On Writing by Stephen King

 

View on Amazon https://amzn.to/3xTc7sx

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To really know

To study is to know more.

The more you know,

the more you know what you do not know.

And, once you know that you know so very little.

You will know that you are an imposter.

But once you realize it all, you will really know.

And you will be a wizard, you will write it all

and sing and paint, and be an artist.

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365 days

My friends frequently ask me about how I manage my time.

The answer boils down to habits.

Before discussing habits, I would like to talk about exponential growth.

Why is exponential growth a crucial concept for success?

Whether it is an investment of time in building expertise or finances,
exponential growth is a gateway to personal success. 

Let's assume we have a starting state (or baseline);
this could be a $100 bill saved under the bed mattress or your current skillset. 

If we leave it under the mattress for a year, we will still have $100. 

It is important to understand that we do not want to add a tiny bit by putting a single cent under the mattress.

We use the baseline, or the capital we have, to increase the whole by 0.01 daily,
or reinvest what you have.

• So, doing nothing, we still have $100
• Daily adding a cent (0.01 of a dollar) leaves us with $103.65
• Reinvesting the capital and increasing it by 0.01 daily gives us $37,783

Doing nothing or saving does NOT work in life. 

Reinvesting works!

As a nerdy scientist, I had to write a program that shows this. 

Can you imagine what would this give you over 10 years?

Wait, wait, kaboom!  

I know constantly growing your capital at 1% (0.01) daily is not sustainable.

I gave you the numbers for dramatic effect. Otherwise, you would not be impressed.

Skills do grow at an exponential rate.

Think about car driving. 

At first, you go slow and wobbly, but soon after, you are cruising on the highway at 85 mph while eating a hamburger with one hand and drinking a 24-oz Coke with another. There are so many things wrong with this picture.

What are my time management habits?

I get plenty of sleep; it is crucial. I am writing this first because I know plenty of people who like living on credit. Trust me, this creditor is merciless. Do not borrow here.

I get up at 5 AM every day of the week.
I tried to get up at zero-dark-thirty for a while, but I was tired all day. 5 a.m. is just right.

My best thinking time is early morning before people show up. I guard this time for the best intellectual work.

I use the 15-minute retrospective rule. Review how you have spent the last 15 minutes and ask yourself if it improved your life. If not, change what you are doing.

I do not like wasting time. I treasure a good conversation with a friend, I like poetry, and I stop to smell flowers or at least take a photo, but I hate wasting time.

Social Media kills our productivity. I watch many videos but always do it to learn something interesting.

Gaming kills productivity. I am considering them as an equivalent of hard drugs and allow none.

I try to be in the office every workday. I do not believe in working from home. You have to be present and in the action, or you lose.

I like taking time off at midday, walking during lunchtime, or napping. The latter is difficult at work, but I will do it when I retire. 

How do I learn new habits?

Many will say that getting up at 5 a.m. and watching every 15 minutes is crazy and too hard. 

I could talk about motivation and setting the right environment to avoid excuses, but I no longer believe in that.

It is hard to explain, but being a Stoic Philosopher or at least a follower does it for me.

When I face a decision to do it or be lazy, a voice in my head says to me:

"You are not the kind of person to make this bad decision." 

That is all, voices in my head. :)

View on Amazon:

#book	The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business	Charles Duhigg
#book	Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad	by James Clear

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Facebook asked me to compare 9 years ago vs now

Only 9 years ago

- 500,000 downloads

- 2303 reviews

Not too shabby.

Today

- couldn't log in

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Vacation in Greece

Coming soon

For a lifelong student of anthropology, history, and philosophy, as well as an avid SCUBA and free diver, a trip to Greece is high on the bucket list. 

And YES, it will happen this summer!

We are still finalizing the itenerary withing Greece, 

but I already checked dive sites on YouTube

Of course, I will only be able to go to some places.

Please let me know if you like a particular spot.

In the meantime, see my video from Maui, Hawaii:

https://uki.blogspot.com/2024/04/maui-diving.html

#SCUBA	Freediving and Spearfishing Set: Fins, Mask, Bag
#SCUBA	Mesh Duffle Bag
#SCUBA	Regulator Cressi R1 BCD Donatello Dive Computer AC2
#SCUBA	Retractable Gear Tether with a Kevlar Cord
#SCUBA	Wetsuit socks 3mm/5mm Neoprene

#book	Breakfast with Seneca: A Stoic Guide to the Art of Living	by David R. Fidelerr
#book	More Than Happiness: Buddhist and Stoic Wisdom for a Sceptical Age	by Antonia Macaro

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When you know you live in the right town (Sammamish / Redmond)

You know when you live in the right town when, on a single walk, you have to cross under a fallen tree and chase a coyote out of your path. 

A couple of weeks ago, while on a motorcycle, a large black bear stopped in the middle of the road about half a mile from our kids' elementary school.

kids	Hoverboard

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Your own reading and bloging place of inspiration.

It is important to have your own creative place.

I needed a place to read and write blogs, but my computer desk wasn't inspiring. Like anyone elses's, my life is full of procrastination and excuses. 

In Europe, they used to make those wide parapets that just invited you to sit on. If I ever build my own house, I will design them in.

Sitting in front of two huge monitors is not creative, does not give you the "long perspective". The computer desk is good for editing, linking and posting. I write ideas on my phone, anyway.

I got this chair when my wife updated her home office. 

After trying a few positions I found one that puts me in the mood. 

The extra bonus is that the air vent is where my feet are, it is brilliant!

#book

Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling

Matthew Dicks

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Why do I wear wool

I have been wearing wool products for a very long time now.

The highlanders of the region where I was born 

were wearing wool in winter and summer. 

I could never understand the woolen pants! 

Our family had a herd of sheep, too. 

I used to feed sheep kids with the baby milk bottle, they followed us everywhere. My favorite were "Pieszczocha" the "cuddly one" and "Waluta" which name is a funny story that would be lost in translation here.

I do not think I have any pictures from those times.

What are the benefits of wool?

• Does not smell like cotton even after a long days in mountains
• Maintains ~80% of heat insulation when soaking wet
• Keeps warmer in winter
• Keep cool in summer
• Super soft and delicate (Merino and Alpaca)

What wool products do I wear?

I wear:

• T-shirts
• Long sleeve shorts
• Sweaters
• Socks
• Scarves
• Neck gaiters for skiing
• Wool hat, highlander style
• I have not found pants I like
• Thermal underwear in winter

Not all of the items are still available on Amazon, 

but I want to show you the idea.

View on Amazon 

clothing

T-Shirt, Merino Wool, Men

Merino Tech

Summer socks

View on Amazon

clothing

Socks, Unisex Merino Wool Ultra-Light

Zeal Wood

View on Amazon 

https://amzn.to/3xTeJGu

clothing	Socks, Unisex Merino Wool Ultra-Light	Zeal Wood
clothing	T-Shirt, Merino Wool, Men	Merino Tech
clothing	Neck Gaiter - 100% Merino Wool	Minus 33 Merino Wool

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Email is back as a primary medium to connect with your audiences

The readership and the relationship with the readers are everything to the writer.

Per Uki's request:  DALL·E 2024-04-23 06.21.52

Why the blog readership is dropping?

As I mentioned in the previous post,

AI provides most of the “How to do?” and “What is?” answers.

The search engine referral traffic to individual blogs has dropped dramatically.

Is email a good medium to stay connected with your audience?

Establishing a lasting relationship with the reader is hard,
especially in the fast-paced world of instant chat communication and ever-scrolling feeds.

However, over 87% of people still use email as a primary communication.

Although I am not a big user of emails, I know many of my corporate management peers are.

Therefore, in addition to social media,
I am returning to the ancient ritual of writing weekly email newsletters.

What is interesting is that I am doing the weekly at work and for this personal blog.

Subscibe now:

https://forms.gle/djZQRa6kh8YYYQNM9

Resources

Here are some tutorial materials I found useful. 

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Ultra-light shoes for hiking in mountains

I live in a very rugged Pacific Northwest (PNW).

The terrain consists of sharp rocks in summer and wet or snow-covered sharp rocks in winter.

My choice of ultralight shoes is not typical,
but they are similar to the footwear of traditional highlanders from the region where I was born.

Are heavy mountaineering shoes a good choice for hiking?

No. Heavy boots are a terrible choice for hiking.

Heavyweight down below is what you have to lift the most;
just like with the car, you want a minimum of unsprung weight.

An extra pound in your backpack makes little difference, but the same pound distributed to your feed becomes a very heavy burden after a few thousands of “stairs”.

The second, more important reason is that mountaineering boots are stiff.

Stiff boots might only appear a better choice in rugged rocky terrain, but they weaken the toes, the arch of the foot, and the ankles.

Why are the agility and strength of your feet important?

In human evolution, the bare feet that propelled us for tens of miles daily throughout rugged terrain in pursuit of fruits, nuts, tubers, and the game.

Today’s urbanite mountain hikers will pump iron to strengthen the quads and glutes, but they under-appreciate the most important group, the feet.

The final reason is that as we age, we want to have stability and dexterity in our feet to keep us healthy.

Is the risk of hitting a rock with my toe worth wearing ultralights?

Yes. As you hike, you strengthen your feet and build awareness of foot placement.

I see people lumbering like elephants without apparent attention to foot placement.
In reality, you want to be light-footed and pay attention to every foot choice you make. 

Eventually, you will be able to literally run through rocky terrain without worrying about misplaced steps.

What about running shoes or, even better, cross-terrain shoes?

For years, I used cross-terrain running shoes with a very aggressive tread pattern. 

I used them for Spartan run practice and for hiking. 

They are great. 

However, they have relatively thick soles and do not train your foot muscles well.

So what is my choice of shoes?

I use ultra-light minimalist shoes in summer. 

They have good thread and minimal soles.

Note, I bought the shoes below twice!

View on Amazon https://amzn.to/49Iyw8V

I wear military-style ultra-light flexing-sole boots in winter. 

I love them, I used them frequently since 2016, and they are also great in summer.

I need tall military-style shoes in winter to prevent snow from entering the boots.

View on Amazon https://amzn.to/3Ua2ehi

Why do I always wear woolen socks?

Wool is my favorite fabric. I have T-shirts, long-sleeve shorts, underwear and blankets made of wool.

Wool socks, especially a thicker set, protect feet from minor scratches. 

Wool does not stink like cotton. 

Wool keeps cooler in summer and warmer in winter, especially when wet.

What do Polish highlanders wear?

They were thick woolen socks and woolen leggings with lightweight moccasins (called kierpce) made of tough leather. They are cross-tied over the calves with thick leather. 

A modernized version uses rubber thread for additional traction.

The picture below is close to how they are supposed to be worn.

Has this article changed your opinion on which shoes are best for mountains?

Please write a comment below.

Without your feedback, I am really flying in the dark. 

I am not kidding when I say that sometimes I feel that only crawler bots visit my blog; many are from China, too.

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