Very interesting. In step 4, after you have accomplished your goal what can I do that completely resets/reboots my brain? If I have been coding for 60 minutes, and I choose to spend the next 20 minutes as my break is there a recommended activity that completely rejuvenates? I am open to listening to music, exercise, watching videos, a snack etc. However, I rarely feel refreshed at the end of this break and dread going back to work again. Appreciate your thoughts on this.
Actually, it doesn't really matter that much for me. I mean each time I do something else. Maybe something around the house or the office, talk to someone, do some physical job (like scan/print documents) or pay the bills, do your ebay/amazon shopping... It doesn't even have to be a typical "rest" each time. Anything that is just not The Big Thing - not writing code in my case.
On the same note, I have heard of declaring publicly that I plan on achieving a certain goal/end result with the idea that not achieving it will make me look bad. I have not tried this though. Thanks for your suggestion.
I echo your thoughts. I thought YC new was a place where we appreciated the entrepreneurial spirit of creating something out of nothing. It was my sense that overcoming the odds was held in esteem. This guy surely seems to have done that. So, why call him a "tool" and downplay his achievements because he decided to put pictures of himself without a shirt on the net, or because he flaunts his wealth?
Honest question - why should we expect there be a correlation between "command of language" and entrepreneurial success? Also, curious as to why we should think someone only deserves to have money only if they had good command over language.
Hmmm, interesting questions. I don't think I implied people only deserve money if they have a good command of language. I think I made that comment more to point to how his lack of education was apparent from his manner of speech.
I would expect a good correlation between charisma and entrepreneurial success, of which being well-spoken can be a large component. People here often look to succeed by use of technical acumen, which is another trait that can serve you well, but don't overlook having someone around that is able to connect with people on a more basic level.
"I think I made that comment more to point to how his lack of education was apparent from his manner of speech."
That's an interesting observation. I actually watched the video again to try to pick out the parts which could cause you to think so. But, nothing seemed to stand out. His manner of speaking was not distinguished in a sense, but at the same time, it seemed more like means to an end, and wasn't something that caused me to think any less of him.
I bring up this issue because I feel I am not "well-spoken" and am trying to see how I can address this deficiency.
I'd have to review to go in more depth but those things are a little jarring to me. If you'd like to work on improving how you sound I'd recommend reading (a lot but preferable some stuff that has general interest, not necessarily fiction) and practice in a relaxed atmosphere. In college there was brewery tour nearby. That was the perfect place to have a dozen different conversations without anyone being wasted enough to remove any lucidity from the participants.
I think Martin Gardner did the same for Mathematics that Jon Bentley did for computer programming (or vice versa :o)). His books are fun to read. Some of the puzzles will be difficult for you, at first, but once you get the ball rolling you will be hooked. There are couple of usenet groups that you will find helpful while finding for hints for the solutions(notice that I didn't say ask for solutions on those usenets). Please also read the following
- "How to solve it" by George Polya.
- "How to prove it" --hmmm, cannot recall the author name.
As others suggested, learn Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus, Discrete Mathematics and etc. After that, try to settle on a sub-field and focus on that for at least 10 years. Another thing that you can do is to try to talk to some professors at a university nearby and tell them you can do some research as a volunteer (10-15 hours/week). I think you will find at least one professor interested in this idea out of 100. Don't give up, this can work.
There was this Nobel Laureate at University of Utrecht and he has a very good collection of pointers on background information that a theoretical physicist should possess. I'm sorry I cannot recall his name. So good luck. I know if you will persist you will have a lot of fun doing it.
