Inspired by Ray Dalio's book, which led to my pursuit of a macro career. I'm not the best writer, but I love ideas, and I love being competent. I think profit is an important discipline to pursue more ideas. I love thinking, and my main goal is to meet interesting, deep thinkers and make a bit of money along the way.
1. Momentum is everything - both negative and positive
When I was 10, life changed dramatically. Life became 20% worse, and then two years later it became 80% worse. When you are poor, you become stressed, which affects your relationships, makes you lonely, you fight more, and things have a tendency to spiral downward. Failure can be very demoralising.
Success, on the other hand, is very motivating. You get a good job, you are competent, you get told you are talented, you feel more motivated to do a better job, you go home happy, you smile more, and you have better relationships with others. You can't give anything to others when your cup is empty, so it's important to take care of yourself.
The challenge is stopping the momentum when you are failing and recognising that positive momentum doesn't last forever. The key for me has been stoic philosophy at times of pain, and gratitude during the good times.
2. Use your past to your advantage
My childhood has moulded me to be both optimistic and paranoid at the same time. I firmly believe in Andy Grove's quote of " Only the Paranoid Survive". I do not think paranoia equates to unhappiness, nor optimism equates to happiness. I am very confident I can go through most kinds of adversity, but I know it is going to be painful, so I actively try to think hard about the future and take risks while I am young. I'm rather optimistic and open with people, so I like reaching out to strangers whom I admire. This means I'm naturally good at sales or being relentlessly resourceful. This could also mean I fail to recognise red flags in others, but because I am very detailed about numbers, I rarely fall into financial scams.
Knowing this weakness, I save money during good times. I recently quit my job because I want to work in AI, and I knew the fear of negative personal cash flow would force me to act urgently. You can use both your strengths and weaknesses to your advantage.
3. Don't listen to others' advice on burnout
Burnout occurs when an individual experiences excessive emotional adversity in life that they cannot overcome. But if you do not feel emotion in that particular activity, then you may have found your biggest edge.
4. Have the courage to be original
I do not get embarrassed easily. I find it fun to reach out to people in interesting ways. I find it fun that they find me amusing, and I brushed it off when they rejected me.
I started with cold emails and LinkedIn, but found the return rate unsatisfactory. I decided to be different, so I cold-called CEOs and seniors. I found their numbers through LLMs or BBG. Seniors would pick it up; some would kindly reject me. I've cold-called 5 CEOs, but frankly, I wasn't able to get past their assistants.
So I decided to send a bunch of them fedex mail. I figured out the fancy mail would spark their curiosity. The problem with this is that you can't track whether they see the mail or not.
There was a time when I would video myself in Loom. I did this to ~10 companies, with most of them replying! I sometimes send it to their generic email address (info@company.com) if I can't find the individual's email. You can track whether someone has viewed it or not. Once, I printed a shirt, video-ed myself and sent it to every single member on their board. Both quickly replied within hours, and we learn some stuff from the conversation. They loved the creativity, but I was rejected for visa reasons.
Despite multiple rejections, I realised I can do it for months because I experience very little mental pain from the act of hustling. My biggest constraint is my finances, and I don't like burning money on my FedEx mail and t-shirts. I also don't like paying a premium for Loom.
Frankly speaking, these are all the things I did when I was younger. I am not sure if I would do it now. You get a lot of bandwidth for failure when you are a young person.
5. The world doesn't care about talent; they care about success.
The very first non-professor adult I've met in Hong Kong was a chief executive who came to school to give a speech. I happened to be the only non-Chinese with the best grades, so I got a chance to make a speech afterwards. I shared my life story, he came forward, gave me his name card and proactively told me to reach out to him. Over the course of 7+ years, we would meet regularly. I thought this was the norm in Hong Kong, that EVERYONE wants to talk to a student.
Turns out that man was unique. I was convinced that he was once a mildly eccentric, obsessively curious, well-read independent thinker. He's managed to assimilate into society, but he firmly believes that I was talented. 7 years later, after being exposed to a myriad of talents, I realised he saw a bit of himself in me. He told me to read more and that school wasn't that important. I read a lot of books during my time in University, and it was the best decision I've ever made.
Despite getting 4A* and winning Top in the World in AS Mathematics, I was quite shocked when multiple people convinced me I couldn't go to work in macro because I didn't go to a target school (I wasn't smart enough). My heart dropped when a senior trading guy told me that I should quit school and take out a loan to attend a better school. I didn't have the financial means. I didn't believe in loans.
Through a series of hustling and luck, I got a fun job in macro, and then the opposite happened - most of the people at work called me special and talented. I was confused, but reality is probably in the middle. I wasn't as bad as people say in Uni, nor as smart as people say in work. Do not let yourself be fooled by human mimesis.
The reality is that no one (except for a few like that guy) cares about your talent; they only care once you achieve success. If you are talented but not successful, don't worry. Focus on working hard and getting what you want. Results matter. If you are less talented but feel imposter syndrome, why worry? The world is filled with unsuccessful people with talent and no opportunity.
6. Understand your strengths and blind spots
Have high convictions about your unique strengths, but be humble about your blind spots. I am always curious about my limits and trust my instincts when it comes to doing what I want. I love adventures, am not a perfectionist, and tend to act with a strong sense of urgency. When it comes to my weakness, I tend to listen to others and control that inner voice in my head that tells me to "do it". I've learnt that strength and weakness are usually two sides of the same coin.
7. Find your own game when it comes to luck
Coming back to the cold mailing story, I find it more fun to do something different, but I've seen admirable friends who do the "same thing" and win by sheer willpower. The game of luck is different for each individual. Math has inspired one of my principles -
A die with six sides and a value from 1 to 6 has an expected value of 3.5 on every single throw. You can rate your life from 1 to 6.
How do you optimise for a 6/6?
Most people struggle with settling into a life of 6/6 when they have a life of 4/6. Most will choose to settle and stay in their comfort zone, because rationally speaking, it is above expected value. However, in a world that is changing, the biggest risk is not taking risks at all. It's a personal decision, but having gone through ups and downs, I find living at rock bottom (or below expected value) stressful financially, but clear mentally. There is only one direction to strive for - up.
Assuming you work hard to develop mental resilience, you will find yourself having multiple chances to roll the dice. I like to leverage my biggest strength and roll the dice 100 times before eventually getting what I want. Life will be worse first, before it gets better, but leveraging your unique edge means it's never too bad! You will find the journey fulfilling, and you will gain a stronger belief in yourself.
My mentality in life has always been to "roll the dice", but it's important to understand which phase of life you are currently in, hedge your biggest risks and make sure it doesn't kill you. For me, the fun is in the journey. I realise I enjoyed rolling the dice more than achieving the outcome.
I've seen instances where my smart friends took the more patient, less risky, slower method of "engineering the dice" to obtain a 6/6 life without going below EV. In the world of hedgefunds, there's a story of how Soros gets into the mess and knows when to get out, Stan never gets in the mess in the first place.
8. Aim to predict the future by understanding history
The book Sovereign Individual was an unusually ambitious, thought-provoking book written in the 1990s. The author tries to predict the future by understanding how technology results in a shift in "megapolitics". It ties nicely to the concepts of mimesis from Girard: people imitate each other's desires, and that mimesis drives cultural change.
I've always had a view that every generation is born into a particular culture at a particular time. The Millenials complained about not being able to afford housing in their 20s. GenZ's never thought about it in the first place. As we enter a period of rapid change, it's essential to recognise that the methods of attaining wealth and a good life from previous generations may not apply to our own. Meanwhile, there are universal principles of human desires, greed and fear that remain constant.
Learn to think hard about the future.
9. Learn Emotional Intelligence from Abe Lincoln
Smart people often have intense, extreme personalities. If you optimise your life to work with great people and great problems, you will need to learn emotional intelligence. This means understanding yourself, having the ability not to act on it, and developing empathy for others. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln faced immense pressure of leading a divided nation and managing conflict in his team. His capacity to regulate his emotions, maintain clarity and purpose in the most difficult circumstances, is deeply inspiring to me.
10. Spend time on things that give you energy - be it friends or work
To live a fulfilling life, focus on activities and people that boost your energy. For me, creative work that challenges my mind is energising. Thoughtful conversations spark new ideas and keep me engaged. Humour is a key part of my life, bringing joy and lightness. I choose to spend time with brilliant friends who sharpen my thinking and share positive energy, creating a sense of mutual inspiration.