The basic truth
Which facts can I already see, while I am still trying to explain them away?
Book · a little experience · thoughts about life
I write down what I had to learn by getting a few things wrong.
I started collecting these thoughts as notes to myself. When daily noise pulls my attention in ten directions, I like having one place where the basics are written plainly.
This is where I keep excerpts, questions and themes I return to myself. If one of them helps you notice your own recurring mistake a little earlier, the page has done its job.
Experience from someone who has a talent for making things complicated and is still learning how to live. Most important things look simpler in real life than I expected.
The key
We all need one from time to time
A key simply opens a door. Here it reminds me of the things that create more room to move: a functioning body, clear thinking, money in reserve, healthy boundaries, competence and the ability to act in time.
The red thread
A line through the story and a reminder of our own boundaries.
In the book, this line runs through the pages and ties the separate themes into one story.
The book
Basic Things I Wasn’t Told at Birth
I wanted one place for the things I keep having to remember again. A book I could keep close and one day hand to my children. The people around us change us.
The book turned out simple and demanding at the same time. Some chapters are hard to read in one go. Their size leaves room to read, stop and think. You can agree with me in one place and argue with me in the next. The text is a starting point for thinking about the things that matter.
realitybodypsychethinkingmoneyrelationshipstimerisk
01 · REALITY
Reality is not obliged to adapt to your expectations.
I put this thought at the beginning on purpose. While I explain why things should have gone differently, the facts continue to exist without my permission. It is more useful to see them, count the cost and decide what to do next.
What the book is made of
Eleven themes I keep returning to in real life.
The order matters to me. Facts and the body come first. Then the psyche, thinking, money, work and people. Time, reputation, risk and meaning come later. This makes the whole system easier to see.
Thinking
Is my logic checking the decision, or protecting the picture I am used to?
Time
Where do my best hours actually go when I look at the calendar without romance?
Contents