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My Principles

Thanks to Ray Dalio, the word "principle" has become a very popular one, since he wrote a book called "Principles: Life and Work".

He also shared some principles which were used in Bridgewater.

He once said in an interview that he wanted to know the principles behind Alexander the Great, Steve Jobs, Leonardo Da Vinci etc. If they can write down their principles and pass to others, then others can learn from these great men and improve themselves. That's a great idea!

Here is another crazy thought:

What would happen if 80-year old me see the principles I've laid out when I was 30-year old?

Followed by this thought, here comes this article.

In the article, I want to lay out the principles that I've used in the past 28 years, in studying and working, I hope this will encourage you to list your own principles and share them to the world. If you do that, please comment in below with the link to your paper, I will be thrilled to read it.

Principles behind studying:

  • Everything can be learned, but how long you learn it will depend on your source, the material, your talent, and enthusiasm. 
  • Try to get the "big picture" before you learn the details. It will be better if you can draw the whole subject in a map or tree.
  • Research a lot before actual learning. Determine what are the most important things that you absolutely need to know.
  • Do not try to learn everything at the first time. You will go back to them many times in the future.
  • Practice is the key to mastery. Do lots of exercises. 
  • Always find something that looks difficult for you and works that out, but not something that is too difficult.
  • Keep taking notes and documenting everything that you've learned. Your thoughts and confusion about what you've learned, it will provide tremendous benefits if you look back and see how far you've come.
  • "Learning by teaching" is the best way to learn. The more you teach, the better you become. "Teaching" can be replaced by "answering questions". You can do it online or offline. Online is better.
  • Ask, ask, ask --> What, When, Who, Why, Where, How (5W1H)
  • Develop your own structure of the subject that you are trying to study. Make your own mind. Borrow (or steal) ideas from others, but do your own thinking. Do not trust the textbook / material blindly. 
  • Find mentors and "running Mates" to help you learn better.

Principles behind working:

  • Research, research, research. Try not be the first one who invents the wheel. Find the wheel that has already been made.
  • When you can do a job whether in an easy or a difficult way. Always choose the difficult way.
  • Think 30 seconds before reacting to anything. Always react when you can be rational rather than emotional. Take a deep breath is always the best solution. Also, it can show your maturity since teenagers tend to react spontaneously. 
  • Know the work that you can control and the ones which you cannot. Do not try to be responsible for something that is other's responsibility. That's just stupid.
  • If the work has an absolute clarity about the results (e.g. solving a math problem / programming for a certain task), just do it, because you know where you are going and you know how far you need to go.
  • If the work has no clarity about the results (e.g. writing acceptable Ph.D. Thesis), the best way is to do it "step-by-step". Do not try to decide the direction immediately. Write something first, send it to your supervisor, ask for advice, and revise it until you reach a consensus. Then the rest of the journey will be very pleasant, otherwise, it will be a chaos.
  • Keep writing work journal. Document every mistake, every setback that you've endured and how you solve these problems. (e.g. a style guide for a report from CIA.) And try to store them in a big data center, because it will be more and more important in the long run. If you are a programmer, use git and GitHub.
  • Make a to-do list before you do anything. Writing down exact procedures you will take, and expecting results. Use "SMART" principle. It can help document your work. Also, electronic tool is appreciated, like Wunderlist. 
  • Use emails a lot. Try to avoid instant face-to-face meeting, they are not efficient and a total waste of time, unless it is absolutely emergent.
  • Be consistent and reliable for what you do and say. If you give a promise, make sure it will be delivered. "He is consistent and reliable." is the highest appraise one can say to me about work.
  • "Sleep, Sweat, Grind, Repeat." proposed by Valuetainment. Sleep at least 7 hours a day, that can fuel 17 hours of hard work ("Grind"). 
  •  Think like a boss. The whole job of a boss is to think about the "system": how much money, labor goes into the system, and how many products go out. The boss will optimize the system and let it run on its own. The boss doesn't care "how it should be done", he only care about "This should be done". If the boss is a true leader, he will work with his people along the way.
So these are the principles which I follow in studying and working, tell me what you think. And please, provide your own principles in doing things.

See you in the next blog!

Good day! Bye-Bye!
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Location: Ulm, Germany

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