Personal Life Strategies
Communication
- Practice active listening: Give your full attention, ask questions, and seek to understand the other person’s perspective and needs.
- Show appreciation: Express sincere appreciation for the other person’s qualities, accomplishments, interests or efforts.
- Empathy: Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and understand their thoughts and feelings. This is how you live many lives in one lifetime.
- Practice clear communication: Be clear and concise in your language, use examples to illustrate your point, avoid jargon or technical terms. Nobody cares that you sound smart; they want to understand and be understood.
- Use positive language: Choose words that are positive and affirming, and avoid negative or critical language.
- Communicate assertively: Express your thoughts and feelings diplomatically but confidently.
- Be open-minded: Consider different perspectives and ideas, and be willing to receive feedback and constructive criticism.
- Be authentic: Be true to yourself and your values, and communicate in a way that is genuine and honest.
- Be reliable: Do what you say you will do and keep your promises to build trust and credibility.
Sales
Every interaction is an opportunity to improve your communication-connecting-influencing skills — growth
Be unapologetic — No guilt, know you’re doing what you do and be comfortable with that — strong frame
People want to be understood/appreciated by and interact with people whom they respect — empathy/conspiracy and value — “no worries, I understand, and I appreciate that”
Sales is about a clarifying/simplifying the path to a solution and/or the great deal — clarity
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VOICE — Intonation, Smile-Laughter — Energy
COMFORTABLE — Relaxed, Comforting-Positive — Peace
FUN — Pumped Up, Enthusiastic, Funny-Cocky-Exaggeration-Worldplay — Self-Amused
CARING — Curious-Interested, Focused On Them/Topic, Not Me Nor My Life (Except To D.H.V.) — Love/Trust
TELL STORIES/USE EXAMPLES — Share Expertise And Experience…And Find Commonalities — Communication
NON-NEEDINESS — Non-Agitated, Not Rushed — Self-Sufficient
Investment
- Focus on Accumulating Income-Generating Assets, Not Liabilities: Invest in assets that generate passive income, such as rental properties, stocks, bonds, yield products, and businesses, rather than accumulating liabilities, such as credit card debt or car payments. It’s also worth avoiding frivolous expenses -as it reduces capital that could otherwise be invested.
- Diversify Your Portfolio: Spread your investments across different asset classes, such as: US Stocks, EU Stocks and Emerging Market Stocks // Frontier Market Stocks // Long-Dated Treasury Bonds // Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) // Real Estate ETFs (REITS) and Physical Real Estate (EU, US and Developed Markets) // Precious Metals — Gold mostly, maybe some silver or platinum // Commodities ETF // Cryptocurrencies with at least 65% in BTC and 20% in ETH // Alternative Assets — Whisky Casks, Artwork, Collectibles, Jewels
- Keep Your Investment Strategy Simple: Everybody wants to be a genius, everyone wants to figure out the next best stock… most fail. Invest in low-cost index funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that provide broad market exposure, and avoid complicated or risky investments. Simplicity and consistency can help you avoid unnecessary fees, taxes, and market volatility.
- Invest for the Long Term: Maintain a disciplined, consistent approach to investing and never try to time the market or engage in speculative investments. I won’t pull the trigger on any investment if I was not comfortable holding it for literally 10–20 years (it doesn’t mean I have to, but I want that mindset).
- Invest in Your Future: Contribute regularly and early into your investment account and savings account to take advantage of compound interest. The goal is to amass to accumulate a massive portfolio of income-generating assets which then mean that you can work but don’t need to work in order to sustain your lifestyle. The snowball starts small but grows exponentially and with little effort.
- Leverage Other People’s Money and Resources: Use other people’s money and resources, such as banks and partners, to build wealth and avoid relying solely on your own -limited- money and resources. Learn how to negotiate and collaborate effectively to create win-win situations.
- Be wary of investment advisors: I love asking for advice, get many different views, hear of something I should be paying attention to, see things in a different light. However, I’m oh so wary of investment advisors who charge high fees or make unrealistic promises. The bolder the claim, the more cautious one needs to be. Also, most investment banks really just invest in a diversified portfolio (as described in point 2).
- Understand That The More You Invest, The Better You’ll Be At It: It might be terribly scary to open a trading account, or put a buy-order for a stock for the first time, or calculate your total portfolio allocation, etc. it needs to be done, though, and the more it’s done the less intimidating it gets. Develop positive habits and routines that support your financial goals, such as saving, budgeting, and investing regularly.
- Invest in Yourself: Continuously learn and improve yourself. Invest in developing new skills, acquiring new knowledge, and gaining new experiences. This will help you stay relevant and adaptable in a rapidly changing economy and job market. It will also provide networking opportunities which in themselves can be financially or professionally rewarding.
- Diversify Some More: Diversifying reduces risk. It goes beyond simple asset allocation. Think about the platforms where you hold your assets and trade, think about the currencies you use for your investments, think about the time and recurrences of your investments which should also be diversified, think about the providers of ETFs or trading instruments, think about the banking rails to onramp/offramp cash. All of this ensures that when a black swan event happen (and it always does, eventually), you will only suffer a little bit -while people around you suffer much more.
Fundamentally, most people buy at the wrong time. It’s that simple. The only good -the best- time to buy is when things are falling apart and things are down, when everyone is afraid it will go even lower, much lower. This is when you buy. You don’t wait for it to go even lower. You don’t wait to ‘mark a bottom’ and for ‘things to get a bit better’; by then, you’ll have missed the entry point. Your friends will tell you they’ve found the pocket of the market that is unaffected and looks attractive, or that they heard from a sure source that things will move in this or that direction, or that someone commented on some macro indicator that means XYZ… They might be right but don’t deviate from the portfolio and the buying schedule.
If something diversified and solid drops 10%, 20%, 30%… buy it… if it falls further or stays down… keep on buying. But it has to be for solid and diversified stuff; I always stay away from complicated, quick or too-good-too-be-true stuff.
I don’t sell but, similarly, if you were to want to exit your investment, you would do it when everyone would say you’re crazy to sell, when things are looking up, when people are trying to pile in instead of exiting. I also find it useful to find bad traders, especially investment bankers, who typically make bets at the worst possible time, and then just counter-trade them. Bad traders are always motivating by greed over short periods of time, instead of driven by discipline over a long period of time.
“Buy when there is blood in the streets, even if it’s your own”
Big Assumption 1: We cannot make money stock picking or trading
Big Assumption 2: On a long enough time period, assets mostly go up
Big Reminder: We don’t use leverage on volatile assets
Personal Finance, Money Management, And Investing
- We Won’t Make Money Trading
- Frugal Living And Savings
- Income Generating vs Depreciating
- We Won’t Ever Sell
- Slow Is Fast, Fast Is Slow
- Diversification vs Stock Picking
- Why We Hold Long-Term
- Averaging In And Stacked Orders
- Rebalancing
- Opportunistic Buying
- Further Diversification Considerations
- Profit Taking
- What It Means To Be Wealthy
- How Are You Calculating Your Net Worth
Diet And Health
- No Sugar
- No Caffeine
- No Alcohol
- No Nicotine
- As Little Meat As Possible
- As Little Processed Foods As Possible
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- Daily Deep Belly Breathing (nasal, not mouth)
- Daily Stretching And Daily Exercise
- Daily Meditation
- A Regular Sleep Schedule
- Regular Cold Exposure
- As Infrequent Food Intake As Possible
- Daily Natural Light Exposure (Go Outside)
- Right Posture And Taking Breaks To Move Joints
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- Plenty Of Water
- Plenty Of Fruits, Vegetables And Alkaline Foods
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Supplements:
- Probiotics
- Omega 3
- Vitamin D3
- Vitamin K2
- Vitamin B-12
- Zinc
- Magnesium
- Turmeric
Other Supplements worth looking at:
- Coenzyme Q10
- MSM Powder
- Ashwagandha
- Glucosamine Sulphate
- L-arginine
- Collagen Peptide
Exercise and Fitness
Yoga is the best form of exercise. This isn’t because it could be trendy, spiritual or filled with girls in yoga pants. Most physical activities are asymetric and practice only specific muscles or focus on a particular part.
Yoga develops:
- Presence
- Breath
- Strength
- Flexibility
- Balance
I like exercies that improve mobility, from toes to ankles, to knees, to hips, to chest and spine flexilibity, to shoulders and neck, to wrist and fingers.
Some exercises I like:
MUSCLE STRETCHES
Hamstrings
- Standing fold or sitting fold
- Half splits
- Triangle pose
- Wide legged forward bend
Upper Thighs
- King pigeon
- Enlaced king pigeon
- Lunge with back leg bent and held back
- Dancer pose
- Reclining Hero Pose
Inner Thighs
- Frog pose
- Splits
- Butterfly (Sitting, feet together, knees out pushed down)
Hips
- Knees to chest, bundled circles, knees circles
- Lunge with back bend
- Lizard
- Eagle (standing)
- Triangle legs (knees stacked front, feet pointing backward, bending)
- Malasana (squat, hands in prayer)
Glutes
- Pigeon pose
- Figure 4 and pull back
- Leg/baby cradle
- Square pose — sitting down, crossed legs, bending down
Spine
- Cat — Cow
- Slow fold down and up
- Half bridge with slow up and down
- Bridge
- Camel
- Bow
- Child pose, active child pose, side child poses
- Upward and downward facing dog
- Sphinx and Cobra
- Puppy pose
- Lord of the Fishes — Sitting twist
- Lying down twist eagle legs
- Sitting on side hip, spine twist to lay on belly
- Chair pose spine twist, hand in prayer
- Baby pose
- Plow pose
- Dolphin pose
- Noose pose (enlaced squat pose)
- Wild thing pose
Shoulders
- Sitting, legs bent, arms back with fingers pointing back, sit backward
- Laying down on belly, arms crossed straight under chest, fingers point out
- Finger tips on shoulder, big circles with the elbows
- Big shoulder circles up and down
- Eagle
- Straight arms holding towel, go forward and back over head
Neck
- Lying down on belly, elbows together, chin on hands supporting up
- Arm around back, other arm pressing head other direction, move around
- Fingers interlock at the back of the head, pressing down
JOINT STRETCHES
Toes
- Kneeling down, sitting on curled toes
- Kneeling with toes pointed, sitting and swinging back
Ankles
- Knees to chest, circle the ankles clockwise and anti clockwise
- Lotus pose
Knees
- Knees to chest
- Legs straight massaging with hands
- Hero pose
Wrist
- Kneeling down, back of hand on floor or fingers pointing back with top of the hand on the floor
INVERSIONS
- Baby crow
- Crow
- Crane
- Side crow
- Fallen angel
- Eagle side crow
- Headstand
- Tripod
- Eight-angle pose
- Grasshopper pose
- Pincha Mayurasana
- Scorpion pincha Mayurasana
- Handstand
- Peacock
- Feathered peacock
- Shoulder pressing pose
- Firefly
- Pose Dedicated to the Sage Koundinya I
- Scale pose
Spirituality And Mindfulness
Being enligthened means to be pervaded by an awareness of the present moment. Beingness is awareness, is life flowing, here and now.
While this sounds simple enough, the ego has enormous momentum. The mind with its thoughts, emotions, memories of the past or anticipations about the future -all tainted by a dualistic and time-bound judgements- tricks us into looking anywhere but here and now.
We confuse who we are with the ego and fall into the delusion that the mind and the past or future will get us out when it is in fact the very prison we then seek to escape. It’s also scary to let go of a familiar prison, a box we have identified with, have created relationships, ideas, improvements, values, etc.
Who we are cares for none of that. Realising that what we are is awareness or presence (but so not the ego with typically identify with) then unsurprisingly feels freeing, light, blissful, joyous, lively and harmonious.
There is no strategy and no work to reach enlightment. There is nothing to do. There is no gate to cross, no path to take. Just an instantenous realisation that here and now is all there is, ever, and that nothing needs to be added, that no personalisation of ‘what is’ needs to take place.
In the meantime, there is still something that can support the spontanous blossoming of such realisation: meditation.
How to meditate:
- Sit with a straight back, unsupported
- Breathe naturally, without trying to control or change anything
- Observe the breath going in and out
- Focus on the area at the entrance of the nostrils and above the upper lip
- When the mind has calmed enough and is focused enough
- Let awareness flow through the entire body, part by part. This means, feel your hair, your forehead, your nose, your cheecks, your throat, every part of the body. Feeling each part entails just being aware of the inner body -nothing esoteric here: can you feel your right hand, not by moving it, nor by looking at it, nor by remember that you indeed have a right hand… just sense the right hand as it is, with the natural life energy that pervades it.
- Let your awareness flow up and down.
- Over time, when thoughts and emotions come up you will feel that they generate sensations. This is amazing because it gives you an opportunity to witness the ephemeral nature of the world of things -physical and mental forms. You then just observe those good and bad feelings come up, and practice equanimity, with no attachement to good sensations and no aversion to bad sensations.
Enlightenement isn’t away from thoughts, emotions or sensations (meaning the way forward is not to reject, avoid, ignore, repress the mind and the body). We have to transcend this. Transcendance happens when you can observe the ego -the body and the mind- and instead of be identified with it, just be aware of it, as part of the present moment.
Once the present moment is accepted as it is, once we surrender, accept, welcome, love life as it is, only then do we let go of the ego (which then serves no purpose) and are simply present.
Dating and Relationships
As an anti-social extrovert, I’ve always both been blessed and struggled with romantic relationships. Life has been much kinder to me than I deserved. I poured a lot of efford in my late teens and early 20s for very meager results; practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect… and much of my practice was misguided.
At the end of the day, I think it boils down to having fun, light-hearted, conversations with the opposite sex to find commonalities, flirt and present each other. If a younger guy asked me, I wouldn’t have a clear or practical advice but I do think there’s one thing that can make him a better man in a year or two: spend the next year or two talking and asking girls out, as much and as often as you can, provided you’re genuinely interested in them; over time, the daunting and difficult process will become familiar territory and be easier -not necessarily easy- to navigate.
Men tend to overestimate the ability to seduce, in my opinion. There’s not much to do or that one can do; women are attracted to you or they’re not. This might come across as pessimistic but has a silver lining: less of trying hard, less neediness, less of self-criticism or responsibility. Just show up and take a shot, then let the chip fall where they may.
Some pointers in creating attraction that I’ve found for myself:
- Remain relaxed, grounded, at ease (life is fun and easy, nothing’s a big deal).
- A genuine smile, a clear/smooth voice, strong eye-contact and an easy laugh.
- A good chunk of honest, mature, confident views and opinion. There’s a certain bluntness that doesn’t seek approval, sets boundaries, and commands respect, as long as it’s communicated with kindness and humour.
- An altogether dynamic life, authentic opinions, a positive/teasing/fun communication and an interest in others and commonalities to be found.
- A certain dose of leadership which, in my opinion is communicated though some future plan, going somewhere, independently and passionately, so that people can partake in the adventure you’re on and look up to you.
- Also to be totally relaxed with how defenseless/vulnerable one is in one’s desires and yet unattached/independent to outcome. There’s no drama ever but always a very calm openess about attraction or wanting something to
While I’ve always struggled with attraction, I always was loved by the women that I did end up with. When many friends talk about difficult experience, bad personalities, bad behaviour they’ve encountered, I’ve only met and dated amazing women that I thought were probably better people than me in many respect but somehow loved me unconditionally.
I’ve thought long and deep about what I could’ve done. Here are some pointers:
- It might sound horrible and I’m definitely not advocating that anyone do that, but, I’ve never told a girl I couldn’t live without her. I always thought and communicated that it was amazing they’d want to spend time with me and that I relished in our shared experience but I always put my independence above all else. I’m an island that they’re welcome to visit as much as they want, even build on, even settle on forver, but there’s no neediness, no possesiveness. I never weight down on a woman, try to control or tell her what she can or can’t do. I’m living my life, unapologetically and with absolute clarity; I always want them to do the same. Of course, we hope that those two lifestyle intertwine and we can share a life together. I’ve never understood jealously, possessiveness, controling, etc. (although I realise some women find that attractive); to me, it always screamed ‘insecurities!’
- Radical acceptance is paramount. More than acceptance, it’s about support and raising -ideally each other- up. Often you’ll find people that lament about a certain trait, a certain behaviour, a certain set of values. I’ve never really been able to do that, maybe because of a poor self-image; I just never even considered looking down on someone for who they are. That translates into relationships. That doesn’t mean I don’t discriminate who I’d want to be in a relationship with or not but, if I am, they are as they are and I appreciate them entirely. Then, of course, if I can nudge in a good direction, support them on their journey, help upgrade their goals, I will do my utmost -and hope they would do the same for me.
- For better or for worse, I value authenticity and open communication above all else. It’s hard to have anger build up, resentment, misaligments, or drama seep into a relationship when you acknowledge what you want, think, want to do, appreciate or don’t appreciate immediately. If something poses a problem, I’d always acknowledge the elephant in the room, right away. But I always want to do that a in a mature, non-judgemental, truly open-minded way. It doesn’t mean we need to talk about the relationship ad nauseam, of course, just that if something is felt or thought it’s communicated openly and that you create an environment where the other feels invited and safe to share as well.
- Appreciation for efforts and gesture is essential. I don’t think it’s something that should be consciously done, it should be normal. Maybe what’s harder is to keep that appreciation over time, not just at the beginning. I always look for reasons and opportunities to compliment people, share my admiration or thank them for kindness or achievements. It may sound machiavelan but there is something addictive for the other person -and I think that’s healthy. We want to be with people that appreciate our efforts, notice our perfomance, rejoyce in our successes. I’ve always done that and I do believe it creates attachement and a desire to please like nothing else can.
- Time. I think the above over time, along with sexual compatibility almost always result in deep attachement, in love.
