The dreamless are hopeless

The dreamless simply drift

The dreamless know nothing

A dream is still a dream though; it’s a figment of your imagination — a world you alone can see.

To make others see it requires work [labour]; labour has a price.

Do you know the price of your dream? and are you willing to pay it?

The feeling of being “merely” afloat can be quite stressful; this is because we have this feeling which I’ll describe: “I’m barely surviving, but I desire/deserve/and can attain to more. So, why am I here?”

I believe strongly in listening to your internal monologue, but never to be driven/beaten down by it.

Afloat is enough for now

Afloat means you haven’t sunk

Afloat means you have one more moment/day to prepare for the future you desire

Afloat is also an opportunity

Never forget this; remember: it is also an opportunity, in spite of everything else happening in your life.

The other is more of a vector, it speaks not simply of the degree, but also an implied direction [for satisfaction] at which the degree must stop.

They’re both similar, yet different.

At every point, it’s important to know which you should optimise for; don’t optimise for one, when it should be the other.

Understanding the subtle differences in both is very important, if we’re going to do great work.

Interestingly, this phenomenon — if I’m allowed to refer to it as such — places the burden on the knowledge of what serves as a baseline, in this case “good”; since bad is, in a sense, the anti-good.

The clearer your definition of good is, for the circumstance, expectation, plan, e.t.c. is, the clearer your understanding of its bad.

Simplify, and drive for clarity in your definition of “good”, and “bad” will become easier to spot.

Let’s start with a base assumption that the teacher is “perfect” — unlikely, but let’s have that as a constant to simplify our small equation.

learning effectiveness ∝ receiver’s teachability

More than anything else, the question that needs answering is: how teachable are you?

Are you humble enough to admit ignorance?

Are you humble enough to admit when you’re wrong?

Are you humble enough to admit there are other perspectives besides yours?

Are you humble enough to discuss your differences in good faith, on the merits of the conversation at hand?

If yes to all the above, then great; if no, you know where to start.

We imagine: if the above were the case, wouldn’t life be so much easier?

It’s very true, for a while, it would be, then everything becomes banal.

Stuck, as a result of a tough decision, lack of clarity, uncertainties, e.t.c. bring some pressure, and quite a lot of stress — this is a fact.

Interestingly, it’s also what adds spice to your life.

It’s what makes the joy of “escape” or discovery worth so much.

Figuring it out, or surviving — as might be the case many times — is what give us experience that sticks.

Stuck is a phase, but something comes after it, and we need to accept that the reward for this journey, isn’t the outcome [whether good or bad], but the journey itself.

It shouldn’t be perceived in that manner.

Think about rest and work, working [pun intended] together to form a complete and perfect cycle.

GOD rested after creation, not because HE needs rest, but rather to set an example for mankind.

Rest allows us perform a very important function that drives up the quality of our work — something that is impossible if we only stay in the work portion of the cycle.

It is called “Reflection”.

It was stated that he exclaimed “Eureka” after his discovery, and ran through the streets naked, to tell everyone about it — he forgot to wear his clothes.

Like scholars of old, we’re “pioneers” in a sense — not so much in discovering new places, things or principles [even though it’s possible], but moreso in navigating the “unknowns” we encounter as we go through life.

We’re faced with the choice of “sticking to the normal/known” or trying something new, which we could potentially fail at.

The answer to the question below shouldn’t worry you, not in the least, it should only help you unearth your drive — it helps you be honest with yourself, so you can step forward more confidently.

The key question in your mind should be this: if the scales are placed before my eyes, where would they tilt — the fear of failure or the joy of discovery, irrespective of the pain.

Systems are inevitable because they provide a uniformity and social contract — or said another way, they provide the basis for the expectations of all participants within its boundary.

We can split them into:

• Formal: think of Government, the work place and everywhere else where there is a written document that defines these rules

• Informal: think of culture/tradition, church, an association of friends, e.t.c.

As with everything that involves people, they come with both pros and cons.

Because of how ever-present they are, it’s very easy to fall into the mindset of: “there is no better option”; you might be right, but how would you know if you don’t try something else?

This is hard for formal systems, so it’s easier to try this with volitional systems: when was the last time you evaluated your participation?

Does it benefit you [read as: help your growth]?

Or are you simply just “going along”, even though you derive no joy from it?

Participation is a choice; no matter how much it might seem like “there is no better option”, you might be better off exploring to be certain.

In programming, it’s something called a boolean — it can only have one of two (2) possible states: true or false — there’s absolutely no in-between state.

When people say “my truth”, they’re instead speaking of a belief, or at least, their personal belief of reality in the moment — since this is the case, call it exactly what it is: your belief or interpretation of reality.

As a christian, for me, the truth is more than just objective, HE is a person; which means, for me, at all times, I must strive to be on HIS side; if HE’s happy, then I’m good.

I’ll leave you with this: when speaking of truth, you should be able to tell apart the objective truth of reality, from your belief or interpretation of reality — if you’re able to do this, you’ll be fine.

In a sense, they both mean the same thing, so you wouldn’t be wrong in hearing it that way.

As we go through life, we meet people — this is the beauty of life’s journey. As important as meeting, there will be times when we have to part ways.

It can be painful, but it’s as much a part of life’s journey, as everything else.

When meeting, always prepare for the parting; to do this — answer this question: what effect can I have on this relationship, that will leave me without regret when we part.

This is something very interesting about communication: the words [and their combinations] we use, are only a part of the story.

High fidelity in what is transmitted is important, if we’re ever going to do great work, with the people around us — whether it’s family, friends, colleagues or community.

Strive for high fidelity in your communication.

People seem to want businesses to be “fair”; sadly, that’s not how labour, or the world works.

First, what is fairness? In your personal dealings, when you make choices — more often in what you believe to be in your best interests — are you always fair?

For-profit businesses are so for a reason; they’ll move costs in the direction of least-expense to optimise profit; to expect anything more would be you projecting, with little information.

You might not like that people “are subjected” to these conditions, and that’s fine — it’s not about you.

The labour market is like a hamster wheel, constantly moving, yet going nowhere, but you can choose to get off, if it doesn’t serve your interests.

They’re a leaning or inclination, usually rooted in our beliefs or experiences, and everyone has them.

As we go through life, we make many choices; the leaning of the next choice is going to vastly tilt in information from our lived experiences or annecdotal evidence from others.

We need our “beliefs” to anchor in reality as people — in fact, they’re necessary for steering.

In reality, your bias is simply a manifestation of these beliefs — we need to acknowledge this.

Like with all beliefs, we could be wrong.

When you notice a bias, it’s important to [or at least attempt to] question the underlying belief — we must embrace learning and new evidence, when available.

In summary:

1. Question your beliefs

2. Pursue truth

This achieves a few goals:

1. Displays what the simplest version of a program in the language looks like

2. Cause a dopamine rush, as a result of a quick achievement — due to immediate feedback from your action

Both of these goals serve one purpose: push you along on the journey to learning that language.

With respect to that big goal you see ahead, what action right now would serve as a “hello world” program to push you along the way?

Thanks to the clock, the smallest unit that’s registers with us is the “second” — we see the hand move on the clock; yet, we don’t realise that this tick of the clock is one less tick for us, because we have a finite number of ticks on the face of this Earth.

One interesting thing about old people is that they don’t hold back their opinions; they’re not afraid to offend anyone — in the times we live in, it’s both refreshing and can be jarring.

We don’t always agree with a lot of the things we find ourselves doing, but go along anyways; simply because, we don’t want to offend others.

At this point, you’re at least 15 ticks older than when you started reading this.

Move according to your convictions, and don’t be too afraid to offend; you have a limited number of ticks left, use them wisely.

There’s a name for this condition: decision/analysis paralysis.

The internal monologue always seems to revolve around “not making the wrong choice, so we don’t lose time/resources” — we seem to be waiting for a “perfect” situation.

What should you do: eliminate all the bad options — that don’t align with where you think you’re heading — pick one of the few that remains, then move.

That is enough for now: even if you fail, you’ll at least learn something.

Let me describe the nature of the perfect opportunity/situation:

It is a culmination of days/months/years of actions seeking clarity, trying, failing, learning and [sometimes] succeeding until an opportune time comes where all the experiences of the past are required for what lies ahead — almost as if it was perfectly positioned.

The perfect opportunity comes with motion, not stasis.

This is normal, and that’s because, as people: we don’t simply listen to words with our ears — we listen with biases, beliefs and assumptions mixed in.

For the listener: when in doubt, ask.

This is simple, yet quite hard for many of us — myself included.

We should definitely still make attempts to not allow assumptions, or our biases and beliefs override objective truth.

It’s fine to feel it; don’t hide or run from it, you should instead accept it, and acknowledge that you need to move forward.

People who achieve things never did them with full certainty, every step of the process. They equally had moments of doubt — have you ever wondered how the Wright brothers made the first flying machine? Or how the first ocean navigators travelled the oceans (some recent recorded history)?

I admit, those are big things, but it’s no different in our every day lives.

What matters is this: is the next step you’re taking, though unsure, going in the general direction of your goals?

It comes from two (2) root words, which combined mean “not to [win/conquer]”.

“Not to conquer” the mind or spirit.

You need to agree with it and believe it — you need to have a mind that will not be put down.

I agree for the most part with William’s poem, except, as a christian, this is what I do know:

I thank my creator JEHOVAH, for He keeps my soul.

HE is the master of my soul.

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.'

1 Peter 2:25
https://www.bible.com/bible/1/1PE.2.25.KJV

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