A beautiful life is not stumbled upon, it is built. It is chosen. It is nurtured over the years. A beautiful life is made from the heart, not the head. It is not one we can rationalize our way into, it's one that must be felt. A beautiful life is not one that is immediately comfortable, but one grown through the acknowledgement of what is worth being uncomfortable for. It is not one that is easy, it is one that is worth it.

wow it's aug 1st. the past month has been a lot. a few lessons for myself from July.

• when you feel like it's too late to do something, that's when you do it immediately
• growth seems slow in the beginning, but habits make growth exponentiate, and effort gradually declines.
• indecisiveness and overthinking are the surest way to feel regret. avoid it at all cost. if you want to do or say something, and it's reasonable, just do it. the benefits far outweighs any potential cost
• if you're doing something. anything that is worthwhile. give it your all. don't do things half-heartedly or skip the details for short term benefits. hack your motivation, inject curiosity, learn for the sake of learning.
• insecurity and social anxiety stems from the lack of identity and self-understanding. in these moments, you feel like you're not enough, that you're not worth it. but the reality is that it's all in your head, that everyone is human and just as flawed as you, and that everyone is mostly thinking about themselves. and you should just be yourself. learn how to obtain charisma and social prowess without losing too much of yourself.
• introspect less and do more. identify the mistakes and fix them. avoid them in the future. don't exaggerate feelings by writing about them. doing is the better solution than trying to figure out why you feel a certain way by writing about how you're feeling. i.e. instead of writing about social isolation, just start talking to more people. be curious about others.
• apply things that you learn. consuming is not work, creating is work. just start the project.
• remember the goal isn't money or fame or comfort or an answer. it's finding joy and meaning in a difficult life. it's creating something useful. it's having fun and not taking things too seriously. it's people, caring and loving friends and family more than yourself. it's being kind and spreading positivity. it's all about what God wants from you. not the other way around. stop seeking answers, just keep searching for the next question.

Some insights by Charlie Munger

• the art of storytelling is critically important. most entrepreneurs cant tell a story. money flows as a function of stories
• education is the process whereby the ability to live a good life is acquired
• building a great business is in service of building a great life. you don't have to sacrifice a good life to build your company
• The world is not driven by greed; it's driven by envy
• find big ideas from big disciplines to build an accurate understanding of the world
• develop your own personal curriculum, follow your curiousity
• good ideas are rare, bet heavily when you see them
• dont buying or selling often, a successful career boils down to a handful of decisions
• trust your own judgement, lone wolf temperament
• inversion, get what you want by avoiding what you do not want. consistently avoid stupidity
• reduce complex situations to their most basic unemotional fundamentals; genius has the fewest moving parts
• assess and understand competitive advantage in every respect. product. market, trademarks, employees, distributions, societal trends, and the durability of that advantage

Sisyphus 55

you're at the movie theater, everyone has left, the lights are still on and you're the only one still sitting there, completely alone, insisting the movie is not over yet.

everyone, friends and family, the strangers on the streets, your coworkers, all suffer from pained nostalgia and yearning. from this you can feel a little closer to everyone. to know that all of us go through the same process of letting go, of moving on, of choosing life instead. choosing self-love, the only love that is guaranteed

your heart isn't the captain of the voyage of life. it is not your sole navigator. there are so many things out of your control, destiny, dumb luck, fate, wisdom. who is to say what will happen? where we're all heading?