"30 Life-Hacks: Illuminating the Pathway to Serendipity"

"Unveiling 30 life hacks, this journey traverses the path to serendipity, weaving a tapestry of wisdom that harmonizes life's unpredictable nature with profound insights, fostering joy and contentment

The curtain-raiser

In the ever-evolving labyrinth of life, we all search for signposts¹. Years ago², I came across a compass in Zat Rana³’s piece titled "Everything I Have Learned in 500 Words". His "30 Lessons of Life" felt like the North Star in a vast, starlit sky - clear, guiding, and enlightening. Here, I offer my interpretation of these timeless insights, weaving in my own thoughts that occasionally diverge but mostly augment his perspectives⁴.

1. Reality Perception: Much of what we treat as real is a figment of our collective imagination. (This figment of collective imagination is as palpable a reality as any other. It’s often regarded as an axiomatic truth, based on faith and belief. Eg. Hell or Heaven)

2. Rule Flexibility: Beyond scientific and societal laws, rules are as firm as you make them. (Such rules are flexible, not firm. An individual can stretch them. Also, the impact of each rule in implementation can be different for different similarly placed people. I’d day, “There are no rules; only rulings.”)

3. Power of Empathy: There is nobody you can’t empathize with once you’ve heard their story. (People want empathy, not sympathy)

4. Luck Engineering: You have to be lucky to be successful, but luck can be engineered. (It’s a matter of probability and statistics. But no one can predict the outcome of an individual event, or life.)

5. Mind Mastery: It all starts and ends in the mind. The most crucial skill is how you think. (As important of how you think is also what you think. Focus on the positive.)

6. Art of Declining: What you say “no” to better predicts a result than what you say “yes” to. (“Yes” and “No” are really complementary; when you say yes to something, you are also saying no to something else and vice versa. Your life is shaped not only by your conscious decisions but also by random events that impact you.)

7. Understanding Happiness: Happiness isn’t about a state of constant elation. It’s about being content. (Happiness is not a destination; happiness lies in the pursuit of your truly meaningful goals.)

8. Uncertainty of Science: Outside of physics, chemistry, and biology, most science is very uncertain. (Agree, Even Physics, Chemistry and Biology rely heavily on random outcomes, even if these are stated to be following statistical distribution patterns. It’s very difficult to predict the outcome of a particular experiment.)

9. Cynicism’s Pitfall: Those who engage in cynicism often do so to show how “smart” they are. (Cynicism flows out of an innate trait; there are simpler ways to show how smart you are. Cynical people are, even unbeknown to themselves, jealous of the beauty in everything.)

10. Unveiling Hypocrisy: Everyone is a hypocrite, and it often doesn’t matter. Life isn’t a formula. (Hypocrisy has two strands: a bid to live up to the societal norms and an attempt to amplify your self-importance. Either way they fail to fool anybody except themselves.)

11. Leveraging Kindness: People suck. But if you’re kind, you’ll get the best out of even the worst. (Emotional vampyres are the worst among those that “suck” — stay away from them. Nothing repays you like a random act of kindness.)

12. Inspiring Humanity: People are inspiring. The lengths many of us go to for others is baffling. (Yes, but there are no guarantees in this. Your best friends may let you down at the most critical juncture and strangers may also not rise to the occasion. Nothing like self-reliance but never hesitate to ask.)

13. Pursuit of Perfection: Perfection only exists in the mind. It’s not real. Imagine, create, improve. (Perfection is the prerogative of God, not of men. We can go up the asymptotic curve of excellence, while we strive for perfection. Also, remember, the “perfect” is the worst enemy of the “very good”.)

14. Power of Reading: Reading is telepathy. A book is the most powerful technology invented. (Reading re-engineers, refreshes and rewires your brain and thoughts. Also, do try and read the mind of others……)

15. Art of Planning: Planning is useful, but returns tend to diminish. Start before you’re ready. (Plan your work; work your plan but learn to improvise as you get along and use small, actionable feedback signals.)

    

16. Unassuming Likability: The less you care about trivial things, the more likable you generally are. (Retain your sense of proportion and balance: “What mighty conflicts from trivial causes spring….”)

17. Experimental Living: Diversity in experience fuels diversity in thought. Live experimentally. (Live experimentally and experientially.)

18. Managing Expectations: The better you adjust your internal expectations, the happier you’ll be. (Most of us are not unhappy because our expectations are high but rather because the threshold of our disappointments is very low.)

19. Growth Mindset: Growth is what keeps life interesting, and it comes from doing hard stuff. (If you are not growing, you are decaying; there is no such thing as stagnation in life.)

20. Nostalgia vs Optimism: Nostalgia is selective. On scale, things are as good as they’ve ever been. (Correct. It’s not bad to be nostalgic about the past but better to be optimistic about the future.)

21. Expert Bias: Outside rare exceptions, “experts” get far more credit than they deserve. (Experts are endorsed only by their peers peers and competition. No one knows better than the wearer where the shoe pinches.)

22. Risk-taking Approach: Over time, the greatest risk you can take is to take no risks at all. (Correct. Don’t try to hedge risks too much; the price you pay is disproportionate to the risk that you are trying to cover. You may spend more time and energy in creating a safety-net than in taking that leap of faith, based on a calculated risk.)

23. People in Your Life: Who you let into your life is a vital decision. Don’t leave it up to chance. (Negativity in your life cannot be neutralized or diluted with positivity; it’s a poison that will go out of the system very slowly, causing you a lot of harm in the meantime.)

24. Ephemeral Worship: If you worship money, possessions, or prestige, you’ll never have enough. (Remember, there are many good things in life that money cannot buy. Plus, when you depart, nothing that you leave behind matters more than your goodwill and memories in the hearts and minds of people.)

25. Rationality vs Intuition: Rationality is one of the most valuable life tools, but it has its limitations. (In life, there is a trade-off between rationality and intuition. Remember, one man’s rationality is the other man’s irrationality.)

26. Long-term Decisions: The fact that life is finite should accompany every long-term decision. (Yes: a life-long guarantee is a very fragile thing. Remember, some decisions will have an impact, positive or negative, even after you die….but it’s very limited.)

27. Leading without Permission: You don’t need permission to lead, build, create, or to think differently. (We constantly seek approval, permission and encouragement from others to act. These are just proxies for our laziness and lack of self-confidence.)

28. Influence vs Control: Focusing on what you control instead of what influences you is liberating. (You cannot control the whole world around you, but you can influence it. Sometimes, it’s better to be influenced rather than trying to control everything.)

29. Making a Difference: You matter. Your actions have an effect, however small. Act accordingly. (We all are small, but significant, pieces in the giant jigsaw puzzle of life. If we play our part well, the puzzle gets completed and looks beautiful.)

30. Embracing Change: Embrace change, not routine. Routine is the enemy of time. (Routine is the graveyard of creativity, and creativity is the elixir of life. Embrace change, because change is the only constant in life. Carpe diem.)

Distillation of Wisdom

There’s rarely a situation for which the Bard does not have a quote. Often, his words afford us numerous interpretations. Here’s Shakespeare, speaking through the words of Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark

• "The time of life is short; to spend that shortness basely were too long." - Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1.

On the face of it, these lines mean that life is short and precious, and we should not waste it on things that are not meaningful. The word "basely" means "in a low or contemptible way." So, to spend our lives basely would be to live in a way that is unworthy of our time and potential.

Here Hamlet, the titular character, is contemplating suicide, meditating on the brevity of life and the depth of his own personal anguish. This moment, shrouded in thoughts of life's fleetingness and a desire to evade meaningless existence, serves as a poignant reminder for us all. Life, in its short span, should be fully lived, every moment maximized for its inherent value. Furthermore, we should be acutely aware of the pain and suffering endured by others, transforming this empathy into a catalyst for creating a better world. Hamlet's existential struggle thus urges us not only to engage deeply with our own lives but also to extend our understanding towards others' experiences.

Simply put, the following are the corollaries:

• Life is short, so we should make the most of it.

• We should not waste our time on things that are not important.

• We should live our lives with integrity and purpose.

• We should be mindful of the impact that our actions have on others.

Summing it all up

Life, in all its complexities and stark simplicities, unravels itself like a grand mystery – an intricate tapestry of experiences, lessons, and pearls of wisdom. It is simultaneously an art to be appreciated, a science to be studied, and a journey to be undertaken. The 30 life-lessons discussed here are akin to beacons in the murky fog of existence, casting illuminating rays onto the path for those in pursuit of clarity and understanding.

However, life is more than just a stage for playing out scripted parts; it is a canvas awaiting the strokes of a master artist. Echoing the insightful words of the renowned Irish playwright and wit, George Bernard Shaw: "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." Each one of us, then, is not just a player but a playwright, an artist, and a creator. Every experience, every lesson is a brushstroke on this grand canvas, each decision a shade or hue contributing to the masterpiece that is our life.

Life is not about the cards you are dealt with— it’s about how you play the game. Embrace this profound perspective, and you liberate yourself from being a mere pawn in the game of life to its most strategic player. You transition from merely seeking clarity to manifesting it, from passively accepting life’s offerings to actively shaping them. In this spirit of creation and empowerment, venture forth to craft a life that is not just lived but celebrated, a life that you can look upon with pride and satisfaction.

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3. @Zat_Rana on twitter

4. The stuff within the brackets is all mine. All pics have been clicked by me on iPhone— no filter, no editing.