49/100: Almost halfway
#CapitalAtRisk
The 2010s was the decade of the Entrepreneur.
The 2020s will be the decade of the Investor.
“There are three kinds of people in the world. People who make things happen. People who watch things happen. People who say ‘What happened?’”
My first half-century
I’ve always said that I’ll live until I’m 100. Well, tomorrow I’ll be halfway there.
But while I’m still 49 for a few more hours, and before I leave to go to a posh hotel in the Cotswolds, I thought I’d share 49 pieces of wisdom that have got me this far:
People whom you admire have done what they’ve done by thinking, “What can I do right now, where I am, with what I’ve got”. Then they take the next step.
There is more wisdom in Desert Island Discs than in any new, hot-take podcast.
Embrace the 80/20 principle — for work, friends, money, the things you do well, most of this list — it is irrefutable and undefeated1.
Related: As much as you might like to, you can’t smooth things out — income, joy, your skills or ineptitudes — they’re lumpy so when you have a lean spell, don’t worry too much, it’ll pass.
It’s OK to cut people out of your life. It’s easy to keep the ones who lift you up and it’s fairly easy to cut the nasty, envious, wrong’uns. However it’s the ones in the middle where you’ll need some courage — they may be nice and everything but they are distracting you from getting what you want2.
Stop whinging. As Bill Bryson said at my graduation, “No one ever got invited to dinner because they’re a really good whinger”.
However, find someone you can have a really good rant with — complain like billy-o then say, “OK, rant over” and move on.
If you get rejected for something you really wanted, thank the person who rejected you. It’s harder to reject people than you think and they’ll remember you (there’s often a next time).
Increase prices. And every now and then ask for what you might think is a ridiculous fee; 10x, 20x, or 100x what you charged last time.
Figure out your ‘category of one’. What are you the only — and therefore the best — in the world at doing?
Don’t use a credit card, but always have one with a few grand available for the one ‘the shit has really hit the fan’ moment3.
You can still have a good relationship with someone who has died.
Stop and take a look around every once in a while. When you’re in your mid-40s have a look back over the last 25-ish years. Note down all the changes you’ve gone through, progress you’ve made and lessons you’ve learned. Now imagine what you can do in the next 25+ years.
As you go through life you’ll experience more and more hardship, grief, pain and existential challenges. This is not bad luck, it’s inevitable. Don’t let it put you off.
Every now and then, indulge in luxury — have the £10 coffee in a posh hotel rather than Starbucks. Buy two pairs of ridiculously expensive shoes per decade.
The best way to get information if often not by asking questions but by making statements. For example, saying “I’ve read that x is y…” will encourage the other person to correct the record.
Find some space to stretch out. By this I mean stand in the middle of the countryside where you can’t see any other people or houses or cars and stretch your arms out wide and your face to the sky. Stay like that for a whole minute.
It’s OK to go to the supermarket hungry — you’ll eat soooo well that day.
Be an optimistic encourager. The fact that pessimists smugly predict, for example, nine out of the last five recessions4 tells you all you need to know5.
When you feel pressured into doing something it’s OK to say, “Nah, I don’t fancy that”.
It’s also OK to say, “Aaah, I’m a bit skint right now”.
Exercise on more days of the week that you don’t.
Draw, doodle, sketch on more days of the week than you don’t.
Plant some trees. It’s surprisingly easy to buy trees — look here, if you’re in the UK, buy a few and plant them somewhere where they’d look good in 100 years. No permission required.
Thinking requires effort. Have an hour to yourself each week and go do some deliberate, intense thinking. Jot down some things you want to think about then do some exercises — invert, write down what your hero/enemy would do, write down what would make it 100x easier and 100x quicker. Keep writing until the hour is up6.
Inversion is the best thinking tool — ask, what can I do to completely fail at this? How can I best find misery? How could this thing I’m doing lose a lot of money?
Don’t be afraid of mathematics — it’s creative and fun. If you understand probability and the exponential function you’re ahead of way more people than you think.
Choose your work based on the people you’re drawn to and not because you think a particular product or organisation could be the successful one.
Find a great greasy spoon cafe7.
While it’s good to get a pat on the back, don’t chase praise from others — most of the teachers and bosses were wrong about you.
“I’ll show you…” revenge is an excellent motivator.
At school you have to conform, you have no power and the popular people fit in. In life it’s the independent, creative, non-conforming thinkers that thrive.
The words you use matter. Hyperbole doesn’t win the argument in the long run. Be precise in your language.
However saying, “I’m about to be your worst customer…” when making a perfectly fair or minor complaint will get you what you want.
It used to be the case that it’s not what you know it’s who you know. That’s no longer enough — the advantage comes from what you know about people and the strength of their connections with others.
After probability and the exponential function, the best area of mathematics to learn is Graph theory — but it’s not just the nodes & edges, it’s the ‘weight’ of each edge that really matters (also known as a weighted graph).
High & verified trust and good taste will give you an edge — they always have but this is something to double down on in the coming decades.
Once or twice in your life someone will take a big chance on you. You’ll deserve it but that might not be obvious until later. Don’t blow it8.
No one is perfect, including you. If I’m the passenger directing you in the car it’s highly likely I’ll point left and say, “Turn right”. Give yourself a break and embrace other people’s, err, quirks.
The only school assembly I remember was the only one given by my middle school cookery teacher, Mrs Onions (yes, really). I’d have been around 10 years old. She told us, “The biggest regrets you’ll have in life are the things you don’t do”.
One of the smartest things you can say is, “Hang on a minute, run that by me again…”.
You’ll get many setbacks in life, and you’ll just have to deal with them. But you should also deliberately test yourself physically and mentally. I’ve found that ultra marathons are perfect for this.
Regularly engineer serendipity. Host a monthly coffee morning, arrange a regular walk with the same few people, arrange ‘Office Hours’ to share your expertise.
Buy some nice, thick (but not too thick) paper and a fountain pen with black ink then write thank you letters. Write one per week, minimum, on average per year.
You can completely change your life, your prospects and yourself within three to five years.
You are capable. Act accordingly.
Everyone will show you who they are. You just have to wait.
Don’t drop litter.
Find a way that works.
What’s Keeping You Up at Night?
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Learn from over 5,000 entrepreneurs who’ve been to over 500 meals with 9others in over 45 cities around the world in my book, “What’s Keeping You Up at Night?”.
Available on Amazon here.
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Important: None of these posts are investment advice. If you are thinking about investing you should seek the advice of a suitably qualified independent advisor.
#CapitalAtRisk
Thank you Guy Spier for this.
By this I mean a real, major, proper emergency — the type you have to fly around the world for or drop everything for two months for.
Along the same lines as Professor Paul Samuelson’s famous quip, “The stock market has predicted nine out of the last five recessions” in 1982.
Much better to be an optimist and wrong than a pessimist and right.
Thank you Sithan Kanna for HDIT.
Thank you John Johnson and Brendan Hodgson.