Category Archives: Truth

What is an Antifragile approach to Equity?

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Taleb’s term “antifragile” is here to stay.

If my understanding is correct, an asset class that shows more upside than downside upon the onset of shock in this age of shocks – is termed as antifragile.

So what’s going to happen to us Equity people?

Is Equity a fragile asset class?

Let’s turn above question upon its head.

What about our approach?

Yes, our approach can make Equity antifragile for us.

We don’t need to pack our bags and switch to another asset class.

We just approach Equity in an antifragile fashion. Period.

Well, aren’t we already? Margin of safety and all that.

Sure. We’ll just refine what we’ve already got, add a bit of stuff, and come out with the antifragile strategy.

So, quality.

Management.

Applicability to the times.

Scalability.

Value.

Fundamentals.

Blah blah blah.

You’ve done all your research.

You’ve found a plum stock.

You’re getting margin of safety.

Lovely.

What’s missing?

Entry.

Right.

You don’t enter with a bang.

You enter at various times, again and again, in small quanta.

What are these times?

You enter in the aftermath of shocks.

There will be many shocks.

This is the age of shocks.

You enter when the stock is at its antifragile-most. For that time period. It is showing maximal upside. Minimal downside. Fundamentals are plum. Shock’s beaten it down. You enter, slightly. Put yourself in a position to enter many, many times, over many years, upon shock after shock. This automatically means that entry quantum is small. This also means you’re doing an SIP where the S stands for your own system (with the I being for investment and the P for plan).

Now let’s fine-fine-tune.

Don’t put more than 0.5% of your networth into any one stock, ever. Adjust this figure for yourself. Then adjust entry quantum for yourself.

Don’t enter into more than 20-30 stocks. Again, adjust to comfort level.

Remain doable.

If you’re full up, and something comes along which you need to enter at all costs, discard a stock you’re liking the least.

Have your focus-diversified portfolio (FDP) going on the side, apart from Equity.

Congratulations, you just made Equity antifragile for yourself.

🙂

Still Looking for those Two Minutes of Freedom?

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Why?

Meaning why haven’t you found them already?

It was just two minutes, right?

What was so difficult about that?

Perhaps you didn’t understand the task?

Ok.

Fine.

This is what we’re now going to try and look for.

Two minutes in the whole day. Where we feel absolutely free.

No shackles, no bondage, no worries, no tension.

Just sheer freedom.

Complete freedom.

We’re going to find them.

We could be doing an activity while we experience them.

Or, we could be doing nothing.

Depends on person to person.

Sleeping is a different matter. It doesn’t count for our exercise.

I’ve already shared with you where I find my freedom.

Right here.

I feel free when I write.

You need to find yours.

Now.

Why are we doing this exercise?

There’s something about freedom.

As you’re feeling it, it’s also freeing up stuff inside you and around you. Quality of life goes up several notches. You’ve got to experience it. Words won’t suffice.

So go for it.

What’re you waiting for?

🙂

Learning to live with (temporary) imperfection

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Perfectionist?

You?

Brace up.

Something small goes amiss.

You still have to get your act together.

If you have lots going under your umbrella, well, then even more so, exponentially.

Life’s about permutations and combinations.

Something or the other goes astray, almost always.

Make sure you don’t.

Go astray, that is.

Yeah.

Explain to yourself.

Hold your act together.

The other stuff under your umbrella hasn’t gone astray.

Only the one thing has.

That’s not a bad score.

Move on.

Times change.

You will get a chance to set it right.

Such is time.

Meaning, take care of your other stuff.

Well.

Take care of it well.

When the time arrives, set your astray business right.

Now you’re good.

See?

Didn’t hurt, did it?

You held your other stuff together.

You set your astray stuff right.

All came out perfect.

What more could you want?

It paid to keep your cool.

You didn’t blow it.

Worry could have blown it.

Your other stuff could have suffered.

However you were stronger.

You had learnt to live with imperfection…

… because you had also learnt…

… that time is the great equalizer…

… and that you’d get the opportunity to make it perfect again…

which you did, while you kept your world balanced…!

Well done!

🙂

Order, Order! Have you Ordered?

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Back in good old college days, Professor Weyrich used to teach us about entropy.

He taught us so well, that we’ll never forget what entropy is.

He began by taking away the hype. He knocked the wind out of the “monster” in our minds. We were able to learn once and for all what entropy is.

“Entropy is a stink-normal measurable quantity”. These were the learned professor’s catalytic words.

What does it measure?

Disorder.

Aha!

Million dollar word.

Aren’t we so in the middle of it?

It causes us to stall. Daily. Hourly.

It grows. Engulfs us. Disarray.

If we do nothing, yes.

What if we do something?

Will it still grow?

Not if we counter it.

How do we counter it?

By creating order.

Remember these three words. Someday, they’ll make you invincible.

How do you utilize your spare time? What about your normal time?

In fact, spend the whole day creating order. Systems. Pathways. Inroads. Efficient shortcuts. Approachable strategies. You get the gist.

Why?

Why not?

Who doesn’t want a smooth life?

What makes it smooth?

Order.

One needs to make that order exist first.

Relevance?

Order is the backbone of any financial strategy. It counters market disorder and tries to translate this into profits.

Let go of all laziness.

Start creating order.

If nothing else, do it for your families, for your children.

Go for it.

🙂

What’s the mild pain for?

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Carrying forward a niggle?

Something that doesn’t stop you from performing, though?

However, something that nags?

Can’t stop to get it out of your system?

Momentum doesn’t allow you?

When you do stop to get it out, it doesn’t go away?

Is it more mental?

Or more physical?

Can’t decide?

Don’t know what to do?

Who to ask?

What if the hospitals grab you?

Make your wart into a cancer?

Are they then ever going to let you go?

Naehhhh.

Totally stumped?

We’ll, I’ve got something for you.

Are your ears standing up?

Can’t believe your luck?

Could Nath be bee/essing?

How does he know about all this stuff?

What makes him an authority?

Why should I trust him?

Well, don’t.

Is it costing you to listen?

Well, then listen. No harm.

So, as I said, I have something for you.

Are you ready?

Here goes.

Two words.

Embrace it.

Yeah.

Yeah, embrace the niggle.

Make it drive you on.

Make its mild pain give you quality output.

Milk it.

Make the niggle your advantage.

What if it goes away?

Halleluyaa.

You’re pain-free.

What if it doesn’t?

It then becomes your secret weapon.

That’s like buttering your toast on both sides.

🙂

Where’s the Love?

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Bro…

… it’s there…

… and it’s not.

You don’t find it, right?

You look and look.

You try everything.

Still not satisfied.

You think you’ve found it in something…

… or someone…

… is it there?

Possible… possible… possible…

… till it’s not.

It could’ve been there.

Then, it could’ve just gone.

Yeah, just like that.

Where does that leave you?

Are you to die without finding love?

Are you to find it beyond your current incarnation?

No point then, right?

Why not here?

Meaning right here, right now.

In the moment.

There is love in the moment.

It occupies a dimension.

You need to vibrate resonantly.

That’s when you start to mingle with its vibration.

You find it.

Your vibration warps.

You lose it.

Stay with it.

For a while.

The moment teaches you about the nature of what you look for.

Start to graduate.

Find it in ventures.

Some find it in finance.

Some become doctors.

Entrepreneurs.

Blah blah blah.

Post-grad to people.

Tough ball-game. We fail. Then we try again. We keep trying, till we kinda learn. Or not.

PhD in your life-partner.

Whoahhhhh, now you’re rolling.

Found it in your life-partner and stayed with it?

You’ve come a long way, bro!

Bully for you!

🙂

Action Oblique Inaction Upon Field-Proof

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You.

Field.

In.

No theorizing.

Just get into the field.

Act upon field-proof.

Or, don’t act…

… upon field-proof.

That’s just about it.

There’s a time for theory.

It’s to tune your mind.

Learn the ropes.

Baby-steps.

Away from the field.

So you’re yet safe.

Fine.

That stage gets over.

The onus is on you.

Real world is different.

It’s not like theory.

If it were, everyone following theory would be a billionaire.

Today’s professors don’t even put their own money on the line.

If you don’t get a feel for the LINE, your paper-knowledge has no value whatsoever.

On the field, LINE is big. Very big. You have to handle the line well. Otherwise, your money’s gone.

So, gauge the field.

What proof are you observing?

Is it compelling you to act?

Yes?

Act. Forgot about everything else.

Is it compelling you to sit still?

Yes?

Don’t act. Sit still. Forget about everything else.

Carve your own dazzling destiny.

🙂

What to do in the Age of Shocks?

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Wait for a shock.

That’s it.

Then go in… a bit.

Sound simple?

Ain’t.

Why?

Firstly, patience.

Who has patience, today?

Few.

Secondly, psychology.

Shock brings pessimism.

You don’t want to go in, not even a bit.

That is the whole thing.

Punchline. Understand it, and you’ve won already.

Thirdly, funds.

Who has funds, when the shock arrives?

Few.

Why?

Barely anyone knows how to SIT on funds.

I didn’t either.

Self-taught.

Through mistakes and pain.

By putting money on the line… losing it.

Took eleven years.

Now I know.

So don’t tell me that one is only born with the ability to sit.

Don’t waste your funds. Save them. They are your soldiers.

Fourthly, energy reserves.

Who has energy reserves when the shock arrives?

Few.

Why?

We’re too busy doing this doing that, always, forever. We don’t know how to conserve energy and build up reserves. Those who do then use their reserves to carry forward their strategies upon the arrival of a shock.

Fifthly, focus.

The hallmark of a big winner is focus.

Who has focus?

Few.

We’re too busy diversifying. It’s safer. Investing in the wake of shocks requires pinpointed focus.

Sixthly, courage.

Who has courage?

Few.

Why?

We’ve been taught to avoid, and move on. Life’s too full of BS that needs to be avoided. However, coming out during shocks needs courage. Face the enemy, and fight.

Seventhly, and perhaps this should have been on the top of the list, common-sense.

Who has common-sense?

Almost no one.

Why?

We’re too busy being complicated and sophisticated. We want to portray falsehood. We miss the forest for the trees. However, shocks are tackled with common-sense. Simplicity in thinking is paramount. The simplest ideas making the most sense are also the most successful ones.

Eighthly, long-term vision.

Who has vision?

Handful of people.

Why?

We’re too near-sighted. We want instant gratification. However, a shock presents excellent ground to root yourself in for the long-term. Understand this, and you’ll have understood a lot.

I could go on.

That’s quite enough though.

Above are eight points to think about,  to be seen as eight weapons that need sharpening, to come out fighting in the age of shocks.

Be patient, optimistic, fund-heavy, energy-heavy, focused and brave. Use your common-sense. Have long-term vision. BASICS.

Wishing you successful investing, in an age riddled with shocks.

🙂

Endgaming?

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What’re we up to, in this world?

We’re endgaming.

Am I crazy?

No.

Why am I saying so?

Look at our policies.

It’s not just finance.

Everything.

We’re endgaming everything.

Good or bad?

Whether good or bad, we’re in it.

Where does that leave you?

You’re part of we.

You’re in it too.

How should you react?

Build a strategy for an endgame.

Live like there’s a tomorrow.

Your system needs to incorporate endgame parameters.

Distance yourself from those who live like there’s no tomorrow.

Save.

Build structures.

Spread your frugality.

Help.

Teach.

Donate some of your surplus. Spread hope, and goodness.

Create positivity. Let its protective bubble go big. So big, that it protects in a radius of kilometers.

Play like you’re playing for your life.

Everything’s at stake.

Give it all you’ve got… and then some.

Ignore your aches and pains.

Lend vital support to those tumbling around you.

This is it.

There’ll only be a tomorrow if there are more like you.

Constant Activity doesn’t necessarily mean Progress

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Beware…

…of the urge to…

…constantly remain active.

The times preach it.

Maybe it was valid for different times.

Today, sitting still is an asset.

Many things happen while one sits still.

Systems cleanse.

Systems rest.

Space is created.

Recuperation is paramount.

Strength is built up, to come out firing on all cylinders another day.

Lack of activity thus becomes a secret weapon.

Weapons are double-edged.

If you’re not careful, they cut your skin from their other side.

We guard…

…against unnecessary food…

… and drink…

…laziness, sloth, mental over-zealousness, gossip and / or any kind of evil…

… while we’re inactive.

If we let such cracks seep in, it’ll have been all for a waste.

We’re not going to be inactive and be called a waste, because that’s a double-whammy.

We’re going to be pinpointedly inactive, and still be more productive than the 24×7 active ones.

We’re going to lead a good, full life with activity amidst productive periods of inactivity.

Yeah.

Core-System Maintenance

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First up, one needs to discover one’s core-system.

That’s a big chunk.

We’ve spoken about it. Again and again.

Why?

Meaning, why was it required to speak about this again and again?

We have problems putting our core-system together, that’s why.

Why do we have these problems?

We fail to sort properly. What belongs in? What needs to be kicked out? We’re not able to answer these questions properly.

People, what is working? While this thing is working, are we comfortable? Yes? Lastly, is this thing looking lucrative? Yes? Keep it.

Is something not working? Kick it out.

Look for the next thing that works.

Find three or four things things that work.

Intertwine them into a core-system.

That’s it.

It’s that simple.

Maintain your core-system. Tweak it upon requirement. If something stops working, replace it.

Yeah, even maintenance is that simple.

When will we acknowledge that…

… the best things in life are not complicated or sophisticated, but…

… simple?

The CC

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Done it again.

Introducing…

…the…

…Constitutional Comparative (CC). 

It’s in our constitutions…to compare. 

We exhibit the constitutional comparative by default…

…and we need to expunge this trait from our DNA…

…which takes time…

…but can be done, with determination and practice. 

Each one of us is unique, and we’ve come to do unique things. 

Some blossom early. 

Some blossom late. 

Some don’t blossom at all, or so it seems. Turns out later, their sole purpose in life was to provide stabilizing energy to their environment. They became activated from the womb, and they deactivated upon death. There was no question of blossoming at a certain time. You could also say, that they blossomed their whole life long. 

SEE?

Don’t compare. 

You can’t see the wheels within wheels just like that. 

Seeing wheels within wheels takes insight, penance and an appropriate state of mind. Therefore, if you really must compare, at least graduate to that state of mind first, where you possess the capability to see wheels within wheels in action. 

Or, if graduating to this state of mind is not worth your while, well, fine, no probs, but…

…DON’T COMPARE then…please. 

Live your life. 

Do what you’ve come to do. 

If you don’t know what you’ve come to do, well, FIND OUT. 

HOW?

Go within. 

Talk to yourself. Yeah, it’s not crazy to talk to yourself. 

In solitude come phenomenal solutions. 

You realise who you are…

…and what you’ve come to do. 

In a crowd, such finer points get lost, in the noise. 

And, why all this on a blog which has to do with finance?

Well, you can only invest properly if you’ve found yourself first. 

If you know who you are, you’ll also invest like who you are, as per your risk profile. 

A portfolio put together with the knowledge of your own risk profile will last you long, and will give you good returns for life. 

🙂

 

 

Moment Enhancement

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How do you enhance your situation at any given moment?

What are we talking about?

You.

Time.

Activity.

Betterment of your situation.

As compared to previous moment. 

What kind of betterment?

Any.

What kind of situation?

Any.

How?

You tell me. 

Yeah, it’s a bit of a personal sphere. 

Everybody’s idea of betterment is different. 

I write, for example. 

Clears my mind. 

I organize. 

My stuff. 

Gears me up to approach the next moment, more organized. 

I clear useless stuff. As in give it away. Frees up more space. 

Are you getting my drift?

What do you do?

To make your next moment more enhanced?

I plan my next three activities – what are they going to be?

I ask my one main question. 

What is the next step?

Yeah people, brick by brick. 

What for?

Yeah, exactly?

Why would one do this?

To lead a fuller and more meaningful life. 

To give of oneself fully. 

To make more of one’s existence. 

Again, reasons are personal, and will differ. 

What would your reasons be, to enhance your next moment?

This is a baby-step strategy. You’re living in the moment with it. You’re not looking far ahead, only actually till your next defined moment. 

Big targets are approachable one baby step at a time. 

One enhances moment upon moment, and suddenly, one hits a big target. 

Not too bad. Was well worth it. 

Try it out. 🙂

Patience and Nerves Anyone?

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As someone I look up to put it recently – “It’s a game of patience and nerves!”

What is?

The stock-market. 

For whom?

The long-term investor. 

Do you have any?

What?

Patience, or nerves, or both?

You do?

Well, then you’ll do well in the markets, over the long-term. 

We look for complication. Meanwhile, we forget the basics. 

These are basics. 

If you’re not patient, you’ll for example jump into a stock at the wrong time, or you’ll jump out of it too early, or what have you. 

If you don’t have patience, well, develop it. 

If you can’t, do something else instead. Trade. Don’t long-term-invest then. 

If you cannot develop patience, you are not cut out to be a long-term holder. 

One method to cause the tree of patience to grow in you is to create the correct environment. 

Just don’t do anything that will make you jump. 

Invest your sur-sur-plus, money that is then pickled away, money that you won’t miss, yearn for or require over the very long-term. 

Go in with margin of safety. 

Stay in a stock you’ve singled out and entered until there’s a glaring reason to exit. Try to exit upon a high. This is the market. Highs are its nature. So are lows. That means that highs come. Wait for them to come, to exit from anything you need to exit from. 

Nervers, well, they come into play if you’ve not invested with margin of safety. 

I do remember two instances though, where everyone’s nerves were tested. October 2008, and March 2009. At these times, stocks sold for a song. Good ones and bad ones alike. Fear did the rounds, extreme fear. That’s what fear does. It creates once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Take them. Maintain a clear head. Your nerves of steel will do that for you. Create an environment for your nerves to become strong. Or, perhaps expressed another way, create an environment where any weakness in your nerves is not required to show itself, and gets subdued into extinction. 

How?

Again, just go in with your sur-sur-plus. You’re not going to miss this money even if the sky is falling upon your head. And you’ve gone in with margin of safety. Your nerves will stay intact. 

Ensure your basics. Allow them to shine. 

The rest will take care of itself. 

Good investing. 🙂

The Tipping Point

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What is it about tips?

Why do they have that lure? That magnetic effect? That greed-invoking element? That goosebumps-causing energy?

Tips thrive in any market. 

They are given at the drop of a hat. 

The giver feels he or she is doing a favour. The receiver feels obliged. 

What has led to the giver feeling complaecent that he or she has something one his or her hands?

The giver was a receiver, a very short time ago. 

He or she got sucked …

… into the story. 

The story is tempting. 

It builds upon many half-truths and binds them together in such a presentable manner, that one’s defences, if any, are just maimed. 

In comes the tip. 

Off goes the mind, counting the unmade bucks.

In goes the money. 

Mostly, it doesn’t materialize. 

Why?

Tips do the rounds as short-cuts in people’s half-baked minds. 

A short-cut to wealth. 

The 99% here don’t want to do the spade work. They don’t want to get their hands dirty. They want spectacular returns, though, and they want them now. 

That’s the short-circuit. 

Investing is about doing lots of research. You dig. And then some more. It’s about patience. You wait. And then some more. It’s about having a sorted mind, and then going in. It’s a full-time occupation, unless you streamline it so well, that it then goes hand in hand with your other daily activities, and drops into the background like a mantra that keeps resonating with your breath. 

Does one become a brain-surgeon in a few hours?

Do you ask the brain-surgeon to teach you brain surgery in a day?

NO. 

It takes time, study, effort, will-power, finances, mindset, etc. etc. to become a brain-surgeon. 

It takes a lot of similar things to become a successful investor. 

You make yourself into one. 

It’s your effort. 

You don’t become one following tips.

People ask for tips. Daily. It’s a disease. I’m scarcely able to deal with it. I just evade. 

Folks, those who ask for tips are expecting to be made a brain-surgeon in one day. Not happening. It’s a short-circuited way of thinking. Don’t ask for tips. Invest on your own. Do the study. Invest the time and effort. Make mistakes. Become fully baked.

Go for it. 

The whole nine yards. 

Yeah, the whole hog. 

Multitaskers and OnebyOners

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Yeah, I made up that word…

…why not?

Who makes the rules?

Do you listen to all rules?

Breaking some rules is harmless…

… and those are the ones I love to break!

We live in the fast-track. 

Is there a place for slowdy-lumps?

Well, no, and yes. Or, yes, and no. 

Are you a fan of multi-tasking?

I’m not, by the way. Have to have to, sometimes. Don’t like it. 

Why?

I don’t like doing anything in a half-baked fashion. I’m sure that on some level, you don’t either. Either in it for the whole hog, or count you out, right?

Yeah. Or so thought I. 

World moves. It passes you by. If you don’t multi-task. Juggle. Use whatever word you wish to.

Is it healthy? 

No. 

Multi-tasking leads to confusion in the mind-body continuum. Feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction are muddled and befuddled at best. 

Is that the quality of life you want?

No. 

I want clear-cut stuff. 

Clear-cut defined effort. Clear-cut defined satisfaction and enjoyment. 

I’m a onebyoner. I get the above kind of satisfaction and enjoyment. It is wholesome. Quality of life enhancing. 

Am I old-fashioned?

Don’t care. 

Why?

Because quality of life is more important to me than looking stupid for a bit. 

Try being a onebyoner for a while. Note the difference in the flow of life. You get to stop between completed tasks. Breathe. Take a break. Do something else. Move on to the next task. One step at a time. Brick by brick. 

Life is more enjoyable. 

Try it. 

Nothing Uncool About Solitude

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Solitude…

… happens.

Sometimes, we’re in company, and sometimes we’re alone.

Being alone is ok.

One thinks.

One evolves.

There’s introspection.

Solutions dawn.

Before greatness…

… comes solitude.

In company, you grow relative to another.

In solitude, you grow relative to yourself.

Both kinds of growth are necessary. In other words, growth that occurs whilst being by yourself is also necessary.

Cut to the markets.

In the markets, one is responsible for oneself.

Decisions are required. Sometimes big ones. Who does one rely on?

On oneself.

How?

One has learnt to.

During tenures of solitude.

Walking on the Moon?

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giant steps are what you take
walking on the moon
i hope my legs don’t break
walking on the moon

Don’t know how old this song is.

There was the version from Sting, or perhaps The Police.

Heard another jazz version of the song on internet radio the other day.

Got me thinking.

We all do. Walk on the Moon, that is.

The Moon stands for something undiscovered.

Each human is unique.

Our next moments are undiscovered, yet.

We live them in our own way.

Yeah, we walk on the Moon, each day, every new moment.

Even in uncharted territory, one wants a smooth walk, doesn’t one?

There are three steps that ensure this.

1). Proper due diligence.

2). Smelling liability from a distance.

3). Walking the other way, away from liability.

Even a donkey understands what’s written above.

Enjoy your walk, on your Moon, on your own personal journey.

The lyricist has penned it aptly. He or she knows about giant steps, so due diligence has been done. He or she hopes that his or her “legs don’t break”,  so he or she is alert that liability could be lurking.

Yeah, above three steps, people.

Let It Come To You

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Don’t run after the investment.

Let it come to you.

Let it breathe down your neck.

You’re not hungry for it…

…but, if it’s that good…

… you might take it.

Let it reveal its hidden goodness.

Let it ignite your curiosity to look for even more than basic goodness in the investment.

Play a passive-then-active role.

Some call this the sweet spot.

I call it the sweetest spot…

… which you really want to be in, in the world of investing.

Yeah, don’t be in a hurry.

Hurry spoils the curry.

Take your time, to the extent that…

… take time out of the equation.

Give your money the best possible chance…

… to make loads more.

Did You Hear About the Last Mile?

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Yawn.

So you did, huh?

In investing?

No?

Yeah, I just thought about it.

Sharing it with you.

Churning, churning, churning…

… inside.

As you do your due diligence, information churns inside of you.

What is it that says yes, I’m investing?

Where does that go-ahead moment happen?

In the last mile.

Inside of you.

This is not to take away anything from your due diligence.

DD is central.

Very important.

However, last mile is important too.

One needs to respect it.

First, one needs to know about it.

Knowing about it will stop you from pushing an investment.

Don’t push… …in the markets.

Just be.

Take the shape of the container. Your container is your system.

Wait for your last mile to respond. Learn to understand its style of expression.

It’s a feeling…

… of well-being, …

… or something suffocating, nausea-like.

Embrace the former. Dump what’s causing the latter.

It’s as simple as that.

The most meaningful things in life are…

… exactly…

… SIMPLE.