On February 24th 2016, I published a short essay titled “ Blogging…I Think.” In it, I set a personal goal: write something every day. That was 1193 days ago. Today, I sign off.
Deciding to start a blog has been the most impactful decision of my life. This small, simple habit has been a constant driver of learning and self-exploration. Over the past three years, the only consistent aspect of my world has been this blog.
And now I am stopping. Tomorrow, for the first time in 3+ years, I will not be publishing a blog post. …
5/27 — What’s Next
Hey there, hope you are having a great start to summer!
Enjoy the newsletter.
Articles to Read.
When Male Runners Lose to Women
Conventional wisdom has long asserted men outperform women in long-distance races. Ultramarathon results prove that assumption wrong.
Longer than the 42.16 kilometres of a marathon, ultramarathons mercilessly have no upper limit; some races can even last days, and sleep isn’t often measured in hours. The masochistic competitions push runners to their physical and emotional limits, as >they traverse desert expanses, vast stretches of highway, or single-track mountain trails. …
March 8th to March 12th, 2019
- Noah Adelstein and I flew from Panama City to Medellin, Colombia on March 8th. This was my very first time entering South America and I was very very excited to explore and experience the culture. Medellin, in particular, has been at the top of my bucket list as its strengths sit interestingly at the intersection of history, sports, nightlife, and nature. The TL;DR of the adventure — Medellin felt very safe. The clubbing scene is super fun. The history is wild and unbelievable. And the nature is breathtaking! I would actually say that Medellin is my favorite city that I…
March 6th to March 7th, 2019
- We arrived in Panama City in the early morning, around 6 am, on a direct flight from Denver, Colorado. We took an Uber from the airport to our Hostel — Luna’s Castle Hotel. I had very little expectations coming into Panama City, as I did not know much about the history or culture of the country. We only stayed in Panama for one night before flying out to Colombia, so we tried to pack in as much sightseeing and adventuring as possible during our limited time.
- The “main event” (and perhaps most touristy activity we could do) was seeing the…
February 28, 2019
I find I am most productive during the first three hours of my day. I realize, now, that I need to protect this time against meetings, classes, and other random responsibilities because this time is precious.
This is the only time that I feel I can really get to work and focus on a particular challenge or task.
I feel lucky in that this time, generally between 7–11 am, is when other people are sleeping and I am uninterrupted. I can focus and really just think about one or two things for an extended period of time.
This clarity feels…
March 4, 2019
Hey there — can you believe it is already March?
Enjoy the newsletter and please email me if you have any questions.
Articles to Read.
Sometimes life seems really short, and other times it seems impossibly long.
It kind of feels like our lives are made up of a countless number of weeks. But there they are — fully countable — staring you in the face.
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You don’t want to be in a career where people who have been doing it for two years can be as effective as people who have been doing…
March 2nd, 2019
If you know me well, you would know that I have always greatly admired Kobe Bryant. I am a big basketball fan, and, in my view, Kobe is an incredible representative of the spirit of a true athlete.
There are many, but this is one of my favorite videos on the internet.
“Job is not done.”
The job is never done until you get what you want. Everything else is a distraction. Break through walls until you get it.
March 3, 2019
A friend proposed an interesting question the other day and I thought to use this essay as a method for diving into it.
We were having a discussion about things and he prompted the question: “Can you have meaning without purpose?”
Without thinking too deeply, I said no. I said that meaning is the impact of your purpose. When you have a purpose, you unlock the ability to have a meaningful life. I said that human being optimize for purpose because they have a desire to have meaning and use.
I thought this was an okay answer. …
March 1, 2019
This essay is about a cultural phenomenon I am noticing amongst students at top-tier universities. This is an incredibly challenging piece to write because it is, by nature, offensive. I do not believe it to be untrue, however, as I really believe in this concept. None of it is personal, but it is frustrating.
The path I am trying to illustrate did not happen to me, but I see it all the time here at school.
So what is happening?
Well, nothing particularly new. “The sickness” has just been rebranded. …
Seeing Users Interact with Your Work
March 5, 2019
One of the underratedly best feelings in the world is seeing a stranger interact with something you have invested time into. Watching people use your products or creations is immensely powerful. I am not sure how to describe this complicated emotion. Simply put, it feels nice and makes me smile every single time it happens.
I remember one of the first times that I got this feeling was in high school. As I have written about many times before, I had started a farmers market booth and sold tons of fresh produce.
The best feeling was watching…
