0 Slow Progress

Do not underestimate slow constant progress. You will never be able to see the progress of growing tree in your front yard. And yet it grows so tall over few years. You can not even see your kids grow so fast, You also Do not see your own aging. The progress is simply to slow to be noticed And yet it is so remarkably powerful. If you study a new language or a new skill, just make sure You make tiny constant progress. It will surprise you after two tree years how much you have changed. Read atomic habit, and start a new good habit, over years it will transform you. For example, If you just write one page everyday, you will finish writing a book in one year. This is amazing, but most people underestimate the tiny slow progress. Most people want instant gratification, instant result. They don't know that changed needs time. If you study mandarin and just memorize 2 words everyday, you will be able to master over 700 words a year. Most students Do not even recognize 100 hanzi after 4 years studying at school. They focus on the wrong thing, score. Score has nothing to do with skill. They waste their time. I waste my time on social media in the past. I spend hours everyday just too check who likes my post. If I used all the time learning a skill, I would have been the master of that particular skill. Now I realize that, I can't turn back time, But it's not too late. I learn mandarin by myself. I use pomodoro technique. I do 10 pomodoros everyday. I can't see the progress but I can feel it. After 2 or 3 years I will see. Maybe I need more time and it doesn't matter. I will make it. Even 4-5 years are nothing. Next 5 years, most people will skill busy on social media, no achievement whatsoever. They will say, "how come you can speak mandarin so fluently?". I am also planting sengon trees, in 5 years they will grow as tall as 15 meter and so it goes. Never underestimate the slow tiny constant progress.

0 Total self control is impossible

I can't control how my mind gives naration about anything. When I watch movie or news, authomatically my mind is busy with all kinds of narations. I can't even quiet my own mind. I can consciously control it for few seconds or at most minutes. I can somehow control myself to watch or not to watch certain news, movies or stories, but once I watch them it is too late to control how it affect my mind.
     Same as food, I can choose what to eat and what not to eat, but once I eat, I have no idea how my body handles them. The process is automatic and beyond my control.
     Feelings and thoughts are mostly automatic. I have very little control over them. It's hard to me to persuade myself to love what I don't love, to believe what I don't believe. I can't control what I don't really understand, how the mind and body work. Most people don't even understand themselves and yet try to control others.
     Actually I can only control the input, but not the process and the outcome. I can lift dumble everyday but whether or not it can shape my muscle, I have no control at all. I can read a book everyday but whether it can make me smarter or wiser, I have no control at all. Therefore I should only care to the input and maximize it.

0 Slow Progress

Slow progress Do not underestimate slow constant progress. You will never be able to see the progress of growing tree in your front yard. And yet it grows so tall over few years. You can not even see your kids grow so fast, You also Do not see your own aging. The progress is simply to slow to be noticed And yet it is so remarkably powerful. If you study a new language or a new skill, just make sure You make tiny constant progress. It will surprise you after two tree years how much you have changed. Read atomic habit, and start a new good habit, over years it will transform you. For example, If you just write one page everyday, you will finish writing a book in one year. This is amazing, but most people underestimate the tiny slow progress. Most people want instant gratification, instant result. They don't know that changed needs time. If you study mandarin and just memorize 2 words everyday, you will be able to master over 700 words a year. Most students Do not even recognize 100 hanzi after 4 years studying at school. They focus on the wrong thing, score. Score has nothing to do with skill. They waste their time. I waste my time on social media in the past. I spend hours everyday just too check who likes my post. If I used all the time learning a skill, I would have been the master of that particular skill. Now I realize that, I can't turn back time, But it's not too late. I learn mandarin by myself. I use pomodoro technique. I do 10 pomodoros everyday. I can't see the progress but I can feel it. After 2 or 3 years I will see. Maybe I need more time and it doesn't matter. I will make it. Even 4-5 years are nothing. Next 5 years, most people will skill busy on social media, no achievement whatsoever. They will say, "how come you can speak mandarin so fluently?". I am also planting sengon trees, in 5 years they will grow as tall as 15 meter and so it goes. Never underestimate the slow tiny constant progress.