Perhaps my favourite mental model from Charlie Munger is – Invert, Always Invert. It is tricky to plan for success, there are too many factors and unknowns. Often it’s easier and more definite to avoid failure. Turn the problem upside…
Category: Success
Relative Pricing – Active Rebalancing across Asset Classes and Factors
I went to buy some fruit the other day. I found myself questioning whether it was expensive, cheap or fairly priced – I came to realise that things are only expensive relative to something else. – Relative to what I…
Good habits, bad choices – A secret to more happiness
I had a Castle Lite lager this evening. It was spectacular. I had been holding on to the last of my beers, as alcohol sales have been banned in South Africa for over a month. It’s fascinating to think how…
My Year of Reading in Review for 2020 – by Mark Doolan
I got some good reading in this year. I wanted to clock 40 books as a goal but didn’t quite get there. Thirty five is pretty close and it is more about the journey of growth than simply ticking off…
Getting Things Done – Starters, Finishers, Do’ers, Don’ters
If a task needs doing. I give it to a doer. I have found that giving something to someone who has the time, often ends up being more work than just doing it myself. Some people are great at starting…
First Order thinking is limiting – Make slower and better decisions
A simple question that could fundamentally change your thinking. “What are the second and third order consequences?” Ray Dalio I was chatting with my cousin and his wife. They are both involved in the military. She mentioned that they were…
Your Deceptive Values, Your Reflective Habits
It was windy and raining, a cold front was passing over. The weather was not appealing, but it would have been more uncomfortable not to go. I put on my running shoes. If I hadn’t, it would have itched at…
Spending tomorrow’s happiness
I stopped drinking 439 days ago. I have an app that tracks it. It was useful to remember “my why” in the early days of breaking that happiness debt cycle. – “Too many wasted days to hangovers. Feeling down, losers.…
Doing my bit to avoid load shedding in South Africa – The #3Switch Electricity Saving Challenge
Imagine you are driving down the road. Some idiot overtakes you in the next lane, you can see that maintenance has not been done on his 1980s sports car, and unbeknown to you, the mechanic who was meant to repair…
Five glorious mindsets to adopt in 2020
As we embrace the new year, it is an opportunity to re-frame our thinking and to challenge the hidden scripts we live by. Become “overly optimistic” – Mr Money Mustache is a pragmatist, I think I default to the same…