This is an unfinished, ongoing blog post filled with thoughts which I have accumulated throughout my four years of high school. I won't finish it until I graduate, so enjoy this draft of unfinished thoughts and incomplete ideas.

These are tips, advice, and knowledge which I have kept to myself for the longest time—motivations, realizations, and stories worth telling.

I. Think more about long term gain, and not short term benefits.

Compound interest is a very interesting concept to try to grasp. It's easily overlooked as we underestimate the power of compounding results.

I read this in Naval's Almanack:

Play long term games. All the returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.

— Naval Ravikant

Reputation is built over time. Relationships are built over time. Wealth is also accumulated over time. Everything that we learn as knowledge is also gained over time. Compound interest is exactly that. With everything we do, we should aim to see exponential growth.

Plant many seeds, and expect a big harvest.

If there is a course you are studying which you realize is something you will never use, stop taking it. There is definitely something learnt—just that the results gained from it may be less compared to doing something else. The same can be applied to building wealth and relationships.

It's also great to think of everything as having an opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is a key term in the study of Economics: "the potential forgone profit from a missed opportunity". Your time is limited, and the benefit which you gain from each opportunity, no matter if it is wealth, relationships, or knowledge, is worth considering before you make every decision.

Make every decision worth your time.

II. Don't stop dreaming.

You were made to soar, to crash to earth, then to rise and soar again.

— Alfred Wainwright

We are destined to experience triumphs and failures. Success is not guaranteed the first time, nor the second, nor any attempt after. Our best bet in every situation is to try, and try again, and hope for the best.

The winners of any game are those who keep playing until the end.

Every inspirational story which we read tells us that nobody ever succeeds overnight. Perseverance is what brings us forward.

III. Make friends, build connections.

Intangible bonds between people are the most valuable things you can own.

Having strong friendships and friends who support you through your hardest times. Building great connections that give you valuable opportunities. These bonds that we create are unquantifiable with a price, and are entirely unique to you.

There is a concept known as the "Six degrees of separation"—describing that each and every one of us on earth are six (or fewer) social connections away from each other. Your role model, a celebrity, and even world leaders apply to the same principle—and are definitely under 6 connections away from you.

I met a Stanford dropout over a Twitter DM in the first few months of 2024, and intro after intro, I found my way to perhaps the most aspiring and motivated group of young individuals within China.

Another crazy connection I was able to gain was also through Twitter, somehow gaining the follow of a famous movie director with high-profile celebrities in his upcoming movies. These people who felt so far away now feel close—within just a couple back-and-fourth messages and perhaps a phone call.

Anyone can build an invention. It takes a group of diverse, strong people to build something that innovates and changes our lives.

These genuine human connections are what makes us stand out. Your friend circle and the connections which you have is what helps us achieve our dreams and accomplish something truly great.

IV. People have no idea how to present themselves.

People have no idea how to present themselves.

Your confidence in how well you can do a job is a deciding factor in how successful it turns out in the end. I've learnt that someone who has half your knowledge may do the same job better than you could, simply because they are confident and do not doubt their strengths and abilities.

I was reviewing applications for a hackathon event which I organized with some friends. We had set up fields for all sorts of information applicants could fill in, including everything from personal info on a resume to portfolios of work they could showcase. I ended up giving high remarks to almost all those who provided a portfolio, and give those who were arrogant—individuals who came from top universities, but had left most of their application unfilled—more harshly than those who took their time to simply present their work.

All of the applicants definitely had rigorous work experience and were more than capable to compete in the hackathon we had planned, but I had realized that even the highest education degrees from top universities didn't really prove anything. I wanted to see good examples of past projects that they had worked on, or their design philosophy—how they approached a problem and how they solved it. Most applicants failed to provide something this simple.

Introduce yourself in the best way possible—be confident, showcase what's important, and sound impressive—but never exaggerate or lie. Your self introduction will make or break a conversation in a professional setting.

Know how to present yourself well. It's easy to stand out from a crowd.

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Work in progress