Tag: 5-bullet Friday

5-Bullet Friday 10/10/2025
5 things worth sharing this week ( including my near-death experience):
1. I almost died. I was driving to Sainsbury’s and, on my way, as I was accelerating along a 60mph road, I saw a white car speeding towards me on the wrong side of the road (my side). He was speeding towards me like a torpedo, and as we were almost about to collide, I quickly swerved off the road over a curb onto some grass on the side of the road. The reckless driver drove straight past me. If I didn’t swerve when I did, I would have been seriously injured or worse… dead. I was shaken up and reported this to the police, and they confirmed they had already received a report of a reckless driver in the area. The moral of this story? You and I can die at any moment. Life is a gift, and enjoy it. I certainly thank my lucky stars that I’m okay.
2. A quote that I thought was interesting: “If foreigners were allowed to meddle with the affairs of a nation as soon as they settled down in its midst, many dangers might occur; since the foreigners, not yet having the common good firmly at heart, might attempt something hurtful to the people.”—Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I–II, Q. 105, Art. 3
3. Remember to protect your heart and soul. Do not let them be polluted “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” 1 Cor 3:16
4. A story I love from Saint Thomas Aquinas: Jesus said to Thomas, “ Thomas, you’ve spoken well of me, what can I offer you?” Thomas’s Reply was “Only you, Lord”. What I love about this story is that Jesus represents virtue, or, to quote a Latin phrase, the summum bonum (meaning the highest good, especially as the ultimate goal according to which values and priorities are established in an ethical system). By following Jesus, we become virtuous for it’s own sake ( and because Jesus died for us) this is the way it’s meant to be. I think about this story every day.
5. Something I vehemently dislike. Not being picky about your partner. Settling for a partner far below what I deserve has caused me so much pain. Breakups have caused some of the most brutal pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. My motto now is that the next person I date, I want to marry, and I won’t dare to sleep with someone without making a serious commitment. You need to protect your heart. I’ve learned that the hard way.
Click here to join my 5-bullet Friday newsletter. Every Friday, I share five thoughts, insights, quotes, products, recommendations, etc. that have helped me and might also help you.
10th Oct 2025

5-bullet Friday, Catholicism, god, religion, Roman Catholic, Thomas aquinas
5-Bullet Friday 19/09/2025

Something I’ve been thinking about:

We learn about others far more when they react to challenges than when everything is going smoothly.

A quote I like: “This too shall pass”.

Another quote I like by Seneca: “The outcome of violent anger is a mental raving, and therefore anger is to be avoided not for the sake of moderation but for the sake of sanity.”

When exercising, make it as low-risk and as least taxing as possible, thereby giving you more time and energy to use your mind.

A question to ask yourself ( and every day):

Am I better than I was yesterday?

Click here to join my 5-bullet Friday newsletter. Every Friday, I share five thoughts, insights, quotes, products, recommendations, etc. that have helped me and might also help you.

19th Sep 2025

5-bullet Friday, goals, Health, improvement, life
5-Bullet Friday 12/09/2025

5 things worth sharing this week.

What I’m reading

Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb, here is my recent most favourite quote:

“Accordingly, rules have their value. We just follow them not because they are the best but because they are useful and they save time and effort. Consider that those who started theorizing upon seeing a tiger on whether the tiger was of this or that taxonomic variety, and the degree of danger it represented, ended up being eaten by it. Others who just ran away at the smallest presumption and were not slowed down by the smallest amount of thinking ended up either outchasing the tiger or outchasing their cousin who ended up being eaten by”.

My note on this is that we shouldn’t overly theorise. What should we do instead? Use practical rule-of-thumb heuristics that actually help. Not everything needs to make perfect sense; it just needs to work.

An item I would highly recommend

I’ve been using the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite for the past several weeks.

I would typically read on my phone and rarely on my computer, but reading on the Paperwhite is much better on my eyes and makes it easier to read for longer without getting distracted.

One bold statement from me

“Prioritising the new over the old ( and even the ancient) harms you.”

I say this because ancient literature, religion, philosophy, etc, contains so much wisdom.

Answer me this?

If ancient literature, religion, and philosophy were useless, then why would they have survived the test of time?

There is something to the “old” which makes it unperishable (the old that sticks around).

It’s our job to extract as much wisdom from the past as possible.

And by doing so, we stand on the shoulders of giants.

A statement that I believe to be unwaveringly true

“If you want to be happy, be curious”

Some important questions to answer:

What are your values? Are you sticking to them? If you’re not, then why? What will help you stick to them? Suppose you’re not sticking to your values. In that case, the solution might just be deciding what they are and writing a mission statement for your life that encompasses them.

Are your values rooted in religion? If they are are you sticking to your faith? If not you know what to do.

Click here to join my 5-bullet Friday newsletter. Every Friday, I share five thoughts, insights, quotes, products, recommendations, etc. that have helped me and might also help you.

12th Sep 2025

5-bullet Friday, goals, improvement, inspiration, life
5- Bullet Friday 05/09/2025

5 things worth sharing this week:

Empiricism is how we really learn

I’ve always been one for reading and aim to be an avid reader.

But reading isn’t how we learn.

We learn by “the stove is hot“ type experiences.

For example, a child who doesn’t realise how dangerous heat is may touch something hot and burn themselves.

Now, that same child knows exactly what not to do and can start taking steps to make sure they never get burned, e.g., wearing oven gloves, and waiting for the heat to dissipate before touching or eating anything hot.

This seems like a basic example; I use it because it’s relatable, and everyone would have gone through this experience at some point.

The key is using this trial-and-error empirical approach to everything in life.

I try to implement this advice by thinking less and doing more.

Because it’s in the doing that we really learn.

As much as our minds may tell us otherwise.

As a rule of thumb, I’m trying not to let books affect me too much.

What I mean by this is that I read, but it’s not the pillar of my life.

The pillar is doing.

And everything else is secondary.

As much as I love reading, life is too complex and unpredictable to merely live life by following what one book says. This is why there is a never-ending supply of books.

No book can save us, no matter how well-intentioned or well-marketed it is.

Only we can save ourselves.

And that’s by doing.

One action at a time.

Most books make propositions that, when tested in reality, have no grounds for being effective.

It’s worth bearing that in mind.

We can never reach perfection, but we can always try our best

Consistency beats perfection every time.

Consistency means putting in the work.

Perfection is an ideal that can’t be reached.

No matter what you do make sure you tidy your house, cluttered house = cluttered mind

It’s only when we deal with disease and injury that we find out what’s important in life; it’s not material things.

No matter how successful someone may seem, they are not really successful if they are constantly afflicted by inner turmoil. True success is having peace of mind, no matter how wealthy you are.

Click here to join my 5-bullet Friday newsletter. Every Friday, I share five thoughts, insights, quotes, products, recommendations, etc. that have helped me and might also help you.

5th Sep 2025

5-bullet Friday, goals, improvement, mental-health, newsletter
5-Bullet Friday 29/08/2025
5 things worth sharing this week:
1. I’m trying to be like fat Tony. In Nassim Taleb’s books, Taleb writes about one of his alter egos, whom he coins fat Tony. Fat Tony is someone who has street smarts. Overall, Tony has a common-sense approach to life. Fat Tony isn’t concerned about being right; he’s concerned about making a buck, or in other words, he’s less concerned about winning the argument and more about winning in life. Fat Tony doesn’t care about theories; he cares about results. Here is some more of Fat Tony’s wisdom from Nassim Taleb’s book Skin in the Game: Always do more than you talk. And precede talk with action. For it will always remain that action without talk supersedes talk without action. Much better to be like fat Tony than the intellectual yet idiot who thinks and theorises, yet never does anything worthwhile. I’m trying to be more like fat Tony because I believe we all have a fat Tony in us. I don’t care about being an intellectual. I care about winning.
2. I’m going on a 30-minute walk every morning. If you’re like me and crave discipline and routine, this can be a game-changer and help you muster the discipline needed for the rest of your day.
3. Some thoughts on survivorship bias. Just because doing something a certain way has worked for someone else, it might not work for you. When looking for systems and methods to achieve results, ensure the advice works for more than one or several people. Furthermore, find what works and make it work for you.
4. I turned 27 this month, and life goes by in the blink of an eye. We get such a small amount of time on this earth. Enjoy it. If you’re reading this, you’re alive. Think of all the people who have died since time immemorial. You and I are breathing rare air. Take a deep breath and realise the true power and greatness of being alive. This realisation is incredibly cathartic.
5. There is no better feeling than this: laughing and making others laugh. Life is tough enough. Humour is a coping mechanism; it helps bring us closer together with others and helps us get through some of the most challenging moments. I remember when one of my ex-girlfriends broke up with me, and I felt sad and in a slump. I told my friend Louis, who subsequently invited me to his house for a coffee. His dad was also there at the time. Louis’s dad made a joke, which lightened the mood and made me feel much better about the situation. Also During World War 2, many of the prisoners of war in the concentration camps also used humour to bond with one another, and they used humour as a coping mechanism to withstand some of the most degrading, evil, unjust and challenging circumstances one could ever face.
Click here to join my 5-bullet Friday newsletter. Every Friday, I share five thoughts, insights, quotes, products, recommendations, etc. that have helped me and might also help you.
29th Aug 2025

5-bullet Friday, Humour, mental-health, nassim taleb, newsletter, wisdom
5-Bullet Friday 22/08/2025
5 things worth sharing this week.
1. You only fail if you quit.
2. Make sure to remain optimistic, especially in adversity and illness.
3. Learn how to manage your money early on, such as saving and investing. Reply to this email for book recommendations on money management, saving and investing.
4. Expect nothing from other people, but expect everything from yourself; the former you have no control over, the latter you do, limit good and bad towards your own actions.
5. Most things are rarely black and white. There are two sides to every story.
Click here to join my 5-bullet Friday newsletter. Every Friday, I share five thoughts, insights, quotes, products, recommendations, etc. that have helped me and might also help you.
22nd Aug 2025

5-bullet Friday, goals, improvement, inspiration, life, newsletter
5-Bullet Friday 15/08/2025
5 things worth sharing this week.
1. Never care about someone’s opinion who you don’t respect or who can’t even live up to their own standards.
2. For religious people, the quote “only god can judge me” can provide one with great strength and resilience. It means you weigh yourself up against something else, something beyond this world, and nothing on this earth can affect you. For non-religious folk, this can be better thought of as “no one can judge me apart from myself”, which is still helpful.
3. Street smarts are real. In this world, there are doers and intellectuals yet idiots (IYIS), as Nassim Taleb says. We should only listen to the doers (people with skin in the game) because they are the only ones who take the world forward.
4. Set the world on fire. Tell people what they ought to hear, not what they want to hear, live according to your unwavering values and wage war against what threatens those values. The truth isn’t always comfortable. We aren’t born to make friends, we’re born to make a difference. But when we stand for something, we naturally attract others who stand for the same values and make friends as a byproduct.
5. “If you see fraud and don’t say fraud, you are a fraud.”- Nassim Taleb – my note on this is that when you encounter something inherently bad and ignore it rather than standing up for what’s right, you are part of the problem. There is clearly good and evil in this world, and we need to call out what’s evil, for example, the killing of so many Palestinians by Israel, led by Netanyahu. This mass murder needs to stop.
Click here to join my 5-bullet Friday newsletter. Every Friday, I share five thoughts, insights, quotes, products, recommendations, etc. that have helped me and might also help you.
15th Aug 2025

5-bullet Friday, goals, Health, improvement, mental-health, newsletter
5-Bullet Friday 08/08/2025
5 things worth sharing this week.
1. Quote of the week: “ But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.” – Luke 6:27-32 – my note on this – love is a choice. If we want to make the world a better place, we need to do it out of a place of love. Love is contagious and will help you make a much more positive impact on people’s lives than if you came from a place of hate.
2. Never be heard complaining, even to yourself. Complaining never makes things better; we can either look for and implement positive solutions to our problems, or we don’t. We don’t have to fight against the present and complain. If we do complain, it makes the situation even harder to face. Marcus Aurelius said in Meditations, “Don’t be overheard complaining about life at court. Not even to yourself.” I agree.
3. A 30-minute walk can cure most of our neuroses. That’s why I walk every day. Movement is medicine.
4. When someone criticises an action you’ve done or something you’ve said or posted, there is a chance to improve. When someone attacks your character personally with nothing helpful to say, they’re subconsciously acting out jealousy and envy. In both situations, you’re on the right path. The first situation brings awareness that we can always be better. In the second situation, we know we’re on the right path because if we’re arousing envy and jealousy in others, we must be doing something right, see it as a compliment.
5. I regularly think about the quote “Those who talk should do and only those who do should talk” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. When I read books or listen to someone’s advice before implementing it, I make sure they have a body of work that shows they’ve firstly used that advice themselves and secondly that it actually works. Talk is only good to the extent that it’s backed up by actions.
Click here to join my 5-bullet Friday newsletter. Every Friday, I share five thoughts, insights, quotes, products, recommendations, etc. that have helped me and might also help you.
8th Aug 2025

5-bullet Friday, goals, Health, improvement, life, mental-health, newsletter
5-Bullet Friday 01/08/2025
5 Things Worth Sharing This Week:
1. Sometimes Great Things Happen when You Least Expect it- yesterday I went to therapy, and honestly, I didn’t feel like going because I felt lazy. Still, I went anyway, and it ended up being one of the most helpful therapy sessions I’ve ever had. This happens with writing as well, sometimes it’s when I least feel like writing that I produce my best content. It happens in other areas of my life, like spontaneous trips. If we’re open to experiencing the many facets of life, no matter how we feel, we’ll eventually experience great moments when we least expect them.
2. Don’t beat yourself up – in December, I had wrist surgery and everything was going hunky dory, but I pulled my car door a bit too hard several weeks ago, and my wrist has felt inflamed ever since. Recently, I’ve been blaming myself for not taking more care, and it’s not a good thought pattern to get into; it’s not helpful. Accidents happen, and blaming yourself doesn’t help the situation. Focus on solutions instead (like seeing a doctor), because you can’t change the past.
3. Listen to more music. It’s one of the best mood boosters around. Lately, I’ve been listening to grime music and Pinkpantheress, which has significantly improved my mood.
4. Not everything has to be rational or make sense if it appeals to us aesthetically- when reading good poetry, prose or listening to lyrics in a song, they don’t need to make perfect sense, they need to please our tastes. It’s the same with architecture; for example, if you go to Rome, its ancient buildings aren’t built like sterile office or apartment blocks that we see in the rest of the world. Rome is full of all sorts of architecture which is unique, beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, it’s the same with art. I’m alluding to the ancient buildings in Rome like the Pantheon, colleseum, and more recently the Vatican city.
5. Quote of the week – “ Heroes are heroes because they are heroic in behavior, not because they won or lost.” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Click here to join my 5-bullet Friday newsletter. Every Friday, I share five thoughts, insights, quotes, products, recommendations, etc. that have helped me and might also help you.
1st Aug 2025

5-bullet Friday, improvement, nassim taleb, newsletter, wisdom
5-Bullet Friday 25/7/25
5 things worth sharing this week.

1. Rig the game so you win.

How many of us set ourselves up for failure?

How many people set themselves a goal but never accomplish it?

I would say many people do this ( including myself).

For example, I’ve had a hard time sticking to writing, but I’ve made my writing habit so easy to stick to that it’s almost impossible not to stick to it.

Heres what I do:

Instead of committing to an unreasonable goal like writing for several hours per day, I’ve set myself the goal of writing for at least 30 minutes every other day and writing a total of 300 words (each day), which I find very easy to stick to.

With fitness, I do the same. I only train with weights 3 times per week, simply because it’s much more sustainable.

Whatever goal you want to achieve, make it almost impossible not to achieve it. That usually means starting small and making your goal realistic.

2. It’s the simple things that matter the most
Things like sitting with a cup of tea or coffee, walking in nature, feeling well-rested after a good night’s sleep, having money in the bank and most importantly, having your health and spending time with friends and family.

The small things matter the most. Life is simple when you focus on the small things.

3. You will always have problems, but the key is to have problems you want to solve.
I recently got a new bathroom in my house, and it looks great, but now the rest of my house looks dated.

I’d rather have the problem of some of my house looking dated than all of it.

4. It’s not over till it’s over.

You might feel like you’ve messed up in life, and I know I have in some areas.

If you’re reading this, you’re breathing; if you’re breathing, you’re alive and can do something about your life.

It’s not over till it’s over.

5. Stay Present by doing so you avoid being wholly controlled by your mind.

Click here to join my 5-bullet Friday newsletter. Every Friday, I share five thoughts, insights, quotes, products, recommendations, etc. that have helped me and might also help you.
25th Jul 2025

5-bullet Friday, goals, Health, improvement, life, newsletter

Tag: 5-bullet Friday

Something I’ve been thinking about:

A quote I like: “This too shall pass”.

Another quote I like by Seneca: “The outcome of violent anger is a mental raving, and therefore anger is to be avoided not for the sake of moderation but for the sake of sanity.”

When exercising, make it as low-risk and as least taxing as possible, thereby giving you more time and energy to use your mind.

A question to ask yourself ( and every day):

What I’m reading

An item I would highly recommend

One bold statement from me

A statement that I believe to be unwaveringly true

Some important questions to answer:

Empiricism is how we really learn

We can never reach perfection, but we can always try our best

No matter what you do make sure you tidy your house, cluttered house = cluttered mind

It’s only when we deal with disease and injury that we find out what’s important in life; it’s not material things.

No matter how successful someone may seem, they are not really successful if they are constantly afflicted by inner turmoil. True success is having peace of mind, no matter how wealthy you are.