Where things = products, services, tools, strategies, books, systems, etc.<p>For me:<p>* Internal Family Systems made me more peaceful<p>* "The Sleep Book" by Meadows made me sleep better<p>* Apps: Otter for taking notes, Superhuman for email<p>* Websites: Wirecutter<p>* Books: How to Get Lucky, Self-Therapy
I've spent a ton of time as a developer trying to make money from various side projects and businesses. So most of my top "wish I'd discovered this earlier" list revolves around tech+business stuff:<p>* Strategy #1: Charge more. patio11 has been shouting this from the rooftops for years, but it didn't sink in until after I started Indie Hackers[0]. If you charge something like $300/customer instead of $5/customer, you can get to profitability with something like 50 phone calls rather than years of slogging. It's still hard, but it's way faster.<p>* Strategy #2: Brian Balfour's four fits model[1]. It's not enough to think about the product. You also need to think about the market, distribution channels, and pricing, and how each of these four things fit together. I imagine them as four wheels on a car. It's better to have 4 mediocre wheels than 3 great ones and a flat.<p>* Book: <i>The Mom Test.</i>[2] Amazing book about how to talk to customers to research your ideas without being misled, which is a step I've stumbled on before.<p>* Tool: Notion. I just discovered it recently. I use it for all my docs and planning.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.indiehackers.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.indiehackers.com</a> - my latest business, and the one that actually worked<p>[1] <a href="https://brianbalfour.com/four-fits-growth-framework" rel="nofollow">https://brianbalfour.com/four-fits-growth-framework</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Test-customers-business-everyone/dp/1492180742" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Test-customers-business-everyone/...</a>
<i>Learning How To Learn</i> (<a href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn" rel="nofollow">https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn</a>) and Barbara Oakley's book <i>A Mind For Numbers</i>. Completely changed my approach to studying and learning, and my academic efforts after taking it were tremendously better than before.<p>Also related: highly recommend Anki. It feels like magic when the spaced repetition works!
<i>You are the sum of your habits</i>. I've always had "sort-of passable" ones, but they were never chosen by design, only by what had accreted with time. I had played with some systems and apps, but nothing had really worked until I took the time to write out in excrutiating detail what I would be doing for every minute of my morning and evening. At first I had to follow my schedule, but that didn't last long.<p>With the birth of my son, daycare, and a new job, I was finally forced to actually plan out a morning and evening routine. I wish I had done this in university.<p>Every day for the last 6 months, I have now a routine I don't have to think twice about:<p>* Woke up at 5 AM,<p>* Exercise hard, take a shower and have breakfast,<p>* Get to work before 7:30 AM with my day's tasks already in mind.<p>Similar for the evening preparing my breakfast, lunch and clothes. It's liberating to do these now without thinking. It took about a month, and my brain is now free to plan out the day or listen to an audiobook.
Nice job on Internal family systems OP! I'm not there quite yet but getting close<p>- TypeScript : Absolute game changer for JS. I can't imagine programming regular ES. Sort of hoping TypeScript becomes the next ES.<p>- Desktops : Desktop processors and video cards are insanely powerful compared to laptops. If you're doing any sort of compilation (even if it's webpack / frontend) this stuff helps a ton. A project that takes 90s to build on a mbp is 30s on a desktop.<p>- Windows 10 + WSL<p>- Attachment Theory: <a href="https://www.behaviorology.org/oldsite/pdf/AttachmentTheoryBeh.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.behaviorology.org/oldsite/pdf/AttachmentTheoryBe...</a>, <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1d36/ac75d7081fcd86d467f6d2ef408d60c8ffca.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1d36/ac75d7081fcd86d467f6d2...</a> (The stuff by Cindy Hazan and Philip Shaver are very relevant for adults)<p>- Schema Therapy: <a href="https://www.guilford.com/excerpts/young.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.guilford.com/excerpts/young.pdf</a><p>Look up Psychology in Seattle on Patreon and download the deep dives for Attachment Theory and Schema Therapy. After that it's easier to grok the research papers/books.
Thinking strategically from a career and life perspective.<p>Managing your investments<p>Eating right and exercise<p>Risk Taking - take big risks early in your life, ones which have the biggest upside.
The terror of the unknown and leaping into it and coming out at the other end multiple times makes you fearless.
The journey is all that matters, the destination is not in your hand. But the journey teaches a lot.<p>Some of the above, I was fortunate to learn early on from good mentors, and I've reaped big rewards, the rest I only wish someone had told me earlier.
I wish i had learned that going to the gym is the thing to do when your brain is full.<p>My undergrad GPA would’ve been higher and i’d have gotten fit earlier in life.
I wish I had discovered Hacker News earlier.<p>I kept having customers sign up for rsync.net citing "Hacker News" in the "where you found out about us" but I assumed it was the <i>old hacker news</i> that was run by a certain defcon/cdc personality and was sort of a clone of attrition.org ... it had been around since 99/00/01 or so ...<p>It took me several years to figure out there was a <i>new</i> hacker news out there ...
Realizing how much incentives matter. Everything around you is driven by incentives: Coworkers, your boss, customers, personal relationships. More importantly, everything is driven by "personal incentives" more so than "business incentives", and those two aren't usually aligned. For example, if you are talking to a potential customer (who may represent a company), it's invaluable to understand what incentives drive this person (not company!). What is he or she trying to get out of working with you? A promotion? Recognition from his boss? A story to tell his family at dinner? What are his current life and career goals and how does that align with choosing you? What is his decision making progress and why? And so on. The same can be applied to your coworkers, or anyone else you're working with. Even to you friends and family, whose incentives may to be simply have a good time, feel loved and accepted, or have someone to listen.<p>There are rarely true "irrational" decisions. If a decision looks irrational to you, it's most likely because you don't truly understand the incentives driving that person.
I wish I had discovered the wonders of attending college earlier on. I spent a good chunk of my teens and twenties in a constant state of alienation because I wasn't around people who put much value towards analytical thought. It wasn't until when I finally discovered it on my own in my mid-20s that life started making sense. It seems like that for many, the high school -> university pipeline is the path of least resistance, but if you don't have any pressure from family or direct peers involved in that kind of thing, it can fall far under the radar.
#1 How to run. I hated and avoided running for 30 years, then I got to the point where I hated going to a club and I hated having a machine in my home (and not getting any aerobic exercise at all was of course intolerable) so I decided to give running a try. At first it sucked, but then I figured out I'd been doing it wrong so I fixed my stride etc. It sucked less. I still don't enjoy the activity itself, but I'm sure glad for the results.<p>#2 The power of compound interest. I was lucky to learn this one early, but I think a lot of others weren't so lucky. More than any other single thing, any skill, any stroke of luck, this is why I now feel comfortable about my financial future into retirement.
Meditation. Download a free 20-minute guided meditation and do it every day. Maybe at some point read "The Miracle of Mindfulness" by Thich Nhat Hanh.<p>I can provide a good guided breathing meditation on request.<p>Meditation will help you be calm and focused. It will help you recognize and work through emotions with a minimum of harm to yourself or others.<p>I'm definitely not advocating self-immolation, but the same training that let monks sit calmly as they burned to death in the 60s (in an attempt to call attention to the horrifying war in Vietnam) will definitely help you deal with your breakup, illness, work troubles, or loss of a loved one.
How to effectively learn and balance my use of mental energy.<p>My diagnosis of depression and ADD inattentive-type (my parents were great, but denied that mental health was a factor until I decided to at age 22). I don't fault them, but I know for a fact my years in highschool and college struggling to learn / focus but knowing I had cognitive ability will irk me until the day that I die.
How much playing Bach would improve my piano ability as a function of time spent. Some HN comment recently mentioned this, so I gave it a try.<p>The importance of keeping a clean sleeping environment.
* Bouldering: Could be generalized as "a sport that fits you". Bouldering changed my life, as it is the perfect balance to a desk job. I met a lot of great people, improved my self confidence and am much healthier now.<p>* The power of routine: I never liked routine and thought it stifles creativity. In some ways it actually might, but creaitivity without productivity isn't worth that much.<p>* To not take myself so seriously: Life is so much easier and more fun if you can laugh about yourself, if you don't try to uphold a self-imposed picture towards others, and if you can accept that sometimes things go wrong, and sometimes it's your fault. - Not only am I happier now, I think it also made me a better person.
Hard Sci-fi.<p>Holy crap it just overdelivers. In addition to entertainment, a way to take my mind off things, it also delivers context to daily life and keeps me focussed on trying to deliver something truly worthwhile.
I dearly wish I had used something like Anki throughout college instead of many years later. And actually focusing on understanding and long term recall rather than passing tests. It would have been difficult though, since having multiple difficult classes simultaneously often requires cramming at the end followed by focusing on the next course. But if I went back to school now that's what I would have done.
That cheap mice and keyboards will ruin ones hands beyond repair after years of heavy use.<p>Don't be that person. Learn to type and invest in your hardware early on.
No amount of telling yourself you're happy will make you happy. You can't just "make yourself happy", it's a side effect of other things you do in your life.
• Bread freezes and thaws really well, with little or no loss of texture and flavor. If I had found this out 35 years earlier, I probably would have replaced thousands of visits to fast food restaurants with sandwiches made at home.
Probably Karabiner. This tool is just crazy powerful.<p><a href="https://github.com/nikitavoloboev/dotfiles/blob/master/karabiner/karabiner.edn" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/nikitavoloboev/dotfiles/blob/master/karab...</a>
Parsers / Lexers. I’ve been programming for twenty-ish years and only recently started playing with parsers and even a simple hand written one is quite empowering. I really wish I could have spent more time on this when I was younger and single. I for instance wrote a small not-fully-featured SQL parser [0] recently which helped me overcome a huge obstacle in my job.<p>[0]: <a href="https://github.com/donatj/sqlread" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/donatj/sqlread</a>
Therapy and having a spiritual Father. Then I would have discovered all the dumb things I did as a teenager and early 20s were as a result of a destructive feedback cycle consisting of depression/anxiety, low self esteem, and existential crisis.
I wish I'd really discovered programming before I did. Though, I'd been reading about it, messing with Excel, WP blogs and nibbling at the edges for my entire adult life, it wasn't until my mid 30s that I really got into programming.<p>It wasn't an easy mid-career move, but it's <i>greatly</i> improved my life options and can only imagine where I'd be now if I'd spent my 20s learning computer languages instead of human ones.
Awareness that periods of high performance are not 'free'. How to leverage that balance.<p>Curiosity and aptitude for math. I've found this about 25 years too late for it to make much of a difference.
This might sound simple, but in my mid 20s I discovered how effective I was at teaching myself new things..in the past I had relied on learning within the confines school. I just found it odd that I discovered I didn't need teachers to learn conventional subjects after I was already done with university.
1. That sleeping over uncomfortable pending decisions and discussions helps a lot.<p>2. That a fixed sleeping schedule with at least 8 hours of sleep does wonders to my thought process and has a calming effect.<p>3. That my thoughts, especially under tough circumstances, are not really a true picture of reality. This one is tough and is still under discovery mode.<p>4. That I should never compare myself with others. The only thing I should rely on others should be for inspiration. The comparison part I knew my whole life but, like all simple things, it took a while for me to actually immerse in the depth of it.
Functional Programming, so much of my frustration with mathematics early in my education could have been allayed if just a small number of certain core ideas were planted in my head when going through it.
Explosive outbursts of anger over tiny tiny issues is a mental illness and not a normal part of life.<p>Probably not what OP was specifically looking for, but this single discovery has been the most profound in my life.
Here's a couple for web dev:<p>* how DNS works and how to configure common record types<p>* regular expressions - specifically for URL rewriting<p>* setting up good logging and monitoring<p>* asking for help earlier
-Having a morning routine<p>-Meditation<p>-Reading consistently<p>-Importance of sleep (fixed my sleeping issues with CBT-I [cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia])<p>-Value of joining a leadership/self development group like Toastmasters<p>-Accepting you for who you are, and work with your strengths<p>-Stop listening to what people say/advice about your life, most of the time they're wrong and you know better.
Discovering Hn, about 4 years ago. Although I did not choose which cs subfield to master yet, I think Hn will affect my decision heavily. But I wish I had taken a year break after graduating high school to know better about myself, so I could have chosen cs instead of eee.
I wish I'd discovered writing "Morning Pages" a lot earlier.<p>I've been doing it for the last year, and it's helped me figure out much better solutions to so many issues in my life, than I would have without the calm, reflective thinking that writing for 30 minutes each morning brings.<p>Can't recommend it enough.<p><a href="https://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/" rel="nofollow">https://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/</a>
How to Read A Book by Mortimer Adler.<p>Also, ycombinator/pg essays. Before that I got my business advice from “the apprentice”.<p>The Pattern on the Stone.
Learning how to overcome imposter syndrome.<p>I didn't come from a top-tier school, didn't work for name companies, and had a zig-zag middle manager career. instead of a meteoric rise through the ranks. Multiple layoffs too. I'll never see my name lauded in a press release.<p>I've discovered that self-worth is just that - it comes from within.
All of these: <a href="https://jakeseliger.com/2010/03/22/influential-books-on-me-that-is" rel="nofollow">https://jakeseliger.com/2010/03/22/influential-books-on-me-t...</a>. Although if I'd read some earlier, maybe they wouldn't have been so influential.
I wish I'd discovered writing ebooks earlier. I enjoy doing it and have completed one, but haven't carved out the time to do another. Earlier in life it would have been far easier to write a number of them, which would likely have led to more career opportunities, if not more "passive" income.
* Facebook has been the best dating site for the last 15 years<p>* Sites like HackerRank, Codility, etc. So fun.<p>* <a href="https://teachyourselfcs.com/" rel="nofollow">https://teachyourselfcs.com/</a><p>* Loop Habit Tracker (Android app)<p>* raylib<p>* Anki (thanks, HN)<p>* Queal<p>* Virtual desktops, took me way too long to start using them, lolsob<p>* The secret clouds area in 6-2
Alice Miller's Drama of the gifted child.
Discovered the concept of developmental trauma, and unleashed a whole series of discoveries about human personalities and my lifetime struggles with many things in life.
There are rarely true "irrational" decisions. If a decision looks irrational to you, it's most likely because you don't truly understand the incentives driving that person.oke
Having a Work Journal. There are times that I wished I started one earlier. When I go back at my work journal, I'm amazed how much I have accomplished, even when its something insignificant.
My love for "preppy" sports like Golf and Tennis. Growing up I ignored those things because I felt like they were exclusively for boring rich people. I got my first taste of golf after college at a fundraiser that I reluctantly agreed to attend only because a friend was hosting - and I loved it instantly. I started playing Tennis because there is a public park with courts just a few blocks from my house - and I love that too.<p>Yoga. Another thing that I always assumed was for rich suburban moms and I didn't need to bother with. In my youth that might have been true, but the body ages poorly if you don't take care of it. Yoga is a fantastic way to be mindful/meditate and stretch/exercise.<p>TL;DR - Don't be so quick to judge that which you have not tried.<p>I wonder how many other things I have ignored throughout my life because I associated them with some preconvieved belief or stereotype.
I should have known before was engineering in Computer Science rather than in Mechanical will help me a lot. Nothing too harsh, but I realized coding is fun very late.
Anki or space repetition, exercise every day, natural low-sulfer wines<p>books: thinking fast and slow, black swan/antifragile, why we sleep, the organize mind
For me two things really come to mind:
1. YNAB (you need a budget)
2. Yoga<p>During my 20's & early 30's i had always had a well paid job but nothing to show for it. I also had big overdraft which I'd never done anything about. About 6 years ago I picked up a copy of YNAB 4 for about £8 of Steam. Within 3 months I'd completely changed my spending habits.
Roll on a year or two and I'd paid off all my debts. And this program has allowed me to save for some big life events and trips - things I'd have probably borrowed money for in the past. Last year I bought my first car in full without the aid of a loan. The program also helped me when I went self empoyed a few years ago. Both mine and my long term partners finances go thought the program and we know exactly how little money we can live on - this is valuable info if times get hard. The program is basically a spreadsheet with a nice GUI but the methodology behind it work for me. If I'd have found something like this in my early 20's I'd be a lot better of than I am now. But hey, better late than never.<p>I do Yoga every day. Prior to me getting into Yoga I thought the only real way to exercise was to join a gym. I live in a rural part of the UK, so for me travelling to the gym is timeconsuming.
A few years back I'd been suffering back pain due to long stints sitting at a desk all day. I'd also started to put on weight due to inactivity.
Anyway, during one painful day I decided to Google "Yoga for back pain". I tried it and I was hooked. Not only did it fix my back pain, it eased it for around 3 days. Since then I've really got into Yoga and try to do at least 20-60 mins a day. Sometimes I might do it twice a day if I know I'm going to be sat down a lot.
Like everyone else I have days when I'm worn out - for these days I have a couple of 10 min routines which I try to do. I'm a firm believer of trying to exercise every day, even if it's just for 10 minutes. It's a good habit to have and doing it daily reinforces the habit.
Since doing regular practice I don't really get any achy joints. I also do HIT style Yoga 3 times a week which helps with body tone, strengh, and cardio. When you really get into Yoga you realise they're many different styles which can help different aspects of your health. For me, my main driving force was back pain - I've never done any exercise which fixed my back as well as certain Yoga exercises.
For me Yoga is great because it's easy and free. You only need a Yoga mat (a beach towel can suffice at the beginning) and Youtube to get started. I keep myself in reasonable shape without having to travel or pay any gym fees. I never knew exercise could be so easy and cheap. I wish I'd known this in my late 20's, when I put on a lot of weight, and was suffering with back pain and other achy bits.
* Full time remote jobs<p>* Conspicuous Signalling Theory<p>* The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn<p>* Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault by Stephen R. C. Hicks<p>* The Ethics of Liberty by Murray N. Rothbard e Hans-Hermann Hoppe<p>* The Red Pill<p>* How a Cultural War works and who is waging it against Western Civilization<p>* Lifting & dieting. The importance of muscle mass for everything in life<p>* How to cook tasty meals that fits an intense fitness lifestyle<p>* How hypergamy works (alpha seeds / beta needs)
Merge statements in SQL.
Sadly i have to work with piece of shit called firebird, which is both slow and full of exceptions. If you are forced to pick a file based DB - pick sqlite, don't touch firebird.<p>I also have to work with a database schema designed by someone mentally handicapped - i know for fact that it was designed in early 90s by someone self taught.. and it never had a single refactor. They just migrated their own file-based 'database' to firebird. Sadly this piece of shit software is used very commonly in my field.<p>Merge statements make complicated updates blazing fast compared to any other way.<p>That my engineering field is basically dead and i should've changed to software development sooner.