Nodira - 101 Ways to Stay Sane

Brilliant

a few weeks ago someone told me i was being dismissive of young people's struggles when i said stop thinking so much about what career to pursue and just go do something. well, i think there's a difference between thinking through a problem and thinking into a problem. one gets you somewhere, the other just traps you. when you're a student about to graduate and you're in full panic mode about your future, i get it. that feeling is real, and i'm not brushing it off. but the thing is. you're not going to think your way to a career. you're not going to find your "calling" by staring at the ceiling at 2am. what you'll find instead is a longer list of why it might not work out. dr. k talks about this with depression and how rumination takes a single negative event and multiplies the damage. the more you chew on something, the more abstract and pessimistic your conclusions get. the steps are: Initial Negative Event, Emotional Amplification of that event, Abstract Generalization coupled with Pessimism and Reduced Motivation, which leads to Impaired Problem Solving and Reduced Contextual Sensitivity. interestingly, he talks about a study which shows that with ruminators (overthinkers) therapy not only doesn't work but may hinder the progress altogether. with such cyclical thinking, you stop seeing specific steps and start seeing just the whole impossible mountain. or when you obsess over "what do i want to do with my life," instead of clarity, you end up with paralysis. 'forward thinking' would be a much better approach here. instead of trying to tackle the whole mountain, you ask "what's one specific thing i can do (in near future) that moves me in a better direction and gets me closer to the life i want?" that could be being more initiative at work, having a conversation you've been avoiding or learning that one skill you've been bookmarking. and what this all more tricky is that the more intelligent you are, the higher are the risks you will fall into this trap. as your brain is good at building elaborate, convincing arguments, you end up with a bunch of abstract conclusions that aren't gonna help you in any way. (don't be so frustrated when you find out that quite a lot of people at the top aren't all that smart. they just go and do the job. which isn't perfect either but still moves you in some direction). so if the whole point of being smart is getting what you want, perhaps you should be smarter than this and start doing what serves you best. btw, the video by dr k: https://youtu.be/tfbM6vYsW9g?si=T_ENAp0SA_Z2juyI @summernotes

third let’s talk about economy now ahahah. you see that green spike in the first photo? that’s when Trump started a trade war back in 2014 where US economy went so down that it lost quarter of its value in capital markets. but стоило ему отправить twitter saying “it’s a good time to buy”, the prices just skyrocketed. and yes, his buddies made at least hundreds of millions thanks to the spike. and overall, usually rich people get to their prime wealth thanks to buying super cheap (maybe negative price) and selling when it surges back up. talking about negative pricing. you probably have heard that negative price means the company pays you for buying their product, basically. they lose more money when they sell than when they don’t sell. but the world hasn’t seen a negative price for oil for centuries till COVID19 hit. suddenly, we didn’t need oil. no cars, buildings closed down, no previous economic activity. price gets low, but the oil producers didn’t expect it to get THAT low of course. and at some point, the cost of keeping oil (inventory cost) got higher than the production cost, so they began selling at such huge discounts that the price went below zero. oil is very sensitive to such shocks, actually. wars (Russian war, current war in Iran). but it also goes closely correlated to gas. so gas prices usually affect oil prices and vice versa. btw talking of people making money during wars or crises it was after 9.11 that Ethical Trading was introduced to somehow regulate all these opportunists. not like it makes much difference, tho. and that leads to bubbles. economic bubble, or market mania, is (as you probably already know) when stock is sold/bought at a price that far exceeds its actual value. demand drives, not financial growth. in 2001 we got dot com bubble. 2008 - housing. 2015 - chinese stock bubble. then COVID19 crash in 2020. and we might get another wave if the current war extends further and deeper. my professor says economists expect another crisis coming up in 2030ish. either from this war or AI. but AI is doing good so far, useful. people must go absolutely crazy for it to be a true bubble burst. oh btw Uzbekistan joining WTO is another opportunity. yes, we get greater choices as consumers, but the cost of living is expected to rise too for sure. especially housing. i mean real estate is always a growing deal. it’s never late to buy one. and especially now that it’s certain to rise. @summernotes

third let’s talk about economy now ahahah. you see that green spike in the first photo? that’s when Trump started a trade war back in 2014 where US economy went so down that it lost quarter of its value in capital markets. but стоило ему отправить twitter saying “it’s a good time to buy”, the prices just skyrocketed. and yes, his buddies made at least hundreds of millions thanks to the spike. and overall, usually rich people get to their prime wealth thanks to buying super cheap (maybe negative price) and selling when it surges back up. talking about negative pricing. you probably have heard that negative price means the company pays you for buying their product, basically. they lose more money when they sell than when they don’t sell. but the world hasn’t seen a negative price for oil for centuries till COVID19 hit. suddenly, we didn’t need oil. no cars, buildings closed down, no previous economic activity. price gets low, but the oil producers didn’t expect it to get THAT low of course. and at some point, the cost of keeping oil (inventory cost) got higher than the production cost, so they began selling at such huge discounts that the price went below zero. oil is very sensitive to such shocks, actually. wars (Russian war, current war in Iran). but it also goes closely correlated to gas. so gas prices usually affect oil prices and vice versa. btw talking of people making money during wars or crises it was after 9.11 that Ethical Trading was introduced to somehow regulate all these opportunists. not like it makes much difference, tho. and that leads to bubbles. economic bubble, or market mania, is (as you probably already know) when stock is sold/bought at a price that far exceeds its actual value. demand drives, not financial growth. in 2001 we got dot com bubble. 2008 - housing. 2015 - chinese stock bubble. then COVID19 crash in 2020. and we might get another wave if the current war extends further and deeper. my professor says economists expect another crisis coming up in 2030ish. either from this war or AI. but AI is doing good so far, useful. people must go absolutely crazy for it to be a true bubble burst. oh btw Uzbekistan joining WTO is another opportunity. yes, we get greater choices as consumers, but the cost of living is expected to rise too for sure. especially housing. i mean real estate is always a growing deal. it’s never late to buy one. and especially now that it’s certain to rise. @summernotes

one, i sneaked out of a model casting today ahahah. basically one of the organizers of the runway show saw me a few days ago in black dress and was like “you’re participating too!” my protests that these things aren’t for me fell on deaf ears as my manager standing next to me was all in on it, more excited than i was. i went there. saw 30+ girls preparing for the casting in bare tights and short tops in such cold weather. their skinniness made it all feel even colder. i looked around and quietly walked away. didn’t pick up anyone’s phone calls. instead went to bloomberg class. two, one of my colleagues told she didn’t know i use makeup. didn’t know id be so disappointed😭. those 5 minutes spent in the morning before the mirror seem all so.. like, why do i do it all? for comparison, first photo with and second without makeup. i think i mainly hide my pimples if i’ve got some.

these guys, they’ll empty out my bank account soon🙂‍↔️

claude.ai can now respond with interactive applications inline in the chat

i miss early morning Fajr Adhan right after you begin your fast. living in a hovli in Namangan, i’d always go to our garden to listen to the prayer call, standing there a while as the cool breeze settled around me. the masjid was just a neighborhood away. it’s a quiet hour to inhabit. you and the dawn, just about to break. there’s a warmth to it too. when sleep pulls at you, and your warm bed wrapped in heavy blankets is right there waiting, but you know you have reason to stay up. that knowledge, that you could go back to sleep right now, is strangely tender. @summernotes

i miss early morning Fajr Adhan right after you begin your fast. living in a hovli in Namangan, i’d always go to our garden to listen to the prayer call, standing there a while as the cool breeze settled around me. the masjid was just a neighborhood away. it’s a quiet hour to inhabit. you and the dawn, just about to break. there’s a warmth to it too. when sleep pulls at you, and your warm bed wrapped in heavy blankets is right there waiting, but you know you have reason to stay up. that knowledge, that you could go back to sleep right now, is strangely tender. @summernotes

i miss early morning Fajr Adhan right after you begin your fast. living in a hovli in Namangan, i’d always go to our garden to listen to the prayer call, standing there a while as the cool breeze settled around me. the masjid was just a neighborhood away. it’s a quiet hour to inhabit. you and the dawn, just about to break. there’s a warmth to it too. when sleep pulls at you, and your warm bed wrapped in heavy blankets is right there waiting, but you know you have reason to stay up. that knowledge, that you could go back to sleep right now, is strangely tender.

how foolish it is to disregard our own faults and let the other person bear all the blame when relationships - of any sort - fail. the other side may be thinking the same way, by the way. we may not articulate it to each other properly, but we may genuinely believe that it is the other person’s thoughtlessness, carelessness, ignorance or bad temperament to blame. or, they are simply not “our person.” not “the one,” even. we should’ve known better, we’re way too different. they will never understand us anyway. except, there is no such thing as “the one.” life would be so much easier if we let go of the idea that there is some magical unicorn of a person waiting for us far away who will magically appear in our life when time is due. and then, and then all our problems would be resolved as they’d understand us and accept us fully. with all our weak and broken sides, with all our resistance to open up or inability to talk through problems. relationships, again of any sort, are usually just two people trying to figure out life and navigate through it with some degree of grace and sanity. some do better than others. some are more self-reflective and capable of seeing others too. but it all boils down to the fact that none of us are “the ones.” not to anyone. but we can be the ones willing to accept all the above facts and still choose to put in effort, to understand and to work with problems side by side with someone who is equally willing to do the same for us. they may not understand all our sides, be that foolish or slightly wicked ones, and they may not know how to respond properly when problems arise. but with enough time and effort, you may become a team. and a team is always better than an imaginary unicorn. happy upcoming holidays. @summernotes

shahah that’s prime minister of Spain 😌😌😌

well, not really ANYONE as you first have to set up the MCP though Claude Code or API, and there are things that Bloomberg has that are irreplaceable (fixed income, derivatives) but still Claude can get you like 70-80% of Bloomberg at $0 vs 30k/year that’s like, huge

And this, kids, is the reason we shouldn’t be concerned about AI taking over finance

guys i know no flowers or chocolates needed for 8th of march get me premium subscription for Claude and/or Manus. that will be the best gift lol no but really u seriously telling me u can send me summaries of financial news and reports every morning without me having to remind you? (i know, such a small thing but made me happy) and monitor and keep sending me updates on what's happening in the field relevant to my job all the time? keep track of all the meetings (for my manager, not me lol) and schedule them urself? take my money🥹

talking of possessions clothes still have a soft spot in my heart🥹 (yeah, i was one of those tomboy girls back in school who absolutely refused to wear dresses ahah) look at this PINK OUTFIT SUCH SPRING VIBES UHH in finance and accounting classes, i found that i might have a very sneaky enemy for midterms. basically i do the trial balance - same figures for debit credit side. nice move on to income statement. done. move on to balance sheet. get the same number for assets and for L&C. same numbers but still sometimes turns out to be wrong. how am i supposed to know im making a mistake during exam if im getting same numbers?? bruh

the rich have different obsessions now. and it might say a lot about us as society too. read a piece in the Economist recently on this shift and it made me think for a bit. the flex of the past was private jets, watches and wine. now tho it's the best hotels, restaurants, and sporting events. the ultra luxury market is going through some real identity crisis as price of goods is down, price of experiences is up. a Super Bowl ticket is double what it was a few years ago. the Met Gala (if you can even get in) costs over twice as much as in 2019. ultra luxury goods have fallen in price since 2023 while ultra luxury experiences are up 90% since 2019. why the shift tho? well, luxury goods are kind of everywhere now. designer bags are available worldwide and the well-off middle class buys them too. lab-grown diamonds are literally identical to the real thing. so what's left for the ultra rich to signal status with is scarcity. Thorstein Veblen (american economist) argued that a good is luxurious not just because it's expensive, but because one person having it limits another person's ability to have it (exclusive, rival). u can resell a luxury watch but sitting on center court at Wimbledon? not really. eating at a three Michelin star restaurant means that for those few hours, nobody else can sit at ur table. and yes, all the more special when it goes on social media. oh but i think the ultra rich are just a microcosm of what's happening in society overall. for our grandparents, wealth was measured in possessions. a house, a car, clothes. things u could point to. things people could see. now tho it's mostly about experiences (travel is a big one). so the signal shifted from what u own to what u've lived. several factors could be at play tho. one, Maslow, basically. as societies get wealthier overall, more people move up the needs hierarchy. once security and comfort are covered, people reach for meaning, identity, connection. and usually experiences tend to deliver those more than objects do. millennials also came of age during the 2008 financial crisis and watched their parents lose homes and savings tied to things. covid, meanwhile, reminded our generation that life is short and uncertain. the conclusion was to spend on living, not accumulating. and finally there is hedonic adaptation. psychologically we adapt to possessions faster than we adapt to experiences. u buy a new car and within weeks it's just.. ur car. but things like a trip to Japan, a concert, a dinner with someone u love, they live in memory differently. and they compound, get emotionally richer over time. @summernotes

немного двор-детство-core born to be an artist, forced to make money✨ ahah, found these photos in my gallery, завалялись. ig i should make an album like this one day - would be a nice collection. can’t find the original high-quality file of that zhiguli though. народный легендарный работяга. @summernotes

there is a paradox in emerging market theory called the "infrastructure trap." an underdeveloped market looks like a blue ocean because incumbents haven't colonized it yet. but those incumbents aren't there precisely because of the lack of solid infrastructure. so the first movers don't just have to build a business, they have to build the infrastructure the business runs on. just yesterday Wolt announced that its leaving Uzbekistan market. when Wolt launched in Uzbekistan in October 2024, its own expansion head noted that the Uzbek market was far less saturated than Europe, but that also means lower order volumes, lower average basket sizes, and thinner margins while building scale. DoorDash hasn't announced country-by-country specific reasons for its exit from 4 locations: Qatar, Singapore, Japan, and Uzbekistan. so this could be just a reflection of DoorDash's decision to focus on investing in most sustainable clearest pathways. but that also reminds me of Divan's case. Divan.ru entered Uzbek market in 2023, having opened Divan.uz. the demand was there as revenue grew 5x from 2023 to 2024, and customers actually liked the product. but apparently the company hasn't predicted the degree of operational difficulties: customs and logistics delays from not being in the EAEU (weeks or months of waiting vs. the near-instant delivery model that made Divan successful in Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan), no reliable last-mile delivery setup ("if we find a van, we'll ship it; if not, we won't"), and cultural friction in managing local staff. a beautiful website and heavy ad spend masked the fact that the backend simply didn't work. what makes Uzbekistan particularly tricky is that it looks more ready than it is. it has a large, young, urban population in Tashkent, decent smartphone penetration, and genuine consumer appetite for modern products. but the connective tissue lags behind the demand side. companies see the demand signal and move, then get surprised by the supply-side constraints. Uzbekistan is a promising market, but it seems that marketing or a slick app isn't enough to unlock it. rather, t's grinding operational infrastructure-building that takes longer and costs more than growth-stage companies typically want to invest. @summernotes