Comment by sivers | Hacker News Reader

Comment by sivers | Hacker News Reader

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See my other comment here about the drive to "be the next Zuckerberg".

Then look into the conditions of "flow" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29

1. A clear set of goals : you know exactly what needs to be done next.

2. The task is not too easy, but not too hard. It's just at the edge of your ability.

3. The task gives you immediate feedback.

When you're engaged in that kind of work, you FOCUS! That's why video games are so addictive! They play up these 3 conditions so well. You have no problem focusing when playing a video game!

Also it's pretty crucial to have all this work be leading to a goal that you want so badly - whether it's to be a millionaire, to be famous, to be in Y Combinator, whatever.

Then it's also crucial to have this goal be so close that you know if you just keep working well that it's very likely you'll get there.

Get those situations lined up, and you'll have no problem focusing!

(( And yes, I'm embarrassed to admit I have a major problem with focus in my life right now. Apparently it's kind of common for recent mutli-millionaires who have surpassed all their previous goals. What's next? How can I top this? Do I want to? Do I just retire now? I have some new goals, but they're not burning goals. And I just realized they aren't matching steps #1, 2, 3, above. Hmmm.... ))

> Then look into the conditions of "flow"

Since I was a kid, I would have these rare moments of intense calmness. Certain things would set it off: the sound of paper brushing together when someone is reading a book. I've also had this happen when listening to certain people talk; their voice or mannerisms trigger it. Other strange things also trigger it, like the sound of secadas in the summer. The older I get the more rare I experience it, but I've yet to hear anyone else talk about it. When I've explained this feeling to people, they look at me like I am crazy. I started to wonder if this elated feeling is so extreme for me because I'm generally tense, and so, extreme relaxation is so absolute in my case. Flow sounds like a similar experience. Maybe it's the same?

Are you talking about strange tingling sensations at the back of your head. If you are check out: http://anti-valentine.hubpages.com/hub/ASMR.

I used to get it a lot when I was younger, normally when people were doing me a favour I wasn't expecting or they were going out of their way to help me. I've also had it when getting my hair cut.

Throwaway account, as I have also had the crazy look.

I always figured the head-tingling sensation while getting a hair cut was a hold over from our ancestral primates who needed to be groomed by one another and thus needed some pleasant sensory feedback to encourage seeking it out.

For me, it's more than just head tingling, it's a flood of utter joy and elation. It's an awesome experience when it happens. Quite where it originates from no one appears to know, and because it appears to be a good experience, no research is going into figuring out why it occurs (which is reasonable).

Wow. Dude. Don't hide behind a throwaway account - this is an incredible find. You have no idea how long I wanted something in hand to explain to others. I genuinely appreciate that.

Also, see frission or "cold chill"[1].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_chill

I know what you mean. It's good to try and explain it to others, but unless it happens to you it's a bit tough to explain the sensation. I'm glad i was able to help.

I believe this is also known as frisson. See /r/frisson for tons of media that can "induce" this. There was also an article in the WSJ that talks about what specific changed in music causes this.

The most interesting thing I found was that even by just reading the WSJ article explaining the music, I can feel the shivers.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Frisson http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020364600457721...

Thanks for the links, I've tried to auto-induce the sensation with sound or images but it doesn't seem to work for me. It appears to just be a people thing.

Don't give up. It is something that can be practiced and expanded into. I've struggled with poetry, but made a recent breakthru in finding a specific author. You may need a specific "seed" to get you into that place.

Fascinating sub-discussion! I didn't realize other people experienced this same thing.

I get this when I watch someone who is intensely focused on something slow and repetitive. The best example I remember from my childhood is being mesmerized watching someone sort a deck of cards.

I still get this, and have learned to set up situations that can trigger it (good adult example is having someone slowly "write" text on my back with their finger).

I originally thought everyone had the sensation, it was only when i mentioned it to my wife that i realised that wasn't the case.

Similarly. I then thought it was because I was so wound up all the time that maybe this relaxation was what other people experienced as a normal attribute of their life. Turns out this is not the case.

I'm only just now learning it's not the case. I never really discussed it with anyone but I pretty much figured it was a common occurance for everyone. Wow.

Surely there must be more "cool stuff" to do? Also, how satisfying is helping others achieve their goals, and how much does it motivate you? Trying to "top" yourself doesn't sound right, but trying to find the things that match #1, 2, 3 sounds more like it.

Yeah, honestly I'm learning Rails, Sinatra, Sequel, Nginx, JavaScript, jQuery, and Backbone, all back-to-back from books and test projects, quite intensely, and not really matching those 1,2,3 steps, because I'm often in too deep over my head without a clear vision of what I need to do next. It's discouraging.

But I am quite driven to turn my next app/business ideas into reality : http://50pop.com/code

Definitely not trying to "top" CD Baby. Just following what fascinates me. Just not quite as intensely as when I was so driven to be a rock star. ☺

Derek in a strange twist I find myself here for the first time. I don't even know what "hacker news is" but in my "go with the flow" state of mind I thought I'd click through a link. I've read the comments below and in reference to your not wanting to "top cdbaby" I would say that you exude such carefree joy, such an "anything is possible" vibe that I'm sure any business venture you embark on will succeed! I remember meeting you years ago at a music conference in New York. You had such a likeable, warm magnetism, it was YOU that I bought into and not CDBABY per se, because I instantly felt that you were an honest, trustworthy "positive energy". So I thank you deeply! I have a challenge I would love your perspective on. In the area of financial flow, I've come to believe I somehow have a block that is impeding it. I have read insane amount of books on the subject and through alot of intropection, believe this may be the case. HOWEVER...when I see someone who has been successful in this area such as yourself, I wonder, did you always feel finanically abundant, or worthy of it or somehow knew that it would all fall into place? Can you offer any thoughts on getting oneself to a place where you believe it is possible for yourself as you ARE creating something worthy and beautiful? Continued blessings, Leila

It's really hard for me to know what was just dumb luck and what was great strategy.

For example, I'm tempted to give this bit of advice:

Think small. Don't think about getting rich. Just think what you can do for someone right now that they'll be happy to pay you for. Then when you've found it, think of how to do it for as many people as possible.

... but is that actually good advice? Or do I just think that's the strategy that made me rich, when actually it's something else entirely, and I somehow got successful despite my stupid approach?

That said, here's something that I know is quite solid:

The biggest change in my attitude towards money came from my girlfriend's hippie parents. She grew up on a commune in Vermont. No TV, no nothing. Her parents just did random odd jobs - like photography and sewing - but kept their cost of living so low that it was enough to sustain them to this day. Then they put their daughter through fancy ivy-league universities on scholarships and such.

By lowering your cost of living so low that you can do just a few hours of work per month to pay your expenses, then it frees you up to turn your attention to doing things that make you happy, or perhaps building things that will make you much more money in the long run. Things that most people don't have the time to do because they're too busy on the rat-race, doing some job they hate, because they need to support their expensive cost of living.

Point being: once you realize how cheaply you can live, you get a real secure feeling of financial abundance.

Then keep improving your hustle, and doing whatever it takes to make money doing what you love, and the security/abundance mixes with fun, for a damn good combination.

(I hope this helps.)

Do you have any recommended books/resources on the last 4? Particularly Nginx though.

I like that you have everything planned out to be multi-lingual from the start on your projects. I remember reading your uses.this interview a while back and you talked about using wendlin/learning chinese. Are you still doing that, if so, how's that going?

I just set up nginx for the first time yesterday and I found the wiki to be really useful. http://wiki.nginx.org/Main

It looks like they also sell a book, but it was published July 2010, so I'm not sure how much has changed since.

The best resources I've found so far are:

Nginx: http://wiki.nginx.org/Main

JavaScript: http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/Professional-JavaScri... and http://eloquentjavascript.net/

jQuery: http://www.sitepoint.com/books/jquery2/ and http://www.headfirstlabs.com/books/hfjquery/

Backbone: https://peepcode.com/products/backbone-js and http://backbonetutorials.com/ ... but I've barely started.

And yeah I'm still learning Chinese, but I've scaled it back, because I realized that the programming is more important to me now, and I wasn't getting all the programming done that I wanted to because I was taking 2 hours a day on my Chinese.

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