R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness

Problems exist everywhere. Many of these problems are rather large and scary.

Yes, at any moment, the world is facing some terrible outcomes.

However, I have to pick and choose the battles then I want to fight.

For me, I know that there’s many problems, but the only thing that I can do is get up and fight the battles that are in my local neighborhood.

This means I have to ignore some battles, and some macro problems.

I also have to have a positive outlook, so I can keep going despite having so many problems to deal with in this world.

if you look at how much resources you would actually have by properly investing over 90 years you would be baffled in the extent it would be. Properly investing will result in unbelievable amount of wealth in the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars over the course of a century.

How come you were not investing for the next century?

During your #PhD education, you often have some really bad bouts of loneliness.

The two most important things that have made me feel not lonely is getting exercise and having a busy social schedule outside of any solo endeavors.

The most important things to deal with loneliness is to just have a busy social schedule outside of work.

Yes, it is okay not to work.

What I have found interesting in my own life is the strong correlation between me wanting to get up on Monday morning and having friends and family that you see on the weekends.

Taking time off to spend with people that are not associated with work always makes me feel like I can work.

Never think that time off is taking away from anything. It’s adding to your life.

Just go get things done.

You’re going to learn a lot of things when you actually try some thing.

The biggest lesson you realize it’s really up to you.

You also realize all of the little issues along the way that you would never forecast. Things that you think would be easy upfront are not easy and you can’t anticipate the problems that you can experience.

However, you can’t wait for other people to come help you. They are never gonna come. Nobody is coming to the rescue.

Just got to work at it yourself and get it done yourself.

Most people will sit back and think that somebody else is creating some thing in their life. Remember everything around you has been made up.

If you want to actually make a difference, you just have to make it happen.

You start doing things that you think are seemingly below you, and you keep pursuing those things relentlessly.

There’s no other way of making some thing happen then just getting up and making it happen.

I don’t like making things happen just as much as you do, but I choose to do it regardless of how it actually feels.

It’s just a matter of determining that you’re going to make it happen, and just making it happen.

Start making things happen.

I discussed the nature of sophistication in empirical methods. I struggle with finding the appropriate amount of sophistication for the broader audience. My preference is to not have any sophistication, and allow people to see information based on base rate data. However, the rest of the world wants some sophistication in what you actually do.

we only role models in our lives. His role models come in different ways. They don’t necessarily have to be people that are close to you, and you can understand your self through them.

I’m a big fan of media in allowing us to understand ourselves. Listening to the stories of other people allows us to frame her thoughts and come to understand who we are.

Try to find role models in your life that will add value over the long run. These Romanos come and go, and you meet them at different times in your lives.

How do you manage switching costs, given their switching costs? Work on as few projects as possible, and avoid switching between projects unless you have to.

The answer to how do you build community is complicated, and there’s really not a good solution.

In order to make good decisions in your life, you need as much information as possible. Because of that, you need people in your corner that are going to be honest and tell you both the costs and benefits of what you were going to do.

And with larger decisions in your life, you need to find people that are going to tell you the truth and be in your corner.

Unfortunately, few people in this world like to tell you the truth and the pros and cons of major #decisions.

Each person is incentivized to only tell half truths.

However, I will always try to be a person that will be honest with you. I will tell you all that I actually know.

If I don’t know some thing, I’ll try to let you know that I don’t know it.

This allows you to make more appropriate decisions, and also builds a trusting relationship as you know that I would not do anything that I would not say.

In the long run, I think being as honest as possible helps to make decisions and build trust.

It is why I speak openly about the pros and cons of #PhD research, doing things that are #innovative, and everything else that happened to my life.