Podcast Summary
Calculated Risks: Prioritize experiences with uncertain benefits, focus on family and personal growth, and persist through challenges despite potential downsides.
Life's most valuable experiences often come with uncertain benefits, and it's essential to prioritize them despite the risks. The speaker, who shares his life notes through a weekly email, emphasizes the importance of focusing on family and personal growth, even if the benefits are not immediately clear. He also advises against relying too heavily on the consensus of a group and encourages deliberate exploration of potential downsides. Elisa, a guest on the podcast, shares her own story of following her passions and taking risks, even when the timing seemed off. From her experience hiding in the office to read business books and start a blog, to her eventual success in writing and crypto, she highlights the importance of persistence and adaptability. Overall, the conversation underscores the value of taking calculated risks and embracing uncertainty in personal and professional growth.
Importance of making decisions early: Embrace uncertainty and potential rewards of making decisions early, rather than putting them off indefinitely. Consider the time cost of delaying certain decisions, especially having children.
It's often better to take action and commit to important life decisions earlier rather than later. The speaker shares his personal experience of constantly putting off committing to a relationship, but eventually realizing that he was missing out on potential benefits. He also emphasizes that some of the best experiences in life, such as getting married or having children, come with known costs but unknown, potentially great benefits. The speaker encourages embracing the uncertainty and potential rewards of making a decision early, rather than putting it off indefinitely. Additionally, he emphasizes the importance of considering the time cost of delaying certain decisions, especially when it comes to having children. Overall, the takeaway is to not let fear or uncertainty hold you back from making important decisions and experiencing the potential benefits that come with them.
Starting major life projects: Starting major life projects like businesses or having children in your twenties can be beneficial due to fewer obligations and lower costs, but it's crucial to consider long-term values and deliberate over short-term biases.
Starting major life projects, such as starting a business or having children, is easier in your twenties when you have fewer obligations and lower costs of living. Delaying these projects can make them harder due to increased financial and lifestyle commitments. However, some industries may make it more challenging to start later. Ultimately, it's essential to consider the long-term benefits and values, such as time with family, and deliberately overcome short-term biases. The speaker's personal experience of having children early led to a fulfilling family life without sacrificing current enjoyments. Encouraging others to consider starting major life projects earlier, they may find the same benefits and unexpected advantages.
Standing social events: Regular standing social events require less planning and effort, deepen friendships, and provide opportunities to meet new people. Adopting simple habits from YNAB can help reduce financial stress and gain control over money.
Creating standing social events in your calendar can make it easier to see friends regularly despite everyone's busy schedules. This approach requires less planning and effort, as you know exactly when and where to meet up. The speakers shared their experience of having a weekly Thursday morning swim in Barton Springs as an example. This hack not only helps deepen existing friendships but also provides opportunities to meet new people. Additionally, the conversation touched upon the importance of managing money with ease and reducing financial stress. The sponsor YNAB (You Need a Budget) was introduced, which helps individuals adopt simple habits to transform their relationship with money. These habits include giving every dollar a job, embracing true expenses, rolling with the punches, and aging your money. By implementing these habits, one can gain control over their finances and reduce anxiety around money.
Continuous learning, social life, cooking: Continuous learning deepens knowledge, enhances critical thinking. Platforms like Brilliant make daily learning convenient. Balance deep and casual friendships for a fulfilling social life. Cooking for friends brings joy, simple recipes are quick alternatives to takeout.
Continuous learning not only deepens your knowledge on specific topics but also enhances your critical thinking skills. With platforms like Brilliant, daily learning is made convenient and accessible, including lessons on advanced technologies like large language models. Furthermore, having a balance of deep and casual friendships is essential for a fulfilling social life. The number of close friends may vary, but finding a balance that allows for meaningful relationships and personal growth is key. Lastly, cooking for friends can bring joy and satisfaction, and simple recipes can be quick and delicious alternatives to takeout.
Instincts: Trust your instincts, both positive and negative, but be cautious of their potential biases and consider opposing viewpoints before making decisions.
Our instincts, both positive and negative, are powerful tools that should not be ignored. Miles Snyder's experience with cooking classes and his career in crypto illustrate this point. When considering new opportunities or relationships, trust your negative gut feeling, even if it's wrong some of the time. On the other hand, be cautious of positive gut feelings that may lead to short-term thinking and ignoring potential risks. In the context of a team, it's important to consider opposing viewpoints before making decisions. Regarding money, be aware of how it can distract you from your true goals and lead you down a "shadow career" path. Ultimately, it's essential to reflect on your motivations and ask yourself if you would still choose a path if you had significant financial security.
Focus vs. Distractions: Staying committed to a single passion or goal requires discipline and focus, even when tempting opportunities arise. Prioritizing long-term growth over short-term gains can lead to greater success.
Focusing on a single passion or goal requires discipline and commitment, even when tempting opportunities arise. The speaker shares his personal experience of prioritizing writing over crypto investments, despite the potential financial gains. He emphasizes the importance of staying focused to avoid distractions and not letting past successes lead to complacency. Additionally, living in a low cost of living area can be beneficial for getting started, but once established, being around motivated and diverse people in a big metro area is valuable for continued growth.
Financial risks, Personal fulfillment: Moving for lower costs and better work-life balance can have financial risks and impact long-term happiness. Passive income requires ongoing effort and isn't a sustainable lifestyle on its own.
While the allure of moving to a less expensive area for family values and a better work-life balance is appealing, it's important to consider the potential financial risks and the importance of meaningful work in long-term happiness. Another takeaway is that passive income is not truly passive and requires ongoing effort to maintain, making it a useful tool for funding long-term career goals but not a sustainable lifestyle on its own. Overall, the conversation highlights the importance of balancing financial stability, family values, and personal fulfillment in one's lifestyle choices.
Finite vs Infinite Games: Shift mindset towards infinite games for continuous growth, fun, and expansion, leading to greater fulfillment and success in various areas of life
We can view different aspects of our lives as either finite or infinite games. Finite games have clear rules, winners, and an end, while infinite games focus on continuous growth, fun, and expansion. By shifting our mindset towards infinite games, we can reduce attachment to short-term outcomes and focus on long-term growth and enjoyment. This approach can lead to more success in various areas of life, including personal relationships, creative pursuits, and even careers. The book "Finite and Infinite Games" by James P. Carse provides a deeper exploration of this concept. By considering our actions and goals through the lens of infinite games, we can find greater fulfillment and success in our lives.
Short-term vs Long-term Goals: Focusing on short-term gains and quick fame can distract us from our long-term goals and hinder our success. Instead, put in time and effort to get good at something for long-term success and fulfillment.
Focusing on short-term gains and quick fame can distract us from our long-term goals and hinder our success. The speaker shares his personal experience of getting sucked into building a following as a book influencer on social media, which took him away from his most important work – writing. He emphasizes that letting go of the desire for instant success and instead putting in the time and effort to get good at something is essential for achieving long-term success and fulfillment. The speaker also mentions the importance of finding ways to feel good about the process, such as tracking progress or working with a supportive community. Ultimately, the key is to stay focused on the infinite game and not get sidetracked by the lure of short-term wins.
Unexpected success from failure: Embracing the possibility of failure can lead to unexpected success. Structured routine can help balance work and family life for full-time writers.
Embracing the possibility of failure can lead to unexpected success. The speaker shares his experience of aiming to create a non-commercially successful book, which ironically turned out to be commercially successful. Balancing work and family life as a full-time writer and dad involves a structured routine, with dedicated writing hours and open afternoons for creativity and ideas to flow. The book "Crypto Confidential" offers a thrilling, first-person account of working in the crypto industry during the last cycle, providing both educational value and a fun reading experience.