My Impressions: Zero to One

There are a few books that constantly hit my radar.  There are articles that recommend certain books.  My friends recommend me certain books.  Even Amazon’s algorithm recommends me… Among all these recommendations, some books keep on popping up, and this is one of them.  I don’t know why it took me a few years to finally get down to reading it, and why it took me so long to finish it. 

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

The idea of Zero to One is that, the breakthrough or the creation / first step is so much harder than scaling.  This reminds me of my recent dilemma, if you’re selling something…  0 sales the first 3 months, 6 months, or a year…  That first sale is infinitely more than all the prior 0-sale-months.  Once you hit 1, you can start having a baseline to measure progress and scale.  But before you sell 1 unit, you never know if anybody actually cares for your stuff or you just didn’t reach enough people.  Even 1 sale out of 1 million exposures/sales calls is infinitely more than 0 sales out of 10.   

In terms of technology and startups, once someone made the first mobile phone…  Suddenly everybody else can and does and scales.  Once someone does something difficult, like running a mile in 4 minutes (that was once thought impossible) or climbing Mt. Everest, then everybody else starts doing it really soon.  

There was an important discussion on whether or not successful people are “lucky” or self-made. The classical comparison is if anybody can beat the stock market?  

If you get 1 million people to flip a coin, around 500k people will flip heads.  

     2^nd round, around 250k. 

     3^rd round, 125k.

     4^th round, 62.5k.

     5^th round, 31.25k.

     6^th round, 15.65k.

     ……………..By the 20^th round, you will have one person that flipped heads 20 times in a row and beat out all the competition.  He could write books and book speaking engagements on how to flip heads.  Is it skill?  Did he practice?  Was it luck?  Was it just an expected occurrence from very large numbers?  He probably honestly thought he had the skill to toss heads like a professional when in reality his technique is insignificant cause to the outcome.

I’ve given this a lot of thought and don’t have a lot of conclusion.  Maybe there is more than just being “lucky” to succeed, though I think luck matters.  Some people will say Bill Gates and Warren Buffet won the gene pool lotto to be born in such smart/wealthy families with all the support they grew up with.  But going a step further, wouldn’t being born with the trait of working hard or the ability to see the next thing a kind of luck?  What about being born the “drive” to do something?  Some people are naturally not very driven.  Is it their fault for not trying?  Maybe they were born with lazy genes and they can’t fight it.  Is that luck?

I don’t know.  But say we don’t get the philosophical.  Broad term, I think the most important thing is we focus on what we can control and impact that as much as we can.  The rest will take care of itself (or not).  We will either have succeeded, or died without regret (or, less regret).  

I’ve had back pains for 10 years now?  It sucks.  A lot.  

I’ve read many books and tried many different exercise/rehab programs.  

I’ve gone to doctors. 

I’ve gone to miracle healers.  

8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back: Natural Posture Solutions for Pain in the Back, Neck, Shoulder, Hip, Knee, and Foot

I came across this book while listening to a podcast from http://www.everydayacupuncturepodcast.com/ and I thought it was interesting. Oh, and everyday acupuncture is a pretty cool site. A way to live healthier... Instead of constantly trashing your body...

The book basically provides a guide on how you should sleep, sit, stand, and walk. The postures should be the core of how you move. There are many pictures to demonstrate how modern humans sit/stand/walk compared to how we “should.”  

These fundamental shapes actually ties in with all the other programs (except for one qi gong one…) I have gone through.  While all the other books and videos teach “routines,” this book breaks out the fundamental principles of these exercises and stretches.  After reading the book, I am now very conscious and self-aware of my posture.  Compared to previously I would just think if I am sitting “straight” or not, now I have very detailed awareness on how each part of my body should be aligned.  

My pain is definitely alleviated with these postures and I feel more relaxed.  However, I’ve had this problem for 10 years…  So I don’t know if I can ever be “cured” or “healed.”  Even if I can be saved, I don’t think it is realistic to expect reversal to being “normal” in 3 – 6 months of rehab after 10 years of abuse.   So…  Can’t really comment if “it works.”  It definitely helps though.  

If someday I eliminate my back pain, maybe I’ll post an update…

My Impressions: Nutrition Facts

I bought this book because it was on discount on Amazon for $1.99.  

This is one of those books that the content matches the title closely.  Many books don’t do that anymore because they want attention-grabbing/selling headlines.

Nutrition Facts: The Truth About Food

So in a way, the book reads in a dull way.  Goes through the carbs, the fats, the proteins, the different time of minerals and vitamins…  No story book for sure.  

Midway, the author reviews a variety of “popular diets” and rates them on a health level and a weight-loss effectiveness level.  These diets include vegetarian, DASH, Mediterranean, ketogenic, weight watchers, paleo, Atkins…etc.  

Chapter 5 is a list of common ailments and what to eat to help with those situations including allergies, kidney stones, insomnia, headaches…

Basically like an encyclopedia.  You can look up any vitamin or mineral you want and find out what it’s good for, the daily recommended amount…etc.  

I guess the most important is the conclusion.  “Perhaps what is needed is a return to simpler nutrition, when it wasn’t necessary to read labels to know what was in your food; or, if you did, the ingredients were easily pronounced and understood.” The simpler way of nutrition is to eat real food, and eat colorful food.  

After coming full circle to the book, the main thought for me is still: common sense is not so common.  Either that, or, we are just ignorant to the damage we do to ourselves.  We all know smoking is bad, we do it anyway.  I don’t think anybody would argue smoking is good for our health.  The same goes with all the fizzy beverages, the daily 20 oz venti coffee loaded with fat and sugar, the processed foods that come on boxes and cans with never expiring artificial ingredients.  Does it take a genius in our world to know that fast food can’t be healthy no matter how much cabbage they add to your burger?  A vegetarian doesn’t mean you “eat clean” if you’re loading yourself with cheese pizzas and nacho chips.  Don’t hide behind a “healthy diet” while cheating yourself on execution…

Tea is cheaper and healthier than coffee/alcohol/soda…  Rarely in this world do we have something that’s cheaper and the same time better for you anymore?   Even better than that, water is free!

You are what you eat.  You are what you think.  You are what you do.