I’ve always wanted to act like a wise man who writes down his interesting thoughts so that he can reflect on them later. Then it just never happened because I was lazy and the only thing I could reflect on was the regret of not writing it down. So here comes my first baby step.

This morning I was reading Ray Dalio’s book “Principles” and came across an anecdote of him reaching a fork in the road where he had to choose between staying in a comfort zone or choosing a path that leads to great satisfaction. The catch is that the path towards great satisfaction is shrouded by a jungle full of danger and risks.

Most people would decide by evaluating the pros and cons of each option because the “Cost Benefit Analysis” model has been so useful in our academic journey but that’s the wrong model in this context. The better approach is by asking yourself what you really want in your life and how to get it. Ray obviously wanted great satisfaction so the next question he asked was how to survive the dangerous jungle.

This particular principle resonates with me so much at the moment because I’m at the same fork right now. The worse thing is I’ve reached this point quite a while ago but I chose to tweedle my thumb in the comfort zone. By not making a choice, I’ve already made my choice. What a sucker.

If I were to die tomorrow, I want to to be able to say that I’ve enjoyed a great life with immense satisfaction, with no regret. The obvious question to ask is how to navigate the dangerous jungle rather than avoiding it. Writing this down is the first and probably the most important step because it clearly defines my goal and serves as a reminder of what I have chosen.

As for the jungle in my case, it is dangerous but certainly not fatal. It is worth suffering some broken ribs in return for great satisfaction compared to withering comfortably towards a slow death. Thinking about it from a probabilistic angle of a coin toss – head I win big, tail I don’t lose much. This is what I have to remind myself from time to time.