Facts of LIFE

1. No matter how far down the wrong road you've traveled, always turn
back.

People hate to lose time "invested" in a task they have
miscalculated on. Time is the most scarce resource of life, yet its
taken for granted by those who are too proud to admit they made a
mistake.

Not too long ago, I chased a girl I shouldn't have. The warning signs
were there from the start, but I ignored them because I was seduced
with the idea of sleeping with her. By date five, I went so far in the
wrong direction that turning back seemed like the harder route to take.
I couldn't just let go of all the money, time, and emotional energy I
put in. The easy decision is to coast and let the mistake ride out, but
it's always the wrong decision. You must cut your losses.

There is nothing wrong with making a mistake, but you make things worse
by staying blind to your own error. Don't bother trying to fix a
situation you should have avoided in the first place.

2. Comfort is dangerous.

Unless you are of old age and already a scholar of the world, your main
focus should be growth. If you are comfortable with what you are doing,
there is a good chance you are not stretching yourself to the limits of
your ability.

The director of my old department had a habit of putting up
motivational quotes during his presentations. I had a favorite:
"There is no growth in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the growth
zone." You get drawn into comfort and habit because it offers you
stability and peace of mind, but at the same time this decreases your
motivation to take risks and learn other things. Unless you are ready
to die, choose growth.

3. You learn the most when things go wrong.

It's hard to learn about yourself if everything goes right: there is
no need for introspection or analysis. But when things go wrong, your
body is put through stress and your mind is called up to perform. You
are forced to break things down to come up with solutions, trying
things you've never tried. This is the only time you really grow as a
person.

4. Always stand up for yourself.

Don't take bullshit from anyone, whether it be from your boss, lover,
or friend. No one in this world is more important than you are.

I have been disrespected by flakey women countless times. I accepted
the disrespect because I thought it was normal to take a little bit of
abuse to get something I wanted. But I no longer believe that. If you
have a belief that it is okay to be treated negatively, it's just a
matter of time until it happens - repeatedly. Don't let people
flake, rag on you, or put you down. These are things that are not
normal, things that will only lower your mood. Don't be a pushover,
don't be afraid to stand up for yourself, and don't be afraid of
confrontation.

5. Know when to move on.

After you've hit the point of diminishing return, the energy you put
in is much less than what you get out, whether it be from jobs,
relationships, friendships, or hobbies. Don't wait until things get
stale; by then you've waited too long

6. Respect your health and body by exercising and eating right.

There is no reason to treat yourself like a science experiment,
wondering what will happen to your body after decades of neglect or
abuse.

You only one have one life to live. Exercise and good nutrition are
proven to prolong that life and make it more vibrant with less
suffering. So what's your excuse? It's a poor bet to let your body
atrophy because you wanted to sit on the couch and eat a bag of potato
chips. The most unfortunate thing that could happen to you is to get a
disease or sickness that could have been prevented by doing something
your body would have very much appreciated.

7. Have a project.

Always be working towards a near-term goal. It's nice to have one
large purpose in life, but pick some smaller goals that you can
accomplish is a few years or less: buying a house, learning a second
language, running a marathon, eliminating credit card debt (through
simpler living), traveling the world, etc. The project should be your
passion... for a while.

In Venezuela I hiked up to some cabin so a Frenchman could take me on a
horseback riding tour through the Andes mountains. He spoke good
English so we had the opportunity to talk during breaks, where he told
me his life story though his "projects": short goals he would have
that would usually lead to something else. The project that led him to
the Venezuela was the desire to build a boat from scratch. When a
hurricane washed ashore his boat was destroyed and he wound up in a
strange city where he met his future wife. He asked me point-blank what
my project was and I did not have an answer.

Instead of aimlessly floating through life, waiting until something
happens to you, pick something interesting you like and drive towards
it. Even if it doesn't lead you anywhere, the journey is sure to
teach you a bit about life.

8. Don't nag, complain, or whine.

No one wants to hear it, and it makes you look like a miserable person.
Negative energy is contagious; bad people and bad events always follow.

I had a colleague who did not hit the genetic lottery. She was short,
stumpy, and unattractive. She did not hide the fact that she had
trouble meeting men. While she could only do little to control her
physical appearance, she could control how she acts around others. She
could be lively, sexy, thoughtful, positive, funny. But she was not.
She chose to be constantly negative, complaining about everything and
talking about how bad life is. It was impossible to be around her, and
I won't be surprised if you tell me she has amassed a fine collection
of cats by now.

Remember: your energy is tied into your future. If you are constantly
negative, you are blocking yourself from enjoying positive things.
This is what you always do sheel. And this is solo reason you aint happy!

9. Be like water, flowing effortlessly through your environment.

A weak person is easily affected by the daily problems of life. Instead
of fighting things that are sure to come up, adapt to them and solve
them rationally. Things won't always go your way.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most
intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." -
Charles Darwin.

Welcome to the human condition. Like housing prices or stocks, there
will be peaks and valleys in your life that you probably cannot
control. Car breaks down. Job layoff. Disfiguring acne breakout. Crime
victim. Broken heart. You could attempt to buffer yourself from these
negative events, but it will limit your personal freedom and options in
life. Instead, accept that there will be both good and bad; how you
react to both determines your character and resilience as a person. You
can panic like most people when confronted with a tough challenge, or
you can sit down and visualize what it would be like to get out of the
mess you are in. What's the next step you should take? Time will go
by, and the negative will soon be a distant memory.

10. Treat money as a means to an end.

Money should not be your final goal. There may be comfort in a pile of
cash but there is little lasting happiness. Instead, treat money as a
means to providing you with experiences that have meaning and pleasure.


There are two things you could do with your money: accumulate material
possessions or pursue life experiences. Can you guess which one makes
you more happy? If it's so obvious, why do people dedicate a large
chunk of their waking hours every week in jobs that have long ago
satisfied basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and leisure?
When you live in a country whose government is funded through debt and
whose economic health is judged through "comsumer" spending, it's
not hard to see how one has to be deprogrammed from falling into the
automatic habit of spending money on objects. That money is better
spent finding things you love that give you fulfillment.

11. Read.

A million books and a million different perspectives. Until you can
learn from first-hand experience, learn from the experience of others.
Absorb their ideas and see how they fit into your view of the world.

One of the best uses of your time is spent reading non-fiction, which
has the knowledge, information, and analysis that helps define the
world we live in. Think of a bookstore or library as a collection of
brains from all the scholars of the history of the world, who have
taken the time to write and teach what they know. I can spend a
lifetime traveling the world ten times over but not notice things that
others have already written down.

12. Have no expectations.

When you enter situations with expectations, you limit your behavior
and thinking. Having an idealized outcome in your mind beforehand
closes yourself off to new experiences.

Once I met a girl who warned me several times that I wasn't going to
get anywhere. She assumed I wanted to be somewhere else other than the
present, that what I was doing now was not what I really wanted to do.
As long as you are getting the most out of the current moment - and
enjoying it - what happens next should not be the dominant thought in
your mind. We already see the world through a filter, and expecting
things to happen in the future distorts that filter even more.

What did happen next with her was something totally different from what
I'm used to, something that I would have closed myself off to if I
had the usual in mind. Having expectations put you into a linear and
rigid mode of thinking, blinding you towards different outcomes.

13. Be very picky when choosing friends.

It's our friendships that create the spontaneous happiness in our
lives, experienced most with people who match our personality. By
spending time with the right people, we eliminate the drama that comes
from more superficial friendships.

On any given night, there are only three guys I can call to go out
with; guys who I trust and who I know I'm capable of having the most
amount of fun with. For people who collect friends like trading cards,
I wonder if they have taken a look at the hidden cost to maintaining
those friends: misunderstandings, gossip, backstabbing, fights. These
things are headaches and make life a little less enjoyable. Think of
friendships as the foundation of your life, the constant that gets you
through the long, stressful days. You don't want that built on slimey
ground.

14. Rehearse.

It is not a good idea to experiment in critical situations. Practice
when it doesn't matter so that you are preapred for the real deal. If
you can't get real-world practice, at least run the situation in your
head.

My plane departed Merida, Venezuela at 6:30 in the morning. I had to be
at the airport an hour before, at a time where I wasn't sure if I
could easily get a taxi. Only 1.5 miles away, I figured a good back-up
plan was to walk to the airport, but I wasn't going to risk taking
this walk without practice, especially since the streets are narrow and
dangerous. The day before departure I took my time walking and found
the safest route to the airport, memorizing key landmarks and noting
potential danger spots. When it was time to leave, I couldn't find a
taxi and executed what I already rehearsed. My route was well-lighted
and I got there in one piece without getting lost.

Instead of leaving things totally chance, do what you can to lessen the
likelihood of failure, or even worse - disaster.

-REDPILL