It is a surprising benefit that my income is largely linked to my Twitter activity. I have met some very interesting people on Twitter over the past couple of years: writers, podcasters and entrepreneurs, as well as investors, researchers, athletes, researchers and anonymous meme page shitposters.
It is a surprising benefit that I live in New York with many of my Twitter connections. I have also met 25 of them since August.
One of the surprising benefits of meeting 25 Twitter connections in person is that some of them are now good friends.
Connor Gross is one of my friends. Last Sunday, Connor shared this damning critique of hustle culture on my Facebook timeline.
This tweet ironically shows that Connor is among the top 0.1% of all 25-year-olds when it comes to “crushing” things. He has created successful ecommerce brands, managed a growing portfolio of real estate, and launched a podcast and newsletter to connect with others doing cool stuff.
Most of those peddling the generic grindset junk that Connor referred are probably in a lower income tax bracket.
The penultimate sentence in his tweet was the most striking to me. There are a lot of people who can make a lot of money… while still being able to travel, party, stay fit, be happy etc.
And Connor is right.
It’s a common misconception, especially in the early stages of our careers, to choose between money and fun ( , where fun is a subjective word that refers to alternative activities than “work”), yet you cannot have both.
We get stuck at a crossroads and think, “What the hell? “
The obvious answer is, of course, to attend business school. It’s the only way you can have fun and be carefree for two years, while still getting rewarded with a salary of $200k after graduation. I’m kidding. I’m kidding. )
In the face of uncertainty we tend to go left. Are these options exclusive? Let’s take a look at some examples of relatively unknown entrepreneurs.
Steve Jobs, in his 20s spent months in India seeking spiritual enlightenment. Jim Simons rode a moped to Buenos Aires after college (though he got detained briefly in Mexico and only reached Bogota). Phil Knight, aged 25, embarked upon a one-year journey around the globe.
It’s a shame that Jobs and Simons didn’t work 90-hour weekends for every minute of their young adulthood. They might have had some success in their career if they’d worked 90-hour weeks.
Let’s get more specific and move away from the three examples that are well-known. Bill Perkins is one of my favorites recent examples of a person who has achieved success in every aspect of their life.
Perkins began his career as a trader in energy before founding his hedge fund Skylar Capital in 2012. Perkins’ hedge fund managed $500M of assets last year and achieved a 208% profit thanks to smart trading in an energy market that was turbulent.
Bill Perkins has a lot of success.
Perkins is not a marketer. Far from it. Bill Perkins is a professional poker-player whose live tournament earnings have exceeded $5.4M. He has also directed several Hollywood films and his highly successful book, Die with Zero has sold god knows how many copies.
Perkins’ story is not just anecdotal evidence that supports my hypothesis, which states that success does not have to be one-dimensional. He has been a vocal proponent of the idea.
In his book, he stresses that we should introduce experiences and novel pursuits as early as possible to maximize our satisfaction with life. This is contrary to the “all in or bust” mentality.
Die with Zero contains two references. First, Perkins’ frugal nature is referenced in the story of his first job. Second, his roommate decides to quit his job and travel for three months.
I drove my boss’s limousine at night in order to make extra money. I was super-frugal, saving as much as I could.
One day I was speaking to Joe Farrell, the partner of the company where I worked, and we somehow got around to discussing my savings. I told him that I had about $1,000 saved, thinking he’d be impressed by my skills in money management. Boy, was that wrong! His famous response was: “Are f***ing you an idiot? “To save that money?” I felt like my face was being slapped. He continued. He said, “You came to make millions” and continued. Your earning power will happen! “Do you really think that you will only earn 18000 dollars a year the rest of your lifetime?”
Bill Perkins
Jason Ruffo was my roommate when I was in my early 20s. He decided to go backpacking for three months while he took time off work. The same friend who I shared a Manhattan apartment with, earning about $18,000 per year as screen clerks. Jason had to stop working to make this trip a reality. He would also have to borrow ten thousand dollars from a loan-shark, the only person willing to lend him such a large sum of money. The kind of lender that doesn’t require collateral or cares about your credit score because he can find other ways to ensure you pay.
I asked Jason: “Are You Crazy? You’re borrowing money from a shark? “You’ll break your legs!” I was not only concerned about Jason’s safety. Jason’s job would suffer if he went to Europe. For me, doing such a thing was as alien as going to the Moon. I was not going with him. Jason was determined to go, so he took off for London with Eurail and no schedule. He was both nervous and excited.
He returned a few weeks later with the same income as I had, but his pictures and stories about his adventures showed that he’d been richer than ever for his trip.
The stories he told about the cultures he had visited and the connections that he made made me feel envious, but also regretful. The feeling of regret grew as time went on. It was too late when I went to Europe at 30. I was too old and too affluent to hang out in youth hostels with 24-year-olds. By the time I reached 30, I also had more responsibilities. This made it harder for me to take several months off. I had to admit that I could have gone sooner.
Bill Perkins
I have written countless blog posts about opportunity cost, and why it is important to invest early and often in experiences. But today, I would like to take this concept a step farther.
As Perkins has shown, investing in experience doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice your career. Bill also made a comment when Jason returned.
You came here to earn millions. You will earn a lot of money! You think you will only earn 18000 dollars a year the rest of your lifetime ?”
” When Jason (the traveler) returned a few weeks later, the income difference was not noticeable. But his pictures and stories about his adventures showed him to be infinitely more richer.
What are the main takeaways?
- Saving every penny during your early years of life is a foolish idea if you believe that your earnings will increase exponentially.
- A brief break to pursue a few side missions won’t ruin your career if you are a hardworking, competent individual.
If you are a high-performer and confident in your ability to excel at your career, then you do not have to neglect your other interests to achieve your goals. The same destination will be reached, but the journey is much more enjoyable. Spending some of your earnings in the early years of your career on other pursuits is a good idea. You’ll also be much more interesting. No one wants to be the person at a cocktail event who is constantly referencing his or her job, entrepreneurial ambitions, and so on.
Why is the ” Grind everything”mindset popular? This may be controversial, but I believe it’s a copium-induced mindset that’s being promoted by people who can’t succeed without neglecting other aspects of their lives.
It’s much easier to convince yourself that you’re better than other people because you’ve made sacrifices they haven’t. Rather than admitting it’s possible for many people to get it both ways.
It’s not impressive to become rich after 10 years of “grinding”. It would be a failure if you committed yourself to something for 10 years, but the result wasn’t a home run. Financial success should be the default.
What’s really impressive to you? You can have a successful career while learning a musical instrument, developing deep relationships, travelling, picking up a language, mastering martial arts, or even having a good sense of humor.
