"Adversity causes our mind to think properly. When everything goes well, my mind is pampered with enjoyment, possessiveness, etc. Only in times of adversity, privation or mishap does my mind function and think properly of my state. The close examination of self strengthens, my mind and leads me to understand and to be understood."
— Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts
The four core values that I apply to ONEVC are patience, resilience, paranoia, and effort. A little bit of anxiety is good. A lot of anxiety is destructive.
The only times in which I evolved came from overcoming pain.
At the office, gym, in relationships, etc.
The occasional fast is excellent for that. Sometimes you must fight to make peace. You need to distance yourself to build an appreciation for what is worth.
Being capable of rapidly overcoming pain is a super-skill.
Give time, time. This is how anything long-term develops.
In a world in which everything is on-demand and instant, the ability to focus, do deep work, and go through pain is a super-power.
After a minimum quality of life has been reached - Maslow's Pyramid Style - it is not hard to be at the top 1% of people. The bar for the "avocado toast generation" is too low.
Getting to 0.1% is tough. That requires true, enjoyable suffering.
Suffer on. Prevail. Conquer. Carry the cross.
One small habit that has been helping me lately: pause my email and walk around with my phone on airplane mode. That way you feel empowered to get back to people at your peril. Protect your agenda; otherwise, people inflict theirs in your life.
Your inner-peace should not be dependable on anybody. The fast track to inner peace is to meditate and treat others with love and empathy.
The compounding power of putting in an extra 6-10 hours a week for the last decade helped me tremendously on the quest towards Munger/Naval freedom.
Michael is CEO of Maple, a family tech startup looking to help families free up time and spend more quality time together.
