At my workplace, I could sense very readily who has travelled a lot and who has not. Even in those who have travelled, I am able to observe the differences between those who travelled a lot within urban spaces and those who have experienced significantly different cultures.
The one trait that stands out is they often turn up to learning situations with an empty cup. Well travelled people accept that there are multiple normals and multiple ways of living and doing things, this primes them to question status quo, accept new ideas and also handle new situations with a calmness that is infectious. They are also very comfortable about who they are and often found not wanting to impress others.
These are the common top traits that I have seen that makes them stand out
Learning mindset
Ability to read the room even when people are not speaking
Ready to experience a wide range of cuisines, they are not picky.
In general they become less polarised in almost all subjects
Conversation starters, often able to connect with anyone on any topic and build stories
Sense of calmness and composure even in very new situations
A bonus that amplifies the above traits are having worked in offices across different locations both within the country and outside. When working in a new location, you have to very quickly blend in to be part of the team by adapting to local culture of that place. Our work is a team sport, the more people you meet in individual or team setting the more you become a good team player who stands out at work.
Always look for the experience that is going to frequently put you into new people situations either as a form of leisure travel or official travel. See the magic of how fast are you able to grow as a person.
For a long time, I felt wearing spectacles were cool. I went to the extent of buying zero power glasses just to look cool. I guess I was influenced by pop culture where glasses equated to curiosity and intelligence. Though I bought the glasses, I did not carry it around as it was not useful to me. When I eventually had to start using reading glasses, that is when it hit me that using glasses for refractive error is about losing something to gain something.
Reading glasses can’t be worn at all times, as the name suggest it is only for reading at a hand held distance. Rest of the times I had to remove them. This constant on and off was annoying, also very often I used to forget the reading glasses at home and struggle to read fine print. When I reached out to a doctor, I heard the term ‘Emmetropic presbyope’. It means someone who needs reading glasses but had perfect vision all along their life.
The doctor suggested to go for a progressive lens so that I do not need to take the glasses off and on. I was overjoyed when I figured out that it worked well. But the joy was short lived because the rule “You gain something, you lose something kicked in”. When using computers, which is my major activity in a day, progressives makes it harder for you see through a narrow portion of the lens, thereby creating posture problems in the neck and the back. If you use a single vision prescription then either the desktop or reading a mobile device becomes a problem.
I went to many of the optician chains in search of the right spectacle setup, my recommendation is to avoid them at all costs as they suggest only what is profitable for them and not what is right for you. One of the chains requires you to buy a membership and insurance, another one had only in house poor quality lenses. Many of these chains are also poorly staffed, so they do not assist you in figuring out the right lens, instead they are trained to sell not to treat.
After almost a year of searching for the right solution, I stepped into a non chain optician and explained them the problem. They asked me to demonstrate my working position and took measurements for nearly 10-15 minutes to give an exact prescription that works. I was given an office degressive lens with a maximum viewing distance of 200 cm. It solved my desk usage and handheld device problem in one go, no unnatural tilting and squinting. The only reason I was able to figure out a solution was that I was not willing to go for a one size fits all approach, where I need to adapt to the glasses to do all my day to day work.
Here is my setup for emmetropic presbyopes
Reading a book, browsing mobile phones, fine print – Best is a single vision glass, if you read at bed time keep a cheap pair next to the bed handy. Degressive office lens and progressive also works well but with blurring at the edges and they are expensive to replace if they are carelessly handled. I bought regular off the shelf ones for less than 500 a pair.
Working at a desk with computer – Best is a degressive office lens as you need to alternate between writing, reading print and computer usage. These are occupational lenses and always get it done from a good optician and very reputed lens brands. Using regular progressive lenses will cause a lot of neck strain, go for zoom in of the fonts and many other hacks to make the narrow intermediate zone work for you. I bought Zeiss office lens with individual customisation option and max viewing distance of 200 cm.
Driving and outdoors – You don’t need glasses for distance vision, but if you find yourself outdoors too often and have to use mobile phones a lot then a good mid range wide corridor progressive lens suited for driving is the best choice. Entry level progressive will cause a massive swim effect which can disorient and make you fall. I bought Essilor varilux comfort max with photochromic option to double up as sunglasses.
Cost – Always go for a mid range solution, you will need to replace your glasses every 2-3 years due to increase in reading power and multiple pairs will add up significantly to the cost. The difference between a mid range and top range is typically 3x-4x and you get the benefit of top range only if your distance vision has a complex prescription.
Let me know what works for you, let us share notes
A lot of recent online purchases made me feel like a transaction generating unit who can be deceived into buying with as many dark patterns as possible. I was using a quick commerce app named after a SI unit prefix, it had asked me to buy their membership for a month for the promise of free delivery. Upon adding an item to cart, I was taken to the checkout where the price was not visible and I prompted with the pay button. I had to navigate out deliberately and figured out that the app had added 500gm variant instead of my intended 200gm, it added the delivery charge, platform fee, handling charge, gst. I was surprised as I had bought membership which promised free delivery just to be annoyed that free delivery was a coupon code which is not automatic.
I felt very cheated and stopped using that app altogether. This has been designed and developed by well educated individuals guided by industry veterans, yet such dark patterns have become mainstay. Customers deserve honesty and trust, not manipulation. There is only a small line between outright scammers and borderline scammers. The designers and developers behind these kind of apps, view people as mere transactions. The more transactions happen, the richer they get. I wish that more people step out of their optimism bias and start noticing dark patterns, vote with the wallet and kick parasites like these away from the market.
Novi's 