Rules For A Successful Life

The following is something I wrote over a decade ago on my old (and now defunct) Dain Bramage blog.  I thought it was worthwhile then.  I think it remains worthwhile.

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I've been mulling this over for some time. One of the things that bothers me is the idea that there are some sort of barriers that keep people from succeeding. Some will suggest that it is impossible to break out of poverty.

Impossible? Not at all.

Hard to do? Yup. It takes hard work and dedication.

But how to do it. That's the question. What follows is my answer to that very question.

• Go to school.
  
• Stay in school.
  
• Don't do drugs (alcohol and tobacco inclusive)
  
• Don't have sex if you can't afford to raise the results. Marriage before having children works best.
  
• Graduate.
  
• Get a job [or better still, start a business]. Any job. Any pay. Work hard. It's called paying your dues.
  
• Get more education. A trade school. The military. College. Something. Something productive that is. It doesn't matter if you have to do it one class at a time. Make education a priority.
  
• Get another job [or start another business]. Work hard. Repeat as necessary. It's called climbing the ladder.
  
• Save. Make it a priority.
  
• Invest. Make it a priority.
  
• Avoid credit cards.
  
• If one is so inclined, get married and if the inclination is incurable, have kids....after making sure that you can afford to raise them. Somewhere between the ages of 28 and 40 is a good spot for most people if the other rules have been followed.
  

You can violate a couple of these rules and things will still turn out OK. Perhaps not as good as they might have otherwise, but OK nonetheless. Follow all the rules and you can't miss.

This is the sort of advice that I wish I'd been given when I was much younger. I've fallen into a couple of those traps and digging out is a bear. Better not to fall into one of them in the first place.

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An afterwords of sorts. Over the intervening years, I have had a chance to interact with more people.  One of the continuing observations that we encounter more frequently is that western society, and the United States in particular, contains certain cultural obstacles that make it harder for some people to succeed.

Well I agree to an extent.  There are cultural obstacles to success.  There are some people that start the race 100 yards behind the starting line.  There are some people that have to run with higher hurdles in their lane.

None of that changes the utility of this advice.  Where it is incumbent upon those that do not face those obstacles to help reduce those cultural barriers, it is equally incumbent upon those that want a successful life to assimilate the habits that create that success in the first place.

Sublime

Being oriented more towards the science end the world, I am more familiar with the use of the term "sublimation" than with the term "sublime".

Sublimation is the process of a material transitioning from being a solid to being a gas.  Gasses are considered to be a higher state relative to solids.  Liquids fall in between.

The descriptive use of sublime later became associated with a peak condition or experience.  The pretentious will routinely use the term "sublime" thus rendering it less than sublime.  The redundant will use the term "most sublime".

As with many superlatives, we may be better served by reserving the descriptive use of "sublime" for those occasions that more accurately reflect its meaning.  From a non-scientific perspective, such occasions might be those where an event transends from the base process or elements to become something truly unique.

Consider for a moment the lowly comic strip.  In particular, consider strip number 1190 from Randall Munroe of XKCD fame.



The strip began in the wee hours of March 26^th using the alternate (mouse over) text "Wait for it".  The image changed ever so slightly every half hour or so.  Over the course of the day (now 12 hours in as of this writing), the image has changed so that it appears as a sort of stop action film when viewed sequentially.  I have no idea how the images will unfold or when they will cease.  Randall's history suggests that this could be a massive undertaking that may last for days.  It might also be a huge April Fool's Day joke for all we know.

Only time will tell.

The art of XKCD is almost uniformly simplistic.  Yet it is through these simple images that Randall communicates thoughts ranging from base puns and geeky legerdermain to observations that come dazzlingly close to sublime.

As the successive images have unfolded thus far, a couple has been seen sitting on a beach.  They give the impression of being together, talking, walking a short distance, and building a sand castle.  One of the couple left the scene at one point and seemingly returned later on.  The other person continued to work on the castle throughout the elapsed time.

The reaction to this strip suggests that it is transcending the initial impression of simple stick figures in motion into being a larger commentary on human perceptions.  Within twelve brief hours, XKCD forum posts on this cartoon had jumped up to near 800.  Those comments ranged from very technical discussions regarding the computer code required to pull off this digital feat to broader discussions about perceptions of time and the relevance of this piece of art.

One comment that I enjoyed a great deal was by Clavuluza:

Is anyone else concerned at the fact that half-hours go by so quickly? I mean, I can measure my life in half-hours and they seem so ephimeral; reminds me of the Fight Club quote, "this is your life and it's ending one minute at a time". Also, this comic is making us wait to see developments, which is awfully close to real life interactions with stuff (which is kinda cool and very very meta). Furthermore, I am quite amazed at how everyone is trying to figure out some meaning behind it all when maybe, and quite possibly, it's just a pretty comic (much like real life, again), (though by being art it carries meaning just for existing).

Am I making any sense? Whatever, I'm really enjoying this experience.

(And to the people making unhappy predictions, if/when the comic ends and if/when it does it terribly, you can rightly say "I told you so" all you want; but for now, shut up! you're depressing everyone).

Whether or not these images are intended to have Deep Philosophic Significance, they have inspired a great deal of introspection.  Obviously, these images invite recursive analysis regarding the comments they inspire.

There are times in life when one should exist within the moment rather than being focused on deconstructing and analyzing the world around them.  In such times, it is as important to see and experience as it is to process and comment.  These are rare occasions.  And in this case, it is sublime.

Enjoy.

How I Want To Die....

Of course, I'd prefer to avoid the car crash, but holding her hand when I go would be fine with me.  And if there is another side, then I wouldn't want to keep her waiting for very long!  And being the sort of greedy wretch that I am, I'd miss her terribly if I went first.

Gordon died at 3:38 p.m. holding hands with his wife as the family they built surrounded them.

"It was really strange, they were holding hands, and dad stopped breathing but I couldn't figure out what was going on because the heart monitor was still going," said Dennis Yeager. "But we were like, he isn't breathing. How does he still have a heart beat? The nurse checked and said that's because they were holding hands and it's going through them. Her heart was beating through him and picking it up."

"They were still getting her heartbeat through him," said Donna Sheets.

At 4:48 p.m., exactly one hour after Gordon died, Norma passed too.

But I'd wait forever if that is what it took to be with her again.