Originally published here on April 30, 2021
Why I (am starting to) write and what you can expect from this blog
Welcome to my collection of ponderings
Hello, hello curious wanderers and fellow friends and family. To some of you, and myself, this project might come as a surprise: I always hated writing. It can feel tedious, exhausting, and, if your work is scrutinized by others, intimidating.
So why am I bothering writing now? In my free time?
This is first and foremost a personal experiment. I am seeking to challenge myself by deliberately doing things that are uncomfortable and using the power of social pressure to hold me accountable in building a hopefully beneficial new habit. So if my musings seem highly specific and don’t affect you, feel free to move on (no hard feelings).
Slowing down my thoughts
Over the past months specifically, I have noticed that my mind is charged and alert, yet unfocused.
I get excited about a range of topics and seek to understand and process them through reading, discussing, and ideally applying them in my life. However, often before reaching a basic level of understanding, I am already jumping to the next topic and can’t clearly articulate what I have been learning, making the time spent feel superficial and wasted.
This writing endeavor will force me to slow down and focus my thoughts. While typing out a new concept, you immediately notice the glaring gaps in your knowledge - you cannot simply brush over them as you would while speaking or thinking. Through structuring my thoughts, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the topics I care about, as well as learn about myself.
Further, it has started to bother me that most of my time, especially spent online, I am consuming rather than creating. I imagine that in addition to taming the idea whirlwind in my mind, sharing these concepts with others and engaging with challenging remarks will be a satisfying experience. Ideas and concepts that are tested in public and exposed to a range of opinions will become stronger and hopefully less wrong. (shoutout to Tim Urban for this excellent post on idea labs and echo chambers)
What content can you expect?
Of course, I hope you will also find value in my writing and invite you to join me on my small journey. The content will likely change over time as I develop new interests and discard old ones, but the topics I am currently most excited about are:
- 👋 My journey of “stepping out of the game”: (inspiration as so often: Naval) I quit my job working for a transit technology provider amidst the pandemic and am continuously exploring how to live a life free from pressures, external and internal.
- 🚀 Technology: Everything from why I’m excited about space exploration to living in virtual worlds and brain-machine-interfaces. Basically, all technologies poised to significantly change the way billions of people live and interact.
- 💸 Investing: How I hope to achieve financial independence without getting lucky AND while being able to sleep well at night. I’ve also been dabbling on and off in the crypto space since 2015, so there are many projects and concepts I am excited about and continuously challenged to wrap my head around.
- 🧬 Health and longevity: I’m only getting started in this exciting field, but am already fascinated and trying to weed out the signal from the noise.
- 📚 General life principles and decision education: Finding timeless rules that instill confidence and provide comfort in an ever-changing environment. Understanding how better decisions lead to better outcomes in all aspects of life.
I’m beyond excited and hope you are too! Please reach out if you have questions or comments.
Hab dich lieb! 💖
