Welcome to Wise & Wealthy: A weekly newsletter full of proven ideas to become smarter and wealthier. I send this every Monday and every other Thursday.
#35 – October 03, 2022
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Wise: “Wasting” time
A big misconception about productivity and high achievement is that one must be productive every hour of the day.
A lot of ambitious people even feel guilty if they do “nothing” for a day. That’s not healthy.
In fact, it’s helpful to do nothing sometimes. Charlie Munger once said that Warren Buffett “is sitting on his ass and reading” half of the time!
Now, there are good and bad ways to do nothing. Putting off important tasks and not doing work because you don’t feel like it is obviously not helpful.
However, sometimes you just need to “waste” a few hours to remain in balance.
That type of time wasting is not a real waste because it serves a purpose. When you occasionally kill time and just enjoy doing nothing, you remain energetic.
If you’re always working, working, working, you risk burning out or getting depressed. Now, that’s a real waste of time. Some people burn out and remain that way for years.
We can avoid that by living a balanced life.
↳ Waste a Few Hours, so You Don’t Waste Years
Wealthy: Money is time
To make the above easier, we also need some financial security. I would love to tell you it’s okay to take off any day of the week and do nothing, but we all have our responsibilities.
Life is hard. And we must stay practical.
Sometimes we just have too many obligations to do nothing. Now, there’s also a solution for that.
By reminding yourself that life is about time, not about money, you will optimize for the former.
However, that doesn’t mean you neglect the latter. We all need money to live.
If you use that money to buy more free time, that means you’re winning in life.
Many of us are facing financial challenges. During these moments we want to throw in the towel and give up on our goals to become more financially free.
But remember: The foundation of financial success is forged during economic downturns.
If you’re able to keep living simple and keep on investing (in yourself and in assets), you will get out on the other side stronger.
↳ Money Is Time—Not the Other Way Around
One interesting thing
I’m currently reading, Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing by Jacob Goldstein. Really enjoying this book. Here’s an interesting quote:
“For modern money to work—to have banks, and a stock market, and a central bank—there needs to be tension. Investors and bankers and activists and government officials all need to be arguing over who gets to do what, and when.”
There’s a lot of arguing right now. Fortunately, that will only make our system stronger.
Thanks for reading! I hope you found this edition of Wise & Wealthy useful.
All the best,
Darius
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When you’re centered, nothing can hurt you. You will have inner peace no matter what happens.
How to unlock Stay Centered
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