Reflection on inputs

Everything I see, eat, hear, feel, and experience is input to me. Depending on what those inputs are and how I decide to process them, they become part of who I am. It’s crucial to understand what my inputs are, their effects on me, and how I am processing them.

Inputs to myself

To find out the inputs into myself, I need to understand how I spend my time. Let’s be brutally honest.

• Watching Youtube: TFT games, League of Legends videos, K-pop idols, Anime reviews, Tennis highlights/instructional videos, Movie reviews, Basketball, and very occasionally EO (startup) videos and development videos.
• Playing tennis: Almost 4-5 times a week, I play tennis for 2-3 hours after work.
• Work: programming, reading about frameworks/libraries, writing design documents, etc.
• Scrolling through Instagram.
• Talking with Annie
• Talking with roommate Hyung
• Meeting people from tennis
• Talking with colleagues

These days, I feel the urge to change the inputs to myself. Why? Because I feel like some of the current inputs won’t change me for the better in the long term. I would like to expose myself to new inputs that will bring change in myself.

New inputs

• Books: biography, history, behavior, technology
• A more diverse set of people. (let’s meet them through tennis?)
• Different kinds of videos on YouTube: EO startup, dev videos, lectures from top researchers, lectures from top people managers
• Podcasts: Hidden Brain, The Daily, etc.
• Research papers: systems, AI systems, AI, web3, etc.
• Web3
• Workout
• Yoga

Let’s start small but surely.

Concrete action plan to build habits for new inputs

• Listen to podcasts while driving.
• On Saturday or Sunday, go to a quiet cafe and read books.
• Subscribe to those channels on Youtube and block the kinds of videos I don’t want to show up in my feed.
• Go to any tennis meetings 30 minutes early. Start with drills and serve practices.
• In the morning, read one research paper or web3 article.
• Register for yoga classes nearby.
• On days I don’t play tennis, hit the gym.
• Reach out to tennis enthusiasts in Microsoft. Create a group. Meet regularly.