thoughts
Visualize: Think, Feel, Perform Like the Top 1% by Maya Raichoora
Your thoughts = cars
Your beliefs = roads
Your experiences = buildings
Your emotions = the weather
Every second, you are driving along different roads and constructing new buildings. The more you drive on a road, the more permanent it becomes. These roads are then your mental map or blueprint, which is how you navigate the world. It becomes the architecture of your mind. Some of the roads will be motorways, others like country roads.
There are going to be times in your life when no one is in your corner. But if you are in your corner, nothing can stop you. You have to back yourself.
There are some interesting points in the book that I liked. This could have been a 40-page booklet or a long blog post. There’s so much repetition over and over again especially in the visualization techniques. Overall, skim through it, skip if you see repetition.
Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey
The next time your opponent is having a hot streak, simply ask as you switch courts, "What are you doing so differently that's making your forehand so good today?" If they take the bait--and 95 percent will--and begin to think about how they're swinging, telling you how they're really meeting the ball out in front, keeping the wrist firm, and following through better, the streak invariably will end. They will lose their timing and fluidity as they try to repeat what they have just told you they were doing so well.
The greatest lapses in concentration come when we allow our minds to project what is about to happen or to dwell on what has already happened.
When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as "rootless and stemless." We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed. When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don't condemn it as immature and underdeveloped; nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear. We stand in wonder at the process taking place and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development. The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change; yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.
Lots of good tips about improving mental performance and concentration. Not limited to tennis, is applicable to any activity.
Amazon Story Boxes
Sharing real-world inspiring stories on otherwise lifeless packaging gives it a nice personal touch.
Pikeplace market, Seattle
Hot orange spice tea and the view of the waterfront are my superheroes on a gloomy day.
It is not about getting the bragging rights or having the latest gadget or the brand value or the awesome new rose gold color or any other reason. It is the joy of holding technology in your hands that has been well-thought-out!
Thoughts on Apple Watch
My feature wish list from 2013 for any kind of wearable band stands almost fulfilled. If there was a mode for the iPhone switch between turning the ringer ON and Silent mode, Apple Watch would be that state.
Hardware — Designed to worn for the entire day and how I would love the water resistant feature to make it to the iPhone. Batter life almost lasts for the entire day. And it looks better than any other Smart watch out there.
Software — Has tons of issues. Haptic sometimes just fails to work and I have had to reboot the watch to make it work. I missed the laundry timer.
Usage — Going to the previous song on the iPhone and starting a song from the beginning. Running. It also gives you haptic feedback after running for a mile. I use it to check Meeting rooms for Calendar invites, laundry timers, quick replies to iMessages. It’s good for offline tasks.
Sampling
If the trial version of a game, the trailer of the movie, holidaying in an exotic location is a sample; its not the same as playing the full version of the game, watching the entire movie or living permanently in that exotic location. The motivation for a trial could be different from the real thing. The trial could be optimized or manipulated for selling it to an audience. It helps to have an approximate scaling factor to scale the sample correctly to the real thing. Be aware about the difference between investing in a trial and the real thing.
Safe mode
Most operating systems allow you to start up your machine in safe mode. Safe mode loads the operating system with only the absolute essential software. It is generally useful for debugging issues and diagnosing problems. If you always boot your operating system in safe mode, you would never get anything delightful done.Life also has a safe mode. You can take decisions to avoid failure and make do with minimum risk. You can decide to always operate in safe mode. But would it enable you to live life at its fullest? Would it make it fun? Would it make you feel alive?
Branding Myths
Do you not check the expiry date of milk from a reputed brand? Do you not check your car for flat tires even if you have bought a car which cost more than $50,000? When interviewing someone, why assume that somebody knows something just because they graduated from a reputed university or they have good references. Always make sure to test that they have the required skills for the job.
Emphasis
Every sentence is formatted as bold, every ticket is high priority, every task is urgent. If you are projecting everything as important then nothing really is. Emphasis gains its value from being surrounded by de-emphasized items.
Fearless
Work with people who are not afraid to put their jobs on the line, who do not make decisions optimized for job security, who are willing to invest in doing the right thing even if it means going against the grain.
Partner in Crime
When merging a Pull Request, the reviewer and the developer are both equal partners in crime.
Onboarding gone wrong
In my personal opinion, Super Duper makes the best vegetarian burgers in the city. One thing that they have started doing recently is to ask every single customer placing an order over the counter - “Have you been here before?”. Every Single Customer.There are two possibilities - either you are new to the place or you had been there before. Based on your answer, the next sentence changes as below - New: “We can help you if you have any questions”Existing: “Welcome back”There are many problems with this on-boarding process:Lack of Delight: You are not offering anything delightful to the new customer. If somebody has any questions, they will ask you. It would not matter if they had been at the place before or not. Remembering is hard: As there is no “Remember Me” checkbox for humans, it is very likely that the employee behind the counter will forget if you have been there before. Even if somebody had really sharp memory, there could be different people working different shifts at different locations. So its reasonable to assume that this would not work most of the times.Annoyance for frequent customers: For people who visit the place frequently this is an annoyance because you have to answer the same fucking question again and again every time.This behavior makes me wonder about one question - would you annoy your existing customers under the pretext of possibly making things better for new customers? And not even make things better for new customers?Just focus on doing what you do best - “MAKE GREAT BURGERS”. Don’t try to be all fancy pants and solve a problem that does not exist.