My Impressions: The Passionate Programmer

I wanted to learn Ruby on Rails, so I picked up a few books on programming.  This is a non-technical book, unlike other textbooks I have.  Of all the books, this is also probably the only book I understand related to programming, because the other books make me feel like I’m learning Japanese with a Russian textbook – explanations of terminology/concepts are made up of words and concepts I don’t comprehend.

The Passionate Programmer 1st (first) edition Text Only

 

Anyway, I could kind of identify with this book because the author was a musician, and now a programmer.  I used to play a lot of music and never got anywhere.  Now I’m learning programming, and still not getting anywhere.  So I’m like a failed version of the author, basically. 

The format of the book is a consolidation of blog posts.  Many mini-chapters on different topics.  I would categorize the information as kind-of-a-motivational type of book.  But instead of building all these motivating concepts and ideas in the clouds, this book is more of a grounded book.  The book is more of a “stop finding excuses and go for it” type of book.  

One of the topics: The author mentions how parents are more likely to give us fear-based advice (which is uber true in my family): study hard, get a good job, get a steady job, and get a steady paycheck.   The problem with this kind of path is it is aimed for “not losing.”  Two of my best friends and I have had this conversation, one of them recently.  Basically we often fall short of what we set out to do.  Most MBA applicants set out to get into Stanford, Wharton, Harvard…etc.  But many of us fall short.  We may still go to a great school, but it was slightly lower than our original goal (not saying this in a bad way, or that we are now failures).

Perhaps, if we aim to shoot for the stars, maybe we fall short a bit and only settle for Mt. Everest.  It’d be awesome if we got to the stars, but if we fall short and "only" achieved Mt. Everest, it’s still pretty damn good.  The idea is to go for that big hairy audacious goal.   Wouldn’t it suck if you aimed for the ordinary and fell short of that?

I’ve worked in 3 Fortune 500 companies, none as an IT or programmer.  However, a lot of the pointers in this book can still help me become a better marketer, better pricing analyst, or a better supply chain service rep.  This book is not limited in benefiting programmers who want to be better programmers. 

I thought the book had points that were rather original and creative.  There are a lot of “common sense that is not so common” type of topics.  E.g. many people think being a specialist in one field is, knowing only one thing and nothing else.  But what a specialist really should “be” is someone who knows a lot about many things, but is very, very, very good at one thing.  Looking at my work experience, there ARE a lot of specialists that are in the former category, instead of the latter. 

I recommend to give this book a read.  Stop finding excuses to do extraordinary work and become that passionate _________!!

My Impressions: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

So, I was reading book reviews on amazon for another book, “Expectations Investing: Reading Stock Prices for Better Returns” -> Which hopefully I’ll get to some day.  But that review actually mentioned this book, “If you want a confusing investing book full of fun (but useless) war stories, read the fictional Reminiscences of a Stock Operator or 99.9% of nonfiction investing screeds.”

I wouldn’t disagree.  It was a book full of fun!  This is probably not as fun for people not interested in investing/speculating/gambling…  But I thought it was a lot of fun.

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

This book is a storybook.  The book does not teach you how to invest, the 10 steps to get rich, or even much details.  However, I would disagree with the book being useless.   Written nearly a hundred years ago, I can’t believe so much truth still holds.  Even today, just now, I was very frustrated and ANGRY at a business situation I have.  I took the matter pretty personally.  Then, I realized I just read this few days ago:

Normal business hazards are no worse than the risks a man runs when he goes out of his house into the street or sets out on a railroad journey.  When I lose money by reason of some development which nobody could foresee I think no more vindictively of it than I do of an inconveniently timed storm. Life itself from the cradle to the grave is a gamble and what happens to me because I do not possess the gift of second sight I can bear undisturbed.

Being in business is never going to be smooth.  I will again and again make mistakes, or face unpleasant situations, or work with unpleasant people…  Unavoidable if I want to walk this path.  Then I must remind myself, I consciously chose this path.  These problems are part of the journey, and I need to manage these situations better instead of being angry all the damn time. 

There are unreasonable people that get into business.  There are unreasonable and dumb people that I will cross-paths with.  I may even have to work with them, work for them, or work under them.  It’s going to suck.  But I should manage what I can manage.  That is myself.  That paragraph will probably be very important to me for the next few years, to keep me sane.  That is a lot of value for me already. 

I didn’t take a lot of notes reading this book.  I did copy a lot of quotes that struck home with me.  100 years, and the game is still the game.  So, just a list of cool quotes from the book…

• My mind was untrained and my ignorance was colossal. 
• The game taught me the game.  And it didn’t spare the rod while teaching. 
• The beauty of doing business with a crook is that he always forgives you for catching-him, so long as you don’t stop doing business with him. 
• The average man doesn’t wish to be told that it is a bull or bear market.  What he desires is to be told specifically which particular stock to buy or sell.  He wants to get something for nothing.  He does not wish to work.  He doesn’t even wish to have to think.  It is too much bother to have to count the money that he picks up from the ground. 
• My one steadfast prejudice is against being wrong. 
• All stock-market mistakes wound you in two tender spots your pocketbook and your vanity
• Of course, if a man is both wise and lucky, he will not make the same mistake twice.  But he will make any one of the ten thousand brothers or cousins of the original.  The Mistake family is so large that there is always one of them around when you want to see what you can do in the fool-play line. 
• [the average American] He will risk half his fortune in the stock market with less reflection than he devotes to the selection of a medium-priced automobile.
• A man can excuse his mistakes only by capitalising them to his subsequent profit.
• To learn that a man can make foolish plays for no reason whatever was a valuable lesson. 
• The big money in booms is always made first by the public on paper.  And it remains on paper. 
• All I asked of them was judgment in timing the selling and intelligent unselfishness in order not to be unintelligently selfish.  

My Impressions: Getting Things Done

This is an amazing book.  The best book I read on personal productivity and getting shit done. 

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

This book was shared to me by a banker-to-be friend before he starts his banking job full-time.  I guess the bank wanted to prep him well for those horrible banking hours and the shit work-life balance ahead. 

Let me get over the negative part before I start the praise.  I read a very old edition of this book, so hopefully the newer editions fixed this.  But the layout was shit.  The way that cool and motivational quotes were inserted throughout the book made me watch to punch through it.  I hope they found a better editor or whoever arranges the layout. 

So, I’ve always been King bitch-work.  I am so good at bitch-work that in one of my former roles, my output was 3X the next in line – without giving up other performance metrics scores.  This is rather cocky, but I never thought I was super-efficient or super-fast.  I thought it was just normal.   But I couldn’t verbalize what I do, I couldn’t teach what I do, I didn’t know if I could only attribute my efficiency to my lack of awareness on things around me resulting in a super laser focus…  Or I just have less problems facing bitch-work head on.

Then, I started reading this book.  And now, I understand.  The book verbalizes a very systematic approach to managing actions.  I follow this approach religiously.  Over the years, I accumulated bits and pieces of my approach across different books, learning from different people, continuously trying to rise above and become the best King bitch-work there is.  This book has it all here, organized and presented. 

This is a tool book.  This is not a story book where you will enjoy envisioning the climatic experience of setting up a filing cabinet.  This is not a knowledge book where you expand your mind and have cool things to say to impress people at the next gathering.  This book teaches you a very useful and specific skill.  But to be good at the skill, you have to practice it consciously and continuously. 

You can read a book, understand it, and do nothing afterwards.  Bruce Lee said, “To know is not enough, we must apply.”  I’m a firm believer of, “If you don’t live it, you don’t know it.”  Just like calorie-in & calorie-out and weight control.  You can understand the concepts, the theory, and the reactions behind every chemical compound – none will help you with your weight if you don’t execute. 

An additional note: There is a portion of the book that talks about making lists.  I love that concept and I use it, daily.  I have an account on www.habitica.com to manage my daily-to-do-lists and my longer-term-to-do-lists.  I review evaluate my priorities once a quarter, and determine should go on that list.  What are the things that are important long-term, but not immediate visible.  What are these things that I should start chipping away on a daily basis, every day, so they won’t all explode in my face all the same time. 

I do a thorough evaluation so I don’t doubt whether or not I left anything out.  I don’t have to think or debate the list.  I don’t expend energy on worrying if I left something out.  I trust it completely, and I let it run my life for 3 months.  Charge like a soldier, execute like a bawss.  If I have beef with the list, I go to the strategy officer (which is the me in 3 months) to submit my comments.  My future me will then determine the things that are the most important to focus on for the following 3 month period. 

I seriously strongly recommend the book to EVERYONE.  Now go master the skill become a streamlined machine like me.  Efficient like a robot, King of bitch work, and lead a boring and dull life.  No but really, it’s good.   

My Impressions: The Unemployed Millionaire

I read this book once in 2014, forgot about it, read it again.  No wonder the book seemed strikingly familiar. 

The Unemployed Millionaire: Escape the Rat Race, Fire Your Boss and Live Life on YOUR Terms! 

 

I dug out my folder of notes on books and surprisingly, the 2014 version vs. this year’s version look very similar.  I guess my mind focuses on the same things. 

Here are a few quotes I thought are cool:

• Don’t be a Try-Baby
• Clear out all the words like “hopefully,” “can’t,” “maybe”—and the killer, “try.”
• Most men die at age 25 and are buried at 65. —Dr. Nicolas M. Butler

Ever since I watched the movie “The Rock” (1996) starring Nicolas Cage, I’ve grown strong hatred towards the word “try.”  I have quoted it many times over the years, “Winners DO, losers try.”  Deep down, there seems to be a psychological reason to fall to plan B if you have a plan B.  Without that fear of losing, you don’t fight as hard, you don’t force yourself to go through, or go around the problem.  When you finally fall back on the worst case scenario, you just kind of throw your hands in the air and say, “Oh wellz~~” like it wasn’t such a big commitment. 

Throughout my life, some of the biggest changes in my life were because I had no option to try, and had to make happen.  Some were by choice (quit my job, flew to USA, and then applied to MBA without a backup plan), some were not by choice (being laid off and had to pack my bags the same day).  Seems like once we develop that “worst case scenario” and have a remedial plan, we generally don’t push ourselves as hard because it’s “not that bad if it doesn’t pull through.”

   

Maybe it takes an addict of risk or a psychopath to voluntarily cut off all backup plans.  But hey, why not try something new if your life has been relatively flat?

Then finally, there were quite a lot of helpful tools on marketing, notes on management, and how to manage your projects.  One of the more important concepts I thought was on USP (unique selling proposition).  Reading it reminded me of something my professor said.  Speed, quality, and price – You can choose to focus on any one or any two, but you can’t have all three.  The point is to find the best strategy that fits with your constraints and resources, and double down on what can give you the best competitive advantage.  Or something like that.