now.
4. Power of curiosity.
5. Power of habit.
6. Power of solitude.

1.  

Q. What and How to Ignore? Strategic Ignorance: Know what to overlook!

1. Impatient thoughts. -> by shifting the current thought to useful thought
2. Insignificant busywork -> By self-reflecting your work
3. Necessary pain of hard work and growth -> Believe it is non-negotiable
4. Other people's judgements and each day's frustrations -> Simply ignore and be away from those types of people
5. Things that can't be controlled -> Don't try to control it
6. Mind's endless streams of doubts -> Be optimistic -> Use the 5-sec rule [count from 5 to 1 to stop a thought]
7. Learn to filter people who use victim card(self-victmizing people).
   - 
Playing the victim (also known as victim playing, victim card, or self-victimization) is the fabrication or exaggeration of victimhood
 for a variety of reasons such as to justify abuse to others, to manipulate others, a coping strategy, attention seeking or diffusion of responsibility.

Q. How to be creative & innovative?

1. Keep an open mind. (Mindfulness)
2. Practice Brainstorming!
3. Visualization (Imagination)
4. Problem solving
5. Collaboration (strong team)
6. Growth mindset + self-care
7. Self-reflection
8. Continuous Learning (Never give up)
9. Active Listening
10. Plan your next 5 moves.

Brain cannot differentiate between actual experience and imagined experience!

The brain struggles to distinguish between actual and imagined experiences due to overlapping neural pathways, intensified by emotions and sensory engagement. 
Intuition further complicates distinctions, relying on subtle cues and subconscious processing. 
Intuition, while valuable, can sometimes feel like a blend of imagination and reality, guiding decisions without clear conscious reasoning. 
Acknowledging intuition's biases & limitations is crucial. Despite challenges, the brain differentiates reality from imagination, yet intuition adds complexity. 
Understanding these dynamics enriches perception and decision-making capabilities.

Q. How to identify & manage stressful situation?

1. Positive self-talk
2. self-care (eat healthy, exercise, deep & enough sleep)
3. Deep Breathing
4. Take breaks
5. Avoid Alcohol
6. Practice Mindfulness
7. Avoid multitasking
8. Non-attachment to output (both pain/pleasure)