Welcome back to the Saturday Success Series email!
This week we have:
Master Yourself: Feelings are inputs
Master Your Money: 7 crypto crash lessons
The Weekly Special: The Trifecta of Living Well
The goal here is maximum value, so let’s get to it.
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Master Yourself
Fog thicker than maple syrup. Damp, dreary. A miserable day. I was 15 or 16. I was feeling things and I was annoyed. The weather was matching my mood.
See, I used to hate feelings. Thought they were a waste of time.
Eventually, as we tend to do, I got older. And with age comes wisdom (hopefully).
So, I started viewing feelings through the lens of input. And everything changed.
Now I always view my feelings as high level inputs- they’re simply trying to tell me something.
If I’m angry, why?
Am I scared of something? Am I feeling insecure or less than?
If I’m irritated, why?
What’s stressing me out at the core? Do I need more sleep? Is something specific going on?
If I’m elated, why?
What am I doing that inspires me? I wanna do more of that. Am I leaning into something?
Use your feelings to your advantage. They’re not facts, but they are useful bits of real time knowledge.
Master Your Money
I lost 95% of my crypto account recently in the Genesis collapse (Gemini Earn).
Some people have been devastated by crypto losses. Some people think crypto losses are hilarious.
“These morons bought into this crap??” As if they’ve never made (still make?) stupid decisions. Never tried something volatile or risky in their life, but feel confident judging others. Interesting. Not a new concept, but still piques my curiosity.
They laugh as if crypto as a whole is going away (it’s not). The future (blockchain, AI, VR) is coming, whether you like it or not.
All this being said, it was kind of wild if you invested your entire savings account into crypto. That was ill-advised, clearly.
Now, I don’t worry too much about other people’s opinions. Everyone is free to be an asshole in my world. Sometimes I even encourage it.
For me, losing the crypto is a tough pill to swallow- not so much for today’s loss (what’s a few grand?), but what tomorrow could’ve been (omg a few million??).
Anyway, I’ll follow my own advice: absorb the lessons(s), release the pain.
The lessons:
Tough times build resilience (silver lining)
Life is super short, get back to enjoying it ASAP
Volatile assets are even riskier than you think they are
Life is full of mess ups and mistakes. You can recover from 99.9% of them
Things that seem too good to be true almost always are (those crypto interest rates)
Life is full of loss, much rather lose money than things of real value (family, health)
A reminder that overleveraging into crypto would have been a death blow financially. Don’t overleverage into any one single position
Hopefully some of these lessons help you avoid pain.
That’s what smart people do. They learn from others’ mistakes so they can skip a few themselves.
If you’re one of the ones laughing at others’ losses, reconsider the kind of person you want to be in 2024.
Weekly Special
The Trifecta of Living Well
Occasionally I’m asked how I’m so productive, intentional, focused, insert any other word of your choice here.
The only answer I ever come up…I simplified everywhere I could.
If you’re very intentional about where your focus goes, you get results. Results are the default, the byproduct of where your attention is.
So, in that case, where do I focus becomes the second question.
The answer? On the Trifecta of Living Well.
Health. Relationships. Wealth.
Health
The base of your pyramid. Nothing matters without good health.
If you disagree, that’s only because you have good health and take it for granted.
Within the umbrella of health, there are two aspects. Your physical health and your mental health. Yes, they overlap often. But you must decide to take care of both or one falls to the wayside, usually mental health.
Physical
Sleep: I place this at the top because sleep is the bedrock of your health foundation. You’re aiming for 7–9 hours at roughly the same time every night. 10:30/11–6:30/7 is my sweet spot.
Nutrition: Inputs = outputs, which determine your outcomes. What you put in your body matters, a lot. Eat whole foods. Eat in moderation. Don’t stress it too much.
Movement: Sports, lifting, walking. Whatever you choose (mix it up!) just make sure you move your body daily. We’re not meant to sit all day.
Mental
Stress reduction: Meditate. Laugh. Get some sunlight. Breathe deep. Schedule your days. Clear your plate. There are a million ways to reduce stress. Find a few of them.
Emotional response: Put a positive spin on events. Pause before reacting and respond instead.
Continuing education: Never stop skill building. Read a ton of books. Get hands on. Apply what you learn for next time.
Relationships
You will never regret leaning into your best relationships. Nor letting go of your shitty ones.
We are social creatures and if our relationships are iffy, so are our lives.
I break my relationships into 2 categories. The close ones and the loose ones.
Concrete ties
Family: For me this is calling my parents daily. It’s getting together with my siblings and their partners and kids. It’s inviting my in-laws to dinner. These are the people we’d lean on if (when) times got tough.
Friends: I’m lucky enough to have friends I’ve had since I was 5, 6, 7 years old. I’m 35 now. You do the math. I need to make sure I check in with my close friends. They’ve known me at every stage of my life.
Social ties
9–5 connections: Co-workers who become friends are the best. Make sure to nurture your corporate connections. These are also the people who can help you find your next (better) job.
Social Media connections: I’ve made friends across LinkedIn and Twitter and these people are like mentors. They can be peers or beyond where I’m at…but the conversations are priceless.
Wealth
Under Wealth I focus on two things: Cash flow and appreciation.
I used to live by my core four, which were the 3 you see here plus work. But I realized work goes into wealth. Because, well…that’s what we’re working toward.
Cash flow gets you through today. Appreciation buys your tomorrows. Both are important.
Cash flow
9–5: For most of us, this is our primary income flow. The goal is to spend less than you earn so you have a positive cash flow every month.
Writing: I’m paid to write. Part time. But still, a paid writer.
Dividends: I’m paid out interest and dividends through my stocks, real estate and crypto.
Appreciation
Stocks: I don’t get fancy here. A lot of ETFs & index funds and few individual stocks.
Real estate: Long term one expects real estate will continue to climb. Aka appreciate. I’d expect something bought at 115k 6 years ago will be worth 315k in the next couple of years.
Thanks for reading! If you found this valuable, please share with someone who could use it. See you next Saturday!
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