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personal development

Fall to the level of your systems

Last updated on August 14th, 2022 at 09:41 am

I had a different email planned, but last week I tested positive for Covid which threw that off schedule. Fortunately, my symptoms were mild, and after self-isolation ended, I re-joined Amy in the not-so-delicate juggle of childcare and working from home. It was a flashback to April 2020, our first foray into lockdown life.

Despite having both Oliver and Annabel this time (AND one-third of the living space we had in Albany), everything felt… easier.

Part of this is attributable to greater certainty around Covid:

You can expect mild symptoms (if you’re reasonably healthy)
You can expect lockdown to end (eventually)
You can expect access to essentials (remember when finding toilet paper was like a Banksy sighting?)

None of this was true 18 months ago. As difficult as it is, we’ve made progress. It’ll continue to get better.

finances

Lessons from my second real estate investment

Last updated on August 14th, 2022 at 09:35 am

If you only have a minute, here are the takeaways:

Investing is emotional. I made my second real estate investment. It was more of an emotional decision than a numbers-driven one. In my opinion, this is OK (even normal) but don’t fool yourself thinking otherwise.
Upstate New York and self-funded. The investment is an apartment community in upstate New York. I funded it with the money after selling my house and from savings. Ideally, this investment adds a revenue stream that funds my Business system target.
Play your advantages. Most retail investors do not have an analytical competitive advantage. But you can have a behavioral competitive advantage. Counterintuitively, this usually means doing less, e.g. less trading, less complexity, etc.
How to increase your behavioral advantage? Understand your asset allocation, automate your saving & investing, have a long time horizon, and protect your downside.
Survival. The cornerstone of any strategy. You have to stay in the game long enough to win it.
What game are you playing? The game of money is fascinating, but the real game we’re playing is the happiness game. And happiness not having everything you want, but wanting everything you have.

I made my second real estate investment at the end of 2022. Once I started to document my thought process, I realized how much my investing was an emotional and intuitive decision, not a math-based decision.

the connection

The psychological landmines of building an audience

Last updated on August 14th, 2022 at 09:32 am

And I see everyone gettin’ all the things I want

And I’m happy for them, but then again, I’m not

Just cool vintage clothes and vacation photos

I can’t stand it, oh, God, I sound crazy

Their win is not my loss

I know it’s true

But I can’t help gettin’ caught up in it all

– jealousy, jealousy by Olivia Rodrigo

There are many paths to hit your financial independence numbers. In Connection 95 – Your Starting Point, I said I was currently focused on my career, consulting, and building an audience.

Today let’s talk about the psychological landmines of building an audience.

finances

Your Starting Point

Last updated on August 14th, 2022 at 09:29 am

In the last newsletter, What Is Rich, we talked about the power of having specific financial independence targets, and how to calculate these targets for yourself.

These targets are your “Business system target” and “Money system target.” My targets are $75,000 MRR (monthly recurring revenue) and $6,000,000, respectively.

(There’s also a third target, which I call the “Perfect Tuesday target” and will explain more later.)

I share my targets as a reference point for discussion. There is a formula, so technically you and I could arrive at similar targets. But defining what you want, when you want it, and why you want it is infinitely more complex than can be derived by a pivot table, financial advisor, or Twitter thread.

finances

What is rich?

Last updated on August 14th, 2022 at 09:27 am

I know a lot of people who make an extraordinary amount of money, but few people who are rich. Rich is having passive income greater than your burn.”

– Scott Galloway

I love the simplicity of this definition (passive income > burn) but think it’s a better description of financial independence than rich.

Your financial independence boils down to just a couple of numbers. Here are mine:

$75,000/month
$6,000,000

What do these numbers mean? Where do they come from?