Book

The 5 Types of Wealth

Sahil Bloom

Last highlighted July 12, 2026 ← All highlights

Friend: How often do you see your parents? Me: Maybe once a year right now. Friend: And how old are they? Me: Mid-sixties. Friend: Okay, so you’re going to see your parents fifteen more times before they die. (Location 119)
The arrival fallacy is the false assumption that reaching some achievement or goal will create durable feelings of satisfaction and contentment in our lives. We incorrectly assume that we will finally experience the sensation of having arrived when we reach whatever we have propped up as our destination. (Location 170)
The greatest discoveries in life come not from finding the right answers but from asking the right questions. (Location 193)
But reading, I found, can take you only so far—to understand something deeply human, you need to immerse yourself in the human experience. (Location 198)
Close your eyes and imagine your ideal day at eighty years old (or one hundred, in the case of the ninety-year-old!). Vividly imagine it. What are you doing? Who are you with? Where are you? How do you feel? The exercise forces you to begin with the ideal future end in mind—it establishes a personal definition of a successful life that can be used to reverse-engineer the actions in the present to achieve that desired end. (Location 215)
We all want the same thing—and it has very little to do with money. From the young entrepreneur to the old retiree, from the new mother to the empty nester, from the rich attorney to the middle-class teacher, the ideal future end looks remarkably aligned: Time, people, purpose, health. (Location 220)
In a famous articulation often attributed to Peter Drucker, the Austrian-born management guru, “What gets measured gets managed.” The statement implies that the metrics that get measured are the ones we prioritize. In other words, the scoreboard is important because it dictates our actions—how we play the game. (Location 228)
In that moment, I had a profound sensation: I had arrived, but for the first time in my life, there was nothing more that I wanted. This was enough. Never let the quest for more distract you from the beauty of enough. (Location 271)
“Never fear sadness, as it tends to sit right next to love.” An email from a ninety-eight-year-old family friend who had spent his career as a Hollywood writer yielded a personal favorite: “Never raise your voice, except at a ball game.” His eighty-eight-year-old wife, a former soap opera star whom he had met on set and fallen desperately in love with, added, “Find dear friends and celebrate them, for the richness of being human is in feeling loved and loving back.” (Location 296)
“Treat your body like a house you have to live in for another seventy years.” He added, “If something has a minor issue, repair it. Minor issues become major issues over time. This applies equally to love, friendships, health, and home.” (Location 300)
“Tell your partner you love them every night before falling asleep; someday you’ll find the other side of the bed empty and you’ll wish you could tell them.” (Location 303)
Always remind yourself that your track record for making it through your bad days is perfect”); (Location 307)
There was certainly immense value in what I heard but perhaps even more value in what I didn’t. In all the advice, insight, and wisdom shared, there was a notable omission. No one mentioned money. (Location 312)
Your wealthy life may be enabled by money, but in the end, it will be defined by everything else. (Location 350)
The term Pyrrhic victory now refers to the victory won at such a steep cost to the victor that it feels like a defeat. The victory damages the victor beyond repair. (Location 375)
Occam’s razor, named for fourteenth-century philosopher William of Occam, states that when weighing explanations for something, the one with the fewest necessary assumptions is generally the correct one. The simplest explanation is the best one. Simple is beautiful. (Location 546)
Hanlon’s razor, a tongue-in-cheek adage stating that one must never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. It’s best applied to politics, relationships, and general online discourse. (Location 548)
Hitchens’s razor, created by and named for the late author Christopher Hitchens, states that anything asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence. A useful rule that will save you from wasting time on pointless arguments. (Location 549)
To establish anti-goals, look at your goals, but rather than think about this great outcome, invert the problem—flip it on its head: What are the worst possible outcomes that could result from your pursuit of these goals? What could lead to those worst possible outcomes occurring? What would you view as a Pyrrhic victory—winning the battle but losing the war? (Location 694)
So what do the young soccer star and the old investing whiz have in common? Both focus their energy on a few key moments and ignore the rest. When they’re on, they deploy their energy in a concentrated, glorious burst. When they’re off, they wait, conserve, and position themselves slowly and strategically into locations that will be advantageous in future moments. (Location 731)
“Despite not being at the end of your life, you may very well be nearing the end of your time with some of the most important people in your life.”[2] (Location 919)
Writer and philosopher Sam Harris once said, “No matter how many times you do something, there will come a day when you do it for the last time.”[3] (Location 921)
There will be a last time your kids want you to read them a bedtime story, a last time you’ll go for a long walk with your sibling, a last time you’ll hug your parents at a family gathering, a last time your friend will call you for support. (Location 923)
to the three core pillars of Time Wealth: Awareness: An understanding of the finite, impermanent nature of time Attention: The ability to direct your attention and focus on the things that matter (and ignore the rest) Control: The freedom to own your time and choose exactly how to spend it (Location 1118)
Awareness: Time as Your Most Precious Asset Awareness is characterized by the understanding and appreciation of the impermanent, precious nature of time—of its tangible value and importance as an asset. (Location 1129)
“It struck me how they all had this hidden assumption that if they could just make a billion dollars, then they’d be happy. I used to have that assumption too. But then I had the realization that if you went to Warren Buffett and asked him whether he’d trade a billion dollars for a billion seconds, he’d take the time over the money.” (Location 1138)
Would you trade lives with Warren Buffett? He has a net worth of approximately $130 billion, access to anyone in the world, and spends his days reading and learning. That all sounds great, and yet I’m willing to bet that very few of you would agree to trade lives with him. Why not? Warren Buffett is, at the time of this writing, ninety-four years old. It doesn’t matter how much money, fame, or access he has—you probably wouldn’t agree to trade your remaining time for his. On the flip side, as Graham Duncan pointed out, there is a decent chance that Buffett would trade all of his billions of dollars to have your time. (Location 1141)
the paradox of time: You are subconsciously aware of the immense value of your time, but you regularly and consciously take actions that disregard that value. (Location 1146)
The young student was Isaac Newton, and 1666 became known as his annus mirabilis (Latin for “miracle year”), a nod to the breadth and depth of his output over such a short period. In a single year, he had produced the output of several incredible lifetimes. Attention (Location 1164)
Focused, concentrated attention is significantly more powerful than scattered, unconcentrated attention. (Location 1176)
In a 2021 paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that reviewed two large-scale datasets of 35,375 Americans, Dr. Holmes and her coauthors found that the relationship between free time and happiness follows an inverse U-shape—meaning that both too little and too much free time lead to unhappiness. The lesson: Each of us has a Goldilocks level of free time, the level that is just right. (Location 1201)
As his military and civilian accomplishments indicate, Eisenhower was a highly effective leader and executive. He became known for his prolific, almost superhuman productivity. His secret: He never confused the urgent with the important, as evidenced by a quote that is widely attributed to him: “What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.” (Location 1358)
Marc Andreessen, the successful technology founder and investor, is a proponent of this simple strategy. In an essay on his personal productivity, he wrote, “Each night before you go to bed, prepare a 3 x 5 index card with a short list of 3 to 5 things that you will do the next day.”[11] (Location 1391)
The fanciest productivity systems often require a lot of thinking and maintenance. If you’re spending time thinking about your productivity system, you’re focusing on movement over progress. The simple index card strategy harnesses the core principles of focus and momentum to allow you to get more of what matters done. Always remember: Simple is beautiful. (Location 1401)
Parkinson’s law is the idea that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. It was formulated by British author Cyril Northcote Parkinson in a satirical essay in The Economist in 1955. While his piece was intended as a humorous critique of bureaucratic inefficiency, the principle is applicable to a range of situations, from personal time management to large-scale projects. (Location 1407)
When you establish long fixed hours to do your work, you find unproductive ways to fill it—you work longer but get less done. The better way, to paraphrase entrepreneur Naval Ravikant, is to work like a lion: Sprint, rest, repeat. (Location 1430)
Procrastination is defined as the action of postponing or delaying something. Ancient Greek philosophers called it akrasia—acting against your better judgment. You procrastinate when it’s easier to delegate a task to your future self. (Location 1436)
The hardest part is getting started. Give yourself a quick win. Big wins are simply the result of consistent small wins. (Location 1473)
The three steps of the anti-procrastination system: Deconstruction: Deconstruct the big, scary project into small, manageable tasks. Plan and stake creation: Create a project document with specific, time-bound tasks. Create stakes to gamify their completion. Action: A body in motion tends to stay in motion. Create systems that spark initial movement. Engineer small wins (they become big wins over time). (Location 1475)
I created a project document with deadlines and established micro-rewards (usually allowing myself to buy something if I hit each deadline). (Location 1482)
In Newport’s words, “The Deep Work Hypothesis: The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.” (Location 1492)
In Happier Hour, author Cassie Holmes references a phenomenon psychologists refer to as the Yes-Damn Effect. The idea, first proposed by Gal Zauberman of the University of North Carolina and John Lynch of Duke, is that humans systematically overestimate the amount of free time they will have in the future, so they say yes to future things, assuming they will have time for them, but when that future date arrives, they find they’re wrong. In other words, you say, “Yes,” and then the future date arrives, and you say, “Damn!” (Location 1568)
For personal commitments, use the Right Now test: When deciding whether to take something on, ask yourself, Would I do this right now? Functionally, you can think of right now as today or tomorrow. The aim is to eliminate the future time distortions observed by psychologists; by pulling the event into the present, you make a more clear, rational decision. If the answer to Would I do this right now? is no, say no. If the answer is yes, take it on. (Location 1572)
The privilege of knowing and loving her so deeply outpaces every other experience I’ve had. It’s the one thing that matters.” (Location 1749)
Close your eyes and take three deep breaths. Imagine you’re dead. You’re at your funeral. People are walking in, crying, hugging each other. Everyone sits down. Who is sitting in the front row? Imagine their faces. These people—your Front-Row People—are the ones who truly matter. Open your eyes and think about them. (Location 1757)
American anthropologist Margaret Mead was once asked what she considered to be the first sign of civilized human society. The student who asked the question anticipated a response about tools, cave paintings, or other ancient artifacts, but Mead took the question in an interesting direction. She answered that the first sign of human civilization was a healed broken femur. (Location 1792)
But a healed femur indicated that the individual had been cared for, which implied a change from the usual immediate-survival thinking. This, she believed, was the first sign of a civilized society—a willingness to care for one another in times of need. (Location 1799)
Anthropologist Robin Dunbar is most famous for his research-based determination of the number of stable social relationships a single person can maintain (the aptly named Dunbar’s number is 150). He also found that the strongest predictor of brain size across species is the size of the typical social group. (Location 1816)
Dr. Vaillant put it bluntly. “The key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships.”[2] (Location 1843)
The single greatest predictor of physical health at age eighty was relationship satisfaction at age fifty. (Location 1851)
The so-called Great Resignation of 2021, in which the United States experienced an unprecedented labor-market churn, is now being cheekily referred to as the Great Regret; a recent survey showed that about 80 percent of those who hopped from one job to another now regret the move. According to an article in Fortune citing the survey, “The most common reason job-hoppers gave for wanting a return to their former employers was that they missed their old colleagues, with almost a third of respondents saying they missed their former teams.”[10] The loss of familiar, stable relationships outweighed the benefits in pay, geography, or flexibility. (Location 1901)
For ten years, you are your child’s favorite person in the entire world. (Location 1942)
Being present and spending time with those you love is the most important thing in the end. Having the people you love see you work hard on things you care about is a principle they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. (Location 1954)
Always remember: The days are long, but the years are short. (Location 1986)
If you don’t show up for your loved ones during their times of need, they won’t show up for you during yours. (Location 2046)
Depth is built through three primary actions, behaviors, and attitudes: Honesty: Sharing your inner truth and weakness, listening to theirs Support: Sitting in the darkness during their struggle Shared experience: Encountering positive and negative experiences together (Location 2055)
Breadth requires you to try new things, to open yourself up to the world around you. If you give generously with no expectation of return, you will build a new breadth of connection that will create lasting Social Wealth. (Location 2105)
Status is a basic form of social currency—it dictates our interactions with those around us. (Location 2113)
While it may carry something of a negative connotation, status is a very natural (and important!) human phenomenon. In The Status Game, author Will Storr remarked, “Back in the Stone Age, increased status meant greater influence, access to a wider choice of mates and more security and resources for ourselves and our children. It still does today.” In Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior, author Geoffrey Miller noted, “Humans evolved in small social groups in which image and status were all-important, not only for survival, but for attracting mates, impressing friends, and rearing children.” Ridgeway referred to status as a “brilliant social technology,” as it enabled humans to coordinate and organize. (Location 2113)
For our ancient ancestors, status was typically signaled through displays of physical prowess, size, or association with the most attractive mates. In today’s world, where overt demonstrations of physical fortitude are (generally) frowned upon, it’s not altogether surprising that humans choose to signal their relative position in society largely through the acquisition and display of materials. That Rolex, Range Rover, and Gucci bag—the status symbols of the present world—are the modern-day equivalents of our ancestors’ chest pounding. (Location 2125)
Bought status is the improved social positioning garnered through acquired status symbols: The club membership that makes you a part of the scene The expensive car, watch, handbag, or jewelry acquired for the sole purpose of showing others your financial wealth The private-plane flight or boat trip taken more for the Instagram photo than for the utility (Location 2146)
Earned status, however, is the real respect, admiration, and trust received through hard-won treasures: The freedom to choose how to spend your time (and whom to spend it with) The healthy, loving family relationships made possible by years of present energy The purpose-imbued work and mastery within a domain, built through years of effort The sought-after wisdom accumulated through decades of lived experience The adaptable mind capable of navigating stressful encounters shaped through a steady mindfulness practice and thoughtful introspection The strong, fit physique built through hours of movement and disciplined eating The professional promotion or company sale achieved after an extended period of hard work in the dark (Location 2149)
Status games are a part of life and critical for establishing your position in the relative hierarchies that govern your personal and professional worlds. You will never escape them—you simply need to play the right ones. (Location 2159)
People are made for love—we all crave it, and we can find something lovable in just about everyone we meet. We don’t always give it or accept it, because we make a lot of mistakes, but love is what all our hearts desire. (Location 2220)
Happy people love people, use things, and worship the divine; unhappy people use people, love things, and worship themselves. (Location 2222)
Focus on your relationships; don’t leave their quality and intensity to chance. Treat them with the kind of seriousness that people usually reserve for their money or career. (Location 2232)
Say exactly what you mean. No one—not even your family—can read your mind. Don’t treat your family like emotional ATMs. When people treat their family as a one-way valve of help and advice—usually, it’s parents giving and children receiving—relationships suffer. (Location 2236)
Tell your partner one thing you appreciate about them every single day. If you’re trying to make conversation with people who intimidate you, ask what they’re currently working on that they’re most excited about. Ask follow-ups and listen intently. When someone is going through hell, saying, “I’m with you,” is the most powerful thing you can do. Be the “darkest-hour friend” to those you love. Record a video interview with your parents. Ask them questions and have them tell stories about their childhoods, adventures, hopes, dreams, and fears. Our time with them is finite, but we often fail to recognize that until it’s too late. These recordings will last forever. (Location 2243)
Carry a pocket notebook and pen with you everywhere you go. If someone says something interesting, take it out and write it down. (Location 2250)
If you have too many deal friends, you won’t have enough real friends. If you’re about to take an emotion-induced action, wait twenty-four hours. Many relationships have been broken by actions taken in the heat of the moment. Don’t fall into that trap. (Location 2253)
Your partner is the only person with whom you spend more and more time up until the end. (Location 2319)
Words of affirmation: Verbal expressions of love and affection. People who use this love language feel most loved when they hear compliments, words of encouragement, and expressions of appreciation. Quality time: Time and present, dedicated energy. People who use this love language feel loved when their partners give them undivided attention and spend quality time with them. They are present in the moment, engage in meaningful conversations, and create shared experiences together. Gifts: People who use this love language value the thought and effort behind gifts. They feel loved when receiving thoughtful and meaningful gifts. Acts of service: People who use this love language value actions over words. They feel loved when their partners perform acts of service to make their lives easier or more comfortable (doing household chores, running errands, or taking on tasks to lighten their load). Physical touch: People who use this love language find that physical, human connection is what makes them feel most loved—hugs, kisses, holding hands, cuddling, and other forms of physical contact. Nonsexual touch is just as important as sexual intimacy for them. (Location 2333)
Dr. Gottman described the four communication styles that consistently appeared in relationships that went on to fail (he called them “the Four Horsemen,” a nod to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse). I consider these the places where your relationship will go to die: Criticism: While articulating a complaint is fair game and necessary for a healthy relationship, Dr. Gottman defined criticism as an ad hominem attack on the other person. Defensiveness: In response to criticism, most people will try to protect themselves through defensive strategies with excuses. When we are defensive, we fail to be accountable for our failures and actions. Contempt: Treating the partner with disrespect, attacking the person’s character and core. Dr. Gottman’s research revealed contempt to be the single greatest predictor of divorce. Stonewalling: In response to contempt, one or both partners may simply shut down, preferring to entirely evade engagement on the issue. (Location 2362)
If you notice these communication styles cropping up in your relationship, Dr. Gottman and his team developed a set of “antidotes” that are effective in fighting back: Criticism antidote (the gentle start-up): Focus on a complaint without blame by avoiding the word you and focusing on the word I. This reframe avoids blame and focuses instead on what you feel or need from your partner. Defensiveness antidote (take responsibility): Acknowledge and accept your partner’s perspective and offer an apology for actions or behaviors that created the perspective. Contempt antidote (build a culture of appreciation): Create a regular reminder of your partner’s positive traits, actions, or behaviors and ground yourself in gratitude for those features. Stonewalling antidote (physiological self-soothing): Pause and take a break. Spend that time engaged in a soothing, distracting, or relaxing activity, like walking, breathing mindfully, or sitting with your eyes closed. (Location 2373)
Here are ten pieces of relationship advice that everyone needs to hear: Never keep score in love. Scoreboards are for sports games, not marriages. Maintain interests and passions separate from your partner’s. Marriage should not be the end of individuality. It can’t always be fifty-fifty. Sometimes it will be ninety-ten; sometimes it will be ten-ninety. All that matters is that it adds up to one hundred. One man said, “Never stop dating. I’m ninety-nine and still courting my wife!” Marriages don’t get boring; you stop trying. No one has ever argued their way to a happy marriage. When facing a challenge, face it together. You cannot take care of your partner if you aren’t taking care of yourself. Make a list of your daily needs to feel good and have your partner do the same. Make sure you and your partner are able to do the things on that list. Never involve nonprofessional third parties (parents, friends, siblings, coworkers) in disagreements. You’ll forget about it, but they won’t. Your spouse should always take priority over your birth family. Remember that when the two feel in conflict. Complementarity is just as important as compatibility. Allow each other the space to lead within different domains in your relationship. Your love is yours. Forget the approval of others. You won’t be able to make everyone happy. Accept that and embrace each other. I’ll close by repeating the beautiful line from the ninety-four-year-old woman who took part in the birthday exercise I mentioned in the beginning of the book: “When in doubt, love. The world can always use more love.” (Location 2389)
What I came to realize (after far too long) was this: Sometimes people don’t want you to fix it. They just want you to be there with them. (Location 2431)
When someone you love comes to you with a problem, ask, “Do you want to be helped, heard, or hugged?” Helped: Deconstruct the problem and identify potential solutions. The fix-it mentality can come out to play. Heard: Listen intently and allow the other person to express (and vent) as needed. Hugged: Provide comforting physical touch. Touch is a powerful love language for many (including my wife). Sometimes people just want to feel your presence with them. (Location 2435)
The skilled conversationalist can take many different forms: Extrovert or introvert Theatrical storyteller or prudent fact deliverer Giver or taker The point is that your natural predisposition does not make or break your ability to become a skilled conversationalist. (Location 2449)
Most questions are like stop signs: They invite an answer that naturally ends the conversation. Doorknobs are questions or statements that invite the other person to open them and walk through. They invite the other person to start telling a story. An example: Stop-sign question: Where did you get married? Doorknob question: How did you decide on the wedding venue? (Location 2457)
Conversation starters: What are you most excited about right now, personally or professionally? What was your favorite (or least favorite) thing about your hometown? What’s the origin of your name? Why did your parents give you that name? What is the most interesting thing you’ve read or learned recently? What is the best movie or show you’ve seen recently? What made it so compelling to you? What’s been making you smile recently? If you had an entire day to yourself with zero responsibilities, how would you spend it? Conversation developers: What do you remember as some of the more formative moments of your life? What made them so formative? What have you changed your mind about recently? If you could have dinner with three to five people from any point in history, who would you choose and why? What is something you’ve purchased for a little money that has made a big difference in your life? How do you escape or unwind? What is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you? (Location 2467)
A few examples of loud listening: Sounds: Saying “Yes” or “Uh-huh” or “Hmm” to signal listening and encourage continued energy from the speaker Facial expressions: Changing facial expressions to react to the story being told Body language: A forward-leaning posture toward the speaker signals engagement and positive energy. Never turn away or turn sideways, as it signals you are trying to leave a conversation and immediately hurts the energy of a moment. (Location 2483)
Active listening leads directly to the “repeat and follow” method: Repeat key points back to the speaker in your own words and follow that with an additional insight, story, or doorknob question. (Location 2490)
Eye contact is nuanced—too little and you look shifty; too much and you look psychotic. I like situational eye contact: Deep and connected while the other person speaks Organic while you speak. It’s okay to gaze off while you think, but use eye contact to emphasize key points and moments in a story. (Location 2494)
You don’t get anywhere by accumulating thousands of transactional personal and professional connections. You get somewhere by building genuine relationships: Giving with no intention of receiving in return Acting in the service of others Creating value for those around you Those who invest in building relationships rather than networking will reap the most valuable long-term rewards—health, wealth, and happiness. (Location 2505)
From there, I have a few go-to questions that I have found create reliably engaging discourse: What’s your connection to [insert current place or event]? What are you most excited about currently? What’s lighting you up outside of work? What’s your favorite book you’ve read recently? (Location 2530)
Level 1. “Me” listening: You’re having a conversation, but your internal voice is relating everything you hear to something in your own life. Your internal voice runs off on tangents; you’re thinking about your own life while the other person is talking. You’re waiting to speak, not listening to learn. This is the default mode of listening for everyone. Level 2. “You” listening: You’re having a conversation, and you are deeply focused on what the other person is saying. You’re not waiting to speak; you’re listening to learn. Level 3. “Us” listening: You’re building a map of the other person, understanding how all the new information being shared fits into that broader map of the person’s life and world. You’re listening to understand, considering the layers beneath what the other person is saying. (Location 2541)
When a conversation has run its course, don’t feel pressured to keep it going. Exit gracefully. I’ve always found “It was so great meeting you, I look forward to seeing you again soon!” works well in any personal or professional setting. (Location 2555)
Following the conversation, log the mental notes you made in your phone or a notebook and create a plan to follow up in the days ahead. As an example, I used to talk about my favorite books with new people. If I was speaking to a new professional contact and it struck me as a relationship I hoped to deepen, I would send a copy of the book with a handwritten note to the person’s office. I’ve built many great mentor relationships with that as the start. (Location 2557)
[first name] @ [company] . com [first initial] [last name] @ [company] . com [first name] . [last name] @ [company] . com [last name] @ [company] . com Email address data shows those syntax structures cover over 80 percent of emails. A little bit of hustle goes a long way! (Location 2569)
One other weird trick for a big speech: Practice once while briskly walking or lightly jogging. I have found that it effectively simulates the heart rate increase you might experience when you take the stage. (Location 2638)
To dim the spotlight, try the “So what?” approach: Confront your worst fears about what could go wrong. Imagine the worst fear becoming reality. Now ask yourself, “So what?” So what if you forget your remarks or you don’t deliver them perfectly? You’ll stumble through, but it won’t kill you. Your family will still love you when you get home and life will move on. Usually the answer to “So what?” isn’t nearly as bad as we think. As Seneca famously wrote, “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” (Location 2652)
If you feel your nerves rising before the event, try it: Inhale through your nose twice, once slowly, then once quickly. Long exhale through your mouth. Repeat two to three times. (Location 2668)
There are people who move to move, and then there are people who move with intention, who are going places. Always be the latter. (Location 2688)
The new robe had created a new identity, one that Denis Diderot became attached to and that he wanted to continue signaling to the world. In an essay later in life, which he titled, appropriately, “Regrets for My Old Dressing Gown,” Diderot lamented, “I was the absolute master of my old robe. I have become the slave of the new one.” (Location 2714)
Would I buy this thing if I could not show it to anyone or tell anyone about it? (Location 2721)
Could the richest person in the world acquire the thing I want by tomorrow? (Location 2732)
The world’s richest people cannot build a loving relationship any faster than you. They cannot forge a healthy mind and body any faster than you. None of them can buy their way to expertise, wisdom, or purpose. (Location 2738)
In 2014, Phyllis asked Hank what he wanted for his ninetieth birthday. Both of them were in good health, and she assumed he would ask for a nice vacation, weekend getaway, or perhaps just a special dinner. His response surprised her: “I’ve always wanted to see what those geniuses were up to at Harvard. I’d like to spend a day there.” (Location 2792)
Curiosity is the foundation of a life of Mental Wealth. (Location 2804)
A 2018 study found that the brain systems that are engaged by curiosity contribute to maintaining cognitive function, mental health, and physical health with age.[1] Furthermore, curiosity has been connected to higher levels of life satisfaction and positive emotions and lower levels of anxiety.[2] Curiosity keeps us happier, healthier, and more fulfilled. If curiosity were a pill, all the world’s pharmaceutical companies would call it a super-drug and clamor to sell it. (Location 2809)
It’s difficult to determine how, but when you pursue life with genuine, inspired, childlike curiosity, good things tend to happen, both personally and professionally. (Location 2816)
Some people die at twenty-five and aren’t buried until seventy-five. —Unknown (Location 2864)
Bezos wrote, “In what ways does the world pull at you in an attempt to make you normal? How much work does it take to maintain your distinctiveness?…What I’m really asking you to do is to embrace and be realistic about how much energy it takes to maintain that distinctiveness. The world wants you to be typical—in a thousand ways, it pulls at you. Don’t let it happen. You have to pay a price for your distinctiveness, and it’s worth it.” (Location 2923)
Purpose: The clarity of defining your unique vision and focus that creates meaning and aligns short- and long-term decision making; the unwillingness to live someone else’s life Growth: The hunger to progress and change, driven by an understanding of the dynamic potential of your intelligence, ability, and character Space: The creation of stillness and solitude to think, reset, wrestle with questions, and recharge; the ability and willingness to listen to your inner voice (Location 2954)
As Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” (Location 3063)
Paraphrasing a quote of unknown origin often attributed to Viktor Frankl, your power is in the space that exists between stimulus and response. This idea—of creating and leveraging space—is how you can unlock your own monk-like mindfulness. (Location 3082)
My solution: I focus on energy, not interests or passions. Follow your energy, because it is the truly scarce resource. When you have energy for something, you go deep on it, you push to grow, you gain life from it. It fuels you. (Location 3223)
Richard Feynman was certainly intelligent. But there are a lot of intelligent people in the world. Feynman’s true genius was his ability to convey complex ideas in simple, elegant ways. He observed that complexity and jargon are often used to mask a lack of deep understanding. The Feynman technique is a learning model that leverages teaching and prioritizes simplicity to help you develop a deep understanding of any topic. It involves four key steps: Set the stage. Teach. Assess and study. Organize, convey, and review. (Location 3300)
Socratic questioning (or the Socratic method) is a process of asking and answering questions that stimulate critical thinking to expose and vet underlying assumptions and logic. To put it into action, follow this general structure: Start with open-ended questions. Propose ideas based on these questions. Probe these ideas with progressive questioning. Repeat until the best ideas are developed. (Location 3364)
Eight thinking prompts I have found particularly useful: If I repeated my current typical day for one hundred days, would my life be better or worse? If people observed my actions for a week, what would they say my priorities are? If I were the main character in a movie of my life, what would the audience be screaming at me to do right now? Am I hunting antelope (big important problems) or field mice (small urgent problems)? How can I do less but better? What are my strongest beliefs? What would it take for me to change my mind on them? What are a few things I know now that I wish I’d known five years ago? What actions did I engage in five years ago that I cringe at today? What actions am I engaged in today that I might cringe at in five years? (Location 3405)
Philosophers have long known the power of the walk for mental clarity, creativity, and recovery. Aristotle founded what became known as the Peripatetic school of philosophy—a word that literally translates to “walking” or “given to walking about”—as he had a propensity to walk while lecturing or having conversations. Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote, “Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from (Location 3421)
If there is one single habit that you can build that will immediately create space, enhance your creativity, reduce your stress, and improve your overall Mental Wealth, it is a daily walk. (Location 3437)
The training was so intense that Plutarch commented, “They were the only men in the world with whom war brought a respite in the training for war.” (Location 3678)
The importance of exercise and diet for physical health and vitality was espoused by famed Greek philosophers. Plato wrote, “Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being,” and Aristotle added, “For both excessive and insufficient exercise destroy one’s strength, and both eating and drinking too much or too little destroy health, whereas the right quantity produces, increases and preserves it.” (Location 3685)
Another subtle acceleration occurred in 1859 when Charles Darwin published his On the Origin of Species and commented on the mechanisms of his theory of natural selection. An English polymath named Herbert Spencer coined the phrase survival of the fittest in his own summary of Darwin’s work shortly thereafter. Suddenly, physical fitness entered mainstream culture as a status symbol—it was a way to measure oneself against others and rise through the visible or invisible ranks of the primal survival hierarchy. (Location 3702)
The Pareto principle—more informally called the 80/20 rule—refers to the idea that 80 percent of outcomes come from 20 percent of causes. It originated with Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist who observed that 80 percent of the land in his native Italy was owned by just 20 percent of the population. When he later noticed that 80 percent of the peas in his garden came from just 20 percent of the pea pods, Pareto hypothesized that this was something of a “magic” distribution in nature. (Location 3731)
The 4-7-8 Method A particularly effective method for triggering the calm state necessary to fall asleep, the 4-7-8 method is one that I use almost daily.[15] How it works: Breathe in through your nose for four seconds. Hold your breath for seven seconds. Exhale for eight seconds. Repeat two to three times. The Lion’s Breath Another effective approach is derived from ancient yogic traditions in India. How it works: Sit in a comfortable position on the floor with a slight forward lean and your hands on the floor. Focus your gaze on the tip of your nose. Inhale deeply through your nose. Stick your tongue out and down to your chin. Exhale forcefully with a “Ha!” sound. (Note: Limit the forcefulness of the exhale if you’re a beginner.) Repeat two to three times. (Location 4199)
Lagom is a Swedish term that translates to “just the right amount.” (Location 4298)
Frugality, quite simply, is about choosing the things you love enough to spend extravagantly on—and then cutting costs mercilessly on the things you don’t love. (Location 4689)
There are only three things you need to do to negotiate with these companies on fees and rates: Call them; say, “I’m a great customer, and I’d hate to have to leave because of a simple money issue”; and ask, “What can you do for me to lower my rates?” It works. (Location 4724)
Be a conscious spender, not a cheap person. Cheap people care about the cost of something. Conscious spenders care about the value of something. Cheap people try to get the lowest price on everything. Conscious spenders try to get the lowest price on most things but are willing to spend extravagantly on items they really care about. (Location 4728)
An observation from having the privilege of spending time with some incredible leaders: World-changing CEOs aren’t the smartest people in their organizations. They are exceptional at aggregating data and communicating it simply and effectively. Data in, story out. If you can build that storytelling skill, you’ll always be valuable. (Location 4770)
Sales: The ability to sell a product, service, vision, or oneself is a meta-skill for life. Selling is at the core of most success stories. Storytelling: The ability to aggregate data and formulate a clear, concise narrative. This applies across functional areas and is essential to a variety of career tracks, including traditional, stable career paths like medicine, law, and finance. Design: In a world where artificial intelligence will direct much of the doing, design taste and preferences will rise in importance. The ability to direct AI (and humans) to produce a coherent, beautiful design vision will be essential across many industries. Writing: You cannot write clearly if you aren’t thinking clearly. Writing forces a clarity of thought that is useful across any major endeavor. The ability to convey ideas in simple, concise language is a meta-skill that will provide value in every arena. Software engineering: Our world is increasingly governed by bits and bytes. Those who understand that world will be better positioned to thrive. The ability to leverage AI to accelerate efforts is a skill that all software engineers will need to develop. Data science: Data is becoming modern gold, a currency like no other. The ability to analyze, tag, manipulate, and leverage data is going to be an increasingly valuable skill in an AI-driven world. (Location 4794)
Farmland has low correlation to stock and bond returns and low overall volatility due to the stability of the land value, and it provides inflation protection, as it tends to rise in value in connection to broader market price trends. Investments in farmland tend to be highly illiquid and generally require higher fees and accreditation status. (Location 4888)
When I was in college, my father shared an insight that I consider to be the single greatest investment advice I have ever received. He told me to make it a rule to never think twice about investments in yourself: Books, courses, and education Fitness Networking events Quality food Mental health Personal development Sleep (Location 4955)