Misconception: A view or opinion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty thinking or understanding.
The Origin of 8 Cups of Water
The truth is, there is no confirmed source of this “myth”, but there are a few potential candidates:
- In 1921 a scientist measured all the water he lost in one day (urine, sweat, etc.), which was 8 cups.
- In a 1945 report, the National Research Council wrote that 1 mL of water for each calorie of food consumed is a suitable allowance in most instances. For the standard 2,000 calorie American diet, this is about 8 cups.
- Renowned nutritionist Fredrick Stare said that the average adult should consume “6 to 8 glasses” of fluids per day in a book he authored in 1974.
Regardless of where it comes from, with all the research and technological advancements since 1974, surely we can do better.
“Ultimately, the 8 cups concept is flawed because it focuses on generalization rather than personalization… The goal was to make one recommendation that’s right for everyone, but that’s not possible. Each one of us is different, with different hydration needs that change constantly. One of our Mark One team member’s likes to point out the absurdity of suggesting that Taylor Swift and Shaquille O’Neal should both be drinking the same amount of water. “
Mark One revealed this in a blog post. This is what led to the creation of their Pryme Vessyl, a cup that automatically tracks and displays your personal hydration needs.
What to do after College
it’s okay if your genuine personal desires are the same as the expectations of your family or society but if not stop setting unrealistic short term goals. Take risks. Forget about the short term gains.
Some of us don’t have one true calling
“The notion of the narrowly focused life is highly romanticized in our culture” Emilie Wapnick
Do you (or know someone who) have/has multiple related/unrelated interests, find it hard to pick one? or maybe you’ve been convinced that you have to pick one interest and do it forever.
Ask yourself where you learned to assign the meaning of wrong or abnormal to doing many things? Emily Wapnick explains in this TED talk that you’re a multipotenialite, she shares examples of people successful living this kind of life and why you should do same.
If you watched the TED talk, I’m sure it changed your world view and next time someone tells you or you hear, Jack of all trades, Master of None, tell them you’re a Jack of many trades, Master of Adaptability (maybe refer them to this TED talk if they’re not convinced).
Procrastination
All my life I’ve always heard procrastination is bad, no positive attribute was ever attached to it. Well, this changed my perspective forever.
The whole talk isn’t about procrastination, the part on procrastination is the first 8 minutes, just in case you want to procrastinate watching this but I’m sure once you get started you would watch till the end.
Procrastinating is a vice when it comes to Productivity but it can be a virtue for creativity.
Risk appetite of Entrepreneurs
I found Adam Grant’s TED talks quite enlightening enough to pick his book Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. I’m still reading the book however within the first 30 pages I found another misconception explained.
“The word entrepreneur, as it was coined by economist Richard Cantillon, literally means “bearer of risk.”
“I want to debunk the myth that originality requires extreme risk taking and persuade you that originals are actually far more ordinary than we realize. In every domain, from business and politics to science and art, the people who move the world forward with original ideas are rarely paragons of conviction and commitment. As they question traditions and challenge the status quo, they may appear bold and self-assured on the surface. But when you peel back the layers, the truth is that they, too, grapple with fear, ambivalence, and self-doubt.”
Like the Warby Parker crew, the entrepreneurs whose companies topped Fast Company’s recent most innovative lists typically stayed in their day jobs even after they launched. Former track star Phil Knight started selling running shoes out of the trunk of his car in 1964, yet kept working as an accountant until 1969. After inventing the original Apple I computer, Steve Wozniak started the company with Steve Jobs in 1976 but continued working full time in his engineering job at Hewlett-Packard until 1977. And although Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin figured out how to dramatically improve internet searches in 1996, they didn’t go on leave from their graduate studies at Stanford until 1998. “We almost didn’t start Google,” Page says, because we “were too worried about dropping out of our Ph.D. program.” In 1997, concerned that their fledgling search engine was distracting them from their research, they tried to sell Google for less than $2 million in cash and stock. Luckily for them, the potential buyer rejected the offer.This habit of keeping one’s day job isn’t limited to successful entrepreneurs. Many influential creative minds have stayed in full-time employment or education even after earning income from major projects. Selma director Ava DuVernay made her first three films while working in her day job as a publicist, only pursuing filmmaking full time after working at it for four years and winning multiple awards. Brian May was in the middle of doctoral studies in astrophysics when he started playing guitar in a new band, but he didn’t drop out until several years later to go all in with Queen. Soon thereafter he wrote “We Will Rock You.” Grammy winner John Legend released his first album in 2000 but kept working as a management consultant until 2002, preparing PowerPoint presentations by day while performing at night. Thriller master Stephen King worked as a teacher, janitor, and gas station attendant for seven years after writing his first story, only quitting a year after his first novel, Carrie, was published. Dilbert author Scott Adams worked at Pacific Bell for seven years after his first comic strip hit newspapers…“And what about Bill Gates, famous for dropping out of Harvard to start Microsoft? When Gates sold a new software program as a sophomore, he waited an entire year before leaving school. Even then he didn’t drop out, but balanced his risk portfolio by applying for a leave of absence that was formally approved by the university—and by having his parents bankroll him. “Far from being one of the world’s great risk takers,” entrepreneur Rick Smith notes, “Bill Gates might more accurately be thought of as one of the world’s great risk mitigators.”
“But don’t day jobs distract us from doing our best work? Common sense suggests that creative accomplishments can’t flourish without big windows of time and energy, and companies can’t thrive without intensive effort”As Polaroid founder Edwin Land remarked, “No person could possibly be original in one area unless he were possessed of the emotional and social stability that comes from fixed attitudes in all areas other than the one in which he is being original.”
Having a sense of security in one realm gives us the freedom to be original in another.
If your logic beats mine, I’d drop mine for yours