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Russell Nagami
Working as an engineer, I use maybe 1% of the things I learned in college/graduate school (I do a lot of programming and learned to program in HS). The most important thing I learned was how to think, and how engineers think is something useful you can learn the basics of in less than 10 minutes.
When solving a problem the general procedure is:
Write down the problem you want to solve clearly. Pictures help.
List your assumptions about the problem, and check them.
List what you know that might be useful (equations typically in engineering) and make a plan.
Do the work (plug what you know into equations in engineering)
Check your solution for sanity (if it takes 1mm x 1mm piece of steel to suspend a bridge, you're probably forgetting something).
I had an engineering example, but it would be boring to a non-engineer. Let's apply this thought process to losing weight.
First, define the problem:
- I want to lose weight.
Not good enough. You don't really want to lose weight, you want to look sexy and attract whatever floats your boat, as well as live longer.
- I want to look and feel good.
Better, but not measurable.
- I want to lower my BF% to 15%, get 5 of my friends/family to comment on how much better I look, and improve my HDL/LDL cholesterol ratio by X%.
There you go! Something you can measure that is directly tied to what you actually want.
List your assumptions and check them:
Here are some assumptions people may have that I think are BS. Feel free to have your own opinion.
So what can you do to get new assumptions? Read a book. Read 10. Read forums, read reddit, and talk to people at the gym for more ideas of more books to read. Here's my suggestions: Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss, Get Stronger With The StrongLifts 5x5 Routine by Mehdi , Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe, The Great Cholesterol Con by Kendrick, something on Paleo, Omnivore's dilemma by Polan, and Good Calories Bad Calories by Taubes. Of course reading takes time, so you can just follow a program and assume that they did all the work for you, but you better choose well!
Now you have a new set of assumptions to operate under.
List what you know and make a plan: From the last step, you now know a lot of things you can list that you think will help you achieve your goal (solve your defined problem). You can list these if you want.
Put together a 2 sheet workout and diet. If it's longer than 2 pages, it's probably not effective. Watch "I want to look like that guy" (http://iwanttolooklikethatguy.com/), he goes from typical overweight American (he may be Canadian) to winning a bodybuilding competition in something like 6 or 9 months. His entire regimen is written on one page. If you think that's impossible, you clearly need to check your assumptions again. Or call him a liar and enjoy your miserable short sighted life.
Do the work: Follow the plan you put together.
Check for sanity: Check your program for sanity at the beginning and periodically. Compare with your assumptions and check again.
So, how does thinking like an engineer compare to how most people would solve the problem of trying to lose weight and be healthy? And you learned it all in less than 10 minutes.
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Continue reading...
Working as an engineer, I use maybe 1% of the things I learned in college/graduate school (I do a lot of programming and learned to program in HS). The most important thing I learned was how to think, and how engineers think is something useful you can learn the basics of in less than 10 minutes.
When solving a problem the general procedure is:
Write down the problem you want to solve clearly. Pictures help.
List your assumptions about the problem, and check them.
List what you know that might be useful (equations typically in engineering) and make a plan.
Do the work (plug what you know into equations in engineering)
Check your solution for sanity (if it takes 1mm x 1mm piece of steel to suspend a bridge, you're probably forgetting something).
I had an engineering example, but it would be boring to a non-engineer. Let's apply this thought process to losing weight.
First, define the problem:
- I want to lose weight.
Not good enough. You don't really want to lose weight, you want to look sexy and attract whatever floats your boat, as well as live longer.
- I want to look and feel good.
Better, but not measurable.
- I want to lower my BF% to 15%, get 5 of my friends/family to comment on how much better I look, and improve my HDL/LDL cholesterol ratio by X%.
There you go! Something you can measure that is directly tied to what you actually want.
List your assumptions and check them:
Here are some assumptions people may have that I think are BS. Feel free to have your own opinion.
- I am fat because of my genetics. (BS, this is an excuse. Even if it's true, look for programs specifically for your needs.)
- If I eat less I can lose weight. (BS, if it was this easy, everyone would be thin)
- If I run it will help me meet my goal. (BS, if you're overweight you're just going to destroy your knees)
- Fruits are healthy. (BS, they're basically pure sugar)
So what can you do to get new assumptions? Read a book. Read 10. Read forums, read reddit, and talk to people at the gym for more ideas of more books to read. Here's my suggestions: Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss, Get Stronger With The StrongLifts 5x5 Routine by Mehdi , Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe, The Great Cholesterol Con by Kendrick, something on Paleo, Omnivore's dilemma by Polan, and Good Calories Bad Calories by Taubes. Of course reading takes time, so you can just follow a program and assume that they did all the work for you, but you better choose well!
Now you have a new set of assumptions to operate under.
List what you know and make a plan: From the last step, you now know a lot of things you can list that you think will help you achieve your goal (solve your defined problem). You can list these if you want.
Put together a 2 sheet workout and diet. If it's longer than 2 pages, it's probably not effective. Watch "I want to look like that guy" (http://iwanttolooklikethatguy.com/), he goes from typical overweight American (he may be Canadian) to winning a bodybuilding competition in something like 6 or 9 months. His entire regimen is written on one page. If you think that's impossible, you clearly need to check your assumptions again. Or call him a liar and enjoy your miserable short sighted life.
Do the work: Follow the plan you put together.
Check for sanity: Check your program for sanity at the beginning and periodically. Compare with your assumptions and check again.
So, how does thinking like an engineer compare to how most people would solve the problem of trying to lose weight and be healthy? And you learned it all in less than 10 minutes.
See Questions On Quora
Continue reading...
