Tag: t_vague

[13]striking back (long letter never sent)

Posted on by tiger40490

Hi friends,

Just some thoughts to share. No need to reply me.
In Singapore, many of my peers are moving ahead on the management track. Some are rising in rank, running more , bigger projects, leading bigger teams, given bigger budgets, involved in more decisions. I feel left behind. (In fact, my peers in China are even more powerful.)
Most Singapore companies including banks value manager contribution more than technical expertise. The C-level decision makers tend to feel technical talent is cheap and easy to replace.
I feel there’s a deep-rooted, pervasive, widespread perception that managers contribute more and are rewarded more (which is also true on Wall St but more true in Singapore) I have a few Singapore-based friends who worry about me staying on the technical ladder and not on the leadership ladder. Many advise me to move first to project management or architect then to higher management.
But are managers more important than hands-on developers? I feel we had better take a deeper look and dismiss the concept of “importance”. On a tight project every worker plays a critical role, but sometimes the DBA earns highest (why?), sometimes the QA guy earns highest (why?), and sometimes the BA earns highest (though usually manager earns highest). Why? Perhaps the project involves a lot of Database work; perhaps QA is very challenging and stringent and there’s a large and experienced QA team… But ultimately, the compensation depends on “market rate” of the skillset. Best example is WPF (Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation). For a while on Wall St WPF expertise sometimes commands a higher rate than the highest java developer, because it’s in demand and very few guys are available with advanced skill in WPF.
Managers bring special skill to the team — management skill. (Some managers bring technical insight, but many I have seen don’t have the sharpest insight — out of practice.) This skill has a market rate too. I will just talk about project management skill for now. In the US I feel PM isn’t a highly valued skill. It’s a generalist skill. In many Singapore companies it’s valued higher than technical skills.
For various reasons, I am firm in my decision to stay technical. I’m not talented at managing and I won’t be given such responsibilities soon. However, I don’t want to stand still while my peers move ahead. I am planning to do something with my spare energy (if any) to strengthen my career safety and stability ( bullet proof 🙂
* learn more main-stream technologies. My favorites are threading, c++, socket programming, FIX, C#, swing, …
** go in-depth on important details. These are the differentiation factors between experienced developer vs expert developer or top talent.
* learn more financial math. This skill won’t become obsolete like tech skills. Financial math is the hardest part of financial domain knowledge. I much prefer hard knowledge — “soft”, general knowledge don’t differentiate.
* take up algorithm challenges. Most bank interviewers won’t go crazy on this, but some top employers test programmer’s “coding abilities” with on-the-spot algo challenges. I have seen it in Google, Facebook, Amazon and Wall st employers.
* take some mock interviews once a while to keep in combat form
This is my little “strike-back” plan. It takes a lot of time and energy. I doubt I have any spare time.
— TAN, Bin (Victor) http://blog.tanbin.com

[07]Buddhism among other medicines

Posted on by tiger40490

(To be published on my blog)

> I bought/downloaded and am reading the buddhism books you recommended. I try not to rush. Got confusion. One big problem is how to
> incorporate “buddha's teaching” into modern day to day life. at workplace you need to hold your opinions so as to survive or
> advance. it's easy to get frustrated or angry. what do you do and think in these cases, say, to try to be more patient, in terms
> of “buddha's teaching”?

Actually, my own frustration was the subject of my simple Christianity study. Did I tell you i compile a list of “Thank God …”
when I feel frustrated with what I get in life? Again, I have done this more than 10 times. I guess this is how I manage to
“incorporate a bit of Christianity teaching into modern life”

I feel anger and impatience is better treated with Buddhism than Christianity. If you ask me to pick the most effective and valuable
medicine for the modern man, I'm a bit biased in favor of Buddhism, as compared to Christianity, Confucius, laughter/humor,
optimism, “positive attitude” and other ideas of American popular psychology. I realize I just don't have the time (therefore
biased) to study each of these schools of thoughts. It's possible that one of these works better (than Buddha's teaching) for you in
some special context.

So How do you apply any of the ancient teachings on “greed” or “peer comparison”? Give some real stories if you can.

fail`2plan=plann2fail

Posted on by tiger40490

This bpost was extracted from unhealthy longevity

Financially, many people aim lower but end up outliving their nets eggs. I think they become dependent on family members (if they have kids). Many have adult children who struggle financially even without this added burden. Some depend on government or private annuities but statistically, the payout is usually insufficient.

My blogposts about A.Brooks also talk about planning for a late career.

— lifestyle choices affecting healthy longevity

The most fundamental and important aspect of “failing to plan” is wellness

Many in my cohort make lifestyle choices that are likely (by statistics) to reduce life expectancy by a number of months. When we hear that, we often laugh it off. We dismiss 6M (of life expectancy reduction) as negligible, given the numerous bigger factors that are often beyond our control.

I disagree. I believe statistics will prove that most of us die from biological causes such as progressive declines, not external reasons. Most longevity factors are actually within our “circle of influence”. (Even your genetic risk factors can be identified and managed — re Jolie.) Those “lifestyle choices” mentioned above are prime examples.

Life is unpredictable. Even if you do all the right things, your lifespan may still be shorter than average. Well, by the same argument,

  1. Do you tell your school kids to reduce study effort and rely on luck?
  2. Do you ignore dental hygiene and bet your teeth would survive all the “hazards” and last
  3. Do you refuse to drink milk or other bone-healthy foods and bet your young bones would grow well, and after middle age you will be free of bone issues?
  4. Do you skip annual car check-ups and trust your karma will protect you on the road?

clearer thinking->less irrational anxieties #deep#cognitive

Posted on by tiger40490

intelligence, memory capacity, clear thinking, sharp perception … can help the individual deal with depression, pessimism, anxiety, emotional pains…

I think most pessimistic thoughts are irrational and/or biased.

“Explanatory style” .. see [[learned optimism]]

“Mindfulness” is a therapy. This therapy can even cope with brain aging… need to read more.

Memory is a muscle.. I think corrective thinking like my twister SMS is also a muscle one can improve by everyday training.

blogg .. proven to reduce irrational thoughts

— eg: anxieties about teenager kids … often irrational

[19]##HIS19 feels unlike q3SG #meimei

Posted on by tiger40490
  • ++
  • more time on yoga and 5/wk workouts
  • slightly more time family outings .. each one must count
  • more time blogg
  • more time with meimei
  • more movies alone
  • —
  • less time on QQ or quant
  • less time (much less) on boy’s academics
  • less time (even less than before) meeting or emailing friends
  • less time calling parents
  • 🙂 less blogging on time-management
  • ==
  • personal investment + insurance. cutting back aggressively in 2019 then ..

Jack.Z@parent` #commute

Posted on by tiger40490

Jack.Z has strong experience in parenting.

高压 discipline is how he describes my stance.

“Observe what the kid wants and fulfill his needs” but I feel this is tough.

Accept differences in individual personalities.

Curiosity is a good thing in a kid.

Both Jack and grandpa foresee that my derogatory remarks could easily damage boy’s confidence. I use such harsh words to get his attention, but apparently the net effect is counterproductive. Jack suggested — paste reminder on your computer, in your cockpit, on the mirror … to stop the put-down remarks.

— JackZ on my family immigration
U.S. migration might be more risky for your kids then for you

Keep the communication open as they go through adolescence. Teenagers may take a few years to open up to parents…

“So Make sure you still have enough time for your kids when you are working here.” — I want to have time for them when they open up. Less stressful job. Short commute (like 95G) would be huge. Parent’s time is a key factor in Raymond’s story.

JackZ: “If you feel your son is likely to become a manager type, then perhaps the wordy problem skills (abstract logical skills) are not really relevant in the long run.” Self-confidence is arguably more important for those careers at least among the Americans he has seen. I think Jack meant resilience, positive attitude.

##reminders rarely noticed #grip trainer

Posted on by tiger40490
  • eg: interdental floss  .. I put it on my desk as a constant reminder. I use it once a few months, but it is still worth it.
  • eg: grip trainer.. I put it on my desk as a constant reminder. I use it once a few months, but it is still worth it.
  • eg: pull-up bar.. I installed it at home years ago. For years I didn’t use it but it was a constant reminder. Now I use it every week
  • eg: standing desk.. company provides it to everyone. Sometimes I use it once a week, but the gap between usage can grow to a few months. Yet it’s still worthwhile.
  • eg: we bought dozens of books from China and positioned them in “prime” locations. Kids pick up one book in a year. Perhaps not worth it

##peaking]%%life #Eng

Posted on by tiger40490

Describing peaks in your own life is a form of subjective self-rating. I want to do it with a positive twist. A confirmed “peaking” is often negative. To counter it, this bpost will include some items that have not peaked.

( Rarely, a peak is unexpectedly followed by another peak, but for now I won’t focus on such a rare pattern. )

Multiple unrelated peaks tend to come in waves. Each 3-5Y window tend to see some peaks.

Q: what are some (up to 3) recent peaks over the last 5Y?
A: coding drill, c++ self study
Q: what are some of the “peaks” that aren’t real?
A:

How do we differentiate a real peak vs something that look like a peak? No consistent criteria so far. I would say a real peak should have no recovery within a year.

— easy work hours/workload.. Covid years are the peak
— quant study .. peaking before end of MSFM, perhaps 2012
— total comp
Probably peaking soon
ditto comp + benefits
annual bonus? A toxic question to look into. Let’s avoid it.
— self-esteem based on edu achievements .. peaking some years after 2016

— appreciation for my dear wife … growing
— joyous intimacy .. improving, even though I need pills
— bonding with boy .. not peaking
coaching effort .. improving

— investment diversification? reduced with HY/PE and Rbh
— NNIA .. not peaking
Aha: quality of my NNIA .. improving. Fewer HY/PE. More SGD DIR

— quality of sleep .. not peaking. Improving from my 30s
— 5/wk workout absorbency? Not yet peaking
— jogg frequency .. peaking during covid. I now think frequent jogg is possibly not ideal
jogging distance .. not peaking
— chin-up .. peaking during Bayonne

幸福:2cornerstones #breakaway^goodLife

Posted on by tiger40490

k_mellow k_def_of_success

See also

This bpost needs more clarity, to avoid becoming yet another forgettable analysis.

TJ.Lin: comfort zone guarded by internal^external protections is a simpler, earlier version of the GG+BB framework. GG is an external driver of my 幸福. BB is an internal driver.

— /genesis/ and intro .. In Sep 2022, when grandpa once against said my 幸福感 was precious and admirable, I realized that my 幸福 [peaceful contentment, successE, fat-n-happy, carefree ezlife] is rare (among my cohort) in two ways — GG) “good life” BB) breakaway. Both are impermanent in the Buddhist sense…. but I’m slowly growing confident.

As to the English translation, I feel /contentment/ is the more apt word than satisfaction.

— GG) By many objective yardsticks (data-based), my current life is a precious good life, not common even among the WSt elite.

However, I try to keep my feet on the ground — this “good life” is impermanent and utopian.

This “Good life” is more successE[cashflow, wellness, harmony] than successC.

— BB)  there are numerous imperfections in my “good life” that are commonly perceived as less-than-enviable, but as if by magical power I have progressively /neutralized/ and embraced them, and gradually mellowed up, breaking away from the common wrong priorities of the rat race.

Breakaway requires bold, independent thinking, honest and incisive self-evaluation, serenity, relying on self-knowledge advantage.

A small subset of the imperfections are listed below. Sometimes I perceive these imperfections as character building, tests of conviction, hard lessons.  Serenity is still badly needed whenever I find my blissful bubble derailed into a storm. There have been no big storm since 2018… reminds me of the long peace after WW2. A minor storm — boy in late 2023.

Crucially for my current 幸福 , my center of gravity is progressively shifting away from the wrong priorities [successsC, exclub,,,] towards wellness [including mental], successZ+E,,, I refer to it as a bold breakaway.

— Q1: What specific elements in GG or BB have improved (starting sometime in 2018) that give rise to my current 幸福感?

  • (BB+GG) anxiety/disappointment about boy….  Boy improved, but more crucially, I mellowed up more than his mom.
  • (GG) PIP .. appr by manager.
  • (BB) FOLB… I had many discussions with S.Liu, YY.T.
  • — for decades, above are the big-3 derailers/stressors across my tectonic plates. Below are Additional items:
  • (BB+GG) marriage, bonding with meimei
  • (BB) 5/wk workout .. improving my successZ
  • (GG) commute

For this bpost title, I chose “cornerstone” rather than “pillars”. Cornerstone is secure, not precarious.