BC LIFERULES
Saved by @cur10uslearner

Life rules worth breaking:

 Wait for the Perfect Moment

This rule has paralyzed would-be action-takers for generations.

The reality: there is no such thing as the perfect moment.

Sometimes you just have to open the door, jump out of the plane, and hope you packed the parachute tight.
You Have to Work Hard to Succeed

Hard work is important—but it's relative, not absolute.

In the Digital Age—when creative and inspired work stands out and is rewarded—what you work on is more important than how hard you work.

Play your game, not theirs.

You’ll play it better.
Let Things Play Out

This isn't a movie that you're watching on your TV. You are not a passive observer of your own life.

There are times to sit back, and there are times to push.

Learn to identify the difference and never be afraid to provide a little push.
Don't Ask Too Many Questions

Children are born with an insatiable curiosity, but somewhere along the line, we are told to stop asking questions.

The most successful people in the world never listened—they broke this rule.

Ask questions. Be curious. Be interested.
If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

Complacency will always lead you down a bad path.

Just because something isn't broken, doesn't mean it can't be improved.

Continuous improvement is the way.

Focus on small, incremental improvements—day in, day out.
Get a Stable Job

This might have been a good rule in the Industrial Age, but its foundation is crumbling in the Digital Age.

The way we work is fundamentally changing—opportunities for creative, unstructured career paths are endless.

Find your Zone of Genius and operate in it.
Stay in Your Lane

A rule of the fixed, stagnant, and hierarchical—often used to keep employees in line.

It's great to double down on your strengths, but never let external pressures prevent you from expanding your domains.

Growth mindsets rule the world.
Think Through Every Big Decision

We are told to methodically consider the pros and cons of every big decision in our lives.

As a result, many of us have decision paralysis.

With big decisions, you're actually better off making them fast—let your gut and instincts guide you.
Don't Talk to Strangers

A classic we are told as children—the residue of which carries into adulthood for far too many.

"There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met." - William Butler Yeats

When we open up to those around us, we stimulate, learn, and grow.
Get a 4-Year Degree

For decades we told children they had to attend a traditional 4-year college, or else they were a failure.

That is a lie—and we loaded a generation with student debt because of it.

4-year degrees make sense for many, but not for all.

Follow YOUR path.
Save Now to Enjoy Later

All mainstream financial advice tells you one thing: save now to enjoy later.

I agree, with a caveat...

You have to enjoy the prime of your life!

Now and then, it's ok to save a bit less to go to that concert with your friends.

Find your balance.
Have a Plan & Stick to It

It's important to have a plan.

But as Mike Tyson famously said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

Plans have to be dynamic—and punch-proof!

You'll only go as far as your ability to absorb and pivot on the fly.
Don't Be Self-Promotional

It's easy to condone self-promotion when you're at the top.

But when you're first starting out, you may be the only one in a position to promote.

When you put in the work, energy and love, share it with the world!

Genuine pride is infectious.
Become an Expert, Not a Generalist

Society celebrates experts in any given field.

But as @DavidEpstein finds in Range, many experts succeed because of the range of pursuits that preceded their main endeavor.

Become a polymath.

Generalize first, specialize later.
Be Realistic

It's not up to anyone else to decide what is possible for you or your life.

Are there constraints outside of your control? Sure.

Is that a reason to settle? Hell no.

As Will Smith says in Pursuit of Happyness: "If you want something, go get it. Period."
Those are 15 life rules worth breaking. What rules am I missing?

Follow me @SahilBloom for more threads on growth, business, and investing.

I write deep-dives on these topics in my newsletter. You should join the 65,000+ and subscribe today! https://t.co/qMB8i60ney
And be sure to check out my new podcast—Where It Happens—for deep dives with amazing guests on many of these topics, frameworks, and more. https://t.co/MPmloxBHZH

More from Sahil Bloom

Sahil Bloom
Sahil Bloom
@SahilBloom
THREAD: The story of the week in finance is how a group of retail traders at @wallstreetbets, with assists from @ElonMusk and @Chamath, took down the establishment short sellers at GameStop.

A thread on the underlying mechanics of the $GME saga...


1/ First, for those unfamiliar with the business, GameStop is a videogame and merchandise retailer.

It has >5,000 stores, primarily in malls, across North America, Europe, and Australia.

The business has struggled to modernize, hurting its financial and stock performance.


2/ For a variety of business reasons, a bull (i.e. optimistic) case regarding its future performance has formed.

It really came to the forefront after RC Ventures, an entity managed by Chewy founder @ryancohen, disclosed a large position and assumed three board seats.


3/ @ryancohen summarized his case, stating:

"We are excited to bring our customer-obsessed mindset and technology experience to GameStop and its strategic assets...expanding the ways in which it delights customers and by becoming the ultimate destination for gamers."

4/ At the time of that statement on January 11, $GME stock was trading at about ~$20 per share.

Since then, the stock has surged to ~$200 per share and captured the public imagination.

But how did it happen?

There are two dynamics at play: a short squeeze and a gamma squeeze.
BUSINESS
Sahil Bloom
Sahil Bloom
@SahilBloom
Memento Mori is a powerful philosophical tool for finding clarity and unlocking growth in your career, startup, business, writing, or relationships.

A thread on its meaning and how it can change your life...


Memento Mori is a Latin phrase that translates to "remember that you must die."

A favorite of Stoic philosophy, it is a reminder of the certainty and inescapability of death.

It is not intended to be morbid or dark; rather, to clarify, illuminate, and inspire.

Memento Mori - the idea of remembering your mortality - has been around for millennia.

The phrase itself is believed to have originated in the Roman Empire.

After military victories, the heroes were paraded through the streets on chariots.

They may have felt like Gods...

But the Romans would place one person in the chariot whose sole responsibility was to whisper in the hero's ear throughout the parade.

"Respice post te. Hominem te esse memento. Memento mori!"

Translation: "Look behind. Remember thou art mortal. Remember that you must die!"


Memento Mori served as a tool to invoke humility in moments of glory.

It can also be a tool for providing clarity.

The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius famously wrote in his Meditations, "You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think."
ALL , PHILOSOPHY
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Sahil Bloom
Sahil Bloom
@SahilBloom
Dollar Cost Averaging 101

Many of the brightest minds in the investing world share one common trait: they recommend dollar cost averaging as an investment strategy.

But what is dollar cost averaging and how does it work?

Here's Dollar Cost Averaging 101!

👇👇👇


1/ Dollar cost averaging, or "DCA" for short, is a simple investment strategy in which an investor splits the total amount to be invested in a given asset across regular periodic purchases.

The regular purchases occur regardless of price, volatility, or economic conditions.

2/ The goal is to remove the complexities of market timing from the process, allowing an investor to build their desired position without concern for external factors.

Its simplicity removes behavioral and psychological biases from the equation.

Let's look at an example.

3/ Imagine you want to build a $10,000 position in bitcoin. You have done your research and believe in the long-term story.

You aren't sure if it will go up or down in the near-term, so you decide to dollar-cost average.

Great decision! How will you do it?


4/ You split the $10,000 up into 20 pieces ($500 each). You could have done any number of pieces, but 20 felt right.

You decide on a weekly DCA, so every Monday, you buy $500 of $BTC, regardless of price. After 20 weeks, you have built your desired $10,000 cost basis position.
INVESTING
Sahil Bloom
Sahil Bloom
@SahilBloom
10 fascinating traits of highly-successful people:

1) Enjoy Being Wrong: The most successful people legitimately enjoy being wrong. They’ve learned to embrace new information that forces you to change your viewpoint—these "software updates" improve upon the old.

(read on)

2) Work in Sprints: Parkinson's Law says that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. Winners typically work like lions instead—sprint, rest, repeat.

3) Antifragile: Life is chaotic. The best aren't broken by the chaos—they build structure to benefit from it.

4) Paranoia: Highly-successful people share a surprising fear that all of the success is suddenly going to disappear. It creates a drive for continued growth.

5) Self-Awareness: The most successful people are hyper self-aware. They know their unique edge (and their weaknesses).

6) Compartmentalization: An uncanny ability to compartmentalize. They turn off outside stressors and focus exclusively on the task at hand.

7) Focus on Questions, Not Answers: They ask great questions. It allows them to aggregate insights more effectively.

8) Expert Advice Filters: Winners have learned how to filter and selectively implement advice—take the signal, skip the noise.

9) Impatient Long-Term Thinkers: Long-term thinking plus short-term impatience for action is the recipe for success.
PRINCIPLES
Sahil Bloom
Sahil Bloom
@SahilBloom
5 simple principles to accelerate your career:

Principle: Follow Your Curiosity

Humans are born with astonishing curiosity.

But somewhere along the way, we're told to stop asking questions.

Push back.

Learn to follow your curiosity—trust it.

For the curious mind, anything is possible.

Fortune favors the curious.


Principle: Operate in Your Zone of Genius

Your Zone of Genius is where your interests, passions and skills align.

Operating in your Zone of Genius means playing games you are uniquely well-suited to win.

It means you can stop playing *their* games and start playing *yours*.


Principle: Adopt a Positive Sum Mentality

Want to get ahead in life?

Start genuinely rooting for others to succeed.

When one of us wins, we all win—winning spreads.

If you adopt that mentality, you’ll become a magnet for the highest quality people.


Principle: Speak Up

Closed mouths don’t get fed.

A little push goes a long way.

Don't sit back and wait for good things to happen.

If you want something—and you’ve put in the work for it—ask for it.

Worst case: you’re told no and nothing has changed.

Best case: it’s yours.
ALL

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Sahil
Sahil
@sahilypatel
Want to do an MBA for free ?

A thread 👇

1) Leadership: Foundations of Teamwork and Leadership

School: wharton

2) Marketing: Marketing Management

School: wharton

3) Microeconomics: Microeconomics for Managers

School:

4) Financial Theory

School:
ALL , MBA , MBA SERIES
Patrick Chovanec
Patrick Chovanec
@prchovanec
I'm going to do two history threads on Ethiopia, one on its ancient history, one on its modern story (1800 to today). 🇪🇹

I'll begin with the ancient history ... and it goes way back. Because modern humans - and before that, the ancestors of humans - almost certainly originated in Ethiopia. 🇪🇹 (sub-thread):


The first likely historical reference to Ethiopia is ancient Egyptian records of trade expeditions to the "Land of Punt" in search of gold, ebony, ivory, incense, and wild animals, starting in c 2500 BC 🇪🇹


Ethiopians themselves believe that the Queen of Sheba, who visited Israel's King Solomon in the Bible (c 950 BC), came from Ethiopia (not Yemen, as others believe). Here she is meeting Solomon in a stain-glassed window in Addis Ababa's Holy Trinity Church. 🇪🇹


References to the Queen of Sheba are everywhere in Ethiopia. The national airline's frequent flier miles are even called "ShebaMiles". 🇪🇹
CULTURE
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Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy
@kwmurphy
Okay look - I didn’t grow up with comic books. But I read stacks of science fiction digests and I kit-bashed model cars into fantasy rods, and just tried to maintain a low profile until I could get out of the house. So you could say I’m a distant cousin of the comic book fan. /1

And sometimes one’s childhood passion follows them into adulthood, sometimes not, sometimes as an adult one finds a passion they never had as a child and embraces it. For me, that must include getting involved with a puppet show at the age of thirty. /2

So who’s to say whose passion’s legitimate and whose is bogus? Nobody. Someone might indict your passion but they have no ground to stand on and should be dismissed out of hand. /3

Maybe they’re envious that you have a passion, maybe they think that their passion is cooler than yours, or maybe they’re just insecure, who knows. Doesn’t matter. /4

What matters is that if something gives you joy, and in the process doesn’t hurt others, then by all means follow it. It’s how we explore our secret hopes, our shadow sides, our inner character. /5
CULTURE
Billy Bostickson \U0001f3f4\U0001f441&\U0001f441 \U0001f193
Billy Bostickson 🏴👁&👁 ...
@BillyBostickson
Keep dwelling on this:
Further Examination of the Motif near PRRA Reveals Close Structural Similarity to the SEB Superantigen as well as Sequence Similarities to Neurotoxins and a Viral SAg.

The insertion PRRA together with 7 sequentially preceding residues & succeeding R685 (conserved in β-CoVs) form a motif, Y674QTQTNSPRRAR685, homologous to those of neurotoxins from Ophiophagus (cobra) and Bungarus genera, as well as neurotoxin-like regions from three RABV strains

(20) (Fig. 2D). We further noticed that the same segment bears close similarity to the HIV-1 glycoprotein gp120 SAg motif F164 to V174.
https://t.co/EwwJOSa8RK


In (B), the segment S680PPRAR685 including the PRRA insert and highly conserved cleavage site *R685* is shown in van der Waals representation (black labels) and nearby CDR residues of the TCRVβ domain are labeled in blue/white
https://t.co/BsY8BAIzDa


Sequence Identity %
https://t.co/BsY8BAIzDa
Y674 - QTQTNSPRRA - R685
Similar to neurotoxins from Ophiophagus (cobra) & Bungarus genera & neurotoxin-like regions from three RABV strains
T678 - NSPRRA- R685
Superantigenic core, consistently aligned against bacterial or viral SAgs
ALL
Zach Weinersmith
Zach Weinersmith
@ZachWeiner
Hey, for people interested in this stuff, here's a thread about a change we made to running our facebook account:

So, about 5 years ago, we got on facebook. Why? Well, facebook has a big audience and they like to consume on facebook. So, we started posting comics there, even though we got paid nothing and facebook made money off the free content.

Why? Because back then, once in a while, you would say "also hey, I sell books" or "hey, I'm going to be signing at this event" and your facebook followers would actually see it.

Effectively, the implicit old arrangement was "facebook lets me reach readers efficiently, and I supply facebook with free content they run ads on."

Over time, like a bad business partner, facebook basically made it impossible to reach your audience without *paying them*. Thus, you supply them free content on which they run ads, and you get nothing in exchange.
MARKETING