"Regardless of how successful I become, I resolve to live like a failure" and Six Types of Wealth
Is Success the Enemy of Freedom? was a worthwhile read. Considering how many people are chasing the tail-end of the "get rich and be happy" chase, it's probably worthwhile for society in general.
Key points:
You rose to meet the challenge, your peer group rose to meet you
While I was in Delhi, I had a sorta deep conversation with the founder of Indian fintech unicorn. He's in his early 20's and dropped out from IIT. We talked a little about my experience coming back to college and my discontent. He told me a few things I won't forget. He started relating to the problems of 30 and 40 year olds more than people his age. Makes sense, but feels different when you're actually empathizing with that more than your actual friends who are still in school.
"Maybe you’re excited to learn a new skill one of your hyper-competent friends is specialized in, and you ask them to coach you. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a massive mistake, because your friend only remembers how she got from level 75 to 80, and sort of assumes everything below is trivial. It’s technically possible to learn area formulas as a special case of integral calculus, but only technically."
I can't help but see this in my interactions with my roommates. Smart and technical people at level 75.
Imposter syndrome that comes with being at the big people table for being good at just one little thing
Success gives you something to lose
From The Unbearable Lightness of Being: this is the realization that Tomas makes when he can no longer practice surgery and must be a mere window cleaner. the freedom in not having to be anything.
In success, I do consider a non-optimal outcome to be:
"Now that you’ve made it big, you’d have to carefully position mirrors at the ends of three hallways to see that far. You’re attached to wonderful person(s) of amenable sexual orientation(s). You have a reputation to maintain in the ever-smaller circles that you walk. Children in your community look up to you, or so you tell yourself. And so, even though deep in your heart you still believe that only idiots believe in an old man in the sky your Twitter profile identifies you as “spiritual, yearning, exploring.”
if my endeavors in entrepreneurship don't work out (that's hella motivating)
When learning something new, treat yourself like a five-year old
This goes back to my long-held fear of mathematics and computer science without Tom
"Regardless of how successful I become, I resolve to live like a failure"
If all goes well, I drive a Honda Odyssey and thus have nobody to impress. If I'm moderately successful, I'll drive a porsche. I'm not the guy who can tell you the difference between a porsche and a ferrari or between a cartier necklace and a gucci one (outside of the logos). For me to indulge in those things which I myself do not have inclination to distinguish between is to live a life of lies. Not saying that a Honda Odysey is a failure by any means, but it represents being grounded to me. (disclaimer: i'd also drive a tesla because of sheer utility but that's besides the point)
This goes back to my long held belief that the more successful I become, the less I should enjoy the physical fruits of that labor. What does a nicer wine, steak, or watch do for me other than make me appear prim and polished.
This doesn't imply that one shouldn't try to live a rich life. If you find yourself with the inclination and oppurtunity to enjoy the varieties of wines and cheeses in the world, you should totally do it. Same goes with cars, jewelry, and anything else in life. But one should always know why.
Live like a failure also implies treating yourself like a five year old.
Jack Raines from Young Money also wrote a great article on Six Types of Wealth that I thought was tangential.
Arham's response to it was:
"To me that reads more like a reminder to be grateful and be cognizant of burning one form of wealth for another. Another interpretation is that the only resource we’re forced to burn at a finite rate is time so if you take the partial derivative of each other source of wealth with respect to time it should be positive"
To which I said:
"this is too much math jargon. i don't understand"
to which Arham replied:
"That was jargony but here’s a clear example and more generally, if you have a “loss function” of the blend of each source of wealth you want, you maximize that equation with respect to timeSay I value growth in relationships 2x growth in wealth And health as 1.5x and these are the only things I care about. So a sum of your well being might be marginal dollars + 1.5 * marginal health + 2 * marginal relationship growth now, based on certain actions, that sum will increase more rapidly than others. So you find what increases it the most in a set amount of time and do that"
There are six types of wealth: Knowledge, Time, Health, Experiences, Relationships, and Money. Health and Time are cousins because opportunity costs are everything... how much is your hourglass/health worth?