Tag: t_jolt22

sharp reminders I tend to forget

NYU^CMU^.. quant program: which brand would I prefer

Posted on by tiger40490

Eric Zhu was the first to point out that Even though NYU program is probably more rigorous, the UChicago brand is stronger, more recognizable. I guess Singapore NTU program is possibly on par or tougher than UChicago, but those details are lost in the broad strokes. Look at the brand value !

Q: assuming the same t$cost, how would you choose between two quant degrees from UChicago vs CMU[Carnagie Mellon]?
%% A: UChicago.
A: CMU program would likely lose its pole position in 5 (or 20) years.
%%A: The older I get, the more I would value the long-term UChicago brand value. In reality, I’m not using the degree to further my career. Therefore, long-term brand value becomes the #1 ROI.

Note CMU is ranked 32nd nationally in math, probably way behind UChicago.

level@confidence in effort^talent^luck

Posted on by tiger40490

k_not_only_luck

Background — locus@control blogpost

Q1: Examine the causes of some exceptional result in a person (not an organization). Which cause gives you more confidence — personal Effort of the individual, talent or external factors like luck, timing, advantageous location (SG/WallSt)  or the current favorable competitive landscape?

My answer focuses more on wellness than personal finance or career resilience. For career resilience, the competitive supply/demand/SWOT landscape is the backdrop (and the elephant in the room), so we can only compare effort vs talent against this backdrop.

Luck is, by definition, least dependable least consistent.

— Innate talent? Most people associate innate abilities with long-term reliability but I am skeptical. I don’t think there is any scientific experiment to measure these ill-defined qualities. How about

  • creativity in arts or writing
  • endurance of heart/lung/muscles
  • knee (and other) joint resistance to wear
  • aging of bone strength
  • aging of memory capacity
  • aging flexibility

— Reliability of our own effort is even more controversial. I have confidence in habitual effort of burn rate control (in me and other family members), tech xx (QQ, coding drill etc), but less in tough wellness regimes such as

  1. starch and fat restriction
  2. skip dinner
  3. home yoga
  4. pull-up

As describe [18] CONTINUOUS coding drill, the effort needs to become a sustainable (ideally lifelong) lifestyle element. Only then will it produce long-term benefit.

—-

Q2: if talent and effort are both less reliable than needed, then are we bound to lose the exceptional/excellent condition such as the current carefree life? (At the national level, is Singapore bound to lose it’s exceptional position? )
A: as far as my nuclear family is concerned, I am the best reliable pillar one can find, in both effort and talent, and also my judgement, but less reliable in my health.

This Q2 reveals the implicit relativity in reliability of individuals. Every human being is less than 100% reliable, in talent, in effort/motivation — This is beyond debate. However, (one aspect of) one individual can be more reliable than another individual.

Take wellness effort/habit as example. Compared to my age group, if my reliability is at least average, then the good results (above-average wellness condition) is likely to last. I can’t and don’t need to match the wellness effort of a super-healthy individual (who?); I only aim to be better than average. The average guy’s wellness declines at some rate. My decline is likely slower.

Therefore, going beyond wellness, my overall answer to Q1 is — I have more confidence in Effort than talent or external factors. Effort including motivation, habit, a focus on the right priorities.

— Singapore’s position?

PM LHL said “Singapore must guard that reputation zealously.”

My confidence in Singapore is more in the effort, commitment, attitude, trust in government, less in talent or geographic location.

The competitive landscape is the least reliable factor, offers temporary protection and advantage, always shifting and never to be taken for granted.

worry(≠stress)can be life-enhancing #bbc

Posted on by tiger40490

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200824-why-worrying-isnt-as-bad-as-you-think —

As with the relationship between stress and performance, Watkins says that there appears to be an inverted U-shaped relationship between worry and helpfulness: too little, and you’re not motivated enough; too much, and you’re paralyzed. Here are some examples in my life where the worry is not too low or too high:

— my eg: planning for prolonged bench time i.e. jobless cash flow planning

My dad always said no need to worry about it.

— my eg: which country/city to retire in

— grandma’s worry about immobility, bone health

Similarly, my RTS colleague, a 50-something Chinese programmer with a slight stutter, told me that as you grow older “you become more desperate”. He was answering my question why he had so much motivation to visit the gym so regularly, while younger guys simply couldn’t find the motivation.

##self-care under lockdown: private hour usages #MRT

Posted on by tiger40490

k_quietime

Private hour is precious, mostly for self-care. I need to be selective when allocating private hours. If I devise a scheme to record utilization rate of each 30-min block, I suspect bulk of my private hours are spent .. elsewhere.

  1. sleep — Aim at more sleep (8H) than under un-heightened stress.
    1. Under heightened stress, Lack of sleep creates profound risk on performance worry, immunity, family harmony…. the steadfast focus targets
  2. therapeutic blogging, including some emails with friends, is my version of “meditation”.
    • I had to do this at MRT or in a park, with mlphone as hotspot
    • git-blogging and web blogging both became therapeutic self-care
  3. work project — underlies self-confidence, self-esteem, and reduces self-hate, anxiety… May need private hour
    • localSys including reviews — less likely to need private hours

Q: what self-care t-spends don’t work so well
A: Don’t aim to be there for “them” all the time. I need quietime4selfcare
A: movies
A: Robinhood — too time consuming. I can’t “stop after 1 minute” as i wanted

Some self-care acts do __N_O_T__ require private hour:

  • home repairs — (similar to gardening) tcost but can be therapeutic. Sense of achievement.
  • covid19 news reading
  • Robinhood, FSM
  • read [[chicken soup]], [[读者]] etc
  • Eng vocab blog review
  • movies with kids — generate self-hate, though it sometimes builds some bonding
  • time with grandpa — yes self-care
  • help grandparents with logistics — not self-care
  • longer sleep than before — Can generate guilt. Can help immunity
  • — the familiar
  • git-blogging or review of tanbinvest and 610610 blogs? guilty, but can do during day time, in another room.
  • jogging, perhaps in parks? don’t need private hours. probably the most efficient self-care. Sometimes it lifts my mood, but this time is mostly invisible self-care. I need to maintain and hopefully increase the workout.
  • mini exercise? kind of self-care, albeit too short to feel “tough” enough; Doesn’t need private hour
  • tech xx or recrec blog? makes me feel doing something to strengthen myself, but no private hour needed

 

##rare achievements used as mere Basic standard

Posted on by tiger40490

I tend to feel inferior, self-hate… by bench-marking against these rare achievements as if they are commonplace.

  • * grandpa’s level of focus
  • * grandpa’s level of diet control
  • my diet control
  • My MSFM level of commitment, effort, focus…
  • my jogging habit
  • my chin-up
  • my academic achievement in P6, Shiyan, HJC…
  • * Steve Keith working on math in his spare time
  • * friends describing their childhood training in piano, calligraphy, math
  • * me or other people achieving focus in office. Actually Lack of focus is the norm!

[19]feel`lucky+satisfied as bachelor,now again as married man

Posted on by tiger40490

As a bachelor, I often felt lucky and satisfied due to my [income+savings]->ffree, and freedom from family burden — no kids no wife to worry about. I did sometimes envy those with a beautiful wife or girlfriend, but I never envied those with kids.

Among my peers in our early 30’s, it was rare to feel lucky so often. I’m amazed, in hind sight.

Cornerstone (more than a keystone) — somehow in my early 30’s I was rational, cool-headed enough to withstand the hazard/rampage of widespread but irrational peer comparison (keeping up with the Jones’s).

Fast forward to 2019. Now As a father, I frequently feel lucky and satisfied due to

  1. beautiful wife and kids — my #1 reason to feel lucky at this age. So after I got married, my perspective has changed completely.
  2. long-term prospect of a satisfying or good-enough career — on Wall St till 65
  3. ffree with multiple investment assets
  5. — other factors
  6. competence and relevance on job market
  7. vitality in body and mind
  8. … See the longer list in ##[19] living%%dream life,here-n-now #Detach, and remember to detach !

overspend@reflectiveBlogg@@ too tough@myself #Einstein

Posted on by tiger40490

The zsms (guilt) is unjustified.

Some (2%?) of the most satisfied individuals probably “overspend” time on exercise, cooking, prayer, painting, meditation, diary… The number of hours spent has no measurable “ROTI” but the individual probably derives great pleasure from it and has no regrets.

Consider Einstein’s violin — Who is to judge him and accuse him “wasting” his time?