40 things I learnt in 2019

Some are gist of books I read, some are plain facts while some of these are realisations. All of these impacted my life OS in 2019.

1. Many of our fixed views of the world are based on limited samples of reality.
2. The last thing that man can admit to himself is that his way of life is arbitrary.
3. The true cost of anything is the amount of life you are required to exchange for it.
4. Efforts toward “collective immortality” like nationalism satisfy people’s aching need for heroic triumphs over death.
5. 6 billion people died in the 20th century and only 0.7 percent were battle deaths.
6. Of the 21 worst things that people have ever done to each other, 14 were in centuries before the 20th.
7. Living a good life requires us to fill three buckets : contribution, connections and vitality.
8. People will live up to the identity you assign to them.
9. Love lasts and anger tends to fade.
10. The purpose of travel is to break down boundaries and understand what makes us tick.
11. Its better to workout 3 times a week than working out 7 days a week.
12. Kiritbati is pronounced as Kiribas.
13. In France you can marry a dead person.
14. Salary is derived from the word Salt.
15. On New Year’s Eve, Cubans burn dolls in order to symbolize forgetting bad times and looking forward to new and good times during the New Year.
16. By about 3,000 B.C., almost every weaving technique known today had been invented by the Peruvians.
17. Peru grows more than 55 varieties of corn.
18. Our key to transforming anything lies in our ability to reframe it. Reframe negative experiences.
19. Traveling, no matter the distance from home, allows you to detach yourself from what you were taught to think and , instead, become attentive and spontaneous.
20. We are all mirror images, sculpted through the reflections we see in other people.
21. Regrets of action are generally stronger at first but fade more quickly thank regrets of inaction.
22. 2019 has been the best year in global history.
23. If you’re offended easily, you’re a bad resource allocator. It’s a waste of energy and attention, which is a greater sin than wasting time.
24. Everything meaningful in life is a marathon - meant to test your commitment and will.
25. Your life is a reflection of what you feel you deserve.
26. Work related factors account for around 120,000 preventable deaths every year in the US.
27. Teenagers criticism of their parents are just a way for them to develop a healthy emotional distance.
28. Childrens are far more inclined to inspect, examine, question and experiment than adults. Its we who needs to learn from them.
29. You can slow down ageing by adopting a low-carb diet with the right proteins and fats.
30. Our reality is a simulation since 200,000 years.
31. Usually wifi speed is inversally proportional to how scenic the work location is.
32. Most of the game is about persistence. It is the most important trait.
33. What you dont eat is more important than what you eat.
34. Speaking into someones right ear is an effective sales strategy.
35. 75% of our emotional reactions are generated by smell.
36. We see the world through the lens of our culture and that leads to a lot of misunderstanding.
37. We all carry unresolved memories of the past and that prevents from becoming who we really are.
38. 98% of all matter in the universe was created within a mere three minutes.
39. 45 percent of our behaviours are habitual.
40. To use gestures effectively, you should limit your gesturing to the area between your eyes and your belly button, as gestures in this area have the greatest impact.