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.
Don't let your work affect your personal life. Don't let any work related frustration out on your spouse or friends.
There is the mandatory insurance which you need for your car. There is no way around it. There is also insurances which you should buy for catastrophic events. Events that may happen and you will not be able to recover. Get insurance for those types of events.
Try to have an option around your choices. Don't be forced into using a particular one. On the other hand, if there is no viable alternative, don't sweat it.
If something is old, it will probably be around for quite some time. A book that exists for 100 years will also be around in the next 100 years. This is called the Lindy effect.
Here are some examples of manifestation of negative emotions: Frustration - when approaching a goal and you are blocked. Disappointment - when pursuing a goal and it doesn't work. Grief - when loosing something. Pain - marker for damage. Anxiety - marker for the possibility of damage.
Trusting in your own capabilities is to command yourself and know that you will execute and accomplish it.
When you struggle to be creative or come up with a new concept try this: Don't be afraid of failure, it can happen, it is natural to happen a lot of times but don’t let it paralyze you. Every once in a while try something new. Go on this new hiking route, take a different route with the bus, add some randomness to your routine. Lastly get off the path of the least resistance. Our brain is very energy efficient, it will try to connect the dots on things we already know. True creativity lies when we do stuff that are initially hard and then get easier with time. All things you can do now once were difficult.
Get at least 7 hours of sleep. What is considered normal ,for human beings, is from 7-9 hours of sleep. You need that much sleep in order your body and brain to be able to work at their best.
People don't want to be happy. What people actually are looking for is to have less negative emotions. They don't want to be miserable, they want to be free of pain, free of anxiety.
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.