The Butterfly Effect

Summary: So much in life is uncertain. The smallest, most insignificant decisions can result in drastically different pathways through life. See this for more on uncertainty.

I don’t know if you’ve ever watched the movie “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”. I find it absolutely insane how the smallest decisions can result in the most immense changes to the path of your life.

For example, I decided to reach out to one person in particular after reading a Reddit post in which he commented that if given another chance, he would pick to study computer science or finance instead of becoming a doctor. Mind you, this guy was 26, a fresh junior doctor in his second year after finishing medical school. I shot the guy a message, and throughout the past two years, we’ve exchanged messages over Reddit, Facebook and were finally able to meet each other in person a few months ago.

He gave me some pretty legitimate guidance - not only on careers to pursue, but his take on how to approach life, relationships, competition, formal education, and lifelong friendships. Much of the content you’ve read is my interpretation on what he’s discussed with me, and I think my life would be completely different, had I not decided to reach out to this person. It’s very much a mentor-mentee relationship :)

Now, two years after I decided to shoot that message over Reddit, I’m writing this blog and he’s finally building his first healthtech startup and finishing his Masters in Computer Science.

Finding certainty in uncertainty here.