I bloody hate ‘Lifestyle Design’ (1). Thankfully, I’m not the only one (2).
It’s so glib. Why in God’s name do I need someone to tell me routes to follow my dreams but blatantly ignore that most goals are achieved through hard graft and determination.
Yeah, so Tim Ferriss made a killing off the 4-hour work week, but that doesn’t mean you will (3). He grafted for it.
People seem to focus on the outcome, and that self-belief alone will get them there. Along with an online course and a self-published book…
Sod off.
The people who do consistently well have a combination of self-belief (A), confidence to achieve it (B), intelligence (C) and grit (D).
It’s all well and good singing your self-belief and confidence, but if you haven’t got the smarts to see the end-goal, and the kajones to graft it out, you’re just another dreamer.
Plenty of (A) and (B) on Instagram, selling a life/ie.
Plenty of billionaires grinding out (C) and (D), quietly supported by (A) and (B).
Those making noise about all four gather admirers, those who wish they could be the same. Steve Jobs, Branson, Jay-Z, Trump. Maybe not the C or D for Trump.
Which is where Elon Musk is interesting.
He’s on Instagram, selling the life, building a cult following, leveraging that to support his business. He’s not just a man with a long-term goal, he’s a master of public performance. He courts intrigue and amusement, despair from the stuffy stiff suits. He’s a man of the people… he projects.
He also seems to have spent too long getting high on his own Instagram feed. A good marker for Tesla’s stock price would be Musk’s order to his dealer.
Self-belief is great, but at some point it conflicts with reality (4). Don’t get me started on when he tried to tell Anaesthetists how to run a ventilator on a COVID-19 patient.
Image Credit: Reddit
But lets not forget he got where he is by working 100-hour weeks. As someone living that life, I can tell you they’re pretty shit. Musk is selling his homes (his instagram life?) to achieve his Mars dream (5).
Your life is the product of your decisions. Those decisions and choices determine the direction of your life. Graft then takes you there.
Applying a formula
Turn to our old friend Newton (6).
F=MA
Force = (mass) x (acceleration)
If you want your life to go a certain way, you need to exert your will to accelerate it in that direction. Your existing lifestyle ties is the inertia, your mass.
Sometimes one big push will be enough to produce force in the required direction. One burst of acceleration.
Most of the time slow sustained acceleration will achieve the force in the direction required.
Steady graft.
Not a Youtube tutorial and a £1500(+) drop-shipping course.
Have a great week,
The Shrink
…
COVID – I advise the use of the BMJs information hub for evidence-based updates:
- Data out of France shows Hydroxychloroquine is not effective in severe COVID-19 (7)
- While slightly less robust data from China shows it’s not effective in mild disease either, and taking it is associated with more adverse effects (8)
- All cause mortality data from a town in Italy shows death rose from a baseline 10-21/1000 person years to 150/1000 person years during the COVID-19 peak (9)
News – I have been deliberately avoiding news outlets recently. I don’t have the headspace for the hysteria:
- The BBC is making attempts to tot up the COVID-19 cost (10)
- £750m has been wagered on a falling sterling (11)
- Germany is now in recession (12)
- Savings rates are falling everywhere, including market leader Marcus (13)
- Mortgage rates are also falling, and more products are being added, but the banks aren’t dropping as much as the base rate (14)
- Pretty much no-one bought cars in April, except Tesla owners (15)
- With very little electricity demand and plenty of sun, April was fantastic for renewable energy (16)
Opinion:
- Nils Pratley in the Guardian on Trump, China and Moss Bros (17)
- Russell Lynch in the Telegraph reckons we’re headed for 80s-level unemployment (18) – seems a fairly safe bet
- I vaguely follow these ‘My Money’ items on BBC. This one from a freelance photographer is ok. Avoid today’s (19)
- AWOCS proves no success lasts for ever (20)
- UKVI has some fantastic tips for investing right now (21)
- ERN asks are we back in a bull market, by what definition, and where does it go (22)
- MedFI returns to the NHS Pension to look at the impact of tax allowances (23)
- The eagle is building a new greenhouse (24)
- While GFF thinks about paying off his mortgage (25)
- South Wales FI reflects on progress so far (26)
- Over at a simple life with Sam there’s their April review (27)
- Average Money Man covers some reasons investing isn’t gambling (28)
- TEA is playing the predictions game for the aftermath of COVID-19 (29) – Some, but not all I agree with
- The FIRE Starter is having a look at his 2020 budget, plus a big announcement (30)
- Getting Minted lays down their approach for the short-term (31)
- IT Investor runs the rule over Herald Investment Trust (32)
- Left FI has a bit of a general update (33)
- TI asks ‘would you lend money to yourself?’ (34)
- Updates an old post on the importance of getting out of debt to make money (35)
- While TA looks at the market swings (36)
- Path to life 2 takes a philosophical walk through costings for FI (37)
- David at I Retired Young has some reflections on the small pleasures of FI life (38)
- And Indeedably gets pwned (39)
References:
- https://fizzle.co/sparkline/what-is-lifestyle-design
- https://medium.com/swlh/lifestyle-design-please-shut-the-fuck-up-a16dc38cd306
- http://www.timferriss.com/#
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52627744
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52530316
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_laws_of_motion
- https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1844
- https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1849
- https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1835
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52663523
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/05/16/investors-bet-750m-plunge-sterling/
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52673727
- https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-8313027/Saving-deals-plunge-Goldman-Sachs-cuts-rate-Marcus-account.html
- https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-8307873/Mortgage-rates-lowest-level-fail-pace-BoE-cut.html
- https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/insight-four-lessons-aprils-car-sales
- https://www.ft.com/content/78108d3a-d046-4916-858a-a5df090ce8c3
- https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2020/may/14/investors-can-return-to-obsessing-over-relations-between-us-and-china
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/05/16/britain-heading-eighties-style-unemployment-crisis/
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52578720
- https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2020/05/nothing-fails-quite-like-success-in-the-stock-market/
- https://www.ukvalueinvestor.com/2020/05/tips-for-investing-in-a-coronavirus-world.html/
- https://earlyretirementnow.com/2020/05/11/another-bull-market/
- https://medfiblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/16/the-nhs-pension-allowances/
- http://eaglesfeartoperch.blogspot.com/2020/05/building-new-greenhouse-part-3-six-on.html
- https://gentlemansfamilyfinances.wordpress.com/2020/05/15/the-merits-of-a-paid-off-mortgage/
- https://southwalesfi.co.uk/2020/05/15/my-progress-to-f-i-r-e/
- https://asimplelifewithsam.com/2020/05/10/april-review/
- https://averagemoneymanagement.wordpress.com/2020/05/15/5-reasons-why-investing-isnt-gambling/
- https://theescapeartist.me/2020/05/15/predictions-are-a-mugs-game-but-lets-play-anyway/
- http://thefirestarter.co.uk/2020-re-budget-lockdown-impulse-purchases-exciting-announcement/
- https://gettingminted.com/short-term-thinking/
- https://www.itinvestor.co.uk/2020/05/herald-investment-trust-home-grown-tech/
- https://leftfi.home.blog/2020/05/17/personal-finance-update/
- https://monevator.com/would-you-lend-yourself-money-in-an-emergency/
- https://monevator.com/get-out-of-debt-to-unleash-your-inner-money-maker/
- https://monevator.com/the-stock-market-is-wilder-than-you-think/
- https://pathtolife2.com/2020/05/16/do-you-need-as-much-as-you-think-to-be-financially-independent/
- https://www.iretiredyoung.net/post/early-retirement-small-things-make-a-difference
- https://indeedably.com/doppelganger/
The FIRE Shrink 
Was thinking this too about Musk – a man turned on the the pure aphrodisia of his own scent.
I know people invested in tesla for the main reason that musk is superhuman and a genius and infallible.
I don’t agree but the tesla share price points at me being wrong.
Nice post by the way – it chimes with my belief that yy can’t passively get rich and the fore attitude of slogging it out for 20 years is fine but the best way to win snakes and ladders is to jump on the biggest ladder you can find (and.know when to jump to the next if the analogy can stretch that far)
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