Ayham

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Posts posted by Ayham

  3. Posted

    I think going small is best

    Cutting social media is not possible, just switch to healthy content, spiritual content, personal development content, philosophy, science, whatever you are into.

    Focus on building habits temporarily 

    Make a year or so plan where you add a habit every month, and you aren't going to judge yourself as long as you do the one habit you are supposed to do everday, and make an ideal and a bare minimum for it.

    For example:

    1. June: daily meditation (bare minimum: 5 minutes, ideal: 1 hour)
    2. July: going to the gym (bare minimum: put shoes on and walk to the gym, ideal: train really hard, cardio and weightlifting)
    3. August: Journal (bare minimum: write for 1 minute, ideal: write for 15 minutes)
    4. September: contemplation (bare minimum: contemplate for 5 minutes, ideal: do a full contemplating session for an hour)
    5. October: writing (bare minimum: write about a topic for 5 minutes, ideal: write a whole essay)
    6. November: reading (bare minimum: read one page, ideal: read 30 pages)

    You get the idea, the idea is, you have a bare minimum, which makes it really hard to skip a day, because it's so easy to do, you won't skip it, and once you get started, 80% of the time, you will continue, and if you don't, it's fine.

    This works as a permanent fix, changing too much won't work, gradual and simple, while still allowing yourself to be spontaneous is the best way, it's the only thing that worked for me.

    You just make a plan like this, with a strong why and idea of who you want to be, it's extremely easy to stick to it, and within a few months, the ball will start rolling, and once you get so used to it, you don't need to keep track of anything, it will be so natural.

    But an important tip: making meditation the first habit makes everything else much easier to stick to.

  6. Posted

    Quote

    My Dad earned tons of money selling bootleg Hollywood VHS tapes in Communist Russia. That's how we escaped the Soviet Union to California in short time. Not the proudest business, but in those circumstances things were sketchy. My first memories as a child was watching illegal bootleg Hollywood movies. I watched Robocop when I was 4 years old.

    Lol! yeah, the thing with business it seems, as you said, it is more free, it is a matter of finding something lacking, then providing it, rather than following a neat path laid down for you.
    I suppose it is more risky, but that's also the beauty of it.

    Man, I just got into this awe like state, life is so beautiful, there is so much paths and things to try and complexity.
    Business, academia, history, travel, philosophy, stories, people, and so much more.
     

    Like literally, it can't be any better, the negative stuff are also part of the experience.

     

  8. Posted

    15 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    If you are getting 90+, that means you're a good student and the actual problem is that you are placing crazy unrealistic expections on yourself. Getting beyond 90+ is really a matter of being in the top 1% of a field, and that level of performance is not something you can will yourslf into, that's a matter of extremely specialized fit. Very few people are fit for that kind of performance in any field. So there will a strong self-selection process at work on you. Which is what you are feeling.

    This is not your fault. You've just positioned yourself into a poor situation requiring things of you which are not appropriate or healthy. Very few people are cut out to be in the top 1% of any field, simply because that requires a very specialized fit in terms of your values, personality, and even genetics. And it often requires serious sacrfices which are not right for most people.

    The real problem here is poor positioning. You could stop putting yourself into direct competiton with so many people. That's a losing sort of game unless you are perfectly fit.

    In life, you wanna find niches which have least competiton, not most. Why compete against millions of others by doing what everyone else is doing? The wiser way to win is by thinking so outside the box that few people do what you do. Then it's easy to win.

    Philosophy will not pay your bills in Iraq. It can barely pay the bills in America.

    You need a serious plan for making money which isn't philosophy. Philosophy you can do as a side hobby.

    The academic path is not a great way to make money, especially if you are not in the top 1%. Remember, academia is a pyramid scheme. Surviving inside academia is very cutthroat and is only suited for very few specialized people. Everyone else will lose time and money in it.

    I deliberately kept it vague because at this point your options are wide open.

    Frankly, it doesn't sound like you are suited for business at this point. But maybe you could be if you started working towards that. You've been so trapped in the academia game that you are overlooking so many other opportunities in life. I cannot tell you exactly what those are, I can only tell you that 1000s of opportunities exists outside of academia. Academia is a tiny sandbox without a larger world. Step out and explore what else is out there. You can find amazing things.

    I would never place myself in a position where I cared about doing better than 90%. It's just a waste of life energy playing such a game. You are now feeling why I would not go that route. Why make yourself so stressed and miserable? 90% is enough in the world of business. 90% is not enough in a pyramid scheme.

    I see, so basically, you mean that it is a problem of positioning myself into something that does not exactly suit me, a pyramid scheme as you like to call it, and that it is about time I get to explore other options that I am missing out on, actionable and serious options specifcally.

    I agree very much, I think the reason I delayed all of this was because of the parental/societal pressure, which I was aware of, but it still got the best of me, this was like a wake up call, I hope I am not too late, I will do my best to focus on that, my exams are still there and I will study for them, but I won't keep making it such a focus.

    Getting outside of Iraq seems to be the biggest hurdle as of now.
    I am still keeping up my personal development habits and all, but it is about time I get serious about the real world, I am almost 18 now, this will require lots of thinking, research, making connections, learning, and risk taking, all of which I am ready to do.

    It seems to be confusing, there is too much options, in every thing basically, what to work on mastering, what to get into, to leave Iraq in a rush or when I am more stable, etc.
    How am I supposed to make those sort of  uncertain life decisions? 
     

  9. Posted

    Now I am realizing how much I fucked up, I need to take stuff more seriously, I have literally zero valuable skills, I must seriously develop something.

    Something based on passion, that would be limited and not really useful, my zone of genius is basically research, it is my favorite thing, but anyone can research anything nowadays, it is not really valuable.
    Philosophy, useful but nobody is gonna pay me to do philosophy, or psychology, or history, or any of the stuff I like, most of it is info that is available to everyone with an internet access and a computer.

    Therefore, i must focus on mastery of *hard* skills, something technological maybe, I have always loved tech, maybe not my main passion but I love it nonetheless.
    Self learn computer science, then maybe AI development, that seems like the most useful, maybe then I can make a business of selling personalized AI's to people based on what they want.

    god too many other options in mind.

    how the fuck do I choose anything?

    I can't settle for anything less than being financially secure/rich, so that will allow me to be able to actually live my passions, and make a change in the world, but the road to that is confusing.
    Sometimes I feel like I am too late, I could have done much more, but then I remember I am 17, and I feel too young, but then I start thinking of it as an excuse so I don't do that.

    My actual life purpose is: synthesizing unique original understanding that creates whole hero's
    I haven't settled on an impact I want to do, I constantly get better ideas, but right now, it is this.

    and a whole hero is a concept I created which is a combination of a western and an eastern hero, a western hero is someone who focuses on physical achievement, changing the world, intellectual achievement, rationality, etc.
    And an eastern hero is someone who focuses on conquering themselves, through meditation, contemplation, spirituality, etc.
    The whole hero does both, so I want to become that myself, and have a sort of influence to inspire as much conscious individuals to become that, especially in this hedonistic society.

    But is that what I actually want? or is it because I have been influenced by the likes of Leo and other people I like?
    Hmm, but I wouldn't be inspired by those people in the first place if it is not true to me in some way.
    I seem to always get inspired by either heavy intellectuals, extremely smart, knowledgeable and wise people, or spiritual people, or someone who is both, even some people I know in real life.

    I am lost lol xD
    ---
    *end of overthinking


     
     

  10. Posted

    @FlyingLotus I love healthygamer! I may have not watched all of his videos but I like him, I binged the videos you shared, and tried applying them in practice, it started working well, then backsliding happened, like most "methods" i try, but I will keep trying.

    @LSD-Rumi this is actually pretty solid, going to a place where I have no method of distracting myself isn't something I have tried for some reason, I will see if that's applicable .

    @Leo Gura hmm, I mean you are right, I do love learning, like I love reading books about physics, or history, or biology, or many of the stuff I have to also study, but when it becomes an academic subject, I lose all interest, I am good academically in the sense that my scores are usually 90+, but as I said, it is too competitive here, and I am also in a gifted school that is considered the best school in Iraq, but I am literally like the worst of the best in this scenario.

    I have no actual business experience, "business" is pretty vague, I have self learned very basic web development, and took some marketing courses, but that's about it, my main love and passion is philosophy, whether it is western philosophy, or eastern more spiritual type, and philosophy also includes basic science I suppose.

    My main idea was pursuing an academic path, while starting making content related to what I love on the side during college, until it hopefully generates enough money by the time I finish college, and I drop the academic path, and if anything goes wrong, I still have the academic path as a backup.

    What do you mean exactly by business? the term is vague, it could mean a lot of things, and I also have zero idea where to find opportunities here in Iraq.

  12. Posted · Edited by Ayham

    Okay I basically have the most important exams in my life in about 21 days.
    I have studied most things, so it is not bad, but the exam is extremely competitive, i am in my last high school year, from iraq, and studying here is extremely intense.
    Just to get an idea, I have about 7 books, average about 400 long pages each, and extremely dense usually college level material.

    I have studied almost all of it throughout the year, which is why I focused less on personal development this year, reading, meditation, contemplation ,etc.

    but I haven't mastered anything.
    College is free in Iraq, but very competitive if you want to get something good, i am talking about at the very least an average of 97+, which is why 12th grade is a meme level nightmare here, yet a very high number of people here end up getting good scores, so its very possible and normal.
    My plan A is getting a scholarship to a first world country, but either way, my current purpose, since this is what is close and urgent, is to fucking study

    here is the problem: I CAN'T STUDY
    I keep getting distracted, I tried eliminating all of distractions, i ended up with excessive maladaptive daydreaming, I basically procrastinate all day, but usually useful procrastination at least.
    i am a focused and disciplined person, in stuff I like only, but right now I really need to study, I am unable to,  I always studied good enough in normal years, but this year, which actually matters, I can't do anything.

    I schedule each day, but every time i find a way to not study, and the amount of pressure from family and people is very high, the Asian stereotype matches in my case.

    I don't even have school right now, I have all day.

    Please help 


     

  13. Posted

    Listen, whether it works or not, does not matter. 

    What matters is that at the end of the day, at the end of your life, you can look back and know that you actually tried your best and never stopped trying.

    I know it sounds cliché, but what's your other option?

  14. Posted

    @Buck Edwards I think it is useful for some people.
    for me it has totally transformed the value i get from any consumption activity.

    @Butters taking notes on thoughts, is something that can be done in any way, as long as it is easy, like: phone notes app, physical notebook, voice recorder, etc.
    Using AI is genius with this method, it can certainly make the summarizing be done immediately, and then you just make the small atomic notes on your own, because that needs your own thinking and linking, thats where the value is at
    the app itself has multiple ai plugins, but i find plugins usually unnecessary because it gets complicated, you might want to look into them though!

  15. Posted

    Have you ever felt like you aren't getting the full value of your insights? or of your notes? or your commonplace book?

    This is where the Zettelkasten system comes in, this system is not difficult, just takes time to get into, I will simplify it a lot.

    First you take fleeting notes, or basically jotting down thoughts, ideas, and insights, you can do this in a physical notebook or digitally

    You take literature notes, which is just a fancy word for summaries, whether that's a book summary, a video summary, an article summary, etc.

    Finally you take atomic notes, each note here contains a single idea only! you will read through your literature notes, and your fleeting notes, then make atomic notes on the ideas you find useful, or insightful, you will write a mini essay on this idea, and put back links to which notes it came from, then you will connect other atomic notes to this one, and you might get a new idea and make a new atomic note from it, then link it back, and whenever this same idea gets in your mind from another source, you will stumble upon this note (if you have a good system) and link it to a new reference.

    This might sound complicated, you will need a good robust software, this is where obsidian comes in, it's a free software that is future-proof, based on markdown, aesthetically pleasing, and has all the features you can want.

    So why are you doing this? three reasons

    1. Writing is thinking! it is a form of contemplation, writing mini essays on your notes will help you clarify, understand, and develop your ideas a lot, and not to mention, actually train your writing ability.
    2. We Need to Consciously Shift Our Attention From Facts to Relations and Connections, this is key, the ability to link and form connections you wouldn't have ever formed on your own between your ideas is massive.
    3. Each atomic note is a building block you can reuse whenever you want, you have this mini essay you can use whenever you want to contribute something, and it will only grow better the more you revisit it, change it or reference it more.

    This is probably one of my favorite videos on the Zettelkasten system:


    There is a lot of resources, don't make my mistake and get lost in studying the system and trying to perfectly implement it rather than starting.

  18. Posted

    @Twentyfirst Sorry, your post screams unconsciousness and egocentrism, your viewpoint is the not the problem, just the way you are handling it, try to cultivate understanding rather than judgement.
    I am Arab too but I think this is just silly, there are pro's and con's, Western society did the right step of removing religion, but they didn't put anything in it's place to guide people, so most people are lost, while we are still following religion blindly.
    The next step for the west is education system and teaching people to make their own principles, values, and meaning, because all those fell apart for most people when religion was removed.

     

  19. Posted

    To be honest, as someone who grew up in a Muslim country and family, I would say it is extremely hard to get how complicated, rich and nuanced Islam is to a westerner.
    Even if you study all the literature, which is extremely dense, complicated, and branched, each sect and sub-sect has it's own philosophers, thinkers, history, and debatable matters, and not knowing Arabic makes it much harder to really get Islam, a lot gets lost in translation, especially the Quran, as well as most literature is not translated to English.

    Just to get a sense of how complicated Islamic literature and theology, most Muslims nowadays themselves have little knowledge about it, the scholars understand it well though, even the Quran which is Arabic, is pretty hard to get for typical modern Muslims because our language is different nowadays (Shakespeare English vs. nowadays English)

    In the Islamic golden age, most of this started, each sect and school of thought bread so many philosophers, Sheikhs, and thinkers, each of which have written extremely dense books, usually many volumes in Shakespeare style hard Arabic, and they all fought with each other.
    Islamic golden age, there was a more accurate map of the world than a few hundred years ago, Algebra was introduced for the first time, they developed trigonometry and refined the decimal system, they had accurate measurement of the earth's circumference, they discovered the circulatory system, they invented water clocks and automata, philosophers like Avicenna and Al-Farabi were as important and influential as Plato,  they had extremely beautiful poetry, especially Sufis like Rumi, they established Alchemy, all of this was in 8th to 13th century, where Europe was still in the "dark ages".

    of course nowadays Arabs are much less developed, because they are clinging to Islam so hard as a dogma, Islam by it's very nature refuses to change, if you change Islam, or try to make it more "modern", you are basically a disbeliever by traditional Islam, most people here are extremely brainwashed, for example, they think doing philosophy or thinking is wrong because it might make you doubt Islam.

    they either give up on Islam, or make it more developed, which will contradict the original Islam.

  20. Posted

    11 hours ago, Jodistrict said:

    I have heard that Muslims are chill in Turkey and friendly to non Muslims.   Most of the extremists Muslims are actually a direct response to the legacy of oppression and colonialism.  It is really more political than religious.  

    That's because there is no such thing as "Islam", it is divided into multiple sects, each of which has many sub-sects
    There is Sunni Islam (most common, has tendency to turn into Wahabism which is how terrorists happen), Shia Islam (these guys have a lot of different beliefs)
    These are the main two sects, each of which has their own sub-sects
    and they have been fighting for centuries

    There is also Sufism, the spiritual part of Islam, which is more of a "way" rather than a "sect", it is a path that can be undertaken within Sunni or Shia Islam, but most Sufi's are Sunni's, but most Sunni's actually consider both Sufi's and Shia "Kufar" which is the Arabic word for disbeliever that will go to hell
    Anyways, both Sunni's and Shia's and even Sufi's (much less), have caused a lot of bloodshed, Especially Sunni's I believe (though Sunni's will tell you the opposite, both sides suck tbh so don't listen to either)
    Turkey is where most Sufi Muslims are, and it is also one of the few Muslim countries that's considered first world, which is why I think it is more peaceful in terms of Islam.

  22. Posted

    @Leo Gura
     

    Quote

    No, the reason they are underdeveloped is because of geography.

    it sure plays a part, but I think the main reason is the wars and conflict which made development worse, back in the Islamic golden age, Arabs had more accurate maps of the world than few hundred years ago, as well as the founders of many important and main topics in mathematics, philosophy, chemistry, biology.
    But after invasion of Baghdad by the Mongols, it all dipped, the whole middle east, after it was basically the most powerful in the world.

    and afterwards, Middle east was divided into countries, so rather than working together, they work against each other, and also of course politics and oil.