Bhumi

What is the Most Direct Way to Make Money? [TLN#16]

This post is from The Leaf Node Issue#16. Join to get the next one in your inbox every Sunday There are many ways to make money as an entrepreneur

Learning

Reading Mode and Inverse Bookclub [TLN#15]

Hi there! Last week we talked about habits — the importance of thinking through details upfront while forming new habits, and intentionally concluding old habits rather then letting them fizzle out. I will come back to this topic in future issues, as there is more

Habits

About Endings [Letter#14]

How to End Habits IntentionallyIn last week’s Leaf Node, we talked about how to form new habits, by figuring out details upfront, as well as doing trial runs to find the right habit to commit to. There is a lot of advice specifically

Habits

Why is it Hard to do Something Consistently For 100 Days? [TLN#13]

Assuming you've chosen a habit that you really want to do, one you know will be beneficial to you. And you really believe in the idea of consistency, why is it that sometimes we can't bring ourselves to do a seemingly simple habit for

What does Tetris have to do with Learning? [TLN#12]

We all want to learn something. And if you're an entrepreneur (or a software developer) it's your job to learn. We're born with a deep desire and an intuitive ability

Marketing is Not as Important as Building 🙊 [TLN#11]

How to Have an Effective Marketing Mindset as a CreatorMarketing is not as important as creating and building. And it's the type of work that other people do, it's not really my thing. If I build a product that's actually good, people will hear

Consistency is Not the Key to Writing Well [TLN#10]

Why Consistency is Not the Key to Writing Well?The most prevalent advice about writing is to write consistently. There are writing platforms that encourage daily writing and keep track of your streak. So let's say you've been writing consistently for 10 weeks and

Doing Challenging Work - Featuring Tower of Hanoi

"Work is not hard — the floor is hard — work is challenging" - Montessori teacherSometimes we know what we want to do. We even believe that we know how to do it. We cannot imagine all of the steps from beginning to end, but we

A Case for More Candid Discussions

We are attending many more virtual social events this year — meetups via online communities, gatherings with family and friends, co-working sessions, book club and other themed group discussions. Within these 20 to 40 person group discussions, I've noticed that sometimes conversation stays at a

Why We Read

I was standing on the sidewalk next to a pizza truck — basically a 800 degrees oven on wheels — waiting for the pizza I ordered. I overheard another customer chatting with the Pizzaiolo. He had recently started making pizza at home and wanted some tips

Can We Skip the Small Talk?

Several years ago, at my workplace with a typical open floor plan, my colleague BK would often ask me 'is the coast clear?'. I would scoot backwards — away from my desk — in my swivel chair, and peek at the common kitchen area. Then

Learning

Learning as Little as Possible

I've always thought learning is a good thing. Learn as much as possible. Keep learning. Be a life-long learner of course. This sounds glorious. But is there such a thing as too much learning? There seems to be, I explore why below. First, I

CourseNotes

Learning How to Learn Week 4 - Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Brain

My notes from an online course that claims to "teach powerful mental tools to help master tough subjects". My interest in this is actually pedagogical and cross referencing the techniques with my own experiences and teaching style. Tips for becoming a better learner: Exercise

CourseNotes

Learning How to Learn Week 3 - Procrastination and Memory

My notes from an online course that claims to 'teach powerful mental tools to help master tough subjects'. My interest in this is actually pedagogical and cross referencing the techniques with my own experiences and teaching style. Focusing on process not the product of

CourseNotes

Learning How to Learn Week 2 - Illusion of Competence and Library of Chunks

My notes from an online course that claims to 'teach powerful mental tools to help master tough subjects'. My interest in this is actually pedagogical and cross referencing the techniques with my own experiences and teaching style. Chunking: Chunk are bits of information connected

CourseNotes

Learning How to Learn Week 1 - Diffused and Focused Modes

Notes from Cousera course that claims to 'teach powerful mental tools to help master tough subjects'. My interest in this is actually pedagogical and cross referencing the techniques with my own experiences and teaching style. "You must plant the seed for diffused mode by

CourseNotes

Science of Meditation Week 6 - Enlightenment

My notes from a Coursera course on meditation, Buddhism, and modern psychology - Week 6. Is enlightenment really enlightenment? Two more things - Emptiness and Not-self exterior view (Not-self - interior view is what we've talked about so far). Not-self exterior view - is

CourseNotes

Science of Meditation Week 5 - Thoughts Without a Thinker

My notes from a Coursera course on meditation, Buddhism, and modern psychology - Week 5. How does meditation relate to this modular model of the mind: Default Mode Network can be thought of as a bunch of modules that are competing for your attention.

CourseNotes

Science of Meditation Week 4 - Modular Model of the Mind

My notes from a Coursera course on meditation, Buddhism, and modern psychology - Week 4. Delusions about ourselves: While we're convincing the world that we have coherent motivation for our actions we also convince ourself (even if not true). Coherent motivation -> pure

CourseNotes

Science of Meditation Week 3 - Split Brain Experiments and the Idea of Self

My notes from a Coursera course on meditation, Buddhism, and modern psychology - Week 3. No-Self: No-self doctrine could not really be understood by intellectualizing it but really only experientially. But this lectures tries anyway. If there was a self it would be have

CourseNotes

Science of Meditation Week 2 - Rebellious Mindfulness

My notes from a Coursera course on meditation, Buddhism, and modern psychology - Week 2. Noble Truths and prescription for what ails humans: Third Noble Truth is the abandonment of craving and clinging. This is the prescription for what ails us. Forth Noble Thuth

CourseNotes

Science of Meditation Week 1 - I Can't Get No Satisfaction

My notes from a Coursera course on meditation, Buddhism, and modern psychology - Week 1. The human condition and our inability to see the world clearly: Idea that we should be skeptical of our feelings. Meditation helps us 'see' that our feelings are not

Habits

System for Making Food - No Recipes

Unlike coding or writing, when you make food you can simply enjoy your creation without worrying about anything else. I enjoy discovering and creating a variety of food but I

Habits

System For Reading - Not Finishing Books

After years of being a finisher, I had this insight that maybe books are not meant for finishing. The idea of not finishing a book is associated with some level of guilt and anxiety for most people. There are times when we don't finish

Programming

Deep Dives - A Learning Circle for Independent Developers

"Acknowledging you don't know something is the dawning of wisdom" - Charlie MungerThat can be difficult to do at times in the software world. If we don't know something, (it is almost expected that) we say nothing, look it up, read a Wikipedia page,