📚 A&B #151

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👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 35 Key lessons to living your Ikigai.

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• 10 Powerful quotes from “A Year With Anthony De Mello.”

📚 Book Summary:

This week's book is “The Daily Stoic” by Ryan Holiday.

This book holds 366 days of Stoic insights and exercises that will help you become calmer, wiser, and live a better life. If you want to get into Stoicism or are already a fan of it, this book is for you.

Here are 3 key lessons from the book:

📖

1) Invest In Yourself Like A Startup

“Just as one person delights in improving his farm, and another his horse, so I delight in attending to my own improvement day by day.” –Epictetus

People spend countless hours working on and investing in their start-up or business, but shouldn’t we be just as invested in improving ourselves?

When a business is having trouble with taxes, the owner invests in a tax lawyer. Or when it’s having trouble growing, the owner invests in a marketing firm.

Shouldn’t we make similar investments in improving our personal lives?

• If we’re struggling with eating healthy, we should invest in a nutritionist or dieting app.

• If we’re having trouble recovering from an injury, we should invest in a physical therapist.

• If we’re going through a rocky road in a relationship, we should invest in a relationship counselor.

One of the best things I’ve ever done was invest in a physical therapist after I injured my knee playing basketball. Although it cost me $60 per session, he helped me rehab my knee and got me back on the court (and dunking) in less than 2 months.

It can be hard investing in yourself because you want to save money or just focus on investing in your business, but it’s important to remember you have a professional and personal life. Don’t only invest in one and forget about the other.

📖

2) Do The Right Thing Because It’s The Right Thing

“When you’ve done well and another has benefited by it, why like a fool do you look for a third thing on top–credit for the good deed or a favor in return?” –Marcus Aurelius

The answer to the question “Why did you do the right thing?” should always be “Because it was the right thing to do.”

Although it can be nice to get thanks or recognition for doing a good deed, that shouldn’t be your motivation for doing good.

Last week I was at the beach with my girlfriend when she pointed out a plastic bottle near the shore. My first thought was “Cool, this is an opportunity to win some brownie points with her” so I went to pick up the bottle and throw it out.

I was expecting her to say “Thank you” or “Good job baby” but she just smiled and didn’t say anything. For a split second, I almost got upset, but then I realized doing a selfless task in hopes of a reward isn’t selfless or noble at all.

And I had already been rewarded for my deed. I had set an example for others at the beach to clean up and had made the world just a (very tiny, tiny) bit better by doing so.

And even if I were alone at the beach, cleaning up trash and no one saw, I would know the good that was done, and that in itself is a plentiful reward.

📖

3) A Shipwreck Is A New Journey

“I was shipwrecked before I even boarded…the journey showed me this–how much of what we have is unnecessary, and how easily we can decide to rid ourselves of these things whenever it’s necessary, never suffering the loss.” –Seneca

Zeno, the founder of the school of Stoicism, was a merchant before he was a philosopher.

However, on one of his voyages, his ship sank along with all of its cargo. Zeno ended up in Athens and while visiting a bookstore there he was introduced to the philosophy of Socrates and Crates.

Those influences drastically changed the course of his life and led him to develop the thinking and principles that we now know as Stoicism. What started as an unfortunate event, was actually the beginning of something wonderful.

A similar shipwreck event happened to Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.

Steve Jobs was fired from Apple, the very company he started. But this gave Jobs time to start and build Pixar into one of the most successful film studios in the world.

Similarly, Elon Musk was fired from PayPal, also a company he helped start. But this allowed him to focus on his other passions–electric vehicles and space. Today, Tesla and SpaceX are two of the most innovative companies in the world and have made Musk billions of dollars.

So who knows, perhaps what may feel like a shipwreck event today is actually the beginning of something much better.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Make 1 investment into your personal life this week:

• Hire a physical therapist to rehab that injury that still aches you.

• Hire a personal trainer or nutritionist to help you get in better shape.

• Hire a couples counselor to help you improve your relationship with your significant other.

2) Aim to do 1 good deed every day without seeking praise or recognition:

• If you see trash at the beach, throw it out.

• Donate to a charity you like but do it anonymously.

• If someone didn’t return their cart at the parking lot, put it back anyway.

3) Look on the bright side of shipwreck-like events:

• A breakup could give you the opportunity to meet someone who’s a better match.

• Losing your job might give you the motivation to finally start your own business.

• Getting injured might give you the time to work on a project you’ve been procrastinating.

📖 Reading Lesson:

It’s not your job to finish a book.

It’s the author’s job to write a book worth finishing.

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💎 Weekly Gem:

Jeremy Giffon - Special Situations in Private Markets

This is one of the best investing podcast episodes I’ve heard all year. Jeremy shares unique insights on buying and selling companies, why having an audience is underpriced, and so much more.

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Read on,

Alex W.