I am a slow reader and it is ok!

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

 

I read very slowly. 

Despite several trainings, I still read every word (pronounce it silently) and I still keep going back to re-read the paragraph I just finished.

It used to bother me a lot.

Time is scarce and there are too much to read. Why cannot I read more effectively?

But when I consciously increased my reading speed, I felt tired and I did not feel that I had read and understood the book.

After a few tries, I gave up and settled with my current speed.

But from time to time, I am still angry with myself for not being able to read faster.

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Recently I got to know that a senior who I admire a lot also reads slowly.

That gives me much comfort, not only because he shares the same problem, but also because of his 3 attitudes towards reading.

1. Reading should not cause anxiety. If we read slowly, so be it. Do not feel the anxiety or need to read faster. We should feel peace while reading.
2. Reading should be continuous. The key is to keep reading. We need to get into a habit of reading — find good books, read at our own paces and keep at it. Even if we only read a few pages per day, we will experience the benefits.
3. Reading should involve thinking. This is not only about extracting the content of the book, e.g. by making a mind map. We have to connect the content of the book to our reality. Only when the book deals a blow to our perspectives and beliefs, do we get connected with the book and author. This is how we learn and improve.

This applies not only to books, but also to blogs, magazines, research papers etc.

To us all readers!

 

Till next time!

Anxiety is not necessary most of the time

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

As my work becomes more demanding, I need to complete some things during the weekend, like updating this blog, hitting my reading target, and sometimes completing some work.

The ideal situation is that I could complete what I need to do early Saturday morning. Then I can enjoy the rest of the weekend.

But I cannot always do that due to various reasons.

That is when I start to feel anxieties sometimes.

I keep worrying about it to the point I cannot focus on and enjoy what I am doing now.

That hurts my happiness.

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But most of the time, it proved to be unnecessary. 

Most of the time, I overestimated the difficulty of what needed to be done. 

And I could complete what I needed to do when I sat down and really got to it, many times earlier than my plan.

So I blamed myself why I had to let the anxiety affect my happiness.

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Being able to accurately estimate the workload is a skill, which takes only experiences and observation.

It can certainly help ease the anxiety.

But most importantly, we need to be able to focus on what we are doing currently and not worry about what may or may not be coming.

That is the only way of happiness.

To us all.

Path of life…

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Dear Readers,

Than you for coming here!

Fate does not only determine where we will end up, but also how we will get there.

At least, it feels like that sometimes.

I had a chat recently with an ex-colleague, who I am working with now for the next month or so.

Like me, he was in a very comfortable position in life.

Like me, he could not just enjoy it, feeling it was wrong and insecure to relax like that.

Like me, he “got out of his comfort zone”.

Unlike me, he did not experience any major set-back.

But like me, he was also struggling a bit, questioning himself why he could not just go with the flow and had to put himself in the struggling situation.

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On the contrary, I also know people who are really good at enjoying life.

They may not make a lot of money, but they feel everything is in control. Even if something goes wrong, they just know that they will be ok.

I sincerely admire their sense of security and how relaxed they are.

I cannot help thinking sometimes that this may be the right way with life.

I tried to categorize the two types of people based on the background or traits, which did not really yield any convincing results.

If anything, first-generation immigrants exhibit more behaviors towards the former, while locals with big families tend to lead towards the latter.

This makes logical sense though. 

Immigrants have to sort out many things all by themselves in the new environment, while having a big family locally means help and support on many issues, big and small.

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Personally, I feel my path to where I belong is hard work.

The only opportunity I had to achieve “Financial Freedom” in a few years turned out to be a serious set-back, even though I was so close to it.

4 years in the stock market left me with a huge paper loss.

Now, I stretch myself every day with work. I could not even stop thinking about it while eating.

But unbelievable as it is, I feel good: productive, fulfilled, valued and even confident.

Well, surely seems that is my path.

What is yours?

Till next time!

Secret of Success in One Simple Formula!

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Consider the formula below:

P=1-（1-P1）×（1-P2）×（1-P3）×（1-P4）×……（1-Pn）

If you have also taken “Probability” classes in school, you know this is the way to calculate the probability of succeeding at least once in N tries, with a probability for success in any try being P and N being the number of tries.

If we apply this to life, from a pure mathematical point of view, we can tabulate below chances for success in anything we do.

*N = number of tries

*Age = 18 + N x 7, assuming we get a chance to try every 7 years and we get our first chance at age of 25.

From Author

If we are doing something with 10% of probability of success, then by the time we are 81, the change that we would have succeeded is 60%.

If probability of success is 20%, then we will be at 60% at age 46. By age 81, we would be very close to 90%.

With 30% probability of success, we are almost certain to have succeeded by age 81.

…

Also note that this is not considering the evolvement of probability of success. As we get more experiences in doing somethings, our probability of success tends to increase.

And that would just make the above table more favorable to our odds.

Life seems pretty full of hope!

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Of course, there are factors that would pull us down.

First of all, once we succeed, we need to be careful not to make any fatal mistakes. 

Any one of them could erase our progress completely and even hurt our chances of starting over.

Secondly, do not give up.

The probability only works in our favor with increasing number of tries.

Thirdly, do not switching what we try frequently.

If we try a different thing each time, we will be trapped in the zone of low probability of success. 

Fourthly, do away with the anxiety.

Most commoners succeed after various tries, which means they succeed at older ages.

If you have not succeeded, keep trying but there is no need for the anxiety, which ruins your life and hurts your probability of success.

If you are not a commoner and have all your life planned by someone loving and powerful, you should not be wasting your time reading this blog. 

Go take advantage of what you have and do bigger and better things. 

Or at least enjoy your lives.

To us all! And till next time!