k_soul_search

Everyone goes through difficulties in life due to this or that weakness. Among them, you will surely need to overcome or deal with 1 or 2 “key weaknesses of your life”– personal handicaps. I would say your limitations basically determine your life chances, like boundary conditions in PDE.

[c/C = I can see some specific life chances affected by this weakness]

• Does CAD affect my life chances? It does if it hits me in my 30s, not if in my 80s
• [C] handicap – exams… Many people are outside the top 20% at studies, but become successful professionally.
• [c] weakness — office smarts, corporate maneuver.. seem to limit my “opportunities” within a corporate environment. However, as Honglin might say, my hands-on tech skills provide arguably better career longevity, which is a big part of life-chances.
• .. Therefore, the hands-on tech weaknesses of those corporate managers might be a limiting weakness, too!
• handicap .. Empathy was a personal handicap but primarily in office. Interpersonal and relationship skills are not so obviously weak.
• — financial skills
• [c] handicap — saving, self-discipline
• [C] weakness — rEstate … In the East Asia context, not having a rEstate position early in your life limits your freedom and financial high/low ground.
• weakness — stock picking… During each major downturn (1997 Asian, dot-com, SARS, 2008 GFC, 2020Covid), there were major buying opportunities. You won’t need stock picking per se, but stock picking would be the ultimate skill to improve your freedom, financial high/low ground…
• — physical limitations
• Weakness – my lower-(and upper-)body flexibility. This has not affected my life at all. (In older years this might increase my risk of injury.)
• Weakness – coordination skills for basketball… Look at some of classmates in high school. Definitely affects self-confidence among peers.
• Weakness – middle-distance running… This is a bigger thing in Singapore due to NS fitness test. Not a big problem in other countries. However, endurance does help heart/lung and aging.
• intimacy .. see below
• [C] Weakness – overweight… Much bigger impact, as it affects dating, health, longevity, parenting…
• [c] Weakness – stature…. A bigger problem for guys in China as it affects dating.

— in this blog, life chances are something personal .. My life chances represent the chances I want for my life. I may want the same chances for my daughter, but she would ultimately decide what chances she wants for her life.

eg: Some active runners like YY.T would feel deprived in terms of life chances if affected by knee injury

eg: I want devTill70 as an “occupation”, so a drop in demand, or my JIV weakness would affect my life chance. For FIRE guys who want to retire early and enjoy life, this is not part of their life chances. See YY.T chat.

eg: You care about quality of intimacy into your 50s. But for your partner, intimacy is perhaps not part of her life chances. Sexual difficulties (like orgasmic dysfunction) doesn’t bother her.

— [c] driving vs [C] English .. Look at my friends Jun.Z and Alina… personal handicaps. English listening (more than speaking/writing) was a handicap in my earlier years in Singapore.

Many of my friends have a handicap in English writing. Consider my MLP colleagues vs Sophia/Y.Zhang/Rong.Zhu

Oral English has a lower entry barrier so fewer friends have that handicap but consider SY.Chang, Kevin/Gary, Rong

The English handicap affects half the “peers”, but driving handicap affects only me. Driving is a personal handicap, more physical than English language handicap. I need a much higher t$budget just for learning to drive. I already spent $2k+. Need to be $10k. The vehicle doesn’t have to be the strongest or “safest”. I would say average safety rating is sufficient.

Driving affects job choices, housing choices [SY.Chang was able to rent a home much further out from office], learning resources.

I would need a special budget for potential fines.

I also need a huge tBudget for learning and “managing” license + vehicle.

For the first 1 or 2 years, I should avoid driving the family at all. Even in local street, you can get hit or drive off the road and hit something dangerous.