I maintain a set of mind modes which I can 'slip into' while doing anything. These are abstract ideas which help me remember how I felt when something worked for me and I find myself subconsciously repeating most of them periodically.
I name them in odd ways that appeal to me but they are commonly known ideas.
I take a few minutes to mentally prepare myself and accept this mental state, and try to sustain it for a few hours at least if it's working, otherwise switch to something else.
A few examples are -
* Numb & dumb (to be numb to stimuli and dumb in action and keep moving forward with task at hand) - This helps me remember not to be nitpicky about small details, to ignore minor distractions and just do the damn task at hand. In short, to suppress procrastination.
* Plan & Execute (Do not make a single move without a plan) - Helps me think before I act, on certain days when I am overwhelmed and have a tendency to suffer with decision paralysis.
Question : Why would people (these days) be motivated to spend time on reading about a subject slowly as opposed to trying to read short targeted content (blogs/tutorials) quickly and jump into the practical bits?
May be it's just me and the kind of people I have been meeting who do not seem to have as much patience and time and would prefer getting hands-on experience quickly.
I can see how I might sound complaining about going through ~30 pages of information whereas full books with several hundred pages take much longer to read and this is relatively much shorter.
People read books because grabbing bits and pieces from blogs and tutorials often means that you end up with holes in your understanding that you don't know are there. Books are also a nice place to start when you don't even know what blog posts to read.
Tutorials are great if you want to learn how to use library X. I prefer books if I want to understand the problem that library X solves. Of course that's a sweeping generalization.
I have had the same feelings for the last few years now.
I started strong at 18 with an explosive growth in knowledge and skill till about 23 years of age. I was praised by pretty much everyone around me and that had turned into a positive feedback loop.
The plateau started when I started giving time to other things in life like relationships and a few other changes.
I am sitting at 29 now feeling that I have not made any progress since I was 23 and I can't get myself to do something about it, much similar to you. I get started sometimes but do not follow through till the end which has now become a behavior.
Recently, after some self assessment and after talking with a close friend about this, I have observed that the things that led to my past success were - time available to commit to a single purpose, absence of any other priorities in life, youth and energy and the biggest one being social approval/appreciation, even if it was on a very basic level (being praised by teachers and friends who were regular people)
In my opinion, if I were to start socializing more in situations where I get to share my interests and knowledge and work with other people interested in the same field, I would start getting feedback again and can learn a thing or two from others at the same time. This would surely revive my interest and keep me motivated to do more, so I can share it with someone.
For us who work professionally, our words of appreciation/praise for others become shallow or emotionless over time and work becomes just work, hence work is rarely a place of motivation for most. (May be things are different at FAANG or fancy startups where people are more driven for excellence)
Another observation I have made about myself is that I have a tendency to day dream grandiose scenarios where I master a technology without anyone's help and build something so cool that the world is going to be in awe of me and I am going to get back to my glory days. This may be true in theory if I were to commit myself to learning or building something and keep making consistent progress but it never happens cause they are just day dreams.
I have a better chance at success if I put myself in a position where people around me are interested in learning and mutual growth. I haven't figured out what would be the right medium to do this yet.
I came across Andreas Kling's YouTube channel just yesterday while reading about SerenityOS on HN and I could relate a lot of my situation after listening to this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNT3VqZApsc
This perspective of viewing when you know nothing about a subject and having an opinion only based on the work itself, and not instantly comparing it to something similar you saw the other day or claiming it's not even that hard or that pics have been heavily edited ( I believed that they weren't since the title said photography ). Do people lose this perspective of looking at something with fresh eyes when they know a little or too much about it ?
I think they do, but I'd say that's a good thing - a natural development and evolvement of your taste. Slowly and after collecting countless more reference points you learn to view art, work, things in context and comparison to other works.
Of course this also applies to the things that once inspired you at the start of your journey - now you can see if they stand the test of time (and developed taste) and still impress after having dug much deeper into the subject, genre or category. After all Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue", which was probably a starting point for many listeners trying to get into jazz, certainly still is an alltime classic and favorite of experts and enthusiasts.
How do you put scientific basis for enlightenment? Most of the people who have claimed to have a path towards enlightenment have focused on the mind and that too remains private to the practitioner. If it adds value to the seeker's experience or gives someone more clarity, then that method has gained popularity and acceptance. You don't see a scientific basis for his methods but your opinion is not based on experience either. It is indeed a shallow dismissal.
The Science Of Yoga by I. K. Taimni - A commentary on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This might fall more on the religious side for many people but the author as well as the original scripture has nothing to with Gods in Hindu religion and describes how we perceive our reality and how should we proceed to understand it and ourselves further. I have read a lot religious scripture commentaries but this original scripture and author's interpretation of it is something next level for me.
Best Radio Ever ! Makes me feel that I can immediately connect to the vibe of any nation/community through the music or shows that they like. Not too many features like many here thought you should have had, I think you have hit the right balance where I can choose a radio and continue listening to it without having extra controls over volume or giving the ability to browse while still listening which could unknowingly distract a user from listening the current stream. Thank you for making this.
I am 25 now. Until 3 years ago, my dream was to become really good at computer science, move to the US and join Google. I have always had interest in ancient history so I tried to look more into Indian ancient history since I am Indian. I sincerely tried to understand the oldest scriptures which I could find which led me to commentaries & books written by people ranging from millennia old to present living and surprisingly most of them talking about the same thing ( at least the authentic ones ). I wouldn't say that I have become more religious and I am totally against any kind of belief. Currently, I would say that I have committed my life to find truth (not facts) and filtering out lies from my life, mainly through personal experiences and propelling my search by looking at pointers from others.
I will still continue to learn cool things in the domain of computer science because I enjoy doing it, but after all the reading and understanding I have done in the past three years I already feel more open and accepting to everything that comes my way, which was earlier limited to only a handful of interests.
I definitely do not have a time limit set until which I plan to work and retire and then decide to start living. I know that I am living a pretty good life and I am making it more wholesome as it comes.
My advice to a 25 year old would be to take time out, if you aren't already, to see what you have been doing and what you really want to do, irrespective of whether you see that as a passion or not, but when you get to do what you have decided to do, do it wholeheartedly so you can enjoy the act itself instead of waiting for the fruit of that action to enjoy. Happiness is not "there" and "then", it is always "here" and "now".
What scriptures or other ancient texts (even scientific ones) did you read? Does one need to learn Sanskrit/Brahmi for it? Can you suggest some good one? I have been thinking of reading arthashastra sometime, any opinion on it?
