Saturday Success Series: Volume 19
Making life & money work for you.
Welcome back to the Saturday Success Series email!
In this edition we’ll have:
Five to Focus On: A quote, stock, book, show & a beer.
Master Yourself: A popular quote that’s a myth.
Master Your Money: How Ray Dalio is preparing for the future.
And of course…
The Weekly Special: Nike’s 10 Principles.
The goal here is maximum value, so let’s get to it.
Oh, by the way, if you’re feeling generous, please share this newsletter with a friend.
Five to Focus on:
In a noisy world, it’s hard to know what’s good out there. Let me help.
Quote to ponder: “You should focus relentlessly on something you’re good at doing, but before that you must think hard about whether it will be valuable in the future.” - Peter Thiel
Stock to consider: FDHT (Fidelity Digital Health ETF).
The fund seeks to provide investment returns that correspond, before fees and expenses, generally to the performance of the Fidelity Digital Health Index.
Disclaimer- this is not financial advice, I am not a financial advisor, and you should always do your own research.
Book to read: The Folly and the Glory by Tim Weiner.
Russia and China are our two biggest “frenemies” and I suppose that’s putting it nicely. But aside from just knowing more about that relationship, this is a really well written and interesting book. Our textbooks from back in high school would have us believing it’s impossible to write about history with anything other than the dryness of the Sahara.
Show to enjoy: The Righteous Gemstones on HBO Max.
It’s a dark comedy based on a religious family. John Goodman. Danny McBride. The very first episode had me laughing within 5 minutes. Definitely worth checking out.
Beer to sip: Black Currant Chocolate Mash from Free Will.
Sours with milk sugar just hit different. And in this particular case, everything named (black currant, chocolate, milk sugar) is everything tasted.
Master Yourself
There’s a popular quote out in the world: “How you do anything is how you do everything.”
The only problem is, it’s not accurate.
You’re not going to do things you don’t care about very well. You will try much harder when you do care.
So what you should pay attention to is what you work hard at, that’s what you care about. And pay attention to what you care about because that’s what you’ll work hard at.
Those are the two places to start inventorying your life. What you care about and what you work had at. Focus much more on those things than anything else.
Master Your Money
Here’s how Ray Dalio is preparing for the future:
Know the possibilities. Consider worst case scenarios. Figure out how to eliminate the most intolerable ones. I took this as a reiteration of diversifying your portfolio. I’ve purchased ETFs that will capitalize on China and India’s growing middle classes.
Diversify. Diversification covers you from things you can’t see, as well as things you can.
Put delayed gratification ahead of instant gratification. This almost guarantees a better future outcome.
Triangulate among the smartest people possible. Ray has access to the world’s greatest minds. You have access to the internet and books. Almost the same thing.
I’ll add two of my own points. Focus on cash flow & appreciation. Cash flow comes from increasing your earning potential. And not buying dumb shit. Appreciation comes from owning assets. Basically taking dumb shit money and buying smart things- stocks, crypto, real estate. Also, look outside of the US for future opportunities, in regard to investing. And possibly living.
Weekly Special:
Nike’s 10 Principles from the 1970s
Long before Nike grew into a global brand, there was an internal memo created.
This list is rumored to have been written in 1977 by the first head of marketing, Rob Strasser, and was shared decades later by lead designer Markus Kittner.
The idea behind these principles is that they would lead the company to grow into a global brand.
Maybe when you finish reading this list, you can create your own principles.
Whether it be for your startup or your career or you as a person, having principles matters. It lets you know exactly who you want to be so there’s no confusion.
Nike has come a long way over the past 40+ years, let’s hope you do too.
1/ Our business is change.
All business is change. Life is change.
That’s your big guarantee in life- things will be constantly changing. What worked in the past, may not work again. What you think the future will look like, will almost certainly be erroneous.
The important things will remain the same- customers want great prices and great service- but how to provide these things, how the business landscape looks- these things will change.
2/ We’re on offense. All the time.
In this case, defense does not win championships. Defensive companies lag behind.
Market leaders go on the offensive. They’re constantly working on their own strategy, focusing on their customers and trying to create the next big win.
3/ Perfect results count — not a perfect process. Break the rules: fight the law.
At the end of the day, week, month, year, decade…all that matters are the results you’ve achieved.
I love good processes but don’t worry about perfection, just get moving. And what works for others may not work for you.
Steal ideas from every smart person and then see what works for you.
4/ This is as much about battle as about business.
There’s a reason Sun Tzu’s Art of War still resonates today.
Business is war often enough that the book makes sense for leaders of every variety.
9 times out of 10 your competitors would destroy you, if they could.
5/ Assume nothing. Make sure people keep their promises. Push yourselves push others. Stretch the possible.
Get clarification on next steps and action items and deadlines. Don’t be casual with these things.
Demand more from yourself, you’re almost certainly not giving enough of you to your projects, your relationships, your life.
Demand more from others, because they’re almost certainly not giving enough either.
But never demand more than you’re willing to offer of yourself.
6/ Live off the land.
Do more with less. Go back to basics.
Simplify.
7/ Your job isn’t done until the job is done.
Just do the work.
Don’t whine about it, don’t procrastinate, don’t bargain with it. Just figure out what you’re doing next. Then start. And then finish.
Repeat.
8/ Dangers:
Bureaucracy
Personal ambition
Energy takers vs. energy givers
Knowing our weaknesses
Don’t get too many things on the platter
9/ It won’t be pretty.
Work is often ugly. There is a lot of blood, sweat and tears behind the scenes.
But the final product is what’s pretty. Or at least it should be.
10/ If we do the right things we’ll make money damn near automatic.
Jeff Bezos took this one very seriously. He decided the ‘right things’ would be doing what’s best for the customer.
Stockholders weren’t happy early on. He didn’t care. He kept doing what was right and we all see how that paid off. If you take care of your customers, they will take care of you. This goes for employees too.
Thanks for reading and if you found this valuable, please share with someone who could use it, see you next Saturday!