S3E3 The Advice you give to your younger self

If you don't choose your path, someone else will.
Change happens gradually, outcomes are exponential 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome to Life Workshop, where we discuss the forgotten basics. Today's subject is the advice you give to younger self. My name is Mo and I have three other guests with me. Please go ahead and introduce introduce yourself. This is Dan. Oh sorry. That's good, you're good. Get us started. So we have Dan, we have Bo and Billy.

SPEAKER_05 0:35

Hi everyone, I'm Billy. Nice to join you guys.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

So of course I can't hear Bo, but I'm sure he is there.

SPEAKER_04 0:44

I am Bo. Yeah, I'm here.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

So okay. So this subject actually, Billy suggested to speak about this subject. So if you want to get us started, what was interesting about this subject, this topic that you want to talk about?

SPEAKER_05 0:59

Um I grew up in a third world country. Uh it was a communist country at the time, and things were way different than they are now. And I have two kids. Uh they're both teenagers. Um, so I wish I had this kind of relationship with my parents that they have with me. And I wish that somebody could have um given me some advice when I was young, uh, but not like talking at me advice, talking with me advice. Um, and that's why this subject interests me.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Actually, it is a very interesting topic, to be honest. And I think I normally say that if you don't uh choose your path, somebody else will choose it for you. Absolutely. So and that's devastating. It can be sometimes it can go to your benefit, but it is like buying a lottery ticket. Statistic is not in your favor if you let the let just going with the flow, because I hear this and I wouldn't be too surprised if Bo you have something to add in here. I personally do not believe as much in going with the flow when it comes to principles in life, definitely not. You know, they have to, you know, we have to make those decisions, and uh, of course, it should be a you know informed decision to make, uh, not necessarily going with the flow. For smaller things, you know, sometimes sure. Uh, but otherwise, yeah, personally, I do not believe in just we have to make the decisions, and you know, for making those decisions, especially when you are younger and we are not as experienced, we don't have as much knowledge, so it becomes a lot more difficult. And you know, what are the what's the right thing to do or what's the wrong thing to avoid? But anyway, let's just start again with yourself. Uh, Billy, if you would uh wouldn't mind just just what would you tell yourself, the younger yourself.

SPEAKER_05 2:58

I guess the first thing that comes to mind is the just be yourself. You don't need to um copy other people, you don't need to compare yourself to other people, you just need to be yourself. I sometimes see it as a garden, and garden needs all kinds of plants in it. And if you remove one, that garden is not going to be what it's supposed to be. If you try to copy the plant beside you or the one that's sort of ahead of you, God forbid the one that's behind you. Um yeah, I think it's important that we all are what we are because we are here to make it um fun and different. If we're all the same, it's not going to work for anybody. Um, that that probably would have been uh the first thing to tell myself. And then the second thing that again comes from from my culture and my background. Um girls were supposed to go into, I don't know, accounting, uh being secretaries or assistants, what they call them today, uh, typists, all kinds of silly things, nurses maybe. Um it was horrible if somebody who had good grades like I did went into construction or into trades or into any, you know, boys' jobs. Um so that's probably the one thing that I uh let my parents guide me and pick my high school for me. Uh high school system is totally different, so it sort of points you in a certain direction. Um, but that's probably the biggest thing I regret that I let my parents guide me in the direction that they did to pick my school. It took forever to get out of it. So that would be the two things. Be yourself and do whatever you want to do. Don't let anybody pick for you. Those were the two main things, I think.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

One of the things, just uh to say normally say that uh people they try to fit. I said if you try to fit, you don't stand out. So that is one of the things. Uh as well as you know, we have all of us, we have different circumstances, different experiences, different abilities, and different limitations. So, yeah, that is true, you know. But when you say be yourself, um I think it's a kind of a way, you know, to see that how does that work? That you know you want to be a better version of yourself and keep improving. Yes, the comparison actually, I would disagree with that too. You don't have to compare yourself, and I have seen that sometimes, you know, among friends. For example, I had a friend of mine whose colleague got a promotion and she was so mad that she uh and then after some time she got another promotion herself, which she went a kind of or equal or above. But I said that's not how it works, you should live your own life, you know, you can't live somebody else's life.

SPEAKER_05 5:50

True, that's another thing. Sorry, I interrupt you. No, no, no. No, no, that's it.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

And who do you and who do you decide to compare yourself with? You know, with your colleague that you know, or there are lots of people that you can compare yourself with. If you do that, you know, you will be disappointed all the time. There's somebody else beating you somewhere.

SPEAKER_05 6:09

True, that can point you in the wrong direction, too, right? You pick something that's good for somebody else, and you're like, oh my god, I want to do that, I want to be that person, and that's not what's meant for you.

SPEAKER_04 6:18

Um, what about when you wanna what about when you want to be yourself, but yourself sucks? So you want to kind of change yourself to be better.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

That is the thing. You want to improve on your own, yes. That is correct. The comparison, remember, sometimes when we say that or competition, it can be very healthy too. Uh, when when we speak about this, it's not an absolute yes or no, but it has a time and place. Yes, if you see that, for example, you know, somebody's doing better than you, can and if you really want to be that, then you can see what what uh where you're going wrong, what you want to do.

SPEAKER_04 6:58

You know, that probably would be motivating being so being yourself isn't always the greatest advice. You want to be yourself and be an individual and be whatever, but don't be an asshole.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Correct, and you don't want to beat yourself to that. I again I'm saying, you know, this thing the thing that you're talking about is not an absolute, and they're under different circumstances. Myself, I'm I'm very competitive, but when it comes to competition that I do, normally it is in a sports with activities, and you know, I'm having fun with it, to be honest. It drives me. Uh, but I never ever, for example, want somebody at the cost of let's say, for example, somebody beats me, then I wish them ill. Or, for example, if they they go down so that I go up. That's not how it works. And even, for example, I want them to get stronger that you know they drive me to go better, you know, to have something. So it's a bit different. Uh, I'm not explaining it properly the best way, but uh sometimes it can be very healthy, and the comparison thing though, again, we are different individuals, different circumstances, and during the process sometimes we improve faster and sometimes the other ones, you know, they get ahead of us, but during the in the big picture of things, life has a lot of twists to it. Yeah, I have a question.

SPEAKER_04 8:23

So I thought about I was thinking, I told you I thought about this a lot, and I bounced it off my my significant other, right? And we talked about this. If you go back to change the past, is what we're doing, right? You're giving advice to yourself, so you're changing the past, right? Which means you're gonna get into a time paradox situation, right? So if but if you give advice to yourself in the past, you're gonna change the future, so then you're not the same person you are. Correct. So, how does how does how do we deal with the with the whole time travel issue?

SPEAKER_01 8:57

Actually, I have an answer for that. I have thought about that, but if anybody else wants to add something, please go ahead. No, I want to hear it. Let's go. Okay, no, normally say when you talk to people to give you an advice, they are giving an advice from their own point of view with their own experience. That sometimes that advice can be outdated, sometimes it can be irrelevant, and sometimes it's just completely wrong, you know. Uh, so that is the thing. The advice I would give, I would normally say this to anybody and everybody. We all want one thing at the end of the day. We want to have a good life. I don't think anybody's there to say that I want to be really rich and famous and healthy, but sad. I don't think anybody's there to say, I don't know, they wish you think, but I want to be depressed and sad. But anyway, I think a good life is the highest value. And now to get there, statistically, I believe.

SPEAKER_05 9:59

I can't hear you, Mo, for some reason.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Um, everybody else can though?

SPEAKER_05 10:06

Is it yeah, okay. Yes, me maybe probably okay. I can't hear you now.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Okay, so I believe in stats and science. So sometimes somebody beats the odds, for example, as I say, wins the lottery ticket, but we don't go recommend buying lottery tickets for as a financial you know, uh advice. Well, but if we were traveling from the future into the past, yeah. So I'm I'm trying just to get there. I I know I'm taking a long uh Ross for that one, but basically about to say that you for anybody and everybody at any you know stage of life, you want to think about that. What are the things that I can do to make my life the best? And for those kinds of things, there are a few elements statistically that shown to in order to be really, you know, to have a good life, definitely physical and mental health, finances as well as connections, they are they are among the top ones. But then the very important one again is purpose. That why do you wake up in the morning? There are some other things, for example, the daylight, you know, or I don't know, um omega-3 and those kinds of things. And then there are other, I'm sure there are lots of other things, but they become rather smaller than that.

SPEAKER_04 11:22

So your advice to your past self is exercise, get sunlight, and be rich.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

I want I want to say that's not what I said, but it was almost in that line. I would say a chain, a chain is as strong as its weakest link. You want to see what is your weakest link, and then again, statistically, for example, when you come to finance, I think around uh in time, this time and era, they say, let's say if you have a hundred thousand dollar income, really that will address most of your problems.

SPEAKER_04 11:57

You how are you gonna get there?

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Well, okay, okay, easy, buddy.

SPEAKER_04 12:01

Easy there, then you would start thinking and now if you start telling yourself how your past of how you're gonna get there, now you're changing the future. Now we're in a time paradox.

SPEAKER_05 12:14

Well, that's a very good point, you know.

SPEAKER_04 12:16

That's a very, very good timeline, and we get into a back to future two situation.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

What I'm trying to say for for different people, because we are different situations, the VC is different. For some people, if they come from a rich family, if they get you know highly educated, and you know, these things, I think money will not be an object then. Then they don't have to worry about that, they have to worry about you know, pay attention to the other things, which would be, for example, their health. And when I say health again, as a physical therapist, I normally say that for physical health, the most important thing is active life style, not exercise. Exercise is more for mental health, and then another thing is, for example, eating healthy. These are very important things. This thing that I'm talking about, that they are very, very important, and you know, people some they don't pay attention. I I honestly cannot understand.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

I'm on a call, so all right.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Okay, then uh uh you know they don't pay attention to this kind of a stuff. Uh, that for example you need to eat healthy.

SPEAKER_04 13:20

No, no, this is advice to your past self. You were never a fatty.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

I I should do that, you're right, but because of that, because I I had some of these ideas in the past that I didn't want you want to edit out that fatty thing, though. That's okay, but even for example, for myself, believe it or not, years ago I cannot show you my belly now. If it years ago, for me it was very important that you know, I said, even if somebody comes and offers me $10 billion, I don't know any amount of money, but says that for the rest of my life I have to have to have a belly. I said, I will turn that down. For me, that is of a lot of value. And because to be honest, I have enough financially. I'm okay. I'm not rich, but I have enough. I'm I'm just fine. So that doesn't, and I have been aware of this, I would say for the most of my life. Another thing that I would say, for example, again, so I would say I'm gonna highlight this very quickly one more time. The income that you know, up to 100,000 is very important. Above that, to be honest, it will not make as much of a difference. This is science, I mean, statistically they say, and I believe there is a good element of truth to it. So, for that, how to get there, then it would be some sort of an education or training of a type that can offer you that. When it comes to physical health, would be proper eating. Very important, very, very important, that I think is ignored big time in this time and era that I, you know, as far as I see. So eating healthy as well as having an active life and style. Most of the jobs, unfortunately, are this job, which is really terrible. Then exercise, again for the mental health part of it, and connection. This is another thing that really value your connections, which would be your family and friends, and try to add to it. Sometimes we disregard them or yeah, we put them on the back burner. And by the time we get back to it to address it, it's a little bit too late and you are paying for it. So I would say these are the very main things that are very important.

SPEAKER_04 15:18

You're getting off your own topic here, though, because you're saying things in general, what you think that everyone, you know, this is advice you give to everybody. We're looking for advice you give to you. Actually, this was the same thing, and this is just general stuff. This is stuff you're already doing.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

No, I would I would just tell myself, and now after this, I would go into details of it. Then, because okay, this is how it works. It's like a pyramid. It's like when you go, want to go uh you know, hike a mountain, when you're gonna go to the top. You just first just see okay, where the top is to begin with. You will just see your path where you are, and then you will start working. And then time to time you have to reevaluate, which it takes me brings me to this part. My dad told me this years ago, but I kind of added to it that every night you go to bed, think what you have done during the day. It was one of the best advice, I would say. Think about what you have done during the day, and then see what you did that made you feel better, what you did that you made you feel worse, and you know what did you learn? And this became a kind of a thing that you know, that any idea, I would just personally think about that. If it made you feel better, see what it was and just repeat it. If it made you feel worse, was it you, was it the circumstances, or was it, for example, the other person? If it is you, that would be the easiest, change that one. And if it is the circumstances or the you know the other party, make a decision, you know, that you know if you want to change them or not.

SPEAKER_04 16:46

So basically that that doesn't count though, because that was advice that your dad gave you. So your dad already gave you that.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Come on, dig deeper. Another thing that I would strongly recommend to the younger generation, curiosity. Being curious, the biggest element, if I wanted to say one word, one word would be curiosity. Because if you're curious, you would discover all of this thing that I have already said. And another thing is that don't be scared of challenges. There are challenges, and you should fail be scared of challenges nowadays.

SPEAKER_05 17:22

Don't be scared of challenges 30 years ago, but be scared of challenges today. I I disagree with this one. Challenges are really, really dangerous nowadays.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Of course, maybe we have a different understanding of the challenges, though. Yeah. What is wrong with the child? What do you understand of a challenge? When I go to the gym, I'm challenging my body. That's physical.

SPEAKER_05 17:46

Exactly. I agree with challenging yourself, but I don't agree with being challenged by anything or anybody else.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Okay. What I'm trying to say is that if there are a situation that happens, you want to, let's say, you want to uh start something. I want to start this podcast. I know I have a lot of flaws in it, but I'm not gonna stop. I'm gonna, it's a challenge, you know. I do it and I fix it as I go. I agree with that. Yeah, so I that is what I mean by challenge, just to make sure that you're and it's and use here still as well.

SPEAKER_04 18:20

Like you said you don't want to be challenged or you don't want to challenge somebody else? Like what you said it was dangerous, like which what are we talking about here?

SPEAKER_05 18:30

I'm talking about social media and teenagers. Um, I don't want my kids to ever allow anyone to challenge them on anything.

SPEAKER_04 18:41

Um like you mean they're what what if they're like you don't want them to be challenged on their viewpoints or anything? Like so Oh no, I do no, I'm I mean physical safety.

SPEAKER_05 18:51

I mean physical safety and stupidity uh is exactly what I mean. I think we are talking the same thing, but yeah, we are, yeah, just using different words, yes.

SPEAKER_04 19:00

But I shouldn't want them to be threatened, is what it's like exactly, yes.

SPEAKER_05 19:04

I don't want them to be challenged in a threatening or unsafe kind of way.

SPEAKER_04 19:09

I get it now.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

But so just to be clear for you know everybody else, when you say challenge, no, I want to be challenged. I want somebody if I make a mistake, you know, to say why you're doing this. The same thing that Bo is doing it right now. Um agree. Although Bo makes a lot of mistakes, but I'm not gonna say anything. I'm not gonna say anything.

SPEAKER_05 19:27

Well, that's how you get better, isn't it? Your wealth mistakes, and then you you fix them.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

But exactly, and again, I don't wait and I don't recommend anybody to to wait for the thing to be on a perfect time. The perfect time will never come. You want to be a kind of ready and you know just get a started. I said I'm starting this podcast. I know I have lots of flaws, and there are lots of things that you should do, but I'm doing it, and then I'm trying to get feedback, and uh I ask actually people to provide me feedback uh to see what I can improve on.

SPEAKER_05 20:00

So would that be advice you would give to your younger self?

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, don't be scared and failure, you're gonna fail. This is one of the biggest mistakes that uh um uh food is wanting that they said it has been bad people they don't respect, you know, they don't appreciate that how important it is. The other one is the the this matter of not being uh you know scared and they don't want to fail. And failure is considered as a bad thing. Failure is one of the best things. I'm not going, I'm I'm not saying do it intentionally to fail, it's gonna happen, but when it happens, embrace it. That's one of the best things. Yeah, uh, there is a I think Chinese proverb that says that it doesn't matter how many times you fall, it matters how many times you stand up. One of the best things. Yeah, and I agree with all that. That's good. If you don't get if you don't fail, you know you don't improve. You don't taste it, you get scared. It I don't okay. I think Justin Bieper was a good example. He was, I think at age 14, he became really popular and he just bent up. But I think around age 20 or something, something went wrong in his life, and he was just hit hard. I believe that because he'd really never tasted failure. And of course, I don't know the exact thing, but I believe but that was the case that he had never tasted failure, and that is why it was very difficult for him. And it took him a long time for it to recover.

SPEAKER_05 21:42

I have a question. Um, how many times does it take one to fail and recover to become comfortable with it? And uh I'll explain if it's not clear. Let's say uh when my daughter turned 14, she printed her young worker certificate. And she said, okay, we're going to look for work. So we went to, I don't know, 10 places. And after the first one, when she got the no, she was like, Oh, mom, you know, will I ever get a job? And then, you know, she was not very happy. She was kind of shy and depressed to go into the next one. And then as we finished all 10, she was like, Oh, this is actually easy. You know, they just say no, you just keep moving on.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Um, I think they live it.

SPEAKER_05 22:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

That's a very good thing. Actually, you're saying that. I remember this one. They say the biggest element for success is not the circumstances, is not your intelligence, is grit. How hard you push.

unknown 22:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

That's true. And that is very, very important. Another very good example is KFC. Although I do not recommend the food by any means, but that's disgusting.

SPEAKER_05 22:53

I've never had KFC, believe it or not.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Everybody's got it. It's awful. I don't know how they exist.

SPEAKER_04 22:59

But the guy tried at least like once, and then you'll know. Thanks, boom. I'm glad that you're not just why why why did I do this too much to my body? Why did I need this? And then you'll be like a year later, like, oh, I should try that again. And it just goes in a cycle.

SPEAKER_05 23:18

Boom. Yeah, I don't know. I just see those big buckets and just makes me makes me feel sick. I don't think I'll ever try it. I don't think I'll ever push myself hard enough to try it.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

But yeah, the guy who started, I forgot now his name. When he has started, he created the pot and the ingredients, I believe. And he went, I believe, to 1300 restaurants. So what's the number? You pick 1300 restaurants. Nobody took his offer. Then he started his own that became KFC. Yeah, it it this happens. The owner of uh Dairy Queen, he went bankrupt twice, I believe, or maybe three times till he did it. And actually, this is one difference between the American and the Canadian culture. In American culture, bankruptcy is not such a bad thing. Unfortunately, Canadian, if you go bankrupt, you cannot recover from it as easy. It's a very hard one. But so back to this, that you know how many times? A lot. Yeah. Of course, and not to come back and just doing the same thing, you know, to realize what where you went wrong and just try to improve on. Again, I'm not saying that.

SPEAKER_05 24:34

Or just do it enough times until you get to that one that's meant for you.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

And of course, you remember a few things we should remember. Sometimes some of the failure they may break you completely. True. Then you have to be, we don't talk about that kind of failure. Not for example, let's say a financial risk that you take that you know takes out all of your finances and you cannot even live your life, you know, properly. I wouldn't recommend that. Um something that you can take it and feel comfortable with it. But how much that is, it's gonna be different from person to person. But as we do it, we get used to it and it becomes easier. For example, if I tell you something, I'm gonna just throw this very quickly. Myself, I'm swinging my bank right now in the process. And sometime you know, a friend of mine said that, Mo, how dare you are you do this thing?

SPEAKER_04 25:30

And I said, to be honest, I started small, and then I just and at times I failed, at times I failed for sure, but kind of I get a kick out of it because I why are you suing your bank? I need to know more.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

I will I will do a podcast about that. I do it for very good reasons. I think I'm I'm trying to, but the very main reason is to make a better change. That's all it is. That's that that's the very main design. I don't do things just because I want to, because I like it or something. That's not how it function. And I believe I said in a previous podcast, I said I have this rule. I say I don't kiss ass because I need to, I don't kick ass because I can, I do it because it's right. So that's the very main reason. Oh, I like that one. Yeah, and if I make a mistake, you know, I would because sometimes you have to. I have been challenged. What do you how do you know that you know it is right? I say, I don't, you know, but the point is that sometimes you have to make a decision. What's the principle that you have to make that decision? For me, is the fact that is it correct? Is it doing something, you know, is it is it right? That's all I think about. And I had mentioned again before, I never ever, not never, ever, I should maybe take that back. You know, I don't think about the consequences. If the consequences, of course, are extreme that I can, you know, get harmed or something extremely, sure. But most of the time that's not the case. I don't think about the consequences. We don't, we never know the consequences. Consequences can, you know, in one generation, two generations, three generations, they can be so much different.

SPEAKER_04 27:12

So, because of that, I never listening to this, please think about the consequences before you do something. I yeah, this is yeah, I think you want to take your chances.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

I would say no, no, no. Like okay. I mean, I have to again as I say about the think about the children. Where did this come from? So for the man, I'm saying that you called for it. I'm not gonna get the children.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Stop it. You're not thinking about the children.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_05 27:55

Yeah, this is not advice you want to give to your young self.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Actually, no, no, no, don't do it. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_04 28:01

If it's the right thing, do whatever the hell you want, and then do you want to do it?

SPEAKER_01 28:08

It is getting recorded here. Oh my god, you can you guys can twist my words so badly. No, but anyway, uh uh I said, you know, I do a lot of Dan knows a lot about this thing. I have done a lot of this thing in the past, and you know, I'm okay with it. I'm as much as I can take the risk, I can, and it's not a limited, unlimited thing. No, there is a limit that sometimes I cannot take that risk, and um on in those situations I stop, but you know, no, I and but as you do it, you get used to it. And as for example, when I do this, some people they find this stressful. I enjoy it actually, I find it exciting, but anyways. So back to the topic again. Uh, when it comes again, uh Dan, do you want to add something here? What would you tell your younger self?

SPEAKER_00 29:03

Uh, just basically basically what you said. It's uh a little bit of health advice, a little bit of financial advice, and uh, I think everything kind of works from there.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

One more thing, maybe I should add be very careful to watch who you're surrounding yourself with.

SPEAKER_00 29:23

One is that because this well, that's kind of where the health advice comes in. There's some people that are just simply toxic. Another thing that's if you're taking care of yourself properly, then um, those people they won't align and they kind of weed themselves out.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

Another thing that maybe I should add that are you a good person to be around with? You know, that somebody else picks you. This is and because sometimes we look at ourselves as a victim and the whole world is around us that they're responsible. I want to just flip it a little bit. That are you gonna be the good friend? So that is another thing. But yeah, basically the people you surround yourself with, and to be honest, thanks to internet and technology, if you can't find those people, there are lots of good people online, such as myself. You know, you can't you can't uh you know, you can find and not just go listen to, and they will help. It's very helpful. So if you cannot find the help uh in your own group, you can find it online. There are lots of them existing and discuss it.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

There's also your future self who can show up and tell you things.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

It becomes young. Bo, did you want to say something? What would you tell your younger self?

SPEAKER_04 30:47

Um, I would tell my younger self don't get married to your first wife, just leave. Marrying will not fix the relationship, so don't do it. Just leave. And then I get into a time paradox as I'm giving specific advice.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

It is interesting. Now, actually, I'm gonna go back and ask you this question. Now you brought this up, this time paradox thing. If I would tell you, and three of you, you know, and anybody that listens to this, if I would say you can go back five years, be five years younger, but you cannot change anything, would you want to go back five years and repeat your life?

SPEAKER_04 31:34

No, no, I would just give myself a thumbs up.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Okay, Dan.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Oh, I think I would.

SPEAKER_05 31:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

Okay. And Billy?

SPEAKER_05 31:47

No, I wouldn't. Five years back, no, I wouldn't. If if I want five years back, I'd change a lot of things, but I wouldn't relive the last five years.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

Okay. But if I would say you can go right now at the Philippa Finger, you can go five years ahead, and anything that wanted to happen has happened. Would you want that?

unknown 32:09

Bo.

SPEAKER_05 32:10

I wouldn't either.

SPEAKER_01 32:11

Bo. Are you still thinking? Bo? I don't do it.

SPEAKER_04 32:24

Sorry, sorry, I'm I'm muting, I'm muting because I don't want you to hear me make a noise. But um no, I wouldn't because then you jump five years ahead, you don't know what happened the last five years. Then what about you? Not cool.

SPEAKER_05 32:37

Not cool, correct? Yep. Would you, Mo?

SPEAKER_01 32:43

No.

SPEAKER_00 32:45

I think I would. I'll play the contrary card here.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

I think one of the very main reasons people say no to both, because if five years from now I come back again, ask you the same question. Do you want to go five years back, which would be today, right now, most likely would say no, because you said no to the previous past five years. So, what I'm trying to say that I think most of the life is just excitement and that unknown part of it, too. That we don't know what's gonna happen next.

SPEAKER_04 33:15

Are you telling me that life is about the journey, not the destination?

SPEAKER_01 33:21

That was a big conclusion. I would say a little bit, yeah, the excitement part of it. I would just leave it to that. I have to think about the rest of that.

SPEAKER_05 33:30

I actually do like that one. It is about the journey, and I think um that's another thing that you know we we waste time worrying about the destination and we totally forget to enjoy the the journey. Good one, Bo.

SPEAKER_04 33:46

That was the brand. That was Brandon Sanderson, that wasn't me. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

Well, I heard it from you, so you were about to get the credit here, Bo. Come on.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

Well, come on, I think. I would get I would get sued pretty pretty pr pr pr pretty hard.

SPEAKER_05 34:05

But anyway, so yeah, no, that's a good one, actually.

SPEAKER_01 34:08

Yeah, one more time, very quickly. If I wanted that, what would I tell my younger self? Definitely would be again health. I want to repeat that. Honestly, it's so so important. And health means food, being active, and exercise. So important. It is really not paid attention as much. And when I say exercise, remember in a sports that they damage your body, I wouldn't recommend them as much. Personally, I did martial arts. I I would have been more careful. But for example, some sports that they damage your body really badly, and you have you're left with the consequences, although that is how I make a living, by the way. I'm a physio, but yet I wouldn't recommend it. The other one, I said the connections that definitely you don't want to leave on the back burner. You want to have good connections and meaningful connections. That is not the quantity, but really the quality, which would be probably your friends and families, obviously. And then the other one would be for the finances, they are very important. But finance again, up to a hundred thousand dollar income. And of course, when you're younger, you may not have that for sure. But you know, just to make the grounds for it, you know, to get there. Don't compete, don't compare. If you want to use them as a guideline, sure. But be more focused on what you're doing than what others are doing. That's another very important part. Um does anybody want to add anything?

SPEAKER_04 35:45

That's all very good advice that doesn't alter the future. Good job.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

Remember this. Now you said it doesn't alter. Is that what you said?

SPEAKER_04 35:57

Yeah, it doesn't bring you into a spot where it's like you would, you know, like put all your money into Apple. You know what I mean? Like it's a it's advice that's like maybe not it'll be good. Good good stuff to hear, but it won't exactly set you in a position where you have to worry about time stuff.

SPEAKER_01 36:17

One thing actually I want to say, this is small changes. Sometimes people they think that life, for example, has some one moment is a dramatic change is gonna happen. That's not how it works. Life changes one step at a time, often. Sometimes can be dramatic. You get in a car crash, something serious happened, that's trauma. But we are talking again statistically generally, generally we change one step at a time. And it's actually very important. The things that we do right now, it can the I say that the the the basically it would be exponential. The change that happens is exponential at the beginning. When you're a teenager, you know, it doesn't show that much between you and your friend if you don't eat healthy, if you don't exercise, if you don't study, if you don't have an income, if you don't have very many friends. It will not make that much of a difference. But as the years go by, it makes a huge difference. I have used this so the state of mind is very, very important. I want to say that it does make a difference, and it makes a huge difference. One thing that I have used as an example is Cisco, the company that does the food delivery for the restaurants and this bigger corporation or something like that. They I think they started in the 1960s or something, but the I think the father started, but then the two sons they took over, something like that. So don't quote me on that part. But you know, at that time, there were lots of other companies that they did exactly the same thing that Cisco did. But this uh new owners, they had this different state of mind, just because of that state of mind, they bought other uh companies instead of competing with them for the most part, and Cisco now 30, 40, 50 years after, is you can check in billions, I think their sales is. What is the difference between them at that time? What was the difference and the other companies of the same type? Cuban is not as much, but what happened when it happened, you know, that 50 years after there is such a huge difference, it was just always started very small. So when we say those changes don't happen, they do. So this thing that I'm just saying makes a huge difference. And I'm not talking now to to go for the money part. That's not what I was you know kind of alluding to, but I was using that as a as an example. I would recommend again, you want to have a good life. That is where I was going. For a good life, you know, you want to have see what is your weakest link, and it differs from you know one person to another person, from one obvious circumstance to the another circumstance, but check that. And every now and then, this is something that I forgot to mention. I would strongly recommend every so many months, review your life to see are you on the right path? Is that where you're going? If you wanted to go on top of the mountain, sometimes you may have to step back, take a different route. Sometimes you're actually going backwards. But for going up, you may have to change route. So you want to assess your ways, you know, every every six months or so, I would say, to check, to see are you on the right path? That is very, very important. Otherwise, and because of that, I'm saying pay attention to what you're doing and where you're going. Don't worry too much about the others. This is how it works. I thought somebody would clap and say, Oh wow, that was great. Nobody did that.

SPEAKER_00 40:07

You'll read it in the comments section there. I'll put a clappy hand, emote emoticon in there. Good, and uh and a timestamp for you.

SPEAKER_01 40:20

Another thing I saw I have made so oh, that's awesome. I can I can see that. Actually, a few notes that I have made in here, I say doing poorly on a right direction, in a right direction, is much better than doing great in a wrong direction. You might think this is a very simple, you know, thing that I said. In the whole world, we are having wars, we are fighting each other, we make very nice weaponry. It comes out from this state of mind, the just a state of mind. That is the wrong state of mind. That's where I'm going with these things, and I'm hoping because if Badiamar was asking, why do you want to do this podcast? Why are you focusing mainly on the younger generation? I said, because first of all, older generation, often they have made up their mind, and often they are not as open-minded, you know, towards often. The younger generation is the one that's gonna take the lead in the years to come. And if their state of mind is correct, it will change the whole world. It really will. I the state of mind is just amazing. It's not just that how smart you are, how rich you are, how no, no, no. Would you put your you know, intelligence in building technologies to kill each other or to help each other?

SPEAKER_04 41:51

Do you advise your new generation? Should we learn math?

SPEAKER_01 41:55

They are I would say they're not gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_04 41:58

Don't be such weaners.

SPEAKER_03 42:03

Oh my god, that's good advice too.

SPEAKER_05 42:05

But as a mother of two teenagers, um that sounds um I I don't I can't even define it, but those kids are so um living such a hard life with first of all not having any privacy. Um they can't do anything that's not going to be recorded and or posted somewhere. Um, so that's uh I don't know if that makes them winners, as you said. Um, but I think they're they're having a real hard time.

SPEAKER_04 42:35

Um get off of it. There's no business. You have to be on and stuff.

SPEAKER_05 42:40

And that's easy, that's way easier to say than than it is to do.

unknown 42:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 42:45

So I totally agree with you. And and I agree with Mohammed that, you know, younger generations, we need to inspire them to become the best version of themselves for themselves and for everybody else. Because, you know, those kids one day are going to be our doctors, our lawyers, our, you know, politicians, pilots, you name it. We need them to be good at what they will do. And I totally agree with you, learn math, because that's uh I find math to be the basic, the basic for everything. Um, but I wouldn't call them winners. I think they're having an insanely hard time being who they are in the times that they live in. It is very hard. And and again, I see that as a parent, and that's what I believe a lot of people may disagree and may say, oh my God, just take their phone away, or or make them put their phone away. Um, it's not that easy because their community is online, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_04 43:36

Um I don't think that that's not even what I'm talking about. It's like I'm I'm in trade, right? And I and I employ people, and I find that the young kids coming out, there's there's no they have no self-confidence, they can't add and divide or add and subtract fractions. Um they look at you with like a deer a deer and headlights when you tell them to do to do something, and it's like, okay, come on. Like, and I get people need to be taught, I get I get all. stuff, but it's just like you know, it's like they're too afraid to do something.

SPEAKER_05 44:05

Yeah, I totally agree with you on that one. I had a math teacher that never let us use um calculators. My kids were always allowed to use cal well I I didn't allow them and I I did a lot of math uh through play with them at home. But they just um they take the easy route because everybody does. So they're like, you know, why would I, you know, be three seconds slower and get in my head and then learn to be faster than them ultimately. I'm just gonna take the easy route and use the calculator. I think uh phones again are behind poor performance in math. And my partner is in construction. So sometimes he comes with stories of young people that as you say they they just can't do simple math and it's it's horrible. It's devastating.

SPEAKER_01 44:51

But um I said I wouldn't worry too much about that though.

SPEAKER_04 44:56

That that brought up a thing about taking the easy way all the time. I had that just last week where this a kid good kid reason he's just come along really well but always thinking about how can I take the easy way I'm like you know what stop doing that and just take the hard way out and just do it properly. You know? And always always sitting there paralyzed how can I do it easier? How can I do it tech quote unquote quote quote unquote faster. Well just do it do it do it properly and do it good and then you're done.

SPEAKER_05 45:23

Well I think they have it learned to take pride in what they do. I think that's why they take the easy way out they just want to get it done and to get it over with. They don't want to do a good job and take pride in it. That's what I think.

SPEAKER_01 45:34

I think we are getting a little bit off the topic but one thing I would say that no actually I would go for the low-hanging fruit I would try to do it as easy as possible as long as the quality hasn't been challenged. That is one of the things and math thing to be honest you know again if the calculator does a faster job let it be I understand the concept that you're trying to disagree with that one respectfully. No no I hate calculators I hate people that well sorry that's a very strong word I don't hate anybody but it blows my mind when I see somebody that can't do simple math it's like where do you come from the simple math if you're talking of really really simple I don't know five multiple five you know it becomes 26 okay 25 you know um sure I understand that but that that is a different subject to be honest I think okay but that is that we leave it on on I don't know some some I will do the podcast that talks about math I'm very opinionated on it I I think there is something to be said about it though.

SPEAKER_00 46:38

The um you know mental discipline is a uh it's kind of like your body you know you if you don't use it you might lose it exactly you never move if you sit in the couch all day you know your your body will simply adapt to that and you you you have a sort of a kind of a couch shaped body that uh you know you know you need basically foam padding just to even be comfortable sitting or you're just even sitting there breathing. But I and I so I I think the mind is a uh is a it's a terrible thing to waste and I think how you exercise it or at least traditionally one of the ways of exercising the mind was mathematics. Yep and you know you do it because it's not necessarily a uh you're not always trying to get an end result like you're trying to build uh this or or calculate something else for some other reason you you do it because it's it keeps the mind sharp you have to follow steps you cannot skip steps you have to you know there's a there's there's reasons for why you would plot a graph a certain way the uh why a formula looks the way it is and it these things are not always obvious it's kind of like um I know people who go to these very fancy universities like Oxford they'll say well you know I did my PhD at Oxford I I I I basically went to went to read at Oxford so they don't even say they like it's they didn't do research at Oxford they didn't study at Oxford they went to Oxford to read and the subtext to that I think is that by the time you get to like a high level university like Oxford you're able you're capable of reading some very complicated esoteric texts and you you you and sometimes these things are kind of like they're like they're years in the making you start in grammar school you might do high school you might do preparatory school and at every level your reading gets challenged and the more you read the better you get at it. So ultimately you get to a point where you can do some very sophisticated reading. And I've seen lawyers they've practiced for years and years and years and they've done all sorts of reading they can uh they sit down and they'll look at your 20 page contract and it's just like oh yeah this is what it's all about and they can explain the whole thing. It would take a lay person who doesn't or has never practiced that level of reading who doesn't understand the jargon doesn't understand the grammar doesn't understand the first thing you could put that contract in front of them it means nothing absolutely nothing and so I I think it's the same with mathematics.

SPEAKER_01 49:37

If you can do two plus two I suppose that's okay you're functional but you're you're probably never gonna you're not gonna be living up to your potential the way that a person who has got a well trained mathematical mind can do things that are you know we're not talking about orders of magnitude quadratic equations here in matrices we're talking like multiplication and addition yeah you want to like finite area you know I mean things like that yeah I I I and I you know I think what what's being demonstrated if they're looking for shortcuts is that they they've obviously got some kind of a deficiency they haven't read enough they haven't done enough math so they're you know they're looking for some kind of easy out the calculator is one way of getting that easy out AI is another way you can ask AI to figure out your math homework for you but I think that robs the uh that's just ultimately going to uh rob people of opportunities they'll just always be weak they'll never know if you don't mind you know uh as I said I think that we are getting a little bit probably off the topic now uh if you don't mind I'm gonna wrap it up but I'm gonna just say this very quickly that again when it comes to that advice to younger self of course something that should not be forgotten subscribe to this channel that's very important and like and share but another thing curiosity curiosity very important and know where you're going you want to have a good life having the wealth fame health power connections all of those things are excuses to have a good life so and then reassess every now and then just reassess and again be prepared that you're gonna screw up and it's just fine. Basic that becomes the great part of it that now how to get there as you can see we have some disagreements you know between us that you know what works what doesn't that's again with the curiosity they can solve that one and as I have said it before to I say people don't resist change resist being changed and curiosity is the key that they can change on their own without anybody telling them anyway I want to thank everybody for uh for again participating in this and uh of course when it comes to this to be honest you know there are lots of things that can be said but the whole podcast that I'm doing is basically about this to make life better you know so it's not going to be in one episode but the essence of it I think curiosity will help you to find a way and where you want to go you will find a way and sometimes you have to go take a detour sometimes you go up and down and because of that again you cannot compete or compare yourself with others pay attention to where you're going not to where others are going. And uh really that would be it. And as I have always said life is simple. We make it complicated thanks everyone