Becoming Antifragile
This needs saying NO to a lot of things. A lot of things.
Iran tried to seize two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, US says
Japanese knotweed and other invasive species may be costing the UK £4bn a year
Accounts, analysis of Greece migrant boat tragedy cast doubt on coast guard claims
These are a few of the headlines from leading newspapers in the Gulf region and the West. It informs us for sure, but that’s all it does. Informs…
Now add to this all the headlines in all these papers, news updates on radio and Twitter, and email updates from various publications - how much information is getting dumped on you and me every 24 hours?
Is it even humanly possible to keep consuming information and be capable of thinking deeply about any subject at hand?
Things change, fads come and go, new restaurants open and shut, some new singer is touring your city every month, some accident is taking place somewhere as I write this piece - and it's ok to not know it all.
What’s a better use of your time is to know what doesn’t change - things that stay constant, things that work almost always, things that are perennial, things that have survived the test of time. Now these are interesting for two very important reasons -
You could generate wealth from a particular insight OR
You could increase your healthy lifespan
If these two are taken care of, you would have leapfrogged onto the path toward happiness and vitality.
Wealth
“I very frequently get the question: “What’s going to change in the next 10 years?” That’s a very interesting question.
I almost never get the question: “What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?” And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two.” - Jeff Bezos
Customers want to save money, they want a huge selection and they want things fast. These were things desired decades back and these will still be desired decades later. Jeff Bezos tapped into this desire with all his might and turned his business into a billion-dollar cash-generating monster. That was a very valuable insight and it still is.
You may not be able to come up with an internet company that competes with Amazon on products available there. But you could come up with something else that serves a need that has never changed. I have a few interesting examples -
Dave Asprey has built his Bulletproof Brand on the back of people’s desire to eat healthily and live longer
Social Media continues to thrive in spite of its evils only because people want to know what others are up to and also share what’s up in their own lives. Add to that the desire to look good which gets reflected in likes and comments.
Stock Broking companies continue to thrive because investors are greedy and want higher returns on their money, and hence will invest in Derivative products like Futures & Options which are extremely risky. 95% of traders lose money in F&O but it keeps attracting new gamblers daily, which generates the bulk of the profits for broking companies.
Every successful employee has leveraged on simple tenets to make it to the top - respecting people’s time, being efficient with their work, being well-read, being good at social skills and corporate communication, doing what they said they will do - and that’s all senior management needs to cherry-pick you for a great career. I still see many ignoring these tenets in spite of having known this all along.
I head the Wealth Advisory Team in one of the biggest regional banks in GCC and I’ve done professionally alright. But none of my success came from having any insights into how the macroeconomic landscape will change or which stocks will outperform the index. More often than not, my calls on markets or stocks have turned out wrong. And hence I carry many scars from losses made in real estate, crypto trading, or stock investing.
All the success actually came simply from leveraging the simple tenets mentioned above. I took one idea from Charlie Munger and implemented it in every domain of my life, and it worked out wonderfully. Let me share that idea verbatim “It's the work on your desk. Do well with what you already have and more will come in.”
What centuries-old desire or need can you or your business address that’s being overlooked by others? This is a million-dollar question that I invite you to ponder upon.
Lifespan
Dan Buettner has defined Blue Zones as areas that are home to some of the oldest — and healthiest — people in the world. Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia (Italy), and Nicoya (Costa Rica) are a few of the places where you're more likely to find people in their 80s, 90s, and surpassing the 100 mark with ease.
How many of them would you think are living on industrial foods, prepacked meals, sedentary lifestyles, and with almost all waking hours in front of a screen?
Nil.
Some of the things they actually do are simple, free, and/or abundantly available to us. A few examples -
- Fast
- Walk more
- Stay Hydrated
- Take sunlight exposure
- Early to bed early to rise
- Exposure to stress via heat/cold
- Play an active role in communities
- Build strong bonds and nurture relationships
These are lessons our grandparents would preach to us but it was so easy to discard them because our grandparents were not authorities in the field of nutrition or longevity.
But today, you can find scientific research papers on the benefits of all the items mentioned above. You have hundreds of books being published on Quality Sleep alone. Mathew Walker, also known as the Sleep Diplomat, has been interviewed on almost every well-known podcast and has done a stellar job of spreading his message of protecting one’s sleep protocols.
My favorite interview of his is with Tim Ferriss and the link can be found here. He had one message in there which resonated with me and I have implemented it since then i.e. setting a routine for going to bed and waking up almost at the same time every day. This one recommendation alone has contributed to 50% + of my productivity.
Calling it a day around 8:30 pm has cut off screen time, late nights, and drinking from my daily affairs. The time saved therein gets invested in reading, working out, meditation, and journaling in the early morning hours when the whole world sleeps.
Let me share with you a pic of how beautiful it looks this early in the day -
All the Red Bulls can’t do for you what a good night’s sleep can. No wonder many refer to it as Beauty Sleep.
Peter Attia has built an entire practice of counseling his patients on longevity alone, charging them upwards of USD 150,000 per hour. He was also the one with Chris Hemsworth in Disney’s Limitless series on Living Stronger. I highly recommend this series if you haven’t watched it yet.
Jay Shetty has become one of the biggest influencers globally through his content creation on love and relationships. These subjects may seem like the ones we have already mastered since we deal with them on a daily basis, but have we actually mastered them or is it a plain illusion?
This is an important question to ask too !!!
Many of the recommendations mentioned above are centuries old and have survived because they work. They have been time-tested and remain antifragile against all new fads, inventions, and innovations that have come to battle with these in all previous years.
No amount of medical advice or money in your bank can achieve what these simple hacks can do for you. In case you are thinking “Only if I had that much money then …” - STOP THINKING this way ❌
I would like to wake you up and invite you to embrace the beauty of becoming capable and strong enough first. It’s only a matter of time before you are able to deal with stress, handle problems and build relationships with ease and grace. It’s only a matter of time before people start asking you “How do you do it, bro? How do you handle so much while being calm?”
As for money, it will come when it has to. The mental game has to be won first. And the latter can be worked upon via the protocols that many octogenarians and centenarians will prescribe you if you happened to enjoy a nice cup of tea with them.
I even suggest you find out if there are any octogenarians in your community or professional circle. If yes, go and meet them and ask them about the lessons they have learned or the regrets they have. This conversation alone could be a game-changer for you.
If you don’t have any, then you can listen to interviews of your favorite personalities on youtube or grab a copy of this book👇
Creating a good life is a responsible endeavor that reaps benefits for everyone dear to us and around us. It’s great if you could achieve this on your own. There are very small odds for this to happen though. It’ll be easier, much easier if you take guidance from the wisdom passed on over the ages.
“The sign of intelligence is that you are constantly wondering. Idiots are always dead sure about every damn thing they are doing in their life.” - Vasudev
I invite you to wonder about the insights that have been antifragile and will continue to remain so. I invite you to wonder about the routines and protocols that make you robust and will continue to do so.
I invite you to wonder !!!
Recommendations of the week #
Morgan Housel has written a profound piece on the same subject and you could read it here. He is way more eloquent than I would ever be. I highly recommend this one.
Anyone investing in the small-cap space in Indian markets can listen to the Twitter Spaces recording of Ayush & Pratyush Mittal (Founders of Screener.in). It’s a 2.5 hr long conversation but is loaded with very practical insights into the investing process and the mistakes that one can avoid.
I recently watched the movie ‘A Star Is Born’ and I was blown away by the performances of all the actors, especially the lead actors Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. It is a beautiful love story and if you are in the mood for a romantic movie, then give this a watch. You will love it🤞🏻 Sharing with you a performance by the lead actors at the Oscars Awards night.
Welcome to all the new subscribers to the community and I look forward to hearing from you and all on the list about your takeaways, suggestions, or recommendations. Your feedback makes an immense contribution to making this newsletter add value to many people across the world.
I thank you all for being here and wishing you a smashing journey in times to come. I will do my best to make you think better about the choices at hand. Your success inspires me and gives me all the energy I need to keep writing.
Sending you all loads of love and luck 🧿
Manish