Reading and Thinking Selecting Reading Material Read classic works in the fields of mathematics, science, and philosophy. Do not read bestsellers, and do not focus on the news. Avoid joining any so-called “book clubs,” and do not pursue social validation. Place truth above social validation. Writing and Thinking Writing a blog is also a way of thinking. It acts like a hook, capturing inspiration and guiding people toward deeper contemplation. ...
Making Decisions in a World of Endless Options Common Life Questions Should I marry this person? Should I take this job? Should I buy this house? Should I move to this city? Should I go into business with this person? The Answer When You Can’t Decide If you cannot decide, the answer is no. The reason is that modern society is full of options. There are countless choices available. We live on a planet of seven billion people, and we are connected to everyone via the internet. There are hundreds of thousands of careers available to you. With so many choices, it’s essential to be clear and decisive.
You almost have to read the stuff you’re reading, because you’re into it. You don’t need any other reason. There’s no mission here to accomplish. Just read because you enjoy it.
The Power of Compound Interest in the Intellectual Domain In the intellectual domain, compound interest rules. When you look at a business with one hundred users growing at a compound rate of 20 percent per month, it can very quickly scale up to having millions of users. Sometimes, even the founders of these companies are surprised by how large their businesses grow.
Only by ensuring the alignment of interests can we fundamentally reduce the principal-agent problem and maximize the protection of our own interests. To me, the principal-agent problem is the single most fundamental problem in microeconomics. If you do not understand the principal-agent problem, you will not know how to navigate your way through the world. It is important if you want to build a successful company or be successful in your dealings.
I never ask if “I like it” or “I don’t like it.” I think “this is what it is” or “this is what it isn’t.”
A lousy way to do memory prediction is “X happened in the past, therefore X will happen in the future.” It’s too based on specific circumstances. What you want is principles. You want mental models.
Part of making effective decisions boils down to dealing with reality. How do you make sure you’re dealing with reality when you’re making decisions?
By not having a strong sense of self or judgments or mind presence. The “monkey mind” will always respond with this regurgitated emotional response to what it thinks the world should be. Those desires will cloud your reality. This happens a lot of times when people are mixing politics and business. The number one thing clouding us from being able to see reality is we have preconceived notions of the way it should be.
To see the truth, you have to get your ego out of the way because your ego doesn’t want to face the truth. The smaller you can make your ego, the less conditioned you can make your reactions, the less desires you can have about the outcome you want, the easier it will be to see the reality.
The problem is their desire is colliding with reality and preventing them from seeing the truth, no matter how much you say it. The same thing happens when I make decisions. The more desire I have for something to work out a certain way, the less likely I am to see the truth. Especially in business, if something isn’t going well, I try to acknowledge it publicly and I try to acknowledge it publicly in front of my co-founders and friends and co-workers. Then, I’m not hiding it from anybody else. If I’m not hiding it from anybody, I’m not going to delude myself from what’s actually going on.
What you feel tells you nothing about the facts—it merely tells you something about your estimate of the facts.
Almost all biases are time-saving heuristics. For important decisions, discard memory and identity, and focus on the problem.
Don’t play zero-sum games .
Any end goal will just lead to another goal, lead to another goal. We just play games in life. When you grow up, you’re playing the school game, or you’re playing the social game. Then you’re playing the money game, and then you’re playing the status game. These games just have longer and longer and longer-lived horizons. At some point, at least I believe, these are all just games. These are games where the outcome really stops mattering once you see through the game.
Spend more time making the big decisions. There are basically three really big decisions.
The punishment for the love of money is delivered at the same time as the money. As you make money, you just want even more, and you become paranoid and fearful of losing what you do have. There’s no free lunch. You make money to solve your money and material problems. I think the best way to stay away from this constant love of money is to not upgrade your lifestyle as you make money. It’s very easy to keep upgrading your lifestyle as you make money. But if you can hold your lifestyle fixed and hopefully make your money in giant lump sums as opposed to a trickle at a time, you won’t have time to upgrade your lifestyle. You may get so far ahead you actually become financially free.
The Time Factor in Achieving Success It takes time. Even once you have all the necessary elements in place, there’s an indeterminate amount of time you must invest. If you’re constantly counting the hours or days, you’ll likely run out of patience long before you achieve success.
This is not to say it’s easy. It’s not easy. It’s actually really freaking hard. It is the hardest thing you will do. But it’s also rewarding.
You don’t get rich by spending your time to save money. You get rich by saving your time to make money. In an age of leverage, one correct decision can win everything. Without hard work, you’ll develop neither judgment nor leverage.