14 ms·

Ask HN: What are good resources for life advice?

What are other good resources to read from? Any source that are as good as PG essays on how to think in life? Sources can be videos, audios, recordings, essays, blogs, etc. Anything.

lcall 7y ago
Coming late to this but ... I have thought long about maturity models: a collaboratively-built step-by-step approach. The famous coach John Wooden said something like "the trouble with all the good new books is they keep us from reading all the good old books". Not everyone is in the same place in their personal growth process, or has time to read as much as needed to find what is best and most applicable to them, but there are some best practices that can help us all, when we are ready for them. So the intent is to capture those, for any area of life (which I have grouped under mental, physical, spiritual, social/emotional). I have posted much more at http://lukecall.net http://lukecall.net, under "Life lessons". (I think the site is lightweight/responsive, and skimmable.) (ps: I am a religious person and the content explains why, and is heavily influenced by that. Also, I hope the concepts, and present/future software to help with it, can be helpful, given almost any worldview.)
deepsun 7y ago
Not sure if spending time on life advice is better than on life itself.
- sumitsrivastava 7y ago
  I got really better at living life by learning from other people's experiences. PG really knows which ones would I value more. That's why I like PG's essays.
- slothtrop 7y ago
  Everything we spend time on is life itself.
- jolks 7y ago
  By reading such resources and articles, I learned from the mistakes that the authors painfully learned themselves or observed in their lives. Putting what I learned from them into practice would save me so much time and money, by not repeating those mistakes or at least minimize them. They are my mentors across different space and time.
  - p1esk 7y ago
    What makes you think you would have repeated those mistakes?
- squirrelicus 7y ago
  It's absolutely possible to waste your life thinking you don't have to, or shouldn't have to, worry about it.
aphextron 7y ago
Socrates, Spinoza, Hobbes, Rosseau, Kant, Nietzche, J.S. Mill, Camus, de Beauvoir, Arendt.
liamcardenas 7y ago
Naval has a lot of good content. I would start with his tweet storm: How to Get Rich (without getting lucky): https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103360646823936?s=21 https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103360646823936?s=21
- idoh 7y ago
  That’s a sweet tweet storm, thanks!
  - liamcardenas 7y ago
    Glad you liked it! He has a lot of other content too. You can see a compilation of his best works on the site linked in his twitter bio: https://theangelphilosopher.com/ https://theangelphilosopher.com/
    - tpowell 7y ago
      Second this. It’s the best podcast I’ve ever listened to—I re-play it every time I have a road trip. They went as far to create a lovely transcript of it, too: https://fs.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Naval-Ravikant-TKP.pdf https://fs.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Naval-Ravikant-TK...
- sumitsrivastava 7y ago
  I read it right now. I feel enriched. Thanks.
  - quickthrower2 7y ago
    A modern Tao
- jefflombardjr 7y ago
  A couple of the tweets remind me of The Richest Man in Babylon , but I like how succinct this is.
- 7y ago
shambolicfroli 7y ago
The Psychology of Human Misjudgment by Charles T. Munger https://www.harrisonbarnes.com/the-psychology-of-human-misjudgment-by-charles-t-munger/ https://www.harrisonbarnes.com/the-psychology-of-human-misju... (You may wish to scroll down to "psychology-based tendencies that, while generally useful, often mislead")
git-pull 7y ago
I'm biased in favor of audiobooks since they fit with strolls. Books are for sitting, walking burns calories :) Books: How to Win Friends and Influence People and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie Taste testing: PhilosophersNotes is like sparknotes for self-help books. Can be used as a way to discover / screen books you'd like. Audio: Psychology in Seattle's episodes regarding Attachment Theory (6 episodes). The reason why is it's a swiss army knife for understanding relationships and behavior. These episodes are paywalled though, but there are free episodes available if you use a Podcast app. Like aphextron mentioned Socrates: Republic, Apology by Plato are really good. The one narrated by Ray Childs. Audible for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig (it's like a Socratic dialog about what Quality is) A lot of stuff by The Teaching Company / Great Courses in general have been good quality (maybe I've been lucky).
dizzyfingers 7y ago
Any body remember when Alone was writing The Last Psychiatrist?
- bubblewrap 7y ago
  What did become of him, and who is Alone? I only know The Last Psychiatrist.
- sridca 7y ago
  For those in the blank: https://thelastpsychiatrist.com/archives.html https://thelastpsychiatrist.com/archives.html https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastpsychiatrist/ https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastpsychiatrist/
spchampion2 7y ago
A wonderful book that's a little off the beaten path for HN is "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life," by Anne Lamott.
hpvic03 7y ago
Books on Stoicism. In particular, “A Guide to the Good Life” Some good stuff here: https://www.theschooloflife.com/ https://www.theschooloflife.com/
- bobowzki 7y ago
  I second school of life. I don't know more about them than having watch their YouTube videos and they are surprisingly good.
- eafkuor 7y ago
  Seriously? I thought they were cartoonishly bad. A group of hipsters dispensing cheap philosophic pills for lazy fake intellectuals.
  - HNLurker2 7y ago
    True true. They don't even teach Philosophy. their video is the embodiment of cognitive ease.
    - eafkuor 7y ago
      Yep. I'm really surprised to see them upvoted on HN to be honest.
codethief 7y ago
I recommend Mark Manson – he's got a popular blog (https://markmanson.net https://markmanson.net) on topics like these and also wrote a great book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck.
kpennell 7y ago
Pocket's must reads are full of lots of self-development articles: https://blog.getpocket.com/2018/11/2018-must-reads-on-pocket/ https://blog.getpocket.com/2018/11/2018-must-reads-on-pocket...
rkho 7y ago
I like Aaron Swartz's Raw Nerve series: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/rawnerve http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/rawnerve
- whalesalad 7y ago
  Disclaimer: This is it’s a series of posts on how to get better at life written by someone that ended their own life.
  - srik 7y ago
    Your disclaimer is a touch ad hominem isn't it
    - cousin_it 7y ago
      Ad hominem is more about attacking someone's character or motive. Pointing out flaws in someone's skill when they try to teach that skill is a valid argument. No use taking swimming lessons from someone who can't swim.
  - wtmt 7y ago
    Why is that a disclaimer and why does your comment sound like knocking on something good? If you haven’t watched the documentary “The Internet’s Own Boy” [1], check it out. The amount of harassment (mental and emotional) he faced could also bring most other people to take steps that they never would’ve imagined themselves doing. It’s very easy to knock down others. But you haven’t lived his life, and you just cannot know how it was for him and what pushed him to take his own life. Would someone put down any works by Ian Murdock (founder of Debian) because he also took his life? I find these kind of criticisms, based on some actions of a person who otherwise contributed a lot, very silly and downright insulting in the meanest of ways. Next time you want to write a disclaimer on Aaron Swartz, you could perhaps describe it as how the FBI and DoJ went too far and killed him in more ways than one. [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Internet%27s_Own_Boy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Internet%27s_Own_Boy
    - 7y ago
temp2903d 7y ago
Maybe not the place to admit it but I'm more of a Naval fan myself...
- sidcool 7y ago
  I think many here at HN follow Naval. This is not a bad place to admit it.
- bubblewrap 7y ago
  Who is that, where can it be read?
  - sumitsrivastava 7y ago
    Twitter @naval.
jefflombardjr 7y ago
First and foremost, what you are describing is metacognition - thinking about the way you think. Hopefully that will aid you in your search for things! Secondly, here are some of my favorite influential material: - Li Ka-Shing, Tips on Life. My takeaway: invest in yourself. https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/asias-richest-man-li-ka-shing-shares-advice-for-young-entrepreneurs/ https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/asias-richest-ma... - Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture. My takeaway: don't limit yourself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7zzQpvoYcQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7zzQpvoYcQ - Guy Kawasaki, Make Meaning. Aimed for startups, but equally applicable in life. My takeaway: Have the proper motivations for doing things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQs6IpJQWXc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQs6IpJQWXc - Admiral William H. McRaven, Make your bed. My takeaway: if you want to change the world, start by changing yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxBQLFLei70 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxBQLFLei70 - David Foster Wallace, This is Water. My takeaway: Take a big picture view, and don't sweat the small stuff. https://fs.blog/2012/04/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/ https://fs.blog/2012/04/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/ - “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.”― Rumi - Man's Search for meaning. My takeaway: We make meaning. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Me... - "All the livin that you're saving, won't buy your dreams for you" - Townes Van Zandt - Idiot wind by Bob Dylan My takeaway: Your reaction to things can be just as bad as the actual thing. https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/57330/ https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/57330/ - Stoicism and Marcus Aurelius, Seneca. My takeaway: Focus on what matters. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5617966-a-guide-to-the-good-life https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5617966-a-guide-to-the-g... (read this one first for a good foundation) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97411.Letters_from_a_Stoic https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97411.Letters_from_a_Sto... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30659.Meditations https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30659.Meditations - Buddhism. Our takeaway: Meditation is important, the doctrine of emptiness (not nihilism!) is super interesting. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104949.How_to_See_Yourself_As_You_Really_Are https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104949.How_to_See_Yourse... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhammapada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhammapada https://www.shambhala.com/the-pocket-dalai-lama-14965.html https://www.shambhala.com/the-pocket-dalai-lama-14965.html https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25942786-the-mind-illuminated https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25942786-the-mind-illumi... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3346233-buddhism https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3346233-buddhism - Leonardo Da Vinci My take away: There is a beautiful intersection between tech and art. Great things could not exist without a little of both. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34684622-leonardo-da-vinci https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34684622-leonardo-da-vin... - The Alchemist My takeaway: It's not the destination it's the journey. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/865.The_Alchemist https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/865.The_Alchemist - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. My takeaway: Seek out quality, whatever the hell that is! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/629.Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/629.Zen_and_the_Art_of_M... - Why we sleep. My takeaway: go the fuck to bed. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep - Anti-Cancer Diet. My takeaway: don't eat shit. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1886829.Anticancer_A_New_Way_of_Life https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1886829.Anticancer_A_New... - Non-violent communication. My takeaway: You can (and should) communicate your needs respectfully. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/560861.Non_Violent_Communication https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/560861.Non_Violent_Commu... - Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela. My takeaway: There is a difference between institutionalized action and individual action. Forgiveness is the only path forward. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/318431.Long_Walk_to_Freedom https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/318431.Long_Walk_to_Free... - A people's history of the US. My takeaway: Things are getting better. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767.A_People_s_History_of_the_United_States https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767.A_People_s_History_...
tebeka 7y ago
The Knowledge Project https://fs.blog/the-knowledge-project/ https://fs.blog/the-knowledge-project/
uayw 7y ago
may
emperor_ 7y ago
12 rules of life by Jordan peterson
emperor_ 7y ago
12 rules of life by Jordan Peterson. Also Peterson's YouTube channel has loads of free lectures.
- thundergolfer 7y ago
  It's pretty hard to avoid the reactionary politics when consuming Peterson, but if you can yeah you get mostly tried-and-true basic self-help advice.
  - squirrelicus 7y ago
    It's funny. He took like one political stance and then got labeled awful things. We can just skip past the trans thing. It's ok. For those that don't know: he interpreted a law that was passed in Canada as compelled speech law and decided that was a line that shall not be crossed, no matter the presumed benefit. That line happened to coincidentally involve trans people and, well, it's the late 2010s, so that speaks for itself. It takes about three minutes of listening to him talk on the subject to understand that his singular life's mission is to figure out what is necessary to prevent totalitarianism ever again. Compelled speech laws are something we ought to be on the defensive for in that regard. The fact that it involved trans people is irrelevant to him and should be irrelevant to us.
    - verbify 7y ago
      > It takes about three minutes of listening to him talk on the subject to understand that his singular life's mission is to figure out what is necessary to prevent totalitarianism ever again I spent some time listening to him, and that wasn't my impression. It struck me as a mixture of contrarianism, attention seeking behaviour and latent transphobia.
      - gdy 7y ago
        My impression is that your comment is a mixture of contrarianism, attention seeking behaviour and latent transphobophobia. Can't refute it, can you?
squirrelicus 7y ago
Jordan Peterson's Maps of Meaning, 12 Rules for Life, and his many tens of hours of content on YouTube. If you're willing to entertain the idea for a brief moment that the Bible has any wisdom at all, his Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories is a must. I recommend them even if you aren't willing, in fact. They converted me, and i was a fairly nihilistic atheist for almost all of my thinking life.
- lisardo 7y ago
  I see Jordan Pererson gets downvoted here, but recommend all critic to read “12 rules for life” themselves. This book helped me a lot.
  - squirrelicus 7y ago
    It's worth all the down votes and more. I'm sure you can divide the down voters into a handful of camps. Those who are somehow convinced he has ties to the despicable alt right, those who are annoyed they keep hearing about him, and those who have actually heard him speak but, ianno, think taking responsibility and straightening yourself out is bad or something. Maybe they're just afraid of confronting their shadow.
    - badpun 7y ago
      There are at least three more reasons why people dislike or even actively attack him: - he says that there can be value in religion, and it for some reason triggers some people - he's a critic of the "neo-Marxist post-modern left" - he promotes emphasis on oneself before emphasis on collective, which in left's eyes is "reactionary". I.e. in his opinion, lots of people have vast room for personal improvement, which will in turn make their life better and easier - while in the left's eyes this is just a diversion, because the best way to life improvement is unionisation, political movements etc.
    - charliesome 7y ago
      > Those who are somehow convinced he has ties to the despicable alt right, When he's hosting two prominent alt right figures as guests on his podcast [0], I think it's pretty fair to say that he has ties to the alt right. [0]: https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson/status/1116431837956583424 https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson/status/11164318379565834...
nell 7y ago
If you already know all the usual advice or don’t think highly of them, try the graduate level works of Kapil Gupta. - kapilguptamd.com - He appeared in a few episodes on 33voices podcast - two recent appearances in Crazy Wisdom podcast with Stewart Alsop
- p1esk 7y ago
  Are you serious? That website looks like total bullshit.
prepend 7y ago
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl is a quick book that goes into how we internalize meaning that drives happiness from purpose that helped me figure out this out better than many other “journey > destination” books. Bed of Procrustus by Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a bunch of quick aphorisms that takes less than an hour to read and gives good insight into Taleb’s form of critical thinking. Between the Devil and the Dragon by Eric Hoffer has essays from a self-educated, laborer philosopher and has helped me to understand much about how I think through things and why.
- Balgair 7y ago
  Aside: The True Believer is well worth the read. Though I may have some issues with Hoffer's conclusions in his work, I've never regretted the time spent reading him.
  - prepend 7y ago
    True Believer is included in Between Devil and Dragon. I like how you stated “I’ve never regretted the time spent reading him” as I don’t agree with many of his statements and sometimes his writings seem a bit self-involved or exegesis in need of a peer review, but I’ve found it valuable to read through and think the power of some of the ideas I keep, or just strongly disagree, are worth all the material I discard.
z1mm32m4n 7y ago
My favorites: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie
rtcoms 7y ago
https://waitbutwhy.com/ https://waitbutwhy.com/
gordon_freeman 7y ago
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Basically the introduction to Stoicism philosophy)
- louismerlin 7y ago
  Seconded !
Odenwaelder 7y ago
Dear Sugar, the Rumpus advice column.
godelmachine 7y ago
The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell. Never knew unhappiness after I read this. Highly recommended. Another one is Méditations by Marcus Aurelius. Lives by Plutarch if you have the patience.
factsaresacred 7y ago
I enjoy the writings of Kapil Gupta. In fact I found them life-transforming. Naval is mentioned here - I believe him and Kapil are friends. He writes on mastery, seriousness and the Truth. His Twitter: https://twitter.com/KapilGuptaMD https://twitter.com/KapilGuptaMD. And some excerpts from his writings: > "Cleverness and insincerity are loud. Seriousness is quiet" > "The Mind does not assault man for his mistakes. It assaults him for the cover-up" > "If there was one single thing that stands between man and his freedom, it is the belief that he has time" > "What must be understood is that human beings’ lives harden into routines. They harden into a way of being. At some long-forgotten moment many moons ago, they settled. For things they swore they would not settle for...today's compromise is tomorrow's resentment”" > "People are who they are. And they will do everything in their power to remain who they are. And the Mind will make certain of this" > "The common man is afraid of “losing.” The Legend is afraid of not arriving at his ultimate capability. These are fundamentally different paths"
adebrincat 7y ago
https://academyofideas.com/ https://academyofideas.com/
sillyguy123 7y ago
Your parents, grand parents and other paternal figures like coaches teachers aunts uncles and siblings
- avip 7y ago
  Very happy to find this obvious answer. People always look far for what can be found right here.
andai 7y ago
I was going to suggest Dr. Peterson, but Ctrl+F revealed a veritable graveyard of downvoted comments about him already. That's too bad. So I'll go with Steve Pavlina's [0] work instead. Steve Pavlina's blog is a mix of solid personal development advice mixed with a journal of his self experimentation. His most interesting work is on belief systems, and on deliberately installing new belief systems to improve your life. An interesting note is that he has released most of his work into the public domain. I'm working on audio versions of his articles. [0]: https://stevepavlina.com/ https://stevepavlina.com/
- koonsolo 7y ago
  I used to love Steve's writing (back in the game developer days and some after). But I got the impression that he was becoming more and more eccentric/crazy. I haven't read his articles in a while, so maybe they are more sane now.
  - sireat 7y ago
    About 10 years ago Steve seemed really on the level of someone like Joel regarding software development and general life advice. Now it seems Steve is all crazy stuff. For example this is Timecube level thinking: https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2019/02/your-10-dimensional-self/ https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2019/02/your-10-dimensiona...
    - johnchristopher 7y ago
      I disagree. I don't believe Pavlina has the track record of Joel regarding software development. His life advice at that time was "stop sleeping, you'll do more and let's see how far we can ride that secret thing" while claiming being telepathic and talking to birds. Now I wouldn't be surprised if Steve made way more money than Joel.
      - koonsolo 7y ago
        These seem to already be the crazy days. I remember when he was selling games way before any "indie games", even before Bejewled if I remember correctly. I also thought regarding sleep, that he woke up every morning at the same time, and went to bed when he was tired.
Funes- 7y ago
Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. It's the hardest pill I've ever tried to swallow in my life; in fact, I am still in the process of doing so. It goes over the mental process and ruminations of assuming the greatest commitment a human being can make: that which you make to reason and nature. Taking full responsibility of your existence is a daunting proposition, but initiating the process is a fruitful enterprise. Just a warning, though: be prepared for thanatophobia while reading it, since it has "memento mori" written all over it.
- HenryBemis 7y ago
  For people that may want to put a little Stoicism in their lives, you may want to try this book: The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living: Featuring new translations of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius [1] This one-per-day, helps me absorb them in a slow and steady manner. [1]: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Perseverance-translations/dp/1781257655/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Perseveranc... (link is not associate)
neillyons 7y ago
Sam Altman’s blog. I like this article https://blog.samaltman.com/the-days-are-long-but-the-decades-are-short https://blog.samaltman.com/the-days-are-long-but-the-decades... In particular. Do new things often as it slows down the perception of time.
50 7y ago
I recently finished reading "The Wisdom of Insecurity" (1951) by Alan Watts. I have to go back through it again to grasp it further. It's a short read (~150 pages). I highly recommend it.
shinryuu 7y ago
I would suggest the readings at https://betterhumans.coach.me/a-directory-of-advice-that-works-e7a177844a46 https://betterhumans.coach.me/a-directory-of-advice-that-wor...
- tonystubblebine 7y ago
  Thank you!
suniltejs 7y ago
Zen mind, beginner's mind - Shunryu Suzuki. I don't think it's life advice. But, it certainly had a profound impact on my life. As an entrepreneur, I found the best way to learn about life is to read biographies of successful people, especially the ones that speak of the transformations. Shoe Dog - Phil Knight Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein - Walter Isaacson
- aphextron 7y ago
  >Zen mind, beginner's mind - Shunryu Suzuki. I don't think it's life advice. But, it certainly had a profound impact on my life. Just wanted to second this. One of the few books that has actually changed the way I view everything in life, and led to a years long deep dive into eastern philosophy.
  - scruple 7y ago
    Third here. I was talking about this book just yesterday on HN and also briefly with my team at work. It's definitely not life advice, but it also helped me change the way that I view most things in life.
lukego 7y ago
If my kids ask me for advice about buying a house, taking a job, doing a degree, etc, I'll refer them to bogleheads.org without hesitation.
mikelyons 7y ago
http://www.actualized.org http://www.actualized.org
aizatto 7y ago
What sort of "life advice" do you want? I think for starters is to realize there is a lot of contradicting life advice. Then the other thing is wether people follow the advice they give others. There is a Carl Jung quote: > Only the paradox comes anywhere near to comprehending the fullness of life. Personally for me, understanding life is understanding the pros/cons of every scenario. The pros and cons of short term thinking. The pros and cons of long term thinking. The trade offs between both. There are trade offs in everything we do. Understanding them, and accepting them is important.
- cousin_it 7y ago
  Yeah, came here to say the same thing. There's so much advice out there, different advice is good for different people at different times, and none of it can cover life in full. One way to think of it is that reading advice puts you in the perspective of the advice-giver, instead of your own. Like, when you read a book titled "99 ways not to be a loser", you begin worrying if you're a loser and seeing everything through that lens. And then you read "35 ways to become a decent person" and suddenly being a loser isn't a problem anymore, now there's something else on your mind. And so on. It stops you from seeing your life on its own terms, from many angles and the actual weighting of each, which is very personal. It requires living, not reading.
  - lcall 7y ago
    That is part of the reason that I have thought long about maturity models: a collaboratively-built step-by-step approach. Not everyone is in the same place, but there are some best practices that can help us all, when we are ready for them. More at http://lukecall.net http://lukecall.net, under "Life lessons". (ps: I am a religious person and the content is heavily influenced by that, but I hope the concept, and present/future software, are amenable to about any worldview.)
jpamata 7y ago
Derek Sivers' blog. One of my favourite pieces of his, There is No Speed Limit: https://sivers.org/kimo https://sivers.org/kimo
jstrebel 7y ago
I frequently scan Quora for interesting perspectives on life. I really like to learn from the personal stories of individuals. Of course, you have to take everything with a grain of salt, as Quora is not peer-reviewed or scholarly supported, but exactly this raw and unfiltered content makes it attractive. You can learn best from the mistakes of others. It's a kind of wisdom of the crowds-approach. (I don't work for Quora, nor do I participate in their partner program)
throwaway1111x 7y ago
On the Shortness of Life by Seneca
Rerarom 7y ago
David Chapman - Meaningness https://meaningness.com https://meaningness.com
- aaimnr 7y ago
  Wow, didn't expect it here. Chapman is an amazing guy. Influenced mostly by Buddhism, has a good grasp of western philosophy and his insights into AI make things even more interesting (he was playing part in the GOFAI). The message is very subtle, but much closer to reality than most of the other suggestions here. The difficult part is that it requires letting go a lot of views to which we are very attached. Not your typical feel-good motivational book.
- HNLurker2 7y ago
  I am waiting for the finish book to read. Don't tell me his meaning is the journey not the destination (end product book)
gexla 7y ago
Morgan Housel for financial advice. Just Google the name and follow his Twitter feed if you have an account there. I have learned a ton through playing poker. The game has a lot of carry-over into real life. Luck vs Skill. Variance. Take a look at the link for a great review on a great book about poker. https://25iq.com/2018/10/13/lessons-from-annie-duke-author-of-thinking-in-bets-making-smarter-decisions-when-you-dont-have-all-the-facts/ https://25iq.com/2018/10/13/lessons-from-annie-duke-author-o...
stfwn 7y ago
> There are these two young ﬁsh swimming along, and they happen to meet an older ﬁsh swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys, how's the water?” And the two young ﬁsh swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?” -- David Foster Wallace This is a nice analogy about how hard it is to understand what we live in every day. To know about 'water' I learned a lot from Thomas Eriksen -- Small Places, Large Issues. It's an introduction to cultural anthropology and it's a great academic read, but it also taught me a lot on a personal level; to clearly recognize different schools of thought and see their particular and universal value. Good contextual knowledge of this sort tones down the general chaos of life for me. It just helps a lot to have a solid mental model of cultures and ideologies, know their overlaps and contradictions, and to have the ability to relate specific thinkers to this model.
linuxboxer 7y ago
Joe imbriano, The Fullerton Informer is a good start. He covers many issue related to technology, health, government, self improvement etc. https://thefullertoninformer.com https://thefullertoninformer.com www.YouTube.com/thefullertoninformer
polytronic 7y ago
There is great a number of Alan Watts talks on YouTube. For more information https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts
n2dasun 7y ago
Stoicism books, Markmanson.net, books by Brene Brown
matonias 7y ago
Go out and explore the world and try meet interesting people ;) no better resource then that
Balgair 7y ago
If you're in for a 15min/day kinda thing, try out the Harvard Classics. Reading them acts as a great barometer for the 'stickier' problems that we humans face. Totally free to download and read here: https://www.myharvardclassics.com/categories/20120212 https://www.myharvardclassics.com/categories/20120212 Daily Reading Guide here: https://www.myharvardclassics.com/categories/20120612_1 https://www.myharvardclassics.com/categories/20120612_1
alashley 7y ago
I like Coach Red Pill on You Tube. Some of his stuff is pretty insightful.
raztogt21 7y ago
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams. An extremely concise life advice book. Doesn't wander around ideas. Well-written. Of all 'self-help' books I have read, this is the only I truely recommend.
tmaly 7y ago
I think Poor Charlies Almanac is great as it covers the mental models. It also has a wealth of life advice. You can also subscribe to the fs blog or their podcast The Knowledge Project. They do a lot with mental models. The book The Art of Thinking Clearly is another great book that covers biases of the mind in one to two pages each. The Tim Ferris podcast surprisingly has some amazing guests filled with life advice. I just listened to one with Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. It was absolutely fantastic.

What are other good resources to read from? Any source that are as good as PG essays on how to think in life? Sources can be videos, audios, recordings, essays, blogs, etc. Anything.

lcall 7y ago

Coming late to this but ... I have thought long about maturity models: a collaboratively-built step-by-step approach. The famous coach John Wooden said something like "the trouble with all the good new books is they keep us from reading all the good old books". Not everyone is in the same place in their personal growth process, or has time to read as much as needed to find what is best and most applicable to them, but there are some best practices that can help us all, when we are ready for them. So the intent is to capture those, for any area of life (which I have grouped under mental, physical, spiritual, social/emotional). I have posted much more at http://lukecall.net http://lukecall.net, under "Life lessons". (I think the site is lightweight/responsive, and skimmable.) (ps: I am a religious person and the content explains why, and is heavily influenced by that. Also, I hope the concepts, and present/future software to help with it, can be helpful, given almost any worldview.)

deepsun 7y ago

Not sure if spending time on life advice is better than on life itself.

sumitsrivastava 7y ago
I got really better at living life by learning from other people's experiences. PG really knows which ones would I value more. That's why I like PG's essays.
slothtrop 7y ago
Everything we spend time on is life itself.
jolks 7y ago
By reading such resources and articles, I learned from the mistakes that the authors painfully learned themselves or observed in their lives. Putting what I learned from them into practice would save me so much time and money, by not repeating those mistakes or at least minimize them. They are my mentors across different space and time.
- p1esk 7y ago
  What makes you think you would have repeated those mistakes?
squirrelicus 7y ago
It's absolutely possible to waste your life thinking you don't have to, or shouldn't have to, worry about it.

aphextron 7y ago

Socrates, Spinoza, Hobbes, Rosseau, Kant, Nietzche, J.S. Mill, Camus, de Beauvoir, Arendt.

liamcardenas 7y ago

Naval has a lot of good content. I would start with his tweet storm: How to Get Rich (without getting lucky): https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103360646823936?s=21 https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103360646823936?s=21

idoh 7y ago
That’s a sweet tweet storm, thanks!
- liamcardenas 7y ago
  Glad you liked it! He has a lot of other content too. You can see a compilation of his best works on the site linked in his twitter bio: https://theangelphilosopher.com/ https://theangelphilosopher.com/
  - tpowell 7y ago
    Second this. It’s the best podcast I’ve ever listened to—I re-play it every time I have a road trip. They went as far to create a lovely transcript of it, too: https://fs.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Naval-Ravikant-TKP.pdf https://fs.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Naval-Ravikant-TK...
sumitsrivastava 7y ago
I read it right now. I feel enriched. Thanks.
- quickthrower2 7y ago
  A modern Tao
jefflombardjr 7y ago
A couple of the tweets remind me of The Richest Man in Babylon , but I like how succinct this is.
7y ago

shambolicfroli 7y ago

The Psychology of Human Misjudgment by Charles T. Munger https://www.harrisonbarnes.com/the-psychology-of-human-misjudgment-by-charles-t-munger/ https://www.harrisonbarnes.com/the-psychology-of-human-misju... (You may wish to scroll down to "psychology-based tendencies that, while generally useful, often mislead")

git-pull 7y ago

I'm biased in favor of audiobooks since they fit with strolls. Books are for sitting, walking burns calories :) Books: How to Win Friends and Influence People and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie Taste testing: PhilosophersNotes is like sparknotes for self-help books. Can be used as a way to discover / screen books you'd like. Audio: Psychology in Seattle's episodes regarding Attachment Theory (6 episodes). The reason why is it's a swiss army knife for understanding relationships and behavior. These episodes are paywalled though, but there are free episodes available if you use a Podcast app. Like aphextron mentioned Socrates: Republic, Apology by Plato are really good. The one narrated by Ray Childs. Audible for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig (it's like a Socratic dialog about what Quality is) A lot of stuff by The Teaching Company / Great Courses in general have been good quality (maybe I've been lucky).

dizzyfingers 7y ago

Any body remember when Alone was writing The Last Psychiatrist?

bubblewrap 7y ago
What did become of him, and who is Alone? I only know The Last Psychiatrist.
sridca 7y ago
For those in the blank: https://thelastpsychiatrist.com/archives.html https://thelastpsychiatrist.com/archives.html https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastpsychiatrist/ https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastpsychiatrist/

spchampion2 7y ago

A wonderful book that's a little off the beaten path for HN is "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life," by Anne Lamott.

hpvic03 7y ago

Books on Stoicism. In particular, “A Guide to the Good Life” Some good stuff here: https://www.theschooloflife.com/ https://www.theschooloflife.com/

bobowzki 7y ago
I second school of life. I don't know more about them than having watch their YouTube videos and they are surprisingly good.
eafkuor 7y ago
Seriously? I thought they were cartoonishly bad. A group of hipsters dispensing cheap philosophic pills for lazy fake intellectuals.
- HNLurker2 7y ago
  True true. They don't even teach Philosophy. their video is the embodiment of cognitive ease.
  - eafkuor 7y ago
    Yep. I'm really surprised to see them upvoted on HN to be honest.

codethief 7y ago

I recommend Mark Manson – he's got a popular blog (https://markmanson.net https://markmanson.net) on topics like these and also wrote a great book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck.

kpennell 7y ago

Pocket's must reads are full of lots of self-development articles: https://blog.getpocket.com/2018/11/2018-must-reads-on-pocket/ https://blog.getpocket.com/2018/11/2018-must-reads-on-pocket...

rkho 7y ago

I like Aaron Swartz's Raw Nerve series: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/rawnerve http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/rawnerve

whalesalad 7y ago
Disclaimer: This is it’s a series of posts on how to get better at life written by someone that ended their own life.
- srik 7y ago
  Your disclaimer is a touch ad hominem isn't it
  - cousin_it 7y ago
    Ad hominem is more about attacking someone's character or motive. Pointing out flaws in someone's skill when they try to teach that skill is a valid argument. No use taking swimming lessons from someone who can't swim.
- wtmt 7y ago
  Why is that a disclaimer and why does your comment sound like knocking on something good? If you haven’t watched the documentary “The Internet’s Own Boy” [1], check it out. The amount of harassment (mental and emotional) he faced could also bring most other people to take steps that they never would’ve imagined themselves doing. It’s very easy to knock down others. But you haven’t lived his life, and you just cannot know how it was for him and what pushed him to take his own life. Would someone put down any works by Ian Murdock (founder of Debian) because he also took his life? I find these kind of criticisms, based on some actions of a person who otherwise contributed a lot, very silly and downright insulting in the meanest of ways. Next time you want to write a disclaimer on Aaron Swartz, you could perhaps describe it as how the FBI and DoJ went too far and killed him in more ways than one. [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Internet%27s_Own_Boy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Internet%27s_Own_Boy
  - 7y ago

temp2903d 7y ago

Maybe not the place to admit it but I'm more of a Naval fan myself...

sidcool 7y ago
I think many here at HN follow Naval. This is not a bad place to admit it.
bubblewrap 7y ago
Who is that, where can it be read?
- sumitsrivastava 7y ago
  Twitter @naval.

jefflombardjr 7y ago

First and foremost, what you are describing is metacognition - thinking about the way you think. Hopefully that will aid you in your search for things! Secondly, here are some of my favorite influential material: - Li Ka-Shing, Tips on Life. My takeaway: invest in yourself. https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/asias-richest-man-li-ka-shing-shares-advice-for-young-entrepreneurs/ https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/asias-richest-ma... - Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture. My takeaway: don't limit yourself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7zzQpvoYcQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7zzQpvoYcQ - Guy Kawasaki, Make Meaning. Aimed for startups, but equally applicable in life. My takeaway: Have the proper motivations for doing things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQs6IpJQWXc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQs6IpJQWXc - Admiral William H. McRaven, Make your bed. My takeaway: if you want to change the world, start by changing yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxBQLFLei70 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxBQLFLei70 - David Foster Wallace, This is Water. My takeaway: Take a big picture view, and don't sweat the small stuff. https://fs.blog/2012/04/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/ https://fs.blog/2012/04/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/ - “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.”― Rumi - Man's Search for meaning. My takeaway: We make meaning. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Me... - "All the livin that you're saving, won't buy your dreams for you" - Townes Van Zandt - Idiot wind by Bob Dylan My takeaway: Your reaction to things can be just as bad as the actual thing. https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/57330/ https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/57330/ - Stoicism and Marcus Aurelius, Seneca. My takeaway: Focus on what matters. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5617966-a-guide-to-the-good-life https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5617966-a-guide-to-the-g... (read this one first for a good foundation) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97411.Letters_from_a_Stoic https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97411.Letters_from_a_Sto... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30659.Meditations https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30659.Meditations - Buddhism. Our takeaway: Meditation is important, the doctrine of emptiness (not nihilism!) is super interesting. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104949.How_to_See_Yourself_As_You_Really_Are https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104949.How_to_See_Yourse... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhammapada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhammapada https://www.shambhala.com/the-pocket-dalai-lama-14965.html https://www.shambhala.com/the-pocket-dalai-lama-14965.html https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25942786-the-mind-illuminated https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25942786-the-mind-illumi... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3346233-buddhism https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3346233-buddhism - Leonardo Da Vinci My take away: There is a beautiful intersection between tech and art. Great things could not exist without a little of both. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34684622-leonardo-da-vinci https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34684622-leonardo-da-vin... - The Alchemist My takeaway: It's not the destination it's the journey. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/865.The_Alchemist https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/865.The_Alchemist - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. My takeaway: Seek out quality, whatever the hell that is! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/629.Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/629.Zen_and_the_Art_of_M... - Why we sleep. My takeaway: go the fuck to bed. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep - Anti-Cancer Diet. My takeaway: don't eat shit. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1886829.Anticancer_A_New_Way_of_Life https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1886829.Anticancer_A_New... - Non-violent communication. My takeaway: You can (and should) communicate your needs respectfully. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/560861.Non_Violent_Communication https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/560861.Non_Violent_Commu... - Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela. My takeaway: There is a difference between institutionalized action and individual action. Forgiveness is the only path forward. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/318431.Long_Walk_to_Freedom https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/318431.Long_Walk_to_Free... - A people's history of the US. My takeaway: Things are getting better. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767.A_People_s_History_of_the_United_States https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767.A_People_s_History_...

tebeka 7y ago

The Knowledge Project https://fs.blog/the-knowledge-project/ https://fs.blog/the-knowledge-project/

uayw 7y ago

may

emperor_ 7y ago

12 rules of life by Jordan peterson

emperor_ 7y ago

12 rules of life by Jordan Peterson. Also Peterson's YouTube channel has loads of free lectures.

thundergolfer 7y ago
It's pretty hard to avoid the reactionary politics when consuming Peterson, but if you can yeah you get mostly tried-and-true basic self-help advice.
- squirrelicus 7y ago
  It's funny. He took like one political stance and then got labeled awful things. We can just skip past the trans thing. It's ok. For those that don't know: he interpreted a law that was passed in Canada as compelled speech law and decided that was a line that shall not be crossed, no matter the presumed benefit. That line happened to coincidentally involve trans people and, well, it's the late 2010s, so that speaks for itself. It takes about three minutes of listening to him talk on the subject to understand that his singular life's mission is to figure out what is necessary to prevent totalitarianism ever again. Compelled speech laws are something we ought to be on the defensive for in that regard. The fact that it involved trans people is irrelevant to him and should be irrelevant to us.
  - verbify 7y ago
    > It takes about three minutes of listening to him talk on the subject to understand that his singular life's mission is to figure out what is necessary to prevent totalitarianism ever again I spent some time listening to him, and that wasn't my impression. It struck me as a mixture of contrarianism, attention seeking behaviour and latent transphobia.
    - gdy 7y ago
      My impression is that your comment is a mixture of contrarianism, attention seeking behaviour and latent transphobophobia. Can't refute it, can you?

squirrelicus 7y ago

Jordan Peterson's Maps of Meaning, 12 Rules for Life, and his many tens of hours of content on YouTube. If you're willing to entertain the idea for a brief moment that the Bible has any wisdom at all, his Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories is a must. I recommend them even if you aren't willing, in fact. They converted me, and i was a fairly nihilistic atheist for almost all of my thinking life.

lisardo 7y ago
I see Jordan Pererson gets downvoted here, but recommend all critic to read “12 rules for life” themselves. This book helped me a lot.
- squirrelicus 7y ago
  It's worth all the down votes and more. I'm sure you can divide the down voters into a handful of camps. Those who are somehow convinced he has ties to the despicable alt right, those who are annoyed they keep hearing about him, and those who have actually heard him speak but, ianno, think taking responsibility and straightening yourself out is bad or something. Maybe they're just afraid of confronting their shadow.
  - badpun 7y ago
    There are at least three more reasons why people dislike or even actively attack him: - he says that there can be value in religion, and it for some reason triggers some people - he's a critic of the "neo-Marxist post-modern left" - he promotes emphasis on oneself before emphasis on collective, which in left's eyes is "reactionary". I.e. in his opinion, lots of people have vast room for personal improvement, which will in turn make their life better and easier - while in the left's eyes this is just a diversion, because the best way to life improvement is unionisation, political movements etc.
  - charliesome 7y ago
    > Those who are somehow convinced he has ties to the despicable alt right, When he's hosting two prominent alt right figures as guests on his podcast [0], I think it's pretty fair to say that he has ties to the alt right. [0]: https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson/status/1116431837956583424 https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson/status/11164318379565834...

nell 7y ago

If you already know all the usual advice or don’t think highly of them, try the graduate level works of Kapil Gupta. - kapilguptamd.com - He appeared in a few episodes on 33voices podcast - two recent appearances in Crazy Wisdom podcast with Stewart Alsop

p1esk 7y ago
Are you serious? That website looks like total bullshit.

prepend 7y ago

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl is a quick book that goes into how we internalize meaning that drives happiness from purpose that helped me figure out this out better than many other “journey > destination” books. Bed of Procrustus by Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a bunch of quick aphorisms that takes less than an hour to read and gives good insight into Taleb’s form of critical thinking. Between the Devil and the Dragon by Eric Hoffer has essays from a self-educated, laborer philosopher and has helped me to understand much about how I think through things and why.

Balgair 7y ago
Aside: The True Believer is well worth the read. Though I may have some issues with Hoffer's conclusions in his work, I've never regretted the time spent reading him.
- prepend 7y ago
  True Believer is included in Between Devil and Dragon. I like how you stated “I’ve never regretted the time spent reading him” as I don’t agree with many of his statements and sometimes his writings seem a bit self-involved or exegesis in need of a peer review, but I’ve found it valuable to read through and think the power of some of the ideas I keep, or just strongly disagree, are worth all the material I discard.

z1mm32m4n 7y ago

My favorites: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie

rtcoms 7y ago

https://waitbutwhy.com/ https://waitbutwhy.com/

gordon_freeman 7y ago

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Basically the introduction to Stoicism philosophy)

louismerlin 7y ago
Seconded !

Odenwaelder 7y ago

Dear Sugar, the Rumpus advice column.

godelmachine 7y ago

The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell. Never knew unhappiness after I read this. Highly recommended. Another one is Méditations by Marcus Aurelius. Lives by Plutarch if you have the patience.

factsaresacred 7y ago

I enjoy the writings of Kapil Gupta. In fact I found them life-transforming. Naval is mentioned here - I believe him and Kapil are friends. He writes on mastery, seriousness and the Truth. His Twitter: https://twitter.com/KapilGuptaMD https://twitter.com/KapilGuptaMD. And some excerpts from his writings: > "Cleverness and insincerity are loud. Seriousness is quiet" > "The Mind does not assault man for his mistakes. It assaults him for the cover-up" > "If there was one single thing that stands between man and his freedom, it is the belief that he has time" > "What must be understood is that human beings’ lives harden into routines. They harden into a way of being. At some long-forgotten moment many moons ago, they settled. For things they swore they would not settle for...today's compromise is tomorrow's resentment”" > "People are who they are. And they will do everything in their power to remain who they are. And the Mind will make certain of this" > "The common man is afraid of “losing.” The Legend is afraid of not arriving at his ultimate capability. These are fundamentally different paths"

adebrincat 7y ago

https://academyofideas.com/ https://academyofideas.com/

sillyguy123 7y ago

Your parents, grand parents and other paternal figures like coaches teachers aunts uncles and siblings

avip 7y ago
Very happy to find this obvious answer. People always look far for what can be found right here.

andai 7y ago

I was going to suggest Dr. Peterson, but Ctrl+F revealed a veritable graveyard of downvoted comments about him already. That's too bad. So I'll go with Steve Pavlina's [0] work instead. Steve Pavlina's blog is a mix of solid personal development advice mixed with a journal of his self experimentation. His most interesting work is on belief systems, and on deliberately installing new belief systems to improve your life. An interesting note is that he has released most of his work into the public domain. I'm working on audio versions of his articles. [0]: https://stevepavlina.com/ https://stevepavlina.com/

koonsolo 7y ago
I used to love Steve's writing (back in the game developer days and some after). But I got the impression that he was becoming more and more eccentric/crazy. I haven't read his articles in a while, so maybe they are more sane now.
- sireat 7y ago
  About 10 years ago Steve seemed really on the level of someone like Joel regarding software development and general life advice. Now it seems Steve is all crazy stuff. For example this is Timecube level thinking: https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2019/02/your-10-dimensional-self/ https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2019/02/your-10-dimensiona...
  - johnchristopher 7y ago
    I disagree. I don't believe Pavlina has the track record of Joel regarding software development. His life advice at that time was "stop sleeping, you'll do more and let's see how far we can ride that secret thing" while claiming being telepathic and talking to birds. Now I wouldn't be surprised if Steve made way more money than Joel.
    - koonsolo 7y ago
      These seem to already be the crazy days. I remember when he was selling games way before any "indie games", even before Bejewled if I remember correctly. I also thought regarding sleep, that he woke up every morning at the same time, and went to bed when he was tired.

Funes- 7y ago

Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. It's the hardest pill I've ever tried to swallow in my life; in fact, I am still in the process of doing so. It goes over the mental process and ruminations of assuming the greatest commitment a human being can make: that which you make to reason and nature. Taking full responsibility of your existence is a daunting proposition, but initiating the process is a fruitful enterprise. Just a warning, though: be prepared for thanatophobia while reading it, since it has "memento mori" written all over it.

HenryBemis 7y ago
For people that may want to put a little Stoicism in their lives, you may want to try this book: The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living: Featuring new translations of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius [1] This one-per-day, helps me absorb them in a slow and steady manner. [1]: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Perseverance-translations/dp/1781257655/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Perseveranc... (link is not associate)

neillyons 7y ago

Sam Altman’s blog. I like this article https://blog.samaltman.com/the-days-are-long-but-the-decades-are-short https://blog.samaltman.com/the-days-are-long-but-the-decades... In particular. Do new things often as it slows down the perception of time.

50 7y ago

I recently finished reading "The Wisdom of Insecurity" (1951) by Alan Watts. I have to go back through it again to grasp it further. It's a short read (~150 pages). I highly recommend it.

shinryuu 7y ago

I would suggest the readings at https://betterhumans.coach.me/a-directory-of-advice-that-works-e7a177844a46 https://betterhumans.coach.me/a-directory-of-advice-that-wor...

tonystubblebine 7y ago
Thank you!

suniltejs 7y ago

Zen mind, beginner's mind - Shunryu Suzuki. I don't think it's life advice. But, it certainly had a profound impact on my life. As an entrepreneur, I found the best way to learn about life is to read biographies of successful people, especially the ones that speak of the transformations. Shoe Dog - Phil Knight Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein - Walter Isaacson

aphextron 7y ago
>Zen mind, beginner's mind - Shunryu Suzuki. I don't think it's life advice. But, it certainly had a profound impact on my life. Just wanted to second this. One of the few books that has actually changed the way I view everything in life, and led to a years long deep dive into eastern philosophy.
- scruple 7y ago
  Third here. I was talking about this book just yesterday on HN and also briefly with my team at work. It's definitely not life advice, but it also helped me change the way that I view most things in life.

lukego 7y ago

If my kids ask me for advice about buying a house, taking a job, doing a degree, etc, I'll refer them to bogleheads.org without hesitation.

mikelyons 7y ago

http://www.actualized.org http://www.actualized.org

aizatto 7y ago

What sort of "life advice" do you want? I think for starters is to realize there is a lot of contradicting life advice. Then the other thing is wether people follow the advice they give others. There is a Carl Jung quote: > Only the paradox comes anywhere near to comprehending the fullness of life. Personally for me, understanding life is understanding the pros/cons of every scenario. The pros and cons of short term thinking. The pros and cons of long term thinking. The trade offs between both. There are trade offs in everything we do. Understanding them, and accepting them is important.

cousin_it 7y ago
Yeah, came here to say the same thing. There's so much advice out there, different advice is good for different people at different times, and none of it can cover life in full. One way to think of it is that reading advice puts you in the perspective of the advice-giver, instead of your own. Like, when you read a book titled "99 ways not to be a loser", you begin worrying if you're a loser and seeing everything through that lens. And then you read "35 ways to become a decent person" and suddenly being a loser isn't a problem anymore, now there's something else on your mind. And so on. It stops you from seeing your life on its own terms, from many angles and the actual weighting of each, which is very personal. It requires living, not reading.
- lcall 7y ago
  That is part of the reason that I have thought long about maturity models: a collaboratively-built step-by-step approach. Not everyone is in the same place, but there are some best practices that can help us all, when we are ready for them. More at http://lukecall.net http://lukecall.net, under "Life lessons". (ps: I am a religious person and the content is heavily influenced by that, but I hope the concept, and present/future software, are amenable to about any worldview.)

jpamata 7y ago

Derek Sivers' blog. One of my favourite pieces of his, There is No Speed Limit: https://sivers.org/kimo https://sivers.org/kimo

jstrebel 7y ago

I frequently scan Quora for interesting perspectives on life. I really like to learn from the personal stories of individuals. Of course, you have to take everything with a grain of salt, as Quora is not peer-reviewed or scholarly supported, but exactly this raw and unfiltered content makes it attractive. You can learn best from the mistakes of others. It's a kind of wisdom of the crowds-approach. (I don't work for Quora, nor do I participate in their partner program)

throwaway1111x 7y ago

On the Shortness of Life by Seneca

Rerarom 7y ago

David Chapman - Meaningness https://meaningness.com https://meaningness.com

aaimnr 7y ago
Wow, didn't expect it here. Chapman is an amazing guy. Influenced mostly by Buddhism, has a good grasp of western philosophy and his insights into AI make things even more interesting (he was playing part in the GOFAI). The message is very subtle, but much closer to reality than most of the other suggestions here. The difficult part is that it requires letting go a lot of views to which we are very attached. Not your typical feel-good motivational book.
HNLurker2 7y ago
I am waiting for the finish book to read. Don't tell me his meaning is the journey not the destination (end product book)

gexla 7y ago

Morgan Housel for financial advice. Just Google the name and follow his Twitter feed if you have an account there. I have learned a ton through playing poker. The game has a lot of carry-over into real life. Luck vs Skill. Variance. Take a look at the link for a great review on a great book about poker. https://25iq.com/2018/10/13/lessons-from-annie-duke-author-of-thinking-in-bets-making-smarter-decisions-when-you-dont-have-all-the-facts/ https://25iq.com/2018/10/13/lessons-from-annie-duke-author-o...

stfwn 7y ago

> There are these two young ﬁsh swimming along, and they happen to meet an older ﬁsh swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys, how's the water?” And the two young ﬁsh swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?” -- David Foster Wallace This is a nice analogy about how hard it is to understand what we live in every day. To know about 'water' I learned a lot from Thomas Eriksen -- Small Places, Large Issues. It's an introduction to cultural anthropology and it's a great academic read, but it also taught me a lot on a personal level; to clearly recognize different schools of thought and see their particular and universal value. Good contextual knowledge of this sort tones down the general chaos of life for me. It just helps a lot to have a solid mental model of cultures and ideologies, know their overlaps and contradictions, and to have the ability to relate specific thinkers to this model.

linuxboxer 7y ago

Joe imbriano, The Fullerton Informer is a good start. He covers many issue related to technology, health, government, self improvement etc. https://thefullertoninformer.com https://thefullertoninformer.com www.YouTube.com/thefullertoninformer

polytronic 7y ago

There is great a number of Alan Watts talks on YouTube. For more information https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts

n2dasun 7y ago

Stoicism books, Markmanson.net, books by Brene Brown

matonias 7y ago

Go out and explore the world and try meet interesting people ;) no better resource then that

Balgair 7y ago

If you're in for a 15min/day kinda thing, try out the Harvard Classics. Reading them acts as a great barometer for the 'stickier' problems that we humans face. Totally free to download and read here: https://www.myharvardclassics.com/categories/20120212 https://www.myharvardclassics.com/categories/20120212 Daily Reading Guide here: https://www.myharvardclassics.com/categories/20120612_1 https://www.myharvardclassics.com/categories/20120612_1

alashley 7y ago

I like Coach Red Pill on You Tube. Some of his stuff is pretty insightful.

raztogt21 7y ago

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams. An extremely concise life advice book. Doesn't wander around ideas. Well-written. Of all 'self-help' books I have read, this is the only I truely recommend.

tmaly 7y ago

I think Poor Charlies Almanac is great as it covers the mental models. It also has a wealth of life advice. You can also subscribe to the fs blog or their podcast The Knowledge Project. They do a lot with mental models. The book The Art of Thinking Clearly is another great book that covers biases of the mind in one to two pages each. The Tim Ferris podcast surprisingly has some amazing guests filled with life advice. I just listened to one with Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. It was absolutely fantastic.