Kene Ezeaputa
Bio
Trying to do my best
Stories (26/0)
Do What You Like Best
To the best of your ability In November of last year (2022), I told myself that I would start posting a weekly article. I thought it would be a good way for me to build discipline, and it would be cool to be able to say, "I've written x amount of articles in x amount of weeks." It was a way for me to feel productive, but these last couple days, I've been asking myself, "What am I doing?" mostly because I don't enjoy writing! This same thing has happened to me before, where I commit to doing something to build discipline that I actually don't like doing. I know many people feel this way from time to time. You don't want to work the most; you want to get the most out of the work done. And part of that is doing work you enjoy. In fact, the willingness to endure because you like what you are doing is often an unfair advantage in the workplace. But you can't mistake enjoyment of the process with enjoyment of production. For example, it gives many people great enjoyment to look back on the day and say they had a great workout (production), but if the process is miserable, you will eventually lose sight of the end goal. This could be minimized by making the process more enjoyable (by hiring a trainer, making a schedule, etcetera). but no one gets far gritting their teeth at the process. Do you think Van Gogh had to psych himself into enjoying painting? Or that Einstein did not gravitate towards physics? A general rule for work and building discipline is to do what you like best, to the best of your ability. Don’t try to force yourself to be a writer, artist, or athlete. Discipline yourself in the areas you enjoy most and incorporate other activities to keep you on your toes. Said another way, be(find) who you are and pay minimal attention to what is not essential. If you can do this you will find your north star.
By Kene Ezeaputa3 months ago in Humans
The disease of our time
Amusing ourselves to death I enjoy keeping up with current popular books and what's going on in the reading community. Unfortunately, a trend has increased that I believe to be a symptom of our sick society. People are more obsessed with volume than with value. This means that people would rather read 30 good new books than three great old ones. This idea that volume is greater than value is everywhere, most notably in the news. Do you really need to know what is happening every day, let alone every week? One could say that by spending so much time consuming superficial content, we are amusing ourselves to death.
By Kene Ezeaputa3 months ago in Humans
Don't let potential be written on your grave
Identify Your identity is holding you back; The identity you have created for yourself through your own experiences and other people's comments about you has created a box in your mind. Many of the ways we choose to identify ourselves are secretly detrimental to our growth. Whether your identity is "positive" or "negative," it is holding you back from reaching your full potential. The person who says, "I’m dumb," does not put themselves out there to develop intellectually, and the same is true for the person who identifies with being smart. They struggle to persevere when competing above their perceived intellectual level, so they settle for a lower class where they are still in the top 1/3 of students but are not learning as much. Either way, both individuals limit their potential by putting labels on their identities.
By Kene Ezeaputa3 months ago in Humans
Lessons on how to live
ADVICE When I was in high school, I read a book called The Catcher in the Rye it was a required class reading. I thought the book was inherently quirky because it did not seem to develop a deep story, - rather it showed what a week looked like for a fringe high school boy. As I got to the end of the book, I came across what I believe to be the archetypal piece of advice. “Among other things, you will find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened or even sickened by human behavior. You are by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You will learn from them—if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It is a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry.”. I was shocked, that one quote made the whole book worth it. But to my surprise when it came time to discuss the theme of the book, not a single person mentioned it. The idea that someone has been where you are today and has recorded their experiences is a fundamental prerequisite to seeking advice. You do not have to know everything you just need to know where to look and that is worth remembering.
By Kene Ezeaputa3 months ago in Humans
Discipline defines the hero
“Every action is a vote for the person you want to become.” You could choose to change your life today—or at the very least aim yourself upward. You could find joy in the small sacrifices you make every day to reach your "potential", knowing you are becoming something more. In this way, sacrifice is a means of transformation, with the transformation being proportional to the sacrifice.
By Kene Ezeaputa4 months ago in Motivation
Discipline defines the hero
“Every action is a vote for the person you want to become.” You could choose to change your life today—or at the very least aim yourself upward. You could find joy in the small sacrifices you make every day to reach your "potential", knowing you are becoming something more. In this way, sacrifice is a means of transformation, with the transformation being proportional to the sacrifice.
By Kene Ezeaputa4 months ago in Motivation
Madness, Death and Perseverance - 3 quotes for the week
Every Wednesday, I share what I believe to be wise statements. This can include short stories, quotes or life experience. My goal is to encourage others to think about life with a clearer vision and get an understanding of how someone ought to live.
By Kene Ezeaputa4 months ago in Education
A year old isn't a year better
Every year I like to look back on the lessons I learned and compile them into an article. It encourages me to think more critically about the progress I've made and who I want to become. Although I'm not perfect, I hope you can take something from my experience.
By Kene Ezeaputa6 months ago in Motivation
A brave new world in politics
How does your car work? You look at a car and you think the key triggers the engine, which delivers power to the wheels and provides energy for the car's system. But in actuality, the engine moves the transmission, which moves the car, and the car battery is what electrifies the car. When we encounter something we don't understand we simplify it. Another example is your music player - which you have no idea how it works - so you generalize just enough to conceptualize it. You think tapping a music file from my library allows the file to be played through my speakers, but that doesn't account for Bluetooth or translating the the data file into audio. Both the car and music example are lacking deep understanding because they are generalizations. Generalization has become a necessity with the increase of complex gadgets and systems. But that habit, despite its benefits, has a fatal flaw. The quintessential example is in politics. There is no doubt that the issues we face today are more complex than our predecessors. The issues of privacy in the information era, capitalism, medicine, climate change, totalitarian regimes with nuclear weapons, globalization, abortion, wealth inequality, and the role of the government are all issues that are multifaceted, complex situations . But because of our habit of generalization, we don't see them for what they are. We just distort, deflect, and delegitimize problems in order to fit them into our narrow problem-solving toolbox. By doing this, we failed to address the issue in its totality. Generalization is what causes polarization. As individuals, we are inherently different, so our generalizations can exist on a wide spectrum. This creates a problem when we come to the table to discuss issues - we all have a fundamentally different picture of the issue. We need to do a better job of respecting complex issues for what they are. The first step to unraveling our simplifications is by seeking out alternative solutions and developing a solid understanding of the underlying topics. For example, when discussing nationalized healthcare, we must explain the pros and cons of the Canadian and UK medical systems. with a basic understanding of economics, profit market failure, key players in industry, and the history of nationalized and private medicine. The prerequisites are steep, but worth it because these issues will affect hundreds of millions of people. Solutions can't be one-size-fits-all - people and policymakers must realize the issues of today are more nuanced and adapt accordingly.
By Kene Ezeaputa8 months ago in The Swamp
College Debunked
Everything you know about college is wrong. The average graduate from a four-year college will have 25k-37k in debt and projections have these numbers increasing. But college students don’t have to dampen their financial futures to pursue their degrees. There are two simple, fatal college mistakes that must be avoided. 1) not going to a school that puts you in the top half academically (GPA, SAT), and 2) not utilizing efficient course selection.
By Kene Ezeaputa8 months ago in Education
Cryptocurrency's origin and its promise.
The first use of a decentralized blockchain was bitcoin, but to facilitate the network it needed a form of payment to incentivize network-supporting behaviors. The form of payment could not have been dollars because of the lack of decimal places (dollars have two decimal places compared to bitcoins' 18) and, more importantly, the negative impacts on decentralization. If dollars were the currency that powered the network, the government could suspend transactions, and the network would need a large amount of upfront money to secure the network. If the BTC network only had 10,000 dollars in reserves to pay for network supporting behaviors, the network would cease to function after the 10k was exhausted.
By Kene Ezeaputa11 months ago in The Chain
Tokenomics - Understanding Cryptocurrency
Tokenomics is the application of supply and demand factors to preserve and/or increase token value. Tokenomics works to support the underlying blockchain. Strong tokenomics encourages behaviors that strengthen the network, creating positive feedback for the token itself. If the token that represents the underlying blockchain does not have or accrue value, the blockchain will lose functionality.
By Kene Ezeaputa11 months ago in The Chain
