I have spent the last couple of months thinking each morning as I tie my shoes about how it would make a clever introduction to a blog post.

As I began writing roughly seven or eight months ago more consistently (a habit which I hope to further develop), I find myself looking for inspiration throughout the day. There's a feeling that it will make the writing more interesting or at the very least feel like it has more purpose. I also have found that I've been reading exponentially more than a couple of years ago, but trying my best to imbibe the Naval Ravikant approach. Summarized simply as: read what's interesting, when it's interesting. You don't have to pick up a book about something you think is cool and finish it to completion. Much like when you're building a habit of working out more, it's important to start with workouts you'll actually do. What's important is just getting active daily for ~45min (replace getting active with picking up some kind of reading material that isn't Twitter/X).

As I spent time thinking about how clever it would sound when I equated tying my shoes to overcoming challenges in life or how each morning is the start to a new day, I got embarrassed. It makes for bad writing for two reasons; firstly because it makes for writing that sounds like someone who's trying to write something clever, and secondly because I assume any observations I have on the similarities between tying my shoes and taking on the challenges of a new day would be well-fleshed-out ones by much better writers and thinkers.

All this aside, I have really enjoyed the impact this blog and writing has had on the way I observe certain aspects of my life. I believe it's forcing me to take a closer look at some of the topics I'm interested in, ignite past interests, and generally given me something to think about when I'm trying to step away from constant stimulation (e.g., just go on a walk without headphones in or checking Twitter/X every 2min). I'm yet to share the blog publicly, but I'm sure at some point I will. I like that it forces a more concrete journal, and freezes certain thinking at a moment in time. I worry that the writing is bad and because I'm yet to get feedback on it the "badness" will compound until someone looks it all over and politely points me towards some new best practices.

Outside of tying shoes and contemplating what's good and bad about my writing, I have been thinking about the difference and impact of being nice to yourself and nice to yourself. Hopefully I find a more eloquent and concise way of writing this in the future. The thoughts surround the topic of what you get out of being "kind" to yourself (body image, mental image, lucky vs. unlucky self-prophecy, abundance theory vs. scarcity, etc.) vs. being delusional. There's a fine line. You have to really believe that you're going to achieve something great in life if you're going to strike out on your own against the herd and go for it. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Though at the same time we all understand and have met people who take this too far. Where is the line? I'm not sure. I'm not even sure it's worth determining the difference, but I find myself often catching myself. "Are you being too generous with yourself here? Do you really think you can do that? Why you?" These thoughts can be largely more detrimental than the inverse "you crushed that," "no way this can go south," "all we have to do is X and keep at it and we'll win". My inclination is that you shoot for a baseline confidence, but keep yourself in check when you can tell you're making others uncomfortable. Though again, f*** 'em maybe? Keep in mind most of this is in the context of going after large goals and getting rich.

Onto Q4 goal, purposefully not plural. Focus on developing better systems. Just find things in life that I currently do and do my best to apply human capital to them and get them off my plate. I hate doing things I don't like. So much so that it has been a detriment to romantic relationships, traditional jobs I've had, and personal friendships. I have the ability to lie for a bit, but much like Benjamin Graham's quote on the stock market, in the long run it's (I am) a weighing machine. If I end up weighing something as pointless, I make it clear. Again, not something I'm proud of but I've come to terms with it and feel it's better to operate true to myself than the latter. For me I believe this means creating systems that force certain behaviors, outcomes, and actions. So broadly put I plan to continuously improve in this arena.

Hopefully when I'm 60 everything will get done by a small team at the nucleolus level. I often envision two assistants, two researchers, and one strong generalist CFO type, and me. From there I believe I could manage quite a large organization outside of that including my personal life.

Been watching lots of the OG Warren Miller stuff, though “Outside TV” is a horrible streaming platform.

I wish I could think of which systems I feel are most important, but I know the ones that would "free" me the most. In order they are general assistant that I can dictate most things to and have them manage email, chef, permanent cleaner. I think if those three could be taken care of I would generally be very close to everything I would ever need. This all of course is outside/pre family, but I think those three would translate quite well to helping me with my wife and kids when that time comes. I really don't want or need much more than that. Except of course for skiing whenever I want, traveling to interesting places, and making time to see friends wherever they happen to be (please someone move to New Zealand).

I will try not to ramble when writing these. Though that's easier said than done. Certain topics lead to others too easily to stop. And the previous does lead me to how much I've been thinking about what I want out of life lately. I want freedom and agency more than anything. I see most modern J-O-B-S as very dangerous. There's the Nassim Taleb quote "The three most harmful addictions are carbohydrates, heroin, and a monthly salary". It's true. I'm starting to see the calluses form in friends who are all around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, certainly in the "career minded" ones who are in their 30s. I don't think it's a universally bad thing, I just think if you fundamentally define success as "having agency" (see three sentences ago) you have to know that route is not viable for you. I also believe because I have this fundamental belief, it makes me a horrible employee. I personally would not hire a high agency individual unless I was honest with myself that they would probably do what I need them to do and then leverage the experience to move up in the world and get a better position elsewhere. As far as hiring someone who's going to plug away for you for years on end, you want to screen for detail-oriented and low agency.

This got away from itself, but I look forward to revisiting it in the future. Until next time.

None of it will probably matter either because of the above. Well, less than it already does.

-NM

P.S I ironically edited this with AI even after discussing AI moat. We’re probably doomed.