I worked hard for 17 years to find 1 success
I did well enough financially in my 20s and 30s to save money, invest, look after my families expenses, start a business, get married and travel the world. At 24 I had all the basics that a middle class South Delhi boy usually has - an education, a roof over his head, plenty of food to survive and unconditional love (thank you mom and dad!).
The U.S. Equity Market is Special
For starters, the U.S. economy is the largest in the world by GDP, and it is powered by a huge breadth of industries. It is highly developed, highly productive, and highly innovative. The U.S. also has multiple attractive conditions that provide domestic companies with competitive advantages. It’s not perfect, but we have a well-connected and reliable infrastructure and transportation system across the country. We have abundant natural resources. And we have (mostly) established legal and regulatory frameworks that make it possible to (mostly) reliably conduct business, and by extension, understand and forecast the value of those businesses.
Kenneth Stanley - Greatness Without Goals
My guest today is Ken Stanley. Ken is a Professor in Computer Science and a pioneer in the field of neuroevolution. He is also the co-author of a book called, Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned, which details a provocative idea that setting big, audacious goals can reduce the odds of achieving something great. We discuss that revelation in detail and how to apply it in our day-to-day lives. Please enjoy this great discussion with Ken Stanley.
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The story of the first (and only) time I ever smoked pot.
Designated Driver
All through my high school years, I had avoided ever doing drugs of any kind. Maybe I drank a little here or there, but never drugs—basically because my parents scared the crap out of me with horror stories of people who did drugs and became homeless, or got addicted, or went crazy, or just straight up died.
For better or for worse, this approach worked for me, and I never felt the desire to go out on a limb and smoke pot with my friends (that was about the hardest stuff any of them did). I was the reliable designated driver type: clean, sober, and happy to keep it that way.
There are pivotal times in life, times when you re-examine your priorities, beliefs, and your life-trajectory. August 3rd, 2015, was one of those moments for me, because on that morning, I had a near-death biking accident, in Montauk, New York.
In 2013, I purchased a summer house in Montauk, in the Hither Hills area. We lived in New York at the time, and went to Montauk a lot during the summers, so it made sense. But in late 2014, we moved to Miami. Still, we decided we would keep the Montauk house. We loved everything about the quiet town of Montauk, from our house, to the beach, the restaurants, everything. Flying up to spend the summers there would be great.
In August 2015, after a three-hour flight and five-hour drive, we finally arrived in Montauk: myself, my wife, and my little daughter, who was then about one and a half. After quickly unpacking, we headed out to dinner, making grand plans for all the places we would go and things we would do for the rest of the month. But as the old cliche has it, “Tell God your plans, and watch Him laugh.”
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