PJK's Blog

Philosophy, the Internet, the World, and I

January 5, 2026 / 0 Comments

2025 Year in Review

Another year over to reflect on.  We overestimate what we can do in a day, but underestimate what we can do in a year.  Life is about making small steps forward every single day and getting a little bit better than you were yesterday.  This is my reflection on 2025.

You can see my previous years here:
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

SUMMARY

Overall a lot progress made this year but a lot more things to work on.  Seeing Andy grow has certainly been the highlight, followed by spending time in our new house in Colorado with family.  A lot in the pipeline, but to review:

  • We rang in the new year in our Phuket house with a couple friends.
  • Not far into the year my family and aunt came to visit us and our son Andy.  We had a great time exploring Phuket, rented a boat, and hung out in Bangkok.
  • At the end of January I went on the annual ski trip with friends in Japan.  Great trip solo and my first time away from Andy since he was born.  I ended up having missed flghts due to weather and got Covid on the way back so had to quarantine.
  • In February, we celebrated our friend Marc & Taime’s wedding in Khao Yai.  It was a remarkable and unique experience and very well done.  End of February I turned 36 and wrote 36 thoughts at 36.
  • In March/April, we mostly relaxed in Phuket at our house there and got some work done.
  • At the end of April, we flew to the US with the entire family and grandma for a 6 month trip.  It was a one way flight and was unsure how long it would take to get a house, but got it done before their visas expired in October.
  • While settling into Colorado, we went to Estes Park to see Frank Turner at the Stanley Hotel.  We stayed at their residence there which was great.
  • We visited lots of family, visited Blackhawk for gambling, and in June visited Steamboat Springs for a few nights.  The entire summer spent a fair amount of time outside and in nature.
  • On July 4th we celebrated Andy’s first birthday, had a July 4th party, and a housewarming party all 2 weeks after we bought our house.
  • At the end of July, we went to a friends neighborhood party
  • In August we went to el Dorado State Park which was beautiful.
  • At the end of August I went to Burning Man for the first time, incredible experience.
  • Most of the summer through September was working on and moving into the house, working on business, and spending time with family.
  • At the end of September we went to Colorado Springs for a couple nights, visited Garden of the Gods, and saw an Airforce game which was excellent.
  • A lot of checking out the local saunas in Denver and also a lot of kratom/kava bars in Denver which are booming.
  • At the end of October, we flew to Hong Kong for a few days and then back to Bangkok.
  • We spent about 40 days there, and then headed south to our house in Phuket to escape the city and spend the holidays down here, where I’m writing this yearly review.

WHAT WENT WELL THIS YEAR?

This year was once again a busy, but productive one.  Andy was around 6 months old at the New Year, and within 1 year it’s remarkable how quickly he grew.  He went from laying down unable to move much to being able to run around the house faster than I can walk.  He went from seemingly being unaware of much to being aware of almost everything, even the finest details.

It’s been a lot of growth not only for him, but for me.  Kids create us as much as we create them, and kids teach us how to be responsible, how to lead, how to guide, and to see the world through their eyes.  These things are core to us as humans and fundamentally change how we think, how we live, and how we balance priorities in life.  Life becomes from about me to about the kid and family, and that is a good thing.  It makes us better people, it makes me a better person.

Aside from the profundity of having Andy in my life now, we spent 6 months in the US with the goal of getting a house.  Over the last 10 years, I’ve spent a few months each year in the US.  I’ve stayed in Airbnbs all over Colorado but after awhile it gets tiring.  You’re constantly on the move, constantly renting a car, and it was time to get a place to stay, a home.

The plan upon arrival was the move fast as I didn’t want to move Airbnbs and I knew closing could take weeks.  After viewing 20+ properties, we never found anything that we really liked.  Three different offers fell through and when the final one did, we decided to checkout a nearby listing that just came on market, and ended up buying it unexpectedly.  Life works in mysterious ways and this one was no exception.  But I can’t complain, I love the house.

I had been studying the real estate market in Colorado for 7 years, and while I think the market is overvalued, I didn’t want to wait any longer.  An investment can be looked at 2 ways – 1) you’re maximizing the financial returns on it, and 2) you’re maximizing the lifestyle.  Ideally, you’d like to do both.  In this case it was a lot more the later as I don’t think now is a great time to buy.  But, for our lives, it is much better and I’m incredibly grateful to be able to live in our new house.

Health: Health wise this year was great overall.  Was quite active, ate quick cleanly, drank less alcohol than I ever have, and overall health was improved from the year before.  I attribute a lot of it to my son, which gave me a lot more balance and purpose.  When you have the responsibility to take care of a family in the morning, you don’t desire being out late, you desire being with your family, as we evolved.  This is why people without families almost always struggle with balance, it’s outside of the norm of how we supposed to be.

I’m currently training for Hyrox in Bangkok at the end of March.  I’ll be doing doubles with a friend and a small group of us are all training for it.  It is a fun way to train together, push ourselves a bit more than usual, and get faster, stronger, more endurance, and just better.  Looking forward to it.

Business wise it’s been a lot of reflecting.  Business has been steady but I suspect a lot of things will change in the next year with the AI revolution.  I’ve been actively using AI and recently took a course to get caught up to speed.  The ability to build almost anything is dropping towards zero and I’m in the process of launching my next venture.  It is no double a Golden Age of AI where if you seize the opportunities, there is a lot of potential.  Not only is it fascinating to be living through it, it is mind blowing how fast it is evolving.  I’ve been inspired by the friends and people around me to build and create bigger and better things.

WHAT DIDN’T GO SO WELL THIS YEAR?

There was a lot of moving around and a lot time spent in different places.  We’ve spent much of the year in Asia for the last 10 years and spent half of the year in the US this year.  While it is great to spend time in both places, the downside is you miss people in both places.  A lot of our optimization now is around clean air, nature, and what is best for Andy.  We could definitely improve by spending less time moving around.

I also spent more time sitting indoors than I would have liked.  A lot of progress and work done, but sitting inside and instead being outside moving around is something I’m working towards.

Reading wise – I have about 25 books I’d like to read that I need to set time aside for.  Before I had a kid, I’d read everyday.  Since having the kid, I’ve really cut back on that and want to pick it back up.  I didn’t read as much as I would have liked an next year will change that.

2025 was overall an excellent year and it’s hard for me to complain too much about it.  I feel like we’re just getting started, so still a lot to learn, to do, and to grow.

WHAT AM I WORKING TOWARD?

A lot of things in the pipeline, but the next year will be focused on:
– expanding the family and hopefully having another baby
– launching a few new software projects from AI, and learning along the way
– setting and sticking to a daily reading schedule to read all the books I’d like to
– spending more time in nature
– training more and harder for Hyrox
– launching at least one physical business
– growing Andy into a 2 year old boy

I look at each day as an opportunity to improve.  I plan to keep refining the systems and just making things better each day – improved health, more writing, launching more projects, learning more, more experiences, etc.

I post daily thoughts and interesting things on X here.  Say hello there.

It’s our responsibility to make life what we want it to be.  Take initiative, be proactive, take action, do the things you want to do, focus, take care of your health, build/contribute, and make the next year the best year yet.

I wish you all the best in 2026 and beyond.

March 16, 2025 / 0 Comments

The State of the US in 2025

My last post was on the political landscape before the election.  It’s important that we look at the data so we make decisions and understand things as they are, not as we’re told they are.  If you haven’t read that post, please read it first.

It is vital in modern day to get information from the source or as close to the source as possible.  There is strong propaganda to skew information to push an agenda on every side of the political spectrum.  If it is our effort to understand what is really going on and not get caught up in the propaganda, we need to do our own research, look at many sources, and watch original videos, not clips or what people say about a video or person.

If you want to know what Trump thinks, watch an actual interview with him. If you want to know what Musk thinks, watch an interview with him.  If you want to know what Biden thinks, watch an interview with him.  If you watch CNN, BBC, NPR or some other left-funded media, it will obviously be taken out of context.  Same is true on the right, you have to be careful what you watch and how you interpret it.

Politics is fascinating, and the reason people take it so seriously is because it matters. Politics influences our lives, our perspectives, the future, and how we play the game of life.   There is a strong argument to not to pay much attention to it, but there is some balance where you stay aware enough to make good decisions and be an informed voter. A. democracy (or a republic) only works if people vote.  Otherwise, there are many other political systems which exist in the world that aren’t as free, prosperous, or fun to exist in.

Many people, myself included, find politics interesting. Geopolitics, economics, law, and how humans agree to structure society are an interesting blend of philosophy, psychology, and strategy.  There are endless rabbit holes that affect our lives in big ways.  But on the same token, you also want to focus on what you can control in life and observe the rest with a clear, calm mind.  This is why all we have is conversation to understand others perspectives, and hopefully, enjoy the conversation and learn something along the way.

This post is an effort to present what I understand is actually happening currently in the US, contrary to what a lot of media may say.  Everything here is based off the data, which is publicly available, and based of direct interviews with the administration.

In short, here is the prime agenda of the Trump administration so far:

  • Balance the federal budget
  • Move power away from federal government and more to states
  • Allow Americans to keep more of their own money that they earned
  • Allow Americans to build and create things without strangulation by regulation
  • Make America a merit based society where you aren’t judged by your race, gender, or anything else you can’t control
  • Fix the illegal immigration issue

I’ll briefly go into these in effort to convey my understanding of the situation.

DOGE

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is designed to cleanup waste in the government.  The reason this is important is that for every dollar the government spends from tax, it is 1 less dollar that an American tax payer has in their pocket that they would otherwise spend themselves.  In the public, people spend money based on competition between businesses, perceived value, and their own budget.  The government, on the other hand, has no competition and no incentive to spend wisely.  As a result, in 2024, the US federal government spent a staggering $6,750,000,000,000 in 1 year. To put that into perspective, that is $18.5 billion a day spent for 365 days straight.  Secondly, the total revenue brought in was about $2 trillion less than that, meaning the government overspent $2 trillion beyond their budget.

In 2011, for example, the total spending was $3.6 trillion, and in 2019, was $4.45 trillion.  Since 2011, total federal spending has nearly doubled, and just in the last 5 years, spending is up 50%.  This is why the conversation is more urgent now than it was a decade ago.  We’re on the verge of a runaway debt issue if we don’t cut spending.

If you have a system that is spending that vast of money, it is vital 2 things happen: 1) it is spent transparently so the public can see where their money is going, and 2) it is spent wisely only on the most important things that matter for society.  If the government gets too large, it has tons of negative side effects such as inflation, increased taxation, more regulation, less freedom, more waste, etc.  There is the age old debate around how big the government should be, but for most people paying attention, the spending is currently out of control.  As a result, we’re currently $36 trillion in debt, and the interest payments alone on this debt is nearly $1 trillion each year, more than the entire department of defense.  DOGE was created to cut spending, create transparency in spending, and to balance the budget.  This is absolutely vital, but means cutting trillions in spending and shrinking the size of the federal government.  It also means shrinking the 2.7 million federal government workforce.

Just with your personal spending, if you spend beyond your means, you go bankrupt and it isn’t good.  If you have a business and you spend more than you’re bringing in, the business dies.  Also true of the government and perhaps even the most true since it is American tax payers money, the government has to balance the budget at all costs, or the country goes bankrupt.

As a general economic theory, when money is in an inefficient system or spent poorly, there is less prosperity, less value, and less growth than if it was spent in a free market system wisely.  This implies that someone was working a low productivity job in the government, and they then go to work in the private market instead, they will be more productive and ultimately make more money than working for the government.  This is an important concept in economics – generally the more free that money can flow, the more prosperity that is created.  This is one reason why the US is wealthy – it’s one of the freest societies on earth and is pro-business.  Ease to do business is a big metric to compare between countries.

DEI

Diversity is good, equity is good, inclusion is good.  Giving people access to equal opportunity is vital.  But judging or hiring based on race or gender, things you can’t control, is by definition genderist and racist.  We should be gender blind and color blind and hire simply based on who people are and what they can bring to your organization.  This is why so many people are against DEI.  The intention is good to give opportunity to less privileged people, but the way it is implemented is very poor and is incredibly divisive.  Again, don’t judge or use things people can’t control to hire or judge them, it isn’t right.  The current administration is making strong efforts to get rid of the racist and genderist policies that plagued the last decade.

If you don’t hire based on merit, you end up hiring less qualified people at every level and it makes everyone worse off – more dangerous pilots, surgeons, doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc.  We have to keep the system color blind and eliminate racism from it.

Immigration

Most people are not anti-immigration, but anti illegal immigration because it is illegal, it breaks the law.  You can vote to change the laws, but if law exists, it should be enforced, otherwise what is the point of the law.  I’ve been an immigrant for years, and I’ve brought immigrants to the US.  When we apply for a visa, it takes a lot of time and costs money, and we have to go through the legal steps via port of entry.  If people can walk across the border, break the law with impunity, that is unfair to everyone abiding by the law, and therefore should be illegal.  And there are consequences for doing anything illegal.  My post on Politics and Divide from a few months ago goes into details on the actual immigration numbers.

Regulation

Regulation is important.  However, too much regulation limits innovation.  If new laws are constantly added and not changed with time, you end up in a position where it makes it hard to actually build and create things.  A simple example is lets say you want to build a new restaurant in your hometown.  If it is easy to do with clear, simple regulations then people will build restaurants and serve the people great food, and employ new staff.  If it is too difficult, too expensive, and too slow, people who want to start a restaurant can’t because of the costs, time, and commitment.  Then they go elsewhere to do it or do something else, and the city has one less great restaurant and a few less jobs.  This example applies to everything from housing, any small business, etc.  So by de-regulating, it often causes a lot more prosperity because it allows people to actually build what they want to build. This means more businesses, more services for the people, more employees at higher wages, which means more spending, etc.

If you look at Europe, the regulation has halted most innovation, GDPs are stagnate or in decline, and anyone who wants to build/innovate leaves Europe where it is more lucrative.  Then you end up with brain dump where all the smart people leave and build elsewhere, which is detrimental to the country.  It is vital in a global world that countries attract the best people to build and create, because otherwise they can easily go to another country and do so.  This is the big argument for de-regulation – there are currently too many rules in America that halt building businesses and slows prosperity and economic growth greatly.  When you de-regulate, you get a lot more people building and therefore a lot more properity.

Federal vs State Power

There is a long discussion about the role of different governments.  States tend to better govern themselves because they represent smaller groups of people more accurately.  For example, people in Alabama may have different beliefs, perspectives, and interests than someone in California.  That is okay, people in America are free to choose and say what they wish as granted by the constitution.  If the federal government starts making blanket rules and laws to govern everyone, it is often worse for everyone than if each state makes their rules.  This isn’t to say there isn’t a role for the federal government, there obviously is, especially when it comes to national security, and national defense.  But over time the federal government has become enormous and much larger, and more expensive, and this administration is shrinking that and pushing more power to the states, which overall is a good thing for America.

There is a lot of nuance to everything in politics and everything is a discussion.  Communication is all we have – our ability to ask questions, listen, share our perspectives, and learn from each other.  There is no role for violence in politics – burning of Teslas, attempted assassinations, and other forms of violence are domestic terrorism and should be treated as such.  Breaking the law is not legal.  The best way to learn and make change is to share ideas peacefully, calmly, and rationally.  There are two sides to every discussion and it’s important to understand the other side, especially if the media has skewed the truth about what is actually going on.

What has become apparent over the last several years is how biased much of the mainstream media is.  I always suggest checking out CNN, BBC, and browse X.  That way you get a wide perspective of different political spectrums.  I’ve discovered that 90% of mainstream media doesn’t report much other than their main agenda. If you browse X, you can get an entirely different picture about what is going on than if you browse Reddit. And most heads of state, most CEOs of the biggest companies, and most thought leaders are active on X, so it’s worth at least hearing their perspective on things, even if you don’t agree with them.  It is the closest thing to a global town square that the world has.

There are many other topics to discuss such as income inequality, which is a fascinating discussion and a lot more complex than most think.  I wrote and article awhile ago called Are the Rich to Blame? on that topic that may interest you.

2025 is shaping up to be a transformative year in the government, the structure of the US, and the geopolitical landscape of the world.  And there are a lot of things to be optimistic for.  There is more opportunity in 2025 than anytime in human history.

As I written about on X, reduced government spending will curb inflation, and deregulation will lead to more business and prosperity over time.  With this said, the equities PE ratios are dot-com bubble highs and I’d expect a bubble pop at some point in the coming year(s).  Structural changes to government and monetary policy can have delayed effects that can take a decade to be fully understood.  All we can do is discuss flaws in policy and shape the government and the system better than it has been in the past.  And openly discuss and share opinions peacefully, even with people we may disagree with.

All the best in 2025, make it the best year of your life yet.

February 26, 2025 / 0 Comments

36 Thoughts at 36

  1. Babies/kids are awesome, way cooler than I ever thought before I had one.
  2. You can accomplish a lot by focusing on one thing at a time.
  3. Life is one long developmental arc and you should always be improving and learning from your mistakes.
  4. I feel stronger, faster, and more fit now than I did at 26.
  5. 36 years old is a kid to someone who is 60. We’re just getting started.
  6. Time is the most important thing – use money to buy convenience and to save time.
  7. Focusing on the process/daily routine/system is way more valuable than thinking about some goal.
  8. Focus is hard in a world of abundance of everything.  Avoiding distraction is a superpower.
  9. Health is the foundation of everything else good in life.  Optimize for energy.
  10. Your gut feeling is right most of the time.
  11. Spend time with the people who want to spend time with you.
  12. The feeling you get around anything, including people, is energy.  Follow good energy and avoid negative energy.
  13. Life is a series of tough decisions.  Making a tough decision is better than sitting on the fence forever.
  14. 36 is old enough to be a great leader but young enough to be ambitious.  It’s a golden age of life.
  15. Confidence comes from doing things and proving to yourself that you can do them.
  16. Your mind finds what it is already looking for. Ensure you look for the right things.
  17. What you do with your life is a function of how you think and what you expect your life to be.  This changes over time.
  18. There has never been more opportunity in human history than today, in February, 2025.
  19. Your experiences shape who you are.  The more experiences you have, the more perspective you gain.  Try everything you’re interested in at least once.
  20. Service beyond yourself is vital in life.  This means being a reliable leader, father, partner, brother, and friend.
  21. Creating is where humans learn, gain satisfaction, and see what happens.  Create often.  Build often.
  22. Starting is the hardest part of almost everything.  Start now.
  23. What you build matters more than what you could have built.
  24. Your choices determine your trajectory.  Make good decisions and good choices.
  25. Be useful to society and to those around you.  Help people flourish to the extent that you can.
  26. You learn what is possible from the people around you and the people you pay attention to.
  27. Take advantage of opportunities when they are there.
  28. Do the things in life that you want to do.
  29. All we have is our ability to communicate.  Be honest about what you think and how you feel.
  30. Your mind is almost always the limiting factor to everything you do.
  31. Money is only useful if you use it to be so.
  32. The closer you align with nature and how we evolved, the happier, more satisfied you tend to be.
  33. You create and shape the future of your life, and of your family.
  34. Gratitude is something you must reflect on daily.
  35. It’s not what happens to you, it’s what happens inside you.
  36. Life is completely unpredictable, but you can shape your daily actions that influence the outcome of your life.

Lastly, it’s incredible to see how useful and how disruptive AI is.  We literally have god-like engines at our fingertips for free that can answer so many questions, and teach us so many things.  As mind blowing as that is, it is even more mind blowing that most people have no idea it even exists (yet).  What an incredible time to be alive.

December 31, 2024 / 0 Comments

2024 Year in Review

I’m an advocate for reviews each year.  Some people do quarterly reviews, others do yearly.  Regardless of the frequency, it is important to reflect on where you are in life so you can make better decisions about the future, and learn from your experiences of the past.  Writing these notes down has proven useful to many people, myself included.

You can see my previous years here:
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

SUMMARY

  • We had a big Christmas celebration with a bunch of friends at our house in Phuket at the end of the year, and headed back to Bangkok for NYE, watching fireworks from the top of our place there.
  • In mid January we went to Tokyo with a group of friends, in Shibuya area, then flew to Niseko for a week to ski.  Was a great trip as always and a lot of fun skiing with the crew.
  • When we got back from Japan, our friends Bryce, Sam, Shane, and Ashely came out to Thailand to visit us from Colorado.
  • In February we did a gender reveal party at Yellow Lane – and the gender was a secret to us until then.  Was a fun party and glad we celebrated it.
  • At the end of February, I did a carnivore diet challenge with a few other friends.  Was definitely hard but learned a lot about myself and the diet from it.
  • Our friend Marc hosted the Q1 birthday celebrations at POA Theatre with a casino night.
  • In early March, Kemji and I went to Pattaya and stayed at the new Grand Center Point Space Hotel, we stayed there for a couple nights and attended the Pelupo Music Festival – saw Jack Johnson which was excellent.
  • Later in March, we flew to the US to visit family before the birth of our son.  In March, I went skiing in Winter Park with Richie & Carlie.
  • At the end of March, our friends Sam & Bryce hosted a baby shower.  A week after, we roadtripped to Salida and stayed with Andrew and his wife.
  • In April we rented an RV and roadtripped to Texas to see the total solar eclipse.  We stayed outside of San Antonio near Canyon Lake on a friends 80 acre ranch.  It was an amazing experience with Uncle Tim and crew.
  • At the end of April, we came back to Thailand to prepare for the birth of my first son.  We also joined the soft launch of Dip, a new onsen in Ari, Bangkok.
  • In May, we went down to Phuket to work on our house and recharge out of the city before being back in the city for a few months to raise our son Andrew.
  • When back to Bangkok, we signed official marriage papers in Thailand to ensure our son would have Thai and US passports shortly after birth.
  • In June I joined a subcommittee in my building to help improve the build, which has been a nice learning experience.  And we prepared for the birth of Andrew.
  • My son Andrew was born on July 3rd.
  • Also in July, we completed construction of Kemji’s dad’s house in Nan.
  • July & August were spent at home learning how to parent baby Andrew, and still an ongoing pursuit.
  • In September we did a staycation at Shangri-La along the river.  It was our first time traveling outside the house as a family.
  • At the end of September, I attended The Network State conference in Singapore. It was inspiring and interesting to see all the speakers and met a lot of cool people.
  • In October, decided to do a road trip to Phuket via Pranburi and Surat Thani, spending a few days enjoying the beach along the way.
  • In early November, we celebrated our friend Pollards bachelor party in Patong in Phuket.  Around 15 people flew in for the 3 day event.
  • In early November we flew back to Bangkok, Andrew’s first time flying, to attend the bachelorette party in Bangkok and then their wedding at the Peninsula riverside in Bangkok.
  • In early December, we ate at Le Du Kaan with Brad and Yeen, exploring a new rooftop restaurant which was excellent.  A couple days later we flew back to Phuket where we are now.

This year was busy, and overall quite enjoyable.  It was shaped in large part around the baby due date in July.  We had to come back from the US in April to prepare for birth and visit the hospital for regular checkups.  After birth in July, we spent a few months mostly homebound learning how to parent and take care of our new son.  It was the longest stretch I’ve had in Bangkok without leaving in the entire 12 years I’ve resided there.  A nice new experience.

Overall, the year was fun, exciting, and satisfying, and we’re so grateful to have Andrew come into our lives.

WHAT WENT WELL THIS YEAR?

This was certainly one of the most transformational years of my life, and one of the best.  Creating a new human and raising them is a large responsibility, but one that has brought more love, joy, and satisfaction than I knew existed.  It is magical, and fundamental to us as humans.  It is one of those experiences that you can’t describe or write, but one that has to be experienced to really understand.

I wrote 2 articles on the topic, firstly about my thoughts on becoming a dad before Andrew was born, and another was a letter I wrote to Andrew on the day he was born. I’m doing more writing on the experience in attempt to capture how profound the experience has been, but it is quite difficult to put it into words.

A lot of this year was spent preparing for the birth, dealing with birth, and then learning to raise a child.

You have the same amount of time each day, but now a much larger responsibility that takes up a lot of time.  But contrary to what some people say, it’s been one of the most productive times for me.  I think this is due to Parkinsons Law – work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

For most of my adult live I’ve had all the time in the world to work.  With a kid, I have less time, therefore I get more done in less time.  Unexpected but true.  It’s a sort of forced time boxing.

It has also ignited motivation to be healthy, to build, and to create as it changes now only the time horizon I operate on, but also encourages me to be around for a long time to be apart of his life.  It’s hard to describe how rewarding the experience is, but it is no doubt core to our evolution and a major part of the experience of being a human being.  It’s bizarre how few people get to experience it in modern day, really it’s mind blowing.

I knew we’d want help raising Andrew, and grandma was there from day 1.  She has been a tremendous help.  We didn’t evolve to raise a kid with 1 or 2 people, but a family.  Grandparents are a vital part of the experience to not only learn from, but to help with raising a child.  It also clearly brings a lot of joy to them, and hence why family structure is so important.  No one mentioned to this to me before we had a kid, but the #1 suggestion I’d give to anyone having a child is to get help from day 1, ideally from grandma/pa who typically want nothing more than to help out and share their wisdom.

Health: I also cut back on alcohol a lot more this year – while it wasn’t perfect, I’ve made progress from 2023 and plan to keep this trend going.  Part of it was definitely due to the responsibility to want to be present and sober for my son, and my family, but also driven by wanting to be healthier.  After all, it’s all about balance.  I’ve realized that maximizing energy is the best way to live most of the time, therefore I’ve cut back on a lot of things that kill my energy, like late nights, weed, or alcohol.

This year involved a lot of learning on the business and investment front.  Business has grown stable and I’ve launched many new projects.  Markets have been very unique the last couple years since Covid which has caused huge increases to a seemingly already overvalued market.  Berkshire Hathaway is holding a record $325 billion in cash.  AI has also been incredible to witness – the utility and growth of all things AI has been astonishing and it’s hard to fathom how much it will revolutionize almost every industry from support, to law, to education, to medical.

It is also weird how it seems to be a bubble that most people are still not yet aware of.  Nvidia is now a $3.29 trillion company, one of the most valuable in the entire world.  Everything is all time high from crypto, to real estate, to equities, to gold.  It makes navigating the landscape a challenge.

At the same time, Trump winning the US election and making big regulatory changes to the government and shrinking government are also positive signs for growth to an already overpriced market.  Incredible year indeed and I think everyone is confused about how to navigate it from an investing perspective.

We had a lot of fun experiences this year that were unforgettable.  Having friends from the US visit, skiing in Japan, visiting the US and seeing a total solar eclipse with my uncle and friends was incredible. Would definitely do it again.

I was consistent on exercise this year and made some good progress.  Diet wise, overall, I focused more on protein.  For most of history it was a primary part of our diet eating animal meat, but in modern day you have to diligently focus on ensuring you get enough since the modern food industry is well out of our normal evolution selection of food.  And the difference between getting enough protein and not is quite substantial in how your body develops.

Humans should strive to be strong, because strength is correlated quite well with avoiding injury, optimizing of your body/metabolism, and longevity.  The older you get, the harder it is to gain strength so start now, it’s the youngest you’ll ever be.

WHAT DIDN’T GO SO WELL THIS YEAR?

While this year was great, I have a lot of room to improve on many fronts.  I have about 30 new books I’m waiting to read, but haven’t set aside the time enough to actually get through them.  I’d like to spend more of 2025 reading and thinking more deeply.

I could also make more improvements to my health – sitting less, spending less time on the screen, and avoiding junk food. I do like chocolate and donuts, and I sometimes eat them too much.  It’s all balance, and not doing it too frequently.

I’d like to spend more time in nature in 2025 – a lot of time was spent in the city this year, and while that is fun, it is vital to spend time in the wilderness.

WHAT AM I WORKING TOWARD?

Business wise there is a lot in the pipeline. I think everyone should be creating more, and coming up with their own unique creations in the world. Could be a business, a website, learning to make an app, building a garden, etc.  Humans evolved to create and humans learn by doing.  I plan to do a lot more creating/building in 2025.

I look at each day as an opportunity to improve.  I plan to keep refining the systems and just making things better each day – improved health, more writing, launching more projects, learning more, more experiences, etc.

In 2025 I will buy a house in Colorado, something that has been in the works since before Covid. Covid fundamentally changed the market, but given we have a family now and plan to spend at least a few months a year in the US, we need to get a house and it’s something I’m looking forward to.

With our new son, a lot of the days are spent raising him and learning a lot along the way.  Starting to think about school and how we plan to do that, but it still a few years away.  We also will work to expand the family in 2025.

As always, working to spend less time on the screen overall, and 2025 I’m determined to make it a reality.

All together, I’m incredibly grateful for 2024 and all the experiences we were able to have.  Here’s to making 2025 the best year yet.

I post daily thoughts and interesting things on X here.

I’ve started posting weekly videos here sharing things I find interesting or useful.

September 7, 2024 / 0 Comments

Politics and Divide

Today there seems to be more division than ever amongst our society, and specifically I’ll talk about the US here, though these concepts more broad apply worldwide.

The big question is why? Why are we so divided? I’m convinced it is largely due to disinformation and propaganda, where we understand reality differently than it actually is.  In other words, if I understood the situation as you did, I would believe as you do.  But because I understand it to be different, I believe differently.  I think this applies to lots of things, but especially in politics where there are major deliberate propaganda campaigns on both sides which cloud our view of really what is going on.  Additionally, some concepts are more nuanced and complicated, and require understanding beyond just preaching about how change will happen and capturing peoples emotions.

My effort here is to share my current understanding and I’m open to anyone who reads this to comment or reach out to continue the discussion of where my understanding may be clouded.

I’d like to go through some of the main points of confusion in effort to clear up the confusion and bridge the gap between those who agree with my perspective and those who don’t.  After all, all we have is communication.  If we aren’t willing to openly talk about what we think and why we think it, we never can bond or share a mutual understanding of the country, or of reality as we understand it.  It seems many people on the left won’t talk to people who support Trump and many people on the right won’t talk to people who support Harris – but that is the opposite of what we should be doing.

It is currently September, 2024, and Biden/Harris have been president/vice president for the last 4 years.  The glaring first question is, do you feel the country is better now than it was 4 years ago? Biden/Harris has been in charge, and Harris is running again for another 4 years.

Lets start with the fundamentals…

What is government?

The age old debate is around how big/small the government should be and how much power it should have. But firstly, we should define what it is.  The government is an entity thats job is to serve the public, the people who elected the people into government and into power.  The job of the government is to ensure civility and ensure that society functions and that the market works.  This means some regulation and protection to ensure the public is served safely and fairly.  The government is funded by the public – that is to say that a portion of your earned money is taken from you (taxes) to pay for the mandatory government expenses.  This all makes sense, assuming that the government is doing its job in that a) it is serving the public and society is functioning well, and b) the hard earned money that is taken to fund the government (taxes) is spent wisely and efficiently.  If a or b aren’t done, the government is failing at its job, by definition.

If you look throughout the last 100 years, the government has ballooned, from $567 million (~$20 billion in todays dollars) in 1900 to over $6 trillion in 2024.  A brief history:

  • In 1900 there was no federal income taxes, federal revenues were generated from customs/tariffs and from excise taxes on goods like alcohol and tobacco.
  • It wasn’t until 1913 when the 16th amendment was implemented to create federal income tax.  The tax rate was 1% on income and tiered up to 6% for the highest earners.  Contrast this to today where the highest bracket is 37%.

One of the fundamental issues with government is that it is inefficient – that is to say that because it has no competition to improve or oversight to be frugal, it almost always overspends and is inefficient.  Because of this fundamental of pretty much all governments worldwide, it is important that the government stays small, has oversight to ensure spending to properly done, and that the budget is balanced.  Compare that to a business where there is competition and it has to make profit to survive, it means businesses need to be very efficient with spending to ensure the survival of the business.

What we’ve seen over the last 15 years is a rapid increase in spending, and a massive deficit that is getting far out of hand (see below).

Here are the biggest misunderstandings between the left in the right in the US in my opinion:

Government debt –

The US is currently $35 trillion in debt, with the interest payments (~$1 trillion/year) alone surpassing the department of defense budget ($858 billion in 2023).  We have to cut government spending at all costs and reduce the size of government or else America goes bankrupt.  History shows us we’d end up like Argentina, which went from one of the richest to one of the poorest countries in the world in just a few decades.  You can’t just raise taxes to pay this off, it is required spending is cut.  Currently the government is spending way beyond what it brings in and getting worse.  Here is the government debt plotted over time:

And here is the government spending by year for the last few years:

  • 2017: Federal Spending: $3.98 trillion, Federal Revenue: $3.32 trillion, Deficit: $0.66 trillion
  • 2018: Federal Spending: $4.11 trillion, Federal Revenue: $3.33 trillion, Deficit: $0.78 trillion
  • 2019: Federal Spending: $4.45 trillion, Federal Revenue: $3.46 trillion, Deficit: $0.99 trillion
  • 2020: Federal Spending: $6.55 trillion, Federal Revenue: $3.42 trillion, Deficit: $3.13 trillion
  • 2021: Federal Spending: $6.82 trillion, Federal Revenue: $4.05 trillion, Deficit: $2.77 trillion
  • 2022: Federal Spending: $6.27 trillion, Federal Revenue: $4.90 trillion, Deficit: $1.37 trillion
  • 2023: Federal Spending: $6.41 trillion, Federal Revenue: $4.71 trillion, Deficit: $1.70 trillion

As you can see, spending is way over budget even though revenues have soared.  Taxes are effectively taking a portion of hard earned money and giving it to the government to serve us, the public and the society.  Currently, they don’t seem to be serving us well, and are spending our money very poorly.  Notice in 2023 they spent $1.70 trillion over budget, even though they brought in almost $5 trillion dollars in revenue, which is nearly double the revenue from just a decade ago.  To put it into perspective, the debt is increasing by about $10 billion a day in 2024 – completely unsustainable spending. This is probably the biggest issue in the USA and if spending can’t be cut, everything will fail, including the banks. This is a major issue that many people seem unaware of, but is well worth noting and understanding.

Immigration –

I’m very pro-immigration and allowing anyone hard working to come into the US.  But it needs to be done legally and through an efficient system created by the government.  We can’t just open the border to allow anyone to come through when my wife has to go through months of interviews to move to the US.  It isn’t fair or legal, nor does America have the system to support it financially or otherwise.  If you look at the official numbers on the official Customs and Border website here are the recorded numbers:

  • 2017: 415,000
  • 2018: 521,000
  • 2019: 977,000
  • 2020: 646,000
  • 2021: 1.956 million
  • 2022: 2.76 million
  • 2023: 3.20 million
  • 2024: 2.6 million (through July so far, will definitely surpass 2023)

As you see, it has gone up rapidly in the last 4 years.  Note that these are simply recording incidents of illegal immigration, and it is estimated that roughly 50% aren’t recorded.  Then means over the last 7-8 years, upwards of 20 million people have crossed into the US illegally. To put that into perspective, that is 4x the population of Colorado, and roughly the entire size of New York City.  The only way to say this isn’t a problem is to be unaware of it, which seemingly half of the US is.  There is no where for these people to go to integrate into society, pay taxes, etc. And governments don’t have the money to support them (see point above).  As a result, cities are struggling to find housing, pay for the care, and integrate them.  This is a massive failing of the government, which is their job to fix and ensure this doesn’t happen (as with every government in the world having the same responsibility for the countries they serve).

Taxes –

There is a common misconception that the rich don’t pay taxes.  On the official government website, the top 10% of earners pay 75% of all federal income tax.  The top 1% of federal income earners pay nearly 50%.  The wealthiest pay most of the taxes contrary to what most think. But percentage isn’t even a good metric as the rich make most of their money off capital gains, which is taxed differently, and many of the rich don’t have income (like Steve Jobs famously paying himself $1 a year). So we should talk absolute amount paid in instead.

Comparing percentages is like apples to oranges because wealth can be earned tons of different ways than just income, and all ways are taxed at different rates.  You have to tax capital gains differently than income, as there are many ways to earn money through work, investment, business, etc. Therefore, we need to talk absolute numbers, not percentages.  And when we look at the numbers, the rich fund the entire government through taxes.  The lowest 50% pay 3% of all federal income tax.  This is fine and I’m not against it, but to say the “rich need to pay their fair share” is disinformation as the rich already pay the overwhelming majority of taxes in the US.  Again, going on point one, we need to cut spending immediately, which means if we cut spending, we get a surplus and have the capital then invest into other things.  If we raise revenue (raise taxes) before we cut spending, it makes no logical sense and we end up with the same problem.

Inflation – 

There is a lot of talk about inflation and some disinformation about it.  Many believe it is corporate greed driving prices up, but that is a fallacy.  What causes inflation?  Inflation is where the value of a dollar goes down, meaning your spending power of $100 drops.  In 2020 when Covid started, the government locked down businesses and cities.  Because of this, they had to give stimulus or else every business would fire all their employees and go under.  When the stimulus is given without actual product or services, there is an increased supply of money for less goods/services, which means inflation goes up (prices rise for the same goods/services).

Additionally, because of the global lockdowns, supply chains got disrupted (the market) which made prices go up.  For example, if only 1 shipping company operates instead of 5, there is no competition and it can raise prices.  Competition (the market) drives prices down as companies compete for value vs. cost all the time in a market, which is important.

The combination of increased money supply and disruption of the market is what led to inflation going up to 8-10%, which was entirely predictable.  If you have 10% inflation for 2 years, you have > 20% inflation over 2 years, which means $100 has spending power of $80 and so on.  In short, inflation is caused by increasing money supply and the reason prices are way higher now than 5 years ago is due to government policies which increased money supply.  It is not corporate greed and this is a disinformation.

To put another way:

The rise in prices (inflation) is caused by government overspending, which increases the amount of money faster than the increase in goods & services output. That is the vast majority of the problem.

Inflation was particularly bad during the Covid years, as there was massive government spending, despite productivity plunging, as people were forced to stay home.

This is further exacerbated by excess regulation, which prevents the market from solving an unmet need (eg housing in high-demand areas). Occasionally, there is monopolistic behavior by companies, but this is relatively rare and usually only possible if those companies have gained control of their industry regulator. Again, a government, not private sector, problem.

The Constitution – 

Republicans want to protect the founding fathers America and the American constitution that was designed to protect powers and has worked well for America so far.  It is what has separated America from most other countries in the world, and should be protected with care.  Things like freedom of speech are vital to a free, open society.  Freedom of speech means someone you hate can still say something you disagree with and it is legal and allowed.  Censorship is anything that goes beyond the laws that govern freedom of speech.  Currently this a major movement to censor people and places, like Youtube taking down videos they disagree with, or people wanting to arrest Elon Musk for running X as a free speech platform.  In short, the Republicans simply want America left to the same rights as 20-30 years ago.  There seems to be a misunderstanding on this point.

Abortion –

It’s a touchy subject and I’m pro-choice entirely.  Trump has repeatedly said there would be no national ban but the decision would go to the states instead of the federal government (which was overturning Roe v. Wade).  In general, the federal government should give more power to the states so they can govern how they wish – that is to say govern how the people that live in that state vote.  For example, legalization of weed in Colorado but federally illegal leads to strange conflicts when the decision should just defer to the state.

I’m all for moving more power from the federal government and into the states to give more control to the people that live in each state.  For people who want an abortion, the majority of the states support it so the option will be available.  There are 2 sides to the coin so it is only fair different states get their way based on their own beliefs.  Even though we don’t agree, in America we can let people freely choose based on their own beliefs.

The role of the government is to lead the nation and ensure the system works – ensure crime is low and people abide by the laws, education and health is good, budget is balanced, and the society flourishes.  If the society isn’t functioning well, crime goes up, people are unhappy and unhealthy, and civility breaks down – it is a failing of the government.  Again, I’d like to ask the question to you as a reader – is America better today in 2024 than it was say 4 or 8 years ago?

Voting fraud – 

It is impossible to say there is vote fraud, but there is a significant incentive for foreign adversaries or powers that be within the US to manipulate and modify the actual vote of the people.  This exists in many countries throughout the world.  We need to ensure we have a robust voting system that ensure there is not voter fraud, and if there is any suspicious voting or fraud possibilities, we should talk about them.  We should not assume there isn’t fraud, because there very well could be,  We need to ensure voting integrity is of the upmost importance of if there are any red flags, we need to raise awareness about them and get to the bottom of it.  There is certainly the possibility of fraud and we need to protect against it at all costs.  This video explains one way to think about it.

Because disinformation is a major problem as I’ve presented here, I’ve have tried to clear up some of the confusion in effort to bridge the understanding gap. If you watch one channel like CNN you get clips of Trump taken out of context, and if you watch Fox, you get clips of Biden/Harris taken out of context.  As a result, it is vital to go to the actual source and watch the interview/video in full.

You can go on Youtube and type in “Kamala Harris interview”, “Joe Biden interview”, or “Donald Trump interview” or “Elon Musk interview”.  I’d encourage anyone from both sides to watch full interviews with people that you disagree with and see their true character.  Most of the time because things are taken out of context, and you get a bigger and better picture of the person than what the media clips, often a completely opposite view.  Watch or listen to an hour long interview with Trump or Musk or Biden or Harris, or ideally, all of them.  You’ll definitely get a more realistic view of who they are and what they think.  If you haven’t done this, you’re almost guaranteed getting hit with disinformation and propaganda on both sides, which is causing divide amongst us.

On that point, it’s surprising how many people I’ve met who say that Twitter is way worse since Musk acquired it. Yet every person that says this has never used it. The anti-Musk propaganda is incredible and effective. As is pretty much all other propaganda (on left and right).  It is like saying a book is bad but you never opened it. I’d encourage you to use X/Twitter and see for yourself – read the book.

It is obviously better in every way since he bought it, and usage is at an all time high. To say otherwise is ridiculous, to anyone who uses it, it is clearly improved.  It is faster, more slim, more features, more useful, etc.  I’ve used Twitter since 2008 and it has been an incredible resource to not only connect with a lot of interesting people, but to learn from people who share links/ideas. When Musk bought it, most investors were for it due to the 15% premium and the fact that Musk has a remarkable track record with creating companies – Paypal, Tesla, SpaceX, solar city, to name a few.  He has done an incredible job with X so far – and the vast majority of people who actually use it would say the same.  Regardless of what you think of Musk or where you are politically, give it a try for yourself.  Open and read the book before you criticize it.

Again, if you’ve only watched a clip or heard what CNN said about Musk, it is propaganda.  Go straight to the source and use the platform to judge for yourself, or watch the original uncut interviews.

The amount of fighting and hatred throughout history, and even now, that comes from politics and religion is hard to fathom. People hold strong opinions because it matters. And we tend to hang around people who share similar belief systems about life, economics, business, freedom, and equality.  This is because these ideas matter, and affect each and every one of us.  It not only affects us, it changes how we behave and how to observe society and the world around us.

The core philosophy underlying this is that at the deepest level as humans, all we have is our ability to communicate.  If we can’t communicate, what are we doing on this planet together? Holding thoughts in your mind does little.  Share your thoughts, it acts as a good error correction mechanism.  However, how you communicate matters.  Writing forces us to put down our thoughts in a more ordered manner, while a verbal conversation with people can go down tangent after tangent and it is quite easy to talk past each other.  Like Minchin said, like hitting beautifully executed shots from opposite ends of 2 different tennis courts.

With the age of propaganda and disinformation, both sides are becoming more polarized. Given this, one solution is to listen and try to have conversation with others from the opposite side. It is hard, and often ends on which propaganda the other side watched or listened to. Is the best solution to just avoid these conversations all together? Or to share openly how you feel? It’s not an easy answer, but all we have is communication.  Shutting off our voices only leads to more polarization because we then are unable to understand each other, which is exactly what is happening now.

I think it is probably best to have a conversation when both people are interested. Otherwise, vote and live life based on the values you hold.  My writing here is an effort to share my understanding of what is going on, and open it up to conversation.  Please reach out if anything I posted is wrong or needs to be corrected, I’m open to discussion about anything.

Regardless of what you believe, I wish you all the best in 2024 an beyond – it’s one of the most fascinating times to exist in human history.

June 29, 2024 / 0 Comments

The World You’re Born Into

June 2024 – this is a letter to my son about what I’ve learned in life so far and would like to pass on.

You can listen to this article here.

 

Dear Andrew,

We live today in interesting times, perhaps the most interesting of times.  There has never been a world quite like the one you’re joining.  8 billion people share the planet at the moment, and there are more people and more prosperity than anytime in human history. There is more opportunity than ever before.

We have more advancements in science, technology, medicine, and engineering than ever before.  We have more cures for diseases, longer life expectancy than ever, and global poverty rates are at the lowest they ever have been.  Yet, we also face major global issues that plague humanity.  People in the western world aren’t having children anymore. 70% of Americans are obese or overweight which is toxic to the mind and body. We have an ever growing global arms race that threatens global peace.  And screen time and porn addiction have caused a crisis of our attention and of our minds.  It is worth knowing of these issues so you can be prepared to face them.

Life is a miracle, truly.  Of all the possibilities to exist, of all the eggs or sperm that could have been created, you exist.  Life is a gift, and to be born into a family like ours makes you incredibly lucky.  We’re incredibly lucky.  Recognizing this luck is important so you know where you’re at, and you don’t take it for granted.  It isn’t a given, your life must be earned.

Life is full of ups and downs, unexpected events, overwhelming high times, and occasionally some times of confusion.  This is normal.  It is part of the normal development of a human to go through these stages.  Recognize that at each stage, the goal is to constantly improve and get better.  Each day is an opportunity to improve, to learn, to share, to create, to enjoy.  Every day is day 1, it’s a new day.  The past is what has made you who you are, but it is gone, all there is is today, and the future that you create.

How you deal with unexpected events that come out of life is the quality of your life.  Heartbreak, death of a friend or family, accidents, and mistakes are all part of life that everyone goes through.  No one is perfect, but ensure you reflect and learn from the mistakes you’ve made.  Train and prepare your mind to handle anything that is thrown at it.  Mindfulness practice to pay attention to your thoughts is useful.  Exercise is vital to relieving stress and keeping quality of mind, let alone having a strong/fast/fit body.  The mind and the body are one.

Fall in love, enjoy sex, but do it safely.  Use protection and then have fun.  When you’re young, explore.  Travel to places that interest you, be excited to meet other people, be curious about other people.  Everyone has a story you can learn from, and you learn most by asking questions and listening, not by telling others your stories.  But do tell stories when people ask, you can inspire people.  And the practice of telling stories is good for learning how to socialize.

Read often.  You can learn a tremendous amount through the brains and eyes of other people.  Lots of people have existed before you, learn from them.  The more you can learn and understand, the more effective you’ll be at life.  Don’t underestimate how much knowledge you can learn from just 30 minutes of reading a day. A book is a lens into the brains of some of the brightest thinkers of life.  Read things that interest you.  It’s worth studying psychology (how and why humans think and behave in different ways), finance (understand money, business, economics and the broad things that shape the world).  Study history, how the world came to be the way it is.  Read biographies and autobiographies, it is fascinating to see how different people got to where they were in life, and biographies tell their story.

Life’s a pursuit of improvement, and getting better.  Get stronger each day, smarter each day, create a little something each day, be kind and generous to people each day.  Small tiny improvements each day can lead to drastic improvements over time, the key is actually making progress each day.

Life can be overwhelming sometimes, and things can take up all of your time and attention.  Ensure you’re spending part of each day moving forward in whatever that means to you. A stronger relationship, a stronger body/mind, a stronger business, a new experience, etc.  Most importantly, enjoy the ride.  Have fun in life, there is a hell of a lot of fun to be had.

Think independently about what you want to do. When I was a teenager I decided to study abroad in England.  Not sure what triggered it but I was basically the only one in university who wanted to do it, and it ended up being transformational to me as a person and widened my perspective in a big way.  I found that the classic 9-5 route wasn’t for me.

I recall in university when I was about to graduate, everyone around me was talking about the salary and the job offers they were getting, but my mindset was on growing my business and traveling.  It was what I felt deep inside was the right idea, and I always had the plan B to become an engineer worse case, so I really had nothing to lose.

That decision ended up being a great decision.  I tell this story because throughout life, I often felt strongly about a way of life that didn’t align with everyone else.  Even now, at 35, I still feel this way. The way society and even many friends live and behave is quite different to how I think we should live.  Recognize that there is no right answer, but there are better and worse answers.  Think for yourself about really what you want to do and don’t be deterred if society thinks otherwise.  You know best deep inside.  Try it, and see what happens.

When you fall off track and make some bad decision, get back on track right away.  Never have 2 bad days in a row.  Getting back on track is as important as being on track in the first place.

Have a family. Sure, when you’re young explore and date and see what you like and enjoy.  Communicate, it’s all we have humans.  Find a partner you can be honest with.  Monogamy is not for everyone, and we probably didn’t evolve as men to be so.  Sexual variety is important, but don’t let that stop you from committing to a person, having a wedding, and having kids.  A wedding is a great opportunity to bring together a bunch of cool people to celebrate.  Any opportunity to do that is good, celebrate everything, if nothing else, life.

How you communicate is important.  Don’t just say what you think, craft what you say such that the other person will understand.  Do to others as they want done to them, not as you want done to you.  How you want to be treated may not be how they want, so understand how others, including your partner, want to be treated and treat them that way.

Be fit, be active, spend lots of time outdoors.  Play a sport, do yoga, pump iron, run. The stronger your body, the better you think, the more energy you have, and the more motivation you tend to have.  All good things in life come from having the energy to capture them, so being physically fit is vitally important.  The mind and the body are one.  Avoid steroids and focus on being strong, fast, and fit, not just looking strong.

Spend below your means.  Making money and keeping money are 2 different skills.  You can lose money faster than you can make it, so make wise decisions.  Never invest into things you don’t understand, it’s a sure way to lose money.  If you spend below your means, you’ll have a surplus.  Invest the surplus and use it to help others.

Helping others is a tricky issue.  You can’t just give money to someone and expect it to be better.  Give a man a fish vs. teach a man to fish.  But, having the resources to help when one needs it or when an opportunity arises is useful, and gives a peace of mind.  Study the effective altruism movement – people like Peter Singer were interesting to study.  GiveWell.org, and Kiva.org are organizations I’ve supported for years.

Study philosophy, and the various kinds that interest you.  The study of what is, the study of knowledge, and perhaps most importantly, moral philosophy.  What is right and wrong.  It is a fascinating discussion that will help you throughout life make decisions that align with your morals.  But the first step is discovering your own morals, so studying moral philosophy is vital.

Write. Put your ideas onto paper and get them out of your mind.  The sheer act of writing makes your mind come up with more ideas.  Write about anything you want.

Focus and capture energy when it is there.  Sometimes you’ll be motivated and sometimes you won’t, that is normal.  When you have the motivation, or the ideas, do the act and build the thing or write the article or utilize the motivation.  It is normal for it to come in waves and in seasons, and when it is there, use it.

Having downtime is as important as working.  People think of downtime as a waste but downtime is where ideas are formed, it’s where your mind processes what is has taken in, and it is where you become creative.  Downtime is some of the most important time in life to think and recharge.

Start the day with a glass of water next to the bed, and ideally get out into the sun not long after waking up.  It gets your body and mind ready for the day and helps you sleep better at night.

Live diligently. Figure out what you want to do and deliberately go for it. Looking for a partner? Date, and get better at it. Want to make friends? Study how to improve.  Want to start a business? Start building and learning how the best do it.  While life can’t be controlled fully, we can certainly change how we behave, where we live, what we pay our attention to, who we spend time with, how we learn, what we work on, and how we work.  These decisions are the most important decisions of our lives, because they are our lives.  Our life is what we do.  Our life is how we think. Our life is how we live.

Build and create things.  Anything.  Could be a business, a piece of art, a new shop or store, a website.  Humans learn by doing and creating is where fulfillment and satisfaction come from.  We evolved to create so ensure throughout life, you’re creating and building stuff often.

Be reliable.  Always show up on time,  Being late means you’re wasting other peoples time. Don’t waste others peoples time.  When you say you’re going to do something, do it.  Reliability is a human trait that will serve you well over time.  On the same token, avoid people who aren’t reliable, or who waste your time.

The traits that plague many people are envy and resentment.  Wish everyone you meet, especially the people closest to you, the very best.  When people around you succeed, wish them well.  Life is better when the people around you succeed.  And when you’re treated poorly or unfairly, move on and avoid any further suffering.

Never underestimate the value of a solid night of sleep.  You can go to bed feeling one way and wake up feeling another. Sleep a lot.  Sleep is foundationally important to the body and mind, and it not only makes life longer, it makes it better.  Avoid having 2 days in a row of poor sleep.  If you sleep poorly one night, ensure the next night you sleep well.

The modern era is full of distraction. Ensure you’re consciously choosing where you pay attention and what you pay attention to. If you aren’t aware and deliberate in choosing, your attention will be chosen for you and you’ll end up spending your attention on stuff that doesn’t matter or isn’t important.  Focusing and choosing what you pay attention to vital in the age of abundance of everything.

Opportunity favors the prepared.  Be prepared to take advantage of opportunities when they come.  This could be in finding a partner, a friend, capturing a business opportunity, or simply having the freedom to go somewhere when you get invited.

Take action.  Action is where all possibilities lie.  You never know until you try, and action produces information.  Action is also where you learn, come up with more ideas, and gain insight into what happens.  Always bias toward action.

And move fast, time goes by quick. Don’t wait for someday.  1 week is 2% of the year.

Be grateful, express gratitude often.  Reflect on who brought you your food, who cooked it, who served it, where it came from.  Reflect on the efforts of people who host parties, drive your taxi, or clean the building you’re in.  The more you’re aware of how lucky you are, the more grateful you’ll be.  Say thank you to people always when they help, serve, or are kind to you.  You can’t say it too much, but you can not say it enough.

Spend time in nature. It is how we evolved, to be out in fresh air, surrounded by green plants, in a quiet, beautiful landscape.  The Japanese have a term “forest bathing” for therapeutic relaxation.  Never underestimate how important being in nature is to recharge, think, and relax.  The mind enjoys it, so prioritize time in nature often.

Pay attention to the little things, always, And the little sensations.  Taste every bite fully and observe the feeling.  Observe tiny insects walking around in detail, observe buildings and discover how they were built.  Visit beautiful architecture and see how it makes you feel inside.  So much of life is observing in more detail, there is fascination to be found in everything.

Life is a journey, and you learn a lot by simply being.  All the best things take time, and often longer than you think.  Constantly be working to get better and improve at every part of life, that is what life is about.  It is a gift to be, to fall in love, to have friends, to eat amazing food and see amazing places.  Most importantly, enjoy the ride.

I wish you luck and an amazing life, it’s a privilege to have you as my son,

Dad

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