I had to unlearn being so cautious and learn to start taking advantage of the opportunities I see.

It's really a matter of having the courage of my convictions. I've invested far more intellectual energy into my worldview than most people do, so following the safe/normal/default path doesn't really make much sense.

There are almost too many things to list, but one thing that really stood out was that people with degrees aren't always the amazing geniuses people think they are, this is especially true of doctors.

More often it's a case of some deep specialization with a lack of depth of thinking in many other aspects.

I've seen almost too many examples of this to count over the years, but the first time the penny dropped for me was when I was on an exchange trip in Russia in 05.

One girl from the UK group was studying Russian at Oxford and I felt like, she must be some next-level elite, after all, Oxford and all that. This is the top percentile of the country.

Meanwhile, I had been teaching myself for a few years with nothing but self-study books (and there weren't many), pen pals, and internet radio - real old school. I had some penpal from Ufa send me some newspapers and literal VHS tapes of some Russian movies.

I was 19 I think and I still remember feeling insecure in the presence of all these people that were at university, after all, I finished school and did a little bit of college (which isn't college in the US sense). I wasn't a credential person.

Anyway, turns out the Oxford wizard was absolutely terrible, and could hardly speak. it was all book theory. The rest of the uni students absolutely sucked, it was almost comical.

I couldn't believe it, I, a nobody, was the strongest speaker there. The dorm lady responsible for our floor would come and seek me out to translate all the chaos other foreigners got up to.

That was a big lesson and I was so glad that instead of going into debt to play the stupid university games, I taught myself, saved up, and then actually went and lived in the country.

For lovers of credentials, I did independently take exams too later on and got the highest level Russian as a foreign language certification there is, that was more of a personal goal though and it never made a difference in my life financially speaking.

The other underlying lesson was that, if you have passion and persistence and put the work in, you can self-educate to whatever level you want.

Education is something that can happen anytime, anywhere and people who think you need to have some piece of paper to prove your worth are nothing but fools (caviat - i understand there are professions like medicine, surgery, and flying planes, that require a formal structure and certificates)

Diversification is a big one with a lot of bitcoiners. Money has sucked for so long and other assets have been so unaccountable and unverifiable and vulnerable to things outside of our control that diversification is common sense.

It's a lot to say, I had to unlearn a lot, like actually almost all of the things from my family home. Let me share a few that are coming to my mind:

Thanks for sharing this thought provoking post along with the Mandarin idioms. The vast majority of people, the wage earners and blue collar working class, have little hope of saving their way to a higher standard of living. After years of saving fiat, they see that the house or flat they want is rising faster than their ability to save. At a certain point, saving becomes pointless and in a greater context, life becomes hopeless. This conclusion justifies immediate gratification, gambling, lottery prayers, alcohol and drug abuse, and other short term gratifications because there is no point thinking long term any longer. That being said, we should cherish the present moment, but not at the expense of the future. Sound money changes all this. Now the working class can save for that house or flat. Bitcoin brings back hope and purpose and something to look forward to. Saving essentially gives your energy and work today to society with the expectation that you we will be able store that work-energy and redeem the same value in the future. That is the purpose of money. What fiat destroys, Bitcoin restores.

I had to unlearn all the malicious and nefarious religious bullshit they taught me at school. It didn't take much time or effort, of course, for it's all far too ridiculous to even make any sense as soon as you think a little.

shortly into the stacking journey, my gf and i started sharing a meal when dining out instead of each ordering a separate meal. this requires consideration of each other's preferences and needs; holistic thought is activated. when dining out with normie couples, it is obvious that our decision-making is very different. we can actually no longer handle a large meal!

Keynesianism which they implemented in our virgin brains at university

sometimes I forget the most important moments, like forgetting to put a file in the cupboard, it's still on the table, if there is a small problem I also have to forget it, remembering that small problems are not that important, and the problem with my ex, I should also forget him, because he has belong to someone else, and may never come to me again.

Pretty much everything. The whole way I view reality has shifted. Of course this change includes but also goes beyond Bitcoin.

Till all the peels (as an onion) will be out

I had to unlearn the tendency to think i am smarter than everybody else