Cease the Panic

Relaxation is deeper than “not doing anything”. The deepest of relaxation is far from passive. In Wu Wei (Action through Inaction), they call this De/德 (pronounced “duh”) which is also translated as "inherent character/inner power/integrity/moral character/virtue/morality”. 

There is very much engagement with the world, but you are exuding a presence that seems to “get it”. A detachment from the noise. A true mastery that sees the world as full of beauty even in the face of challenges, and still draws energy from the wonderful opportunity that we have got to engage and be a part of it in all its bitter, cruel, joyous, invigorating, hammering, claustrophobic, harassing, confusing glory. 

The depth of relaxation starts to emanate from you when you are able to cease panicking about the mystery. When you stop feeling like you are being played by malicious chaos. I immediately think of Dr Sooliman of “Gift of the Givers” whose wife tells him he is an alien because of his ability to detach. He has been facing the world’s disasters head-on for three decades, and yet it is hard not to feel more relaxed in his infectious presence.

"The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals"

Charles Darwin (1872)

It's Okay

Much of the anxiety I have experienced comes from expectations. Stated and unstated. Known and unknown. Managing both the conversations in my head, and the clash of projections when I am bumping into other complicated conversations in other heads and hearts. 

I don’t completely buy the Stoic approach of having periods of nothing and realising you are completely okay. If *nothing* is acceptable, then you know you can handle *anything*, because having nothing, can't destroy you. I like building. I am worried about unintended consequences, and loss from pressing the reset button. 

For me, the idea of constantly being negative, so that when horrible things happen you were expecting them, is dangerous. For the simple reason that being constantly negative is unpleasant. 

Managing expectations has to be a tool, rather than a purpose. I do think you need to be aware of what your default setting is. My preference is to be optimistic. I think if you can get through the noise, the confidence you need isn’t knowing what will happen, but feeling like you can handle what life throws at you. 

I want to find joy in life. I want to enjoy the process. Manage expectations, but not be constantly bitter and twisted. 

In Wu Wei philosophy, they talk about De (德) (like 'Duh' in American) which is something like charisma and confidence... but deeper soaked and with less to prove. 

Less that waves of anxiety are not there, but exuding the sense that, fundamentally you are alright. Fundamentally, you will be okay.

Spinning Wheel - Right and Wrong whirl around like spokes

Just Because it is Green

Pure equality would restrict us. Like the monoculture of a Palm Oil Plantation versus the rich biodiversity of a Rain Forest. One may be green, but the life disappears. Daniel Dennett’s book “Darwin's Dangerous Idea” reframed the concept of evolution in a way that I had not understood before. I always had the sense that it was important to have some driving sense of progress. We want some knowledge of how things are going to play out. That is why we love this idea of cause and effect. Then we can control what is going to happen. Letting go of that control is very difficult. That is Darwin's dangerous idea. It talks about the Red Queen, in Alice in Wonderland. Where she has to run as fast as she can just to stay in the same place. We have to step back and start looking at our idea of progress.

A Palm Oil Plantation in Malaysia

See then Nudge

Acceptance is difficult. I have always been a bit of a “try hard”. That was what we called people at school who were constantly doing something. The implication being that you are trying to impress the teachers. Like the idea of a “Teachers Pet” or “Brown Nosing”.

The world is structured towards encouraging activity, and the conspicuous things that we can see. We look for cause and effect, so that we can control our environment. The assumption being that we are the reason for things, and knowledge will allow us to act with dependable outcomes. By acting, we further our goals. Which seems logical, and Cartesian. We think, therefore we are. Think then do. Try.

Through Josh Waitzkin, and his book “The Art of Learning”, I was introduced to the idea of Wu Wei, which means action through inaction. You start by seeing things as they are, rather than living in our minds. Rather than living in how we want things to be. See then nudge. A less anxious way of engaging with the chaos.

Home for Bees

Two concepts I am progressively incorporating into my investment philosophy are Rewilding and Biodiversity. My Father-in-Law is a Natural Beekeeper and I like the idea of Natural Stockkeeping. Recognising that it is the bee that does the work. Where the goal is to do as little as possible, but not less. You have a roll, but it is more custodial. As we are grappling with a world that consumes too much already, yet is still struggling with mass poverty and hand-to-mouth living, we have to come up with new stories. In “Stubborn Attachments”, Tyler Cowen talks about twisting the maths of finance to not excessively discount (ignore) the future, and to focus on Maximum Sustainable Growth. David Attenborough reminds us of the seemingly obvious observation that something is only sustainable if you can do it forever. One measure of growth that is dangerous is activity. Doing more is not always doing better. Controlling more is not always doing better. Sometimes we can do better, without doing, and releasing the potential outcomes.

Actions have Consequences

Karma Yoga is one of the four paths to stilling the waves of the mind. Karma means action. The other three are Bhakti (love/devotion), Raja (meditation), and Jnana (knowledge or intellect). Part of reducing anxiety is understanding how you are wired, and plotting a very bespoke practice that works for you. My understanding of Karma is that actions have consequences. Even though the world is random, complicated, and ambiguous… even the yogis believe in some cause and effect. The waves knocking us around are a function of both current free will and past human action that set the circumstances. Sanchita Karma are the accumulated actions of the past. History matters. Paarabdha Karma are the past actions you unpack in your life. You can change the circumstances. Kiryamana Karma are consequences of your current actions you experience immediately. Each day matters. Aagami Karma are the seeds you plant that affect you or others later. Our actions impact others. Like Fundamental Investing, the idea of Karma is that what we do matters. We have free will. It is just hard, and contextual. We have to do the deep work.

Continual Process of Unpacking

Wildly Constrained

“Rewilding is about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, repair damaged ecosystems and restore degraded landscapes. Through rewilding, wildlife’s natural rhythms create wilder, more biodiverse habits” (rewildingeurope.com). Rewilding is David Attenborough’s call to arms in his witness statement, “A Life on our Planet”. He points out that “a species can only thrive when everything around it thrives too.” I don’t buy into Abundance culture. I can’t, having been born in Apartheid South Africa. The world has constraints. We have to solve the dual problem that we are consuming too much, and yet masses of us are living in poverty. In “Stubborn Attachments”, Tyler Cowen talks about Maximum Sustainable Growth. We need to grow our way out of poverty, while rethinking growth. Rethinking consumption. Rethinking how we impose ourselves on the world. And getting wilder.

Bound Slave

Although building Engines is an incredibly empowering financial goal, I prefer to think like Michelangelo. The Italian sculptor would create his pieces from a block of marble, by removing rather than by adding. The final piece was trapped within the block awaiting release. One of the challenges we face given almost everyone lives hand-to-mouth (even those with big hands and big mouths) is that we end up manufacturing discontent. Money is often made by convincing someone that there is a gap between their reality and something better. That there is something wrong with their life, and by implication them, now. That the only way to achieve the success, recognition, and validation they seek is through more. I believe, and not in a fluffy that’s-so-cute way, that we can learn more from people with less. That what is often required to still the financial waves is seeing that stillness is already within your grasp. Internalising behaviours. Taking a breath. Learning to pause. Seeing versus striving. Gently chipping away at the obstacles.

"Bound Slave - known as Atlas"

Michelangelo (1530-1534)

Endless Knot

Actions have consequences. Some are intended. Intention and incentives matter, but the world is so complicated (and getting more so) that we don’t, and can’t, have a strong grasp on cause and effect. The stories we layer on the world are glitchy and built on our own personal faulty understanding. Then thrown into the mix is a double helping of randomness that tends to swamp our efforts. The only thing you can truly plan for is that things won’t go according to plan. Build in a feedback loop. A little lesson from each step. Realise that each step taken changes the world. The lesson you learnt applies to a world that no longer exist. And is only relevant to one of the ways that world could have played out. Complicated. Ambiguous. Random. In a way that is empowering. No one understands. Don’t expect yourself to. The main goal is to create an environment that gives you time. Then the ability to adapt, adjust, and accommodate. Then create. Do something meaningful to you. Build. Learn. Rebuild. Every day.

At the Centre

My income comes primarily from my Engine. I spend very little time managing that Engine. My investment philosophy has become gradually more aligned with that of my Yoga teachers and Natural Bee Keeping Father-in-Law. When students love their yoga classes, they can get obsessed with the teacher. It’s not the teacher, it’s the yoga. In the same way my Father-in-Law sees his primary role as getting out of the way of the bees. It’s the bees doing the work. The key advantage I have with investing is I don’t manage other people’s money. This means I don’t have to do any of the fake work required by our activity obsession. I can let the management and staff at the companies do the work. I can get out of their way. It’s not about me. When a problem needs solving, our intuition is to do something more. I believe the real solution lies in the opposite direction. Accepting that problems will arise. That noise is learning. Building structures that can adapt, adjust, and accommodate. That can listen to change. That can rest, heal, rise, and shed in their own natural rhythms. Learning to hold space rather than fill it with our determination to be in control. Our determination to do something where we are the centre of the story.

Think Smaller

Diversification is a recognition that there is both a good chance you are wrong about any decision, and a good chance that there is so much noise that whether or not you were right will never truly be known. There are Economies of Scale and Diseconomies of Scale. There are costs and benefits of Globalisation, and of Localisation. Advantages to detachment and broad framing, and details that are missed without focus and true commitment. No decision comes without unintended consequences. Micro-ambition is the idea of having small, achievable goals, that add up. Wu-Wei is the idea of action through inaction. That the true starting point is acceptance, and understanding, of how things are rather than how we want them to be. Nudging from there. Rather than arguing with people about finding one solution, in a theoretical imagined world, maybe we should start by finding the 5% of what they care about that we can support. Finding 5% of a potential solution ourselves, while allowing for a 95% chance that other people’s reality is not the same as ours. Creativity within substantial buffers, and with a foundation in the way the world is now.

Natural Stock Keeping

Investing is unavoidably philosophical. It is challenging to build up evidence when there is so much noise. A choice between too short for the noise to wash out, and so long that the evidence is stale. A single decision, whether right or wrong, large or small, is almost irrelevant in the very long run. It is the process that matters. “Time in the market, rather than timing the market”. An individual career (15-40 years) barely lets proper compounding kick in. Real wealth is created across generations, within communities, through institution building. My philosophy has shifted towards that of my father-in-law’s approach to Natural Bee Keeping, and a friend working on re-Wilding in farming. Focusing on Endurance and Resilience. Letting the Bees, Nature and Businesses do the work. A single decision that ends things does matter, so the focus needs to be on Custodianship. Keep breathing. Keep moving. Keep creating. Sustainable Growth is the pumping heart that keeps the cycle of creation and reinvestment going.

Thinking in Contrasts

We think in contrasts. Things become what they are in our minds because of how they are different. That is where Benchmarks become useful. They allow a form of score-keeping because you have an idea of the alternative if what you are offering is not available. Like sugar, fat, and salt, they are also dangerous. The goal isn’t to beat the Benchmark. The goal is the goal. In “The Art of Learning”, Josh Waitzkin discusses the principle of “numbers to leave numbers, form to leave form”. The goal isn’t the numbers. The goal isn’t the form. They are simply learning tools in the way a Benchmark is. What matters in investing is (1) being a good custodian of the Capital, (2) the creativity that that Capital empowers. Alpha is the term for how much an investor has “beaten their Benchmark”. You can’t eat Alpha. Eventually you let go of the contrasts and engage directly with what it is that matters.

"The Garden of Earthly Delights"

Hieronymous Bosch

Micro-Ambition

Micro-ambition may feel like giving up. There is less wow involved. It can appear almost like inaction. Micro-ambition is action through inaction. It starts with a complete acceptance of things as they are. With curiosity, patience, listening, questioning and engagement. Things do change all the time. Micro-ambition means you are deeply involved in that change because things change from where they are. Add time and allow the small to compound. Bill Gates says, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years”. Work on your endurance so you improve the chance of having more time to have an impact. Work on your resilience so that things that matter don’t get knocked off track by things that don’t. Then add a little creativity to every day… every day.

Change a little

Small Steps

Three concepts I have been spending a lot of time mulling over are Wu-Wei, micro-ambition, and successive approximation. A vision of where you want to go isn’t particularly helpful if you can’t see a path to getting there. It just creates a continuous cycle of disappointment and discontent. Wu-Wei is action through inaction. It starts by really seeing things as they are. Micro-ambition reduces the steps we take to very small, very achievable, nudges. Small enough to undo once we understand the unintended consequences if we have a strong feedback loop. Successive approximation allows a degree of pragmatism as we move towards where we want to be, while accepting where we are. Change must recognise that the future will not be without its own challenges. Small change builds in resilience so that we can work creatively with the tools we have, without breaking. 

Change is Loopy

Let's See

I have always been skeptical of Epiphanies. Less so when they are events in our past we reflect on. When we realise that years ago, a breakthrough experience changed the path of our lives. I do believe in the Butterfly Effect. That everything we do matters, and nudges the world onto a different path. We just have very little idea of the unintended consequences of our actions. The pumping heart of valuable change is sustainability. Not whether you can do something today, but whether you can do something every day. Whether you can still do it tomorrow. Whether you can still do it in ten years. Change compounds through repetition. Through practice. Through deep soaking. Till the change becomes a part of who we are. The correct response to most Ephiphanies is, "Let's See".

Ephiphany

Success

As the world becomes connected, our stories become more detached from our daily realities. When you in a small pond, pretty average people get to lap up the glory of being the biggest fish. Then that protection falls away. As Global and Local mix, the benchmark for being the "news maker" gets higher. The "good life" pushes to the edges. Unless we let go of comparison. If we celebrate good enough. If we celebrate mediocrity. If we celebrate the things that are on the menu. There is nothing wrong with being gloriously average. Spectacularly unspectacular. Unless the stories we consume make us think our lives aren't good enough. We can raise the profile of simple. Of affordable. Of plentiful. Of thinking inside the box. Rare and unique raise the price of things... not the value. Price is just a clearing mechanism. A measure of how much there is of something. That is a very bad measure of value. Success needn't be about setting yourself apart.

Big Fish

Peddling Discontent

Our imaginations are both our most powerful tool, and our greatest enemy. We can imagine change. Very specific change. We aren't capable of the level of complexity required to imagine what that would actually be like, and how we would actually get there. We struggle enough with understanding now. Our bluntest motivational tool is imagining where we want to be, that isn't here. What we want to have, that isn't here. I believe it starts here. Massively reducing our ambitions. Accepting where we are, then taking really small achievable steps, every day. Park the rage. Park the spinning ambition. Use your senses to really understand your small corner of the world, and be connected to those around you. Breathe. Ask. Listen. Give. Celebrate the average. Celebrate the things you have. Chip away at the obvious obstacles. No one else understands what is going on either. We are all trying to make sense and meaning of it all.

Use the Tools you have

Work on the problems you can solve

Siddhis

Siddhi are seemingly magical abilities attained through Sadhana. Sadhana translates as "a means of accomplishing something". In Yoga, it is used to describe Spiritual Exercise. Basically, your practice. Happiness in the form of Satchidananda (truth, knowledge, bliss) as a verb rather than a state. Something you do. Flow is a term in Positive Psychology used to describe when we are fully engaged in something. Not too anxious. Not too bored. A slight stretch of our skills by the challenges we face. I believe Siddhis are the long-term reward for daily practice. For regular Flow. Flow that turns into magic. Our sub-conscious abilities can be magical. To the point we amaze ourselves as we do things we can only do by "letting go". To let go, you sometimes need to start by choosing constraints. Committing to a practice that doesn't come naturally. Then actually do happiness. Every day. Do it. Till it soaks deep.

Finding Flow

Two Ways

Three important concepts when thinking about living a fulfilling life are Commitment, Openness, and Results. There are two ways of looking at each of these ideas that can seem, or be, in opposition.

Commitment can mean showing up with a level of intensity. Being fully present, and willing to bring everything you can offer, every time. It can mean a level of quality. 

Instead of showing up "this time", it can also mean showing up "every time". Less intense, more long term. "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed." Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway didn't wait for inspiration. He didn't wait for quality. He built habits that created the environment in which quality is born. He did the work.

Openness can mean a willingness to try everything. It can mean letting go of reservations and leaning into experiences and ideas. A level of flexibility.

Instead of always being prepared to change paths, it can also mean listening while staying on a chosen path. The grass is always greener, and real growth takes time, patience, and building. You can recognise the challenges on your path, and work on them. Every path has challenges. Starting again has costs. Openness doesn't require action as proof.

Results are the way we count and identify growth. Growth is our scorecard. We need to identify a place we were, a place we are, and a place we are going to. Something with words and numbers we can articulate to paint a picture of change. Results are the cornerstone of plans and goals.

Not everything that counts can be counted. Some work is internal. Alexander the Great was a brilliant strategist, and military genius. A man of results. As his Empire expanded East towards India, he came across famous meditating Yogis. Alexander's fame was for conquering the world. The Yogi's success was "conquering the desire to conquer the world". My friend Francois calls this the "Paradise Principle" - where even the staunchest non-believers live a postponed life for some imagined future. Tolerating the present for a future pay-off when our lives will commence. Not all results are about change. Some are about acceptance and awareness.

Commitment, Openness, and Results take different forms. Choose those forms consciously.

Are you Empire building?