Month: March 2022

Gandhi said, “nobody can hurt me without my permission.” He was conveying that we receive stimulus: words, smells, sights, et cetera, with limited ability to control what happens around us. What he was emphasizing in this aphorism is that we fully control what happens in our internal space.

There are myriad things that can boil the blood or stir the pot. There are endless injustices that can consume our state of mind. But we actually decide which ones ripple the internal pond of stillness that is ours to maintain.

If a 4-year-old tells you that you’re stupid, your cognitive apparatus understands that this child doesn’t comprehend what stupid is, and that it’s more likely the child is trying to be playful and start some wrestling. If a mad person on the subway tells you that you’re stupid, your cognitive apparatus similarly injects a logic that prevents this comment from seeming valid to you. What if your boss tells you that you’re stupid? What if it’s your partner?

We give more weight to the opinions of those we cannot reject out of hand. We intellectualize their opinion for their merit, and emotionalize their comments for their intent to harm, embarrass, or achieve some hurtful aim. What has that comment, from the child or the adult, really done? Has it altered reality? Has it dealt a setback?

Humans seem to be highly susceptible to the opinions of others, and as such experience much distress when one’s self impression is at stake. Moreso when it’s a publicly expressed opinion and one’s reputation is similarly challenged.

Will Smith assaulted Chris Rock upon hearing a joke about WS’s wife’s baldness, which happens to be factual. He was upset not that his wife’s baldness was revealed, as this was announced publicly in 2018, he was upset that CR called her GI Jane in a public forum, ostensibly solidifying her stature as being a bald woman.

This line would be part of a celebrity roast, which quite profoundly, is where people purposely subject themselves to public ridicule of this kind. People would laugh and congratulate each other for such a witticism, even though this one wasn’t overly clever.

WS obviously has a weakness in his emotional fortitude that permeates his intellectual being, resulting in a absurd and overblown response that for many would result in incarceration. He is obviously being human.

If this comment was delivered by a child, a mad person, a family member, or during a celebrity roast, where these comments are deemed more acceptable and internalized differently, there is no resultant poor response. But there is no forum where comments like this change reality and cause real harm. Someone added lightness to a fact. A bald man doesn’t like be to noticed as bald, but it doesn’t change the fact that one of his characteristics is a bald head, and coming to grips with that prevents any silliness, as was witnessed.

Coming back to Gandhi, your internal pond is entirely yours, and only you can toss in a pebble that makes it ripple. We have trusted confidantes who help us to understand ourselves and the world, but even they are not given pebbles to toss into our ponds.

When something seems upsetting, it’s perfectly natural to feel upset, and it is also natural to want to respond. Do not allow your internal pond to be anything but still and placid, and do not respond to upsetting things using your upset self. Be the captain of your vessel and before reacting or responding to anything, first ask yourself, “what is the outcome I want to achieve”, and let that guide your response.

There’s a fair amount of buzz around early retirement and how to save 70% of your after-tax income so you can retire in your 40s or whatever. It’s very life-sapping to be beholden to an employer and give up life energy when you don’t want to, so let’s talk about how to become financially independent (FI). This ain’t gonna be like the other articles.

1. You are part of a system that normalizes a lifetime comprised of work readiness (school from ages 4 onward), and then work from ages ~18-67, whereupon much of your mobility and health has decreased dramatically. The money you earn during this time is cumulatively taxed more than 50%, and you pay mountains of interest expenses for your mortgage, credit cards, line of credit, car loans, etc. You work throughout your life and sacrifice experiences of all kinds for the vast majority of your time; you struggle to spend time with family and friends and use stimulants like caffeine to deal with your constant exhaustion. You can judge this however you want, but step 1 of financial freedom, for me, recognizes the perversity of and disgust for this system, and then utter refusal to participate any more than necessary. This is your intellectual and emotional motivation.

2. The reason you work so hard is because you want ‘the finer things.’ A ‘good life’. You want to achieve the signs of success, like status and recognition. You want stuff, and you want that stuff decorated nicely and glistening. Our egos compel us to keep wanting incessantly, only because they want what’s best for us. But all of this stuff, including the reputation and status is worthless and hollow. You must dispel the belief that spending money makes your life better, because FI is only possible when money is not your means of enjoying life, money is an enabler for experiences, not things. When you agree with this, you have spiritual motivation.

3. Next you need education. You need to read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. This brilliant book teaches you what smart people know about earning and using money. It teaches you that you don’t work for money, it works for you. It also teaches you how to invent income, where most invented income is passive and money just appears in your bank account. This requires some creativity and discipline, but the opportunities have never been better.

Then you need to read the 4-Hour Workweek. This teaches you how to leverage international resources to achieve your ideas and reduce your costs without you working for money. Let someone else do it for $4/hour or utilize the sophisticated automated options that exist.

4. Now you’ve got money coming in and you need to have that money earn money, so you learn how to invest and how to minimize taxes. If you can’t, you can hire someone good (make sure they are actually good) or use funds and services catered to the unsophisticated.

5. After this your only job is to not freak out or do something stupid. Don’t acquire a liability, don’t invest in a get-rich-quick scheme, don’t act like a big shot and buy expensive cars or houses. Rich people keep money and spend very little on anything but experiences, education, and health. People without money always attempt to prove how much they have by spending whatever credit are given – they have nothing. Simply don’t be stupid. You don’t need to live like a pauper and live painfully, you just need to create other forms of income. Write a book, make how-to youTube videos, make charcuterie boards or dollhouses, create a side hustle of your choosing.

As an “investor” or “business owner” rather than an employee, you will pay the least taxes, have the most time, enjoy the most choice and mobility, and feel a sense of freedom that feels better than 100 homes, 50 luxury cars, endless jewellery, and whatever else you think comprises ‘the good life.’ Like they say no food tastes better than being thin and healthy…no purchase feels better than being FI.

The best things in life are free; possessions own you. So if you can, traverse the steps above and be free. Then thank me when you’re on FIRE.