Life principles

Here are some life principles that have stuck over the years.

1. YOLO & Memento Mori

The truth is, we really only live once. I'm often reminded by my visits to the ER due to my life threatening food allergy. In those moments, fighting for my life, I don't really think about much else. I think about my family & loved ones, and one other thing: how sad it would be if I never succeeded in my dream to put humanity on Mars.

It's easy to get lost in the everyday "grind", but remembering that we only live once reminds us to do what we truly "care" about.

Applying this principle has factored into some of my transformational life decisions, such as taking a gap year, starting my first startup, and pausing it to pursue new and old interests.

Rembering YOLO also reminds us to do what we want - today. I think most of us are too scared to jump into what we really want to do (whether due to societal, parental, or self-imposed pressure to follow the crowd and norm). We have to remember that there may not be a tommorrow, and to abstain from following the deferred life plan.

Do what you want now (and if you're tihnking about that one thing or idea as you're reading this, stop reading and do the smallest, easiest first step towards what you're thinking of.)

2. Authenticity

I rather be direct than beat around the bush. Life's too short for sugarcoating, and I prefer when others are direct too. I don't believe in acting differently around different groups of people. Why spend that energy trying to portray a persona when you can just be yourself?

3. Every person has something unique to share

I truly believe that every single person has something unique to share in this world, and there's a special kind of joy in discovering what that is. I rather keep an open mind when meeting new people and dislike judgement.

4. Do hard things, and embrace risk taking as a habit.

The best things in my life came when I jumped headfirst into risks.

A personal example: taking a gap year

After I graduated highschool, I was fortunate enough to field 20 offers and ~$200,000 in scholarships. For the last 5 years in highschool, I was super hyped for university, with my belief that I'd be placed in a cornucopia of driven, young people who I'd build an exciting future together. I was excited for joining clubs (especially the rocket and space teams), meeting new friends in dorm life, and exploring new cities.

But also after these 5 years of gogogo, I had the chance to pause and really reflect on what I wanted to do. I realized that I actually had a third option - which at first I thought was a crazy idea I'd never do - spend a year soulsearching, exploring, and pursuing the things deep down I wanted to do. I remember that the moments I grew the most came when I jumped into things I was scared of (e.g. joining debate/public speaking in 8th grade).

I remember feeling scared when I thought about taking a gap year. But I dreamed of exploring the world, taking agency over my life, and building extensions of myself that I really cared about.

I thought about it - I knew exactly what I'd do if I went to university: I'd join XYZ clubs, study aerospace engineering, go to grad school, and be on the pathway to hopefully become an astronaut. I felt like I had everything planned out.

There were 2 realities - I do exactly that or I try things I'd never thought I could do, for an entire year. By the end, I'd re-evaluate if I wanted to continue that path. After all, we make decisions with the knowledge and understanding we have, and as an 18-year old, choosing a life plan that extended for at least 2 decades felt pre-mature. I knew there was more knowledge and understanding in life to acquire.

When I turned down UC Berkeley M.E.T. and a full 4-year scholarship to University of Toronto to take my gap year, everyone told me I was crazy (except my parents). The decision was not easy, frankly, it was painful. Having the opportunity to go to some of the best universities was a goal I was working towards for the last 5 years, and it hurt to realize I gave it up. But I knew there was something beautiful about risk-taking, something about grabbing life by the horns and saying "look, watch this, let's see what happens".

My gap year was the best decision of my life. More here

5. Take more pictures

Here's a fun one. I know I'll want to look back at a colourful life when I'm 80. Pictures capture both undistorted images, but also allow myself to express my feeling in the moment through composition, and other tricks.

Here are some of my favourites.

6. Bias for action

"Just do it"

Really, that's all you need. The best things in life happened when I stopped overthinking and started starting.

Personal example: starting Sonder

I knew barely anything about startups, how to talk to customers, how to raise money, and how engineering worked before I started my first actual startup - Sonder.

I played around with the idea since November 2021, but I never put motion to it until a job offer fell through in March 2022. I decided to just "YOLO" and get started. I had the vision in my head, transferred it to paper, moved it to Figma (while figuring how to use the software on the fly), and built a basic MVP on a website. More about Sonder.

That also leads into another observation - we only raelly learn when we're put to work. I thrive best in environments above my skill level; when I'm forced to figure things out on the fly (this is the most rewarding for me).

None of these principles (or any) will servce you unless you put it to work.

(Caveat/Reversal: in some situations, it may be wise to not jump into action, such as when making irreversible decisions.)

7. It's never too late to re-invent yourself

Re-inventing yourself is beautiful, embrace each metamorphosis.

I believe seeking to falsify your beliefs is one of the best approaches to re-inventing yourself. I welcome anyone to challenge these principles, as I will continually update them as time passes. I believe to get closer to the asymptote of truth, we must embrace the habit of constantly questioning our beliefs, and attempting to falsify them.

Our minds are pliable and agile - we can rewire ourselves to master skills we never thought we could, make 180 degree pivots in career directions, and build dream projects. This coincidies with my belief of optimizing for f'(x), not f(x).

Thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts, shoot me a message at skylerchan@berkeley.edu!