2023-01-12

Today was OK. I am watching a bunch of TEDx talks to motivate myself and overcome my fear. But their effect only lasts a short time. Still, there was a good amount of high quality stuff there.

Your career is like a river and you are in the boat

An incredible talk by Norman Bacal, who tells stories from his life. He held a simple mental model about his life:

Your career is like a river and you are in a boat. You can struggle to paddle upstream to some goals and eventually you’ll arrive at the place you intended — but it may be something you don’t even want.

Or, you steer your boat downstream — there will be branches and creeks and you will keep moving in flow. The important word is steer — you don’t place your boat downstream, you have to steer it there.

You may go to places you did not expect before and you need to watch carefully, as there will be sandbar where you can get stuck and waterfalls where you can crash down with heavy force.

My current day routine isn’t great either. I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend at her parents’ place at the moment as she is sick, but this may have an effect on my productivity. I feel that I have most control over my day when I am by myself.