Your only investment asset.
“The definition of Power is not financial success, status or influence over others, but the degree to which we have control over our own lives.” ― Rollo Tomassi, The Rational Male.
I find people around me recommend me to buy this stock, or buy this option or buy this crypto. Even though I politely tell them to fuck off, these people just don’t seem to get it.
This will be my rant against people who reach out to me. I will simply share this with them.
You know nothing.
The first thing to gauze is Competence. What is the specific skill set that makes you an expert? You cannot be an expert in 100 things, you do not have time nor experience to be great at 100 things. Tell me one thing you are good at, and then talk to me about it. It can be about your business idea, portfolio pool, meditation, dating strategy, or a whole host of many topics but it can be only one thing. I don’t have time to teach you about everything.
You are Delusional.
People hate me for being the person who breaks their dreams. Ironically, they come back to me thanking me for being realistic and talking straight about topics. Whatever you “think” you can achieve in your head will come into clash with reality once you start the action. You may think your crypto will reach mars even, great. You might think your start-up is going to change the world, great. My response to all of you is, “ NO. IT WILL NOT.”
By no means I am cynical of the attempt. I am not saying, “Oh, you will fail. So don’t even bother trying it.”.
My attempt is this, “Try it, But do not die in the process. Create options and use leverage.”. I am more into the optimistic side. You can do it, But not the way you imagine.
Who are you?
When I hold meetings with my partners, I ask them a basic question, Who are you? Their response is, “What do you mean?”. Although I could dive deeper into this question for the business’s sake I have reframed this question into, “How do you operate? How do you work on a project?” This question allows me to frame what kind of person am I dealing with? Is he a hands-on guy or a hands-off? does he work well with instructions or creativity, does he like management or venture?
My questions are intended to clarify each other's expectations from this exchange. To put it simply, “What is your expectation? and What can you deliver?”
I will not move the meeting an inch until the previous problem is paired with a solution step.
What are your investment assets?
So say it is my Index fund, saving account, an insurance policy, a house, a business, crypto, and so on. Great. And there is nothing wrong with this answer, it is absolutely correct. I encourage my companion to broaden the definition of investment assets.
The skillsets you have, the people you surround yourself with, and the leisure time are your other kind of assets. The dividends are invisible but worth their weight in GOLD.
Your skillsets tell me what can I rely on. You may lose money, but what skills do you have to create that wealth, again.
The people around you will be your source of misery and happiness. I do not like sad, grumpy people and I will stay far away from them. You can identify them, all they talk about is the have nots. We tend to resound the personalities we surround ourselves with, so keep away from miserable people.
You must absolutely judge a person.
I do not invest in broke people. I trust a person’s greed more than his selflessness. The thing that my early-stage venture has taught me is, “ not engage with broke and cynics, one day you will turn into them.”
The way a person dresses, shakes hands, talks during a conversation, the way they walk, laugh, and engage all signal many things. The question is are you looking?
Absolutely, judge a book by its cover. If the author did not spend time and attention to catch the reader’s attention, he is certainly not smart.
Final word.
You will die. Do you really want this?
You are your biggest and the only investment asset. Are you compounding it?
My competence lies in creating options in life.
