Christopher Tiu

Studying Protocol

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 11:13:01 -0700

Why do most people fail school or online classes?

A combination of factors like low personal motivation, high distractions, financial issues, and a lack of support can contribute to inability to succeed.

Here are things that I do to ensure a higher probability of success:

Why?

To quote Nietzsche “He who has a why can bear any how”

Why go through the suffering of a stupid class?

You will suffer whether you fail or pass this class, so what is it?

Nietzsche wondered how people are able to perservere through extreme suffering.

It’s not the suffering that is the main problem, but rather meaningless suffering that crushes the human spirit.

People who posses a strong sense of why they are enduring pain, they are able to tolerate even more than they ever thought possible.

The Story of the Three Stone Cutters

A man sees three stone cutters and asks them what they are doing.

The first stone cutter: “I am here for a paycheck.”

The second stone cutter: “I am cutting the best stones around.”

The third stone cutter, smiling: “I am building a cathedral for the kingdom of God that will inspire generations long after I am gone.”

All three of them are doing the same back breaking work, but one is able to do more.

Viktor Frankl: Surviving the Holocaust

The Jewish psychiatrist who lost family, endured starvation and extreme cruelty.

He was able to find meaning in the most horrific attrocities in history.

Overcomed by wanting to: reunite with his wife, complete his manuscript and share his work called logotherapy, and helping others in the concentration camp.

So now what?

You might think: “I am just a student, I’m not doing anything crazy like going to war, working on an oil rig or training for a triathlon. I’m not literally going through brutal suffering."

Well you have to go through the work yourself and figure that out.

Go down the rabbit hole of: Why am I doing this?

Are you young and trying to leave home to become independent?
Are you trying to support your family?
Are you stuck in your current job?

I don’t know what I want

Even if you don’t know what you want to do with your life, just pick one thing so that you are learning something at least.

Take it as an temporary experiment, it doesn’t mean you’ll do it forever.

What matters is that you get some experience/skill and maybe a project to show for it. Which you can use as leverage to find a better job or open more doors.

What I Do

The environment matters because your brain associates behaviors to certain places.

It’s easy to go to the gym, if you are magically plopped in there.

We find that the resistance or hard part about going to the gym is the decision to start the process of getting ready to go to the gym.

Same thing applies to studying.

If you get plopped into an area that is quiet, is low in visual and auditory distractions and the area is associated with studying, it becomes really easy to start studying.

I don’t study in my room. I study in a coffee shop or at a library.

My ideal area of study, is somewhere that is visually boring, no stimulating sounds and easy to go to.

I know not everyone has the luxury of being able to find a dedicated area study.

For those who must study in their room: designate a portion of their room dedicated to ONLY studying.

When I had to study in my room, I had a desk and lamp that I specifically ONLY used to study.

When the study lamp was on, I played white noise in my headphones and completed my pomodoro and then turned the study lamp off.

It takes a lot of willpower to do this and I highly do not recommend it.

Remove Distractions

Delete games, social media and YouTube.

If you have things that are more stimulating than going to school to improve your life, what do you think will happen?

It is obvious that most people are unable to overcome the expertly engineered and highly addictive products big companies have created.

I admit that I am an addict from these things and do not want to waste any more of my life on these things.

Selling

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 19:50:59 -0700

Gaming PC:

i7-13700F, RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 1TB Storage; $1262; sell for $1k

Minimalist Gaming Mouse:

VAXEE OUTSET AX (Matte Body) bought for $65; sell for $30

Keyboard: https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q1?variant=39898909114457 Keychron Q1 V2 (75%) $140; sell for $50

Monitor: 27" 16:9 240Hz FHD IPS Gaming Monitor AW2720HF goes for $419; sell for $350

DJ Controller: ddj-flx4: goes for $295; sell for $250

How to Start Writing

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 11:43:14 -0700

Monday, August 4, 2025

Today marks the beginning of my 12 week journey to publish one essay every week.

I wrote 2-4 hours a day just writing whatever came to mind, desperately trying to find a good topic to write about as my first essay.

The day of is when I realized what my first topic should be about.

Which is MY experience on starting to write, which is pretty meta.

This is what I want to be sharing with you, my readers.

My struggles, setbacks and lessons that I learned, through written word or maybe video/audio format in the future.

Let’s start with the guide.

How do you become a writer?

It really as simple as getting pen and paper, or typing on a laptop, and writing whatever comes to your mind.

I think the hurdle is the publishing part of writing. I won’t lie its kind of an uncomfortable feeling of releasing your work to the internet.

I worry that my writing style will be seen as sloppy and that people will think I am dumb…

Even as I wrote that sentence out, I realize that people make judgements of me in person anyways and that really it doesn’t matter that much. You can’t hide yourself for too long, eventually the mask falls off and people will see how you actually are.

What I am finding is that when it comes to “How to do ‘X’”, just immediately doing the thing teaches you very quickly.

You can’t hide from being an obvious noob, people will find out, so you might as well just own it.

How am I doing it?

I write on my days off and I set 2-4 hours clocked in typing away.

I do at coffee shops or in quiet, less distracting places.

I will listen to white noise if it’s too noisy.

When I feel it necessary to take a break, I will walk and then go back to writing.

I am of the mindset: “be so good they can’t ignore you” which originates from Steve Martin’s advice.

I came across this quote from Cal Newport’s book titled Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You.

It is about letting your work speak for itself, instead of trying make yourself appear better than you actually are.

Cal elaborates the meaning of the quote being about what you should focus on when you start picking up a skill. The question you should have front of mind is “How do I get better?”

If you are continually thinking about refining your skills, eventually you’ll become so obviously skilled in your craft, that people will seek you out for your expertise.

Even you’re currently in a job you don’t like or learning a skill you don’t know if you want to continue. Build something and get that experience to show that you at least did something.

My Reason

I do this because I realize how surface level my thinking was and how mindless I have been operating.

It is of necessity to me clear my brain fog and find clarity as I operate my life.

Writing is an excellent tool to deepen your thinking and to work through challenging situations.

Who knows were publishing my thoughts will go? It could get me fired from my job or ruin future opportunities.

It could lead to things I could of never imagined.

Until next week :)

Time and Its Importance

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 22:24:50 -0700

I have a new focus in life.

I want to be a writer.

I have been journaling privately for near 10 years now as of 2025.

It’s about time I write publicly and publish frequently.

The wealthy are always thinking about time and I do not.

I think I should be more mindful of my time.

To have front of mind: “Is this what I want or is this a distraction?”

There are many distractions in my life at this time admittedly.

However I have eliminated a lot before:

computer games
phone games
social media off my phone

I want more money, just like everyone else.

However I wish to do in a way that no one that I know in real life has done, which is by writing.

I live amongst a lot of people who do the normal 9-5 or work 12 hour shifts in the hospital.

It scares me the thought of pushing myself to become such a good writer that at some point I’ll have to give up my “stable” nursing job.

I know that the 12 hour nurse shift pretty much takes my entire time and energy away from writing.

If I am not spending my time thinking about “How do I get better at: Writing?”, how will I ever achieve the heights that I seek.

If you are not in control of your time… what are you doing with your life?

Overcoming New Grad Stress

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 16:28:22 -0700

I won’t lie, my joy and relief faded quickly after passing the NCLEX on my second try.

The thought became viscerally real again:

“I’m going to be responsible for people’s lives."

I have developed the habit already of writing when I start to feel stressed or have a problem I want to solve.

So I begin to write. (If you don’t journal already, read this.)

The self-narratives flow in of:

“I have an awful memory."

“I feel like I have already forgotten everything that I have learned."

“I am Blast Last (in OPS) and I am going to struggle explaining things to an embarassing degree."

“I’m not feeling connected to my work and I am worried that it will impact my performance."

What initially reorients me are the sayings: “just git gud” and “competence is confidence.” However, it doesn’t set me at ease completely.

What works

I recalled my techniques that helped me pass my NCLEX and what I have learned from it.

(Time Spent) x (Intensity of Focus) = High Quality Work

What everyone struggles with is maintaining long sessions of intense focus.

Yes, some people can pull through and sit down for a 4 hours “studying.”

Why Nursing

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 18:40:53 -0700

In summary, nursing contains skills that matter to me and I believe this work is in service to something bigger than myself.

Motivation (and its 3 elements)

In the Ted Talk: “The puzzle of motivation” Dan Pink breaks down what he thinks motivation is comprised of.

Mastery: the desire to get better and better at something that matters
Purpose: the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves
Autonomy: the urge to direct our own lives

Using this framework, if asked: what is my motivation for nursing?

(Mastery) I desire to get better at my communication skills, especially in high pressure environments. I desire to get better at my clinical skills.

(Purpose) The work of a nurse is, what I believe as, a service of something larger than myself. Helping others in their time of need is an honorable cause in my eyes.

(Autonomy) Out of all the things I could be doing with my finite life, this is how I wish to spend my time.

The Details

Why do I want to get better at my communication skills?

First, a quote:

“…People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou

Second, you may have good intentions when you communicate, but it often doesn’t matter if your message lands poorly with the people you talk to.

These two factors are giant hurdles for those who aren’t well-versed in communication.

To be continued…

How to Get Into Nursing School

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 14:13:41 -0800

Things You Need:

TEAS score > 76,
an Essay,
4 Letters of Recommendation,
(and the naivete to think this is a good idea)

advice for the TEAS test

First, take a practice assessment to find out your weak areas. You should get a feel for how much you need to study and how long its going to take.

Second, set a date for your test and don’t change it.

Third, make mind maps (hopefully a link of me explaining how to do this) to solidify your memory on certain topics.

Fourth, take readiness assessments the week of, for confidence.

Fifth, relax the day before your exam. You got it.

about the essay

3 paragraphs about:

purpose for enrolling
the essential functions of a nurse
preparation to become successful in the program

Do NOT write more than 2 pages. They do not want to read that.

3 Letters of Rec and 1 Letter of Community Service

Recommendations should include:

Explain how they know you
Highlight your strengths
Give their recommendation specifically to your school’s Nursing Program

Community Service should include the same things above

Other Stuff

If you have you’re pre-reqs done or partially done, you need to get transcripts.

OR if you have no pre-reqs done, you need a copy of your High School Diploma.

Communicating

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 23:40:15 -0800

Have you ever gotten stuck in an awkward silence in conversation?

Did you ever run out of things to say or think of?

Do you get frustrated when talking to difficult people?

I recommend you stop reading this, and start reading Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss(NStD).

Personally, it has changed my life. It has given me the tools to talk in all sorts of situations.

Right off the bat the first two tools I’d like to share with you that comes from the book NStD is: Labeling and Mirroring.

Labeling

Labeling is a verbal acknowledgment of the other side’s feeling and position

Key words: seems / sounds / looks / feels

Your goal is to really try and express understanding to your counterpart so that they feel as though you are on the same page with them.

For example:

“it sounds like that really upset you…”
“please correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like…”
“it feels like there’s something still bothering you…”
“it looks like there’s no progress going on…”
“it seems like I’m not really understanding what you are trying to say”

You know you labeled perfectly when you hear a, “that’s right”, as a response.

You can purposefully label incorrectly so that you could have your counterpart speak in more detail.

You can label what you see in counterpart’s body language, hear in their tonality or hear in the content of their words.

Even when there’s a lull in the conversation, a funny label that’s pretty meta that you could use is: “it seems like you’ve ran out things to say.”

Mirroring

Mirroring is pointing out something they said but with a curious tone. Another tool to extract more information from your counterpart.

For example:

Imagine listening to your friend and they have just had a bad day at work. They go on to talk about how a patient in the hospital was yelling at them.

You respond with:

“yelling?” (with an upward inflection)

This encourages your friend to elaborate more and lets them know you are listening and following along. When responding back it is important that you use a curious tone.

Summarizing what they’ve said is also a good mirror, also you can use labels in your summary.

How to Make a Slideshow

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 23:39:16 -0800

Install Shotcut

Create a project

personally, I like the naming convention with the date (YearMonthDay) first and a title

for example: 20220821_beach

Organize your photos and videos in your desired order in file explorer first

it is much harder to rearrange things in software, so I really recommend that you do it in your file explorer Drag your photos/videos into the ‘Playlist’ tab

Select all with CMD + SHIFT + A (MacOS)

Click on the Playlist Menu (stacked three lined button) which is on the next row directly above ‘Export’ and select ‘Add Selected to Slideshow’

Options that need adjusting:

Clip duration: usually no shorter than 7 secs

Aspect ratio conversion: Pad Blur

To add audio track:

CMD + U or right click on your Timeline and select Track Operations > Add Audio Track To splice audio or video clips:

Click on the thing you want to splice

Use the ‘S’ key to splice

To adjust audio levels of your song:

select your song on the Timeline so that there’s a red box highlighting it

click on filters, click the ‘+’ button, click or search for ‘Gain / Volume’

To create a title or text:

At the top left, click ‘Open Other’ and select Color

Once you’ve created your color, drag from the PREVIEW SCREEN and drop it into the Timeline (yeah I know weird)

From there you can add a Filter with Text

When you are done and ready:

Save

Go to the Export button and hit ‘Export File’

the default is a H.264/AAC MP4

Equipment

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 23:38:28 -0800

For my microphone setup: Shure SM58, sE DM1 Dynamite Preamp, Stedman Proscreen XL, IXTECH Boom Arm, Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen

My Keyboard: Keychron Q1 V2 (75%)

My Mouse: VAXEE OUTSET AX (Matte Body)

Unix Pass

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 23:00:50 -0800

Unix Pass: the only password manager you’ll need.

Simple to do on MacOS or Linux… a bit more complicated for Windows 11.

Transfering your Pass onto Windows 11

It’s infuriarting to try to install in natively on Windows 11.

It is far easier using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Open PowerShell

Enter wsl --install and follow the installation, at the end it will ask you to restart.

Upon restart, Open Ubuntu sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

sudo apt install wl-clipboard pass

move /.password-store and secret.gpg into your new linux folder

to access the password store gpg --import secret.gpg

About

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 23:37:07 -0800

UPDATED: August 29, 2025

Hey, I’m Chris. Currently, I’m a psych nurse, getting my BSN and developer of this website with the framework Hugo using the lugo theme.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Emergency Nursing

At some point, I will share my mind maps on organ systems, diseases, medications and anything nursing related as I start working. I do have mind maps but they are rather unorganized and, more importantly, lack actual real world experience. I think it would be more valuable to others once I get more experience under my belt.

Literature/Philosophy

Read:

1984 - George Orwell
Animal Farm - Georgle Orwell
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

Psychology

Read:

Slow Productivity - Cal Newport
So Good They Can’t Ignore You - Cal Newport
Atomic Habits - James Clear
Never Split the Difference - Chris Voss
Stolen Focus - Johann Hari
Grit - Angela Duckworth
Dumbing Us Down - John Taylor Gatto
The War of Art - Steven Pressfield

Typology:

Objective Personality System (OPS)
Enneagram

Looking forward to reading Jung, Nietzsche, Girard, and Rogers.

Neuroscience

I follow Andrew Huberman and have implemented his techniques in regards to memory, learning and goal acquisition.

Highly recommend reading this paper (Balcetis et al. 2020) in regards to achieving goals

Health

I lifts weights and want to start BJJ soon.

Read:

Fiber Fueled - Will Bulsiewicz M.D.

Music

I sing and play a bit of guitar. Someday, I plan to perform a song live and to produce a song.

Genres:

Gospel
Christian Metalcore
Ballads
Rap/Hip-Hop/Trap
Hyperpop
Mathrock/Midwest emo
Jazz
Classical/Opera

Albums:

Tech

At some point, I’ll share my dotfiles and my customized systems.