To my future child,
Over the years I have collected a lot of advices and kept the ones that are quite useful. Here are some simple rules so you can navigate the boring stuff of life and enjoy the less boring parts of it.
I hope that they will help you and that you may add some more to them, pass them along so people you care about will enjoy life with you, because a life in solitary and with no one to share what you know with, is a life not well lived.
When you are grieving get a massage. Touch itself is analgesic for the human mind and body. Infants may day if they are not touched and taken care of.
When you try to predict the future, consider that the present is here. The probability of it existing is very high, you can feel it and see it. The closer the present is to now, the higher the probability is that you can predict it.
When there is no need for electronic devices, don't use them. If you can do one thing better with a pen and paper, use that. Don't try to emulate everything with electronics. Use it when it makes sense. It will make you robust and you will not lose touch with things that have been around for a very long time.
When you have less, you are more antifragile to life. You have less to lose, less of a status quo to lose, less financial burdens, less psychological problems.
There are two kinds of jobs. The ones that are affected by gravity and the ones that are not. For instance a doctor will only heal so many patients he/she has time for. A baker will create one bread for each customer. On the other hand a writer will create once the book and it will be read by thousands. The difference is the scalability of each job. You have to know in what profession you are so you can plan accordingly.
Every mistake you make when you are working for someone or a cooperation will go on your permanent record which will follow your around. Now imagine a freelancer, he/she can make a mistake but can always try to make up for it and pick up a new client.
There is a concept called survivor bias. It is the same as the winner is writing the history. The book how I lost 15kg in one week will make it to stores so you can read about it. You will not find a book titled how I lost 15kg in 10 years. For every story of success there are a lot of stories of failure.
Imagine you are in a heated argument with a coworker, your spouse, or just a friend. Be the one to keep calm, be the reasonable one, you often don't know what the other person is going through and why they are reacting badly to your argument, it could be something completely different than what the argument is about.
Start to practice NVC (Non violent communication). The NVC process consists of 4 items 1. Observe 2. Feel 3. Identify needs 4. Make a request
Watch out for the minority rule. Once you have 10% or more woman at a party you cannot only serve beer. Most men although will drink wine. So you only need one set of glasses if you will serve only wine.