If you’re like me at all, you’re striving, pushing, striving, and pushing in multiple areas of your life…all the time. Do you know what for though?
I thought I did, until recently.
A month ago, I started worked with a psychologist, Jack Skeen, highly recommended by a prominent value investor I follow, Mohnish Pabrai. Jack starts with a 360 interview of six of your closest friends, family members, and colleagues. He then starts digging deep into how you’re wired through one-on-one interviews with you and in-depth psychological profiles. The aim is to determine how you’re wired to uncover the thing that “intrinsically interests you such that you never tire of it.”
I’m working with him to determine how to be direct my energy, time, and attention in work and life.
What Would You Do if You Had a Billion Dollars?
I’ve made good money in business, putting me in the top 1% of wealth accumulators. Jack pointed this out in our first one-on-one session together. In our second session, he asked, “What would you do if you had a billion dollars?”
I said, “not much different…other than fly private because flying commercial is terrible.” That’s it. That’s really the only meaningful change I would make. Maybe I’d get an extra house or two, but I really don’t care too much about that.
This means money isn’t really a strong driving force for me anymore. For you, it might be. That’s OK.
For some with multiple billions in wealth, many more billions is still a strong driving force. That’s OK too.
Being a good person and doing good things in the world doesn’t mean you have to give up all desire for greater financial gain. Many people, such as Warren Buffett, have continued to accumulate money later in life just to give it all away. It’s a game to them that energizes them and benefits society. That’s good.
A Mountain with No Top
Jack pointed out I’m doing a lot of “pushing and driving” in almost every area of my life…but not feeling satisfied. I know the attainment of goals doesn’t make me any happier long-term. Yet, I keep pushing to achieve them while never feeling satisfied…or even fulfilled.
He said, this is like climbing a mountain with no top. It’s an insane way to live.
I’ve never thought much about an alternative. I thought striving and driving is the way you create a better life. The last thing I want is to be a lazy, unproductive couch potato watching TV all day.
That’s not the only alternative to a life of trying to “optimize” every area of your life for better performance.
Do What You Like, Because You Like It
Do you work because you like what you do or because it’s a means to an end?
For me, much of my work has been a means to an end. I wanted to build wealth and feel important, so I built businesses.
Some of my work has been very meaningful to me, such as helping people become completely financially free with our training programs. But, a lot of it has been just to make money.
That was fine. Then it wasn’t.
Building any business was intrinsically motivating at one point. I was figuring out how the puzzle worked. I was learning ferociously about every area of business including marketing, management, and finance. It was all new. I felt alive.
Once I’d built multiple businesses, however, building more businesses became less intrinsically rewarding.
Today, I’m looking for those activities I enjoy because I enjoy them. It’s not about the outcome. These activities aren’t a means to an end, they’re the end in and of themselves. Jack pointed out to my surprise, that helping people interests me for its own sake. Possibly, writing to help people does so as well (hence this post).
Advice from Warren Buffett and Jake Paul
I don’t pay too much attention to social media influencers. However, because I do jiu jitsu and check to see what some some athletes are up to time-to-time on Instagram, the algorithm feeds me other martial arts-related content. This includes updates from the YouTube influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
I usually just scroll past videos and images of him. He’s making a killing doing what he’s doing. That’s awesome for him. It seems like he’s loving it. But, updates about him aren’t usually what I’m interested in on Instagram. However, there was one video the other day with him that I did watch…and rewatch.
The interviewer asked Jake Paul if he could have ever been as good at YouTube as the preeminent YouTuber Mr. Beast. Paul said, “no”, he couldn’t. He pointed out that Mr. Beast loves it too much. It’s hard to compete with someone who loves what you do more than you. Every ounce of their energy will go into that activity far beyond the point at which your willpower to do it depletes. For them, it doesn’t require willpower, it’s fun and energizing, not draining.
For years, Warren Buffett has pointed out the same thing. He says, “do what you love.” I used to think, “yeah, I got it Warren…get really good at business and investing, feel important, make lots of money, then I’ll love doing it even more.” Now, I think that’s backwards. I also think it’s not what Buffett has been saying all along.
I think you do what’s intrinsically interesting to you first. Whatever results happen from your love for the activity will come.
If you love finance, you’ll make a lot of money. If you love building businesses, you’ll make a lot of money. If you love yoga, you may not. Or, you might still make good money…but not as much as if you loved doing an activity, such as managing money for people, that tends to produce greater wealth.
Either way, it’s OK. It’s far better to feel alive, to have unlimited energy every day, to use what’s unique about you to create a better world, than to have more money. If you pursue something that you don’t really like, you’ll far underperform others who find that activity intrinsically rewarding. You’ll likely feel miserable. You’ll also likely miss out on a lifetime of joy and fulfillment.
By all means, make good money. Just know what you’re striving for and why. Look up every once in a while and make sure the mountain you’re climbing has a top.
-Matt
P.S. Writing to a void isn’t super motivating for me. So, if you have a question or comment about this post (no matter what it is), please drop a comment below (at the bottom of this page). I’ll be sure to respond. Thank you.