What I Learned This Year | Hacker News Reader

What I Learned This Year

gigaom.com

78 pointsphil_KartMe18 comments

"... After a 40-Dunhills-a-day-habit for nearly 20 years, I stopped smoking ..."

Best advice.

"... Before I got sick, it was hard for me not to interfere in every single decision that was made here at GigaOM ... When I returned, I had to choose to let go ..."

Second bit is subtle. By letting go you decrease your stress. I like Om for his different take on technology. Here's for his recovery & better health.

he smoked 40 cigarettes a day? How can people abuse themselves that much? He is lucky he only had a heart attack, unlike cancer, at least it's not permanent(as long as you don't die)

Heart attacks often kill heart muscle which has permanent effects. Nicotine boosts dopamine levels in the brain within minutes, the negative effects take longer to manifest.

"When faced with a binary choice — live or die — I made the following upgrades..."

I find it fascinating that death is one of the biggest agents of change that we know of.

also biggest injustice for humanity in my opinion.

I find it fascinating that people need to come so close to death, sometimes repeatedly, before they decide to make important changes.

I think it's easy for people to grow complacent with their habits and lives. You never know what you're missing until it's gone, or so the saying goes.

Death and sex are the biggest agents of change in any living thing.

Ed Howe observed "A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice."

This is also true for organizational change. It's one reason that bootstrapping startups often evolve more rapidly--compared to VC funded ones--they face extinction more frequently. Funding brings some immunity from poor decisions, or the ability to run many experiments, depending upon your perspective.

I think that this kind of post here is good. I mean, this community may have a really positive effect on each one of us (maybe a tiny influence, but still) because of this kind of post. It gives me some examples to follow. And for that, reading HN is a good thing.

>Caffeine, sugar, salt and all unhealthy foods are now banished from my diet.

I hope he meant "unhealthy levels of salt" and not just "salt".

Same for caffeine... most things in moderation aren't bad (alcohol, caffeine, sex, reckless driving, and salt).

Yes, but you can survive without alcohol, caffeine, sex, and reckless driving. Without salt you die, painfully and fairly soon.

True, but depending on what you eat, it's quite possible to already get most of the salt you need. (Though, he did say he'll be going to the gym every day, so his salt needs might be higher.)

I think that was what "anewaccountname" was quibbling about. It's pretty difficult to not get enough salt unless you're fasting or in a hot climate.

I'm a bit sick of lists of advice on blogs. I wish this trend would stop.

Also, and I mean this as politely as possible, the advice is pretty obvious in this case. Nothing really controversial here to make me think.

"... I'm a bit sick of lists of advice on blogs. I wish this trend would stop .. the advice is pretty obvious in this case. Nothing really controversial here to make me think ..."

The cynicism can be well founded. The smoking reference is an example. But there is also a subtle message for those that look. You can improve your lot through small changes, mainly through perception. For instance, by micro management Om was probably being overly stressed. By letting go, he has reduced the stress. This slight change in perception of leadership just might him run his business a bit better. His change in perception about exercise - even a small one, might let Om live a bit longer, better.

i loved the simple goal of "two great conversations a day". it wasn't obvious to me.

and reminders of "obvious" advice are helpful to me, particularly when delivered at the right time. in regards to making me think, relevancy matters just as much as controversy.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com