11 nuggets of wisdom to help steer you towards a better life
I did a google.
Former star baseball player.
Former top gilt-edged, go-getter in the world of high finance.
Now owns and operates his own finance firms (plural).
Is probably stinking rich.
But wait.
He writes a weekly newsletter about navigating life?
One of his most recent pieces popped up in my inbox. It was called Brutally Honest Advice to My Younger Self.
Reading it hot on the heels of Michelle Obama’s fabulous, inspirational speech at the Democratic National Convention, it gave me pause.
Her call for people to “do something”, her spotlighting the brutal facts that most people will never be afforded “the grace of failing forward”, or benefit from the “affirmative action of generational wealth”, or arrive at the base of a mountain to find an escalator waiting to take them to the top, really resonated.
So I read some more of Sahil Bloom’s newsletter. Born of an Indian mother from Bangalore and an American father from the Bronx, Sahil was a Division 1 baseball player at Stanford University.
He won awards for athletics, academics and leadership, graduating with a double major in Economics and Sociology and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy.
He spent the first seven years of his career in the high finance end of the business sector, serving as a Vice President at a private equity fund with $3.5 billion in assets under management, and was a board member at several of the firm’s portfolio companies.
So far, so blah.
But then. In 2020, Sahil started a newsletter, called The Curiosity Chronicle, with an objective which, he admits, is both simple and ambitious.
Sahil wants to positively impact one billion lives.
Hmmm, I thought.
Interesting. This is a wealthy guy who knows his onions. And cares about others?
The newsletter started with a tiny following of 100 people. Four years on, it has more than 800,000 subscribers and millions of readers.
The content is being read by everyone, from teenagers and young adults to older people and titans of the business world.
Now, Bloom is the author of a forthcoming non-fiction book, The 5 Types of Wealth.
The piece in The Curiosity Chronicle which I’m referring to, Bloom says, was inspired by a lengthy conversation he had with a 20-something male who was feeling lost, had no clear vision for the future, and was worried about falling behind in life.
Bloom was no stranger to that feeling, he admitted, so he summarised 11 nuggets of tough love which he feels gives some real, raw perspective on what you need to do to change things, and to start finding your way again. Here they are:
Happiness is found through service of others
“You are never going to find happiness if you focus on yourself,” counsels Bloom. “No amount of nice things you buy will ever bring that lasting feeling of contentment.”
Instead, he advises, act in the service of others - your family, your community or on a global level.
Advice is overrated and action is underrated
You can read lots of books. You can consult YouTube. You can talk to lots of people. But ultimately, says Bloom, you have to figure things out for yourself. Take some advice, but act on it and adjust accordingly, he advises.
Lack of Desire is what’s holding you back
In actuality, says Bloom, it’s your sheer lack of desire to get up and going that holds you back. It’s not lack of time or energy.
When things aren’t going your way, it’s easy to blame time or energy for your lack of progress.
Wake up early
There is, says Bloom, no such thing as a loser who wakes up at 5am. It’s hard, it requires intense discipline, and it shows your power and control over your world.
Check out another philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, the Roman warrior-emperor, who said much the same thing.
Don’t do your best, do what is necessary
Your best is entirely subjective and more than likely based on self-limiting belief. So do what is necessary - do what it takes.
Small things have a way of becoming big things!
Taking small things seriously earns the trust of those around you, explains Bloom.
You will eventually be given bigger and bigger opportunities, the kind of ones that can dramatically change your trajectory.
Don’t waste your time creating a 5-year plan
Set your direction in terms of a general vision for your way of life in the future, he says. Then focus on the daily actions that will add up positively over the next three months or so.
External competitiveness is a curse
Whereas internal competitiveness is a blessing.
External competitiveness - as in the desire to beat others - is described by Bloom as “a trait of the perpetually miserable”.
On the other hand, internal competitiveness - the desire to learn and grow relative to the version of you from last year - he refers to as “a trait of the perpetually fulfilled”.
Reliability will take you much further than brilliance
Just being someone that people can count on to show up and do the work will bring you pretty far in life, he says.
(And, I’m adding my two-and-sixpence here - reliability is increasingly rare these days).
“In the short run,” says Bloom, “it’s much harder to be exceptional than it is to be reliable. In the long run, being consistently reliable makes your exceptional.” Phwoar!
You should probably take that leap of faith
“In my experience, regret from inaction is always more painful than regret from action,” says Bloom.
You’ll have a lot more success finding the things you’re looking for if you start embodying them yourself
Bloom quotes Mario Quintana - “Don’t waste your time chasing butterflies. Mend your garden and the butterflies will come.”
App?
