Business
I’m a huge fan of Howard Marks. He often references the concept of “winning the loser’s game” by avoiding errors rather than looking for huge wins. In tennis, professionals win with unreturnable shots and amateurs win by keeping the ball in play. Charlie Munger uses a similar framework: inversion. He focuses on not going where he will die. In physical training, Christian Thibaudeau promotes a similar idea for “natural” lifters (as opposed to those using performance-enhancing drugs). Cortisol—the stress/readiness hormone is the enemy of the natural lifter because it can promote a variety of counterproductive sequences in the body. So the goal is to structure a program that sidesteps the problems from high stress levels in order to perform at peak levels. I believe that the body and the mind are one. Physical realities can change our mental state, and our thinking can change our physiology. To perform at our best, we need to use all our tools. Similar to what Thibaudeau says about sidestepping cortisol for physical performance, I think we can use a similar strategy to make life easy so that we can perform our best. We can do that by embracing simple joys and avoiding suffering. But I want to take a quick moment to explain what I’m NOT saying. There’s a reason Navy SEALs essentially torture their incoming pipeline of prospects. The ability to endure hardship is critical. I’m not saying that we should all sit on the couch chasing fleeting pleasure at the expense of critical day-to-day tasks and long-term strategic pursuits. I’m saying that there are cheap, untapped resources all around us that can help us recover so that we can operate at the highest levels. I’m talking about simple joys, the natural ways that we can soothe and rejuvenate ourselves—recharging for our next push forward. The problem is that many physical pleasures can be traps—pathways to pile on physical debt by trading misery tomorrow for euphoria today. This includes everything addictive—drugs, alcohol, sugar, technology, and the list goes on. Things that are expensive, things that downgrade your decision-making, and things that otherwise erode your future goals. These aren’t what I’m talking about. We should mostly avoid things in this category. If you can handle moderation, I think the phrase “everything in moderation—including moderation” makes sense. But there’s also a huge list of simple, cheap, sustainable physical pleasures that don’t hurt us in the future. Sunlight, exposure to the blue sky, the mild post-workout euphoria, a cold or warm shower (depending on the season), a nap, a full night’s sleep, a moment of mental rest from meditation, a simple stretch, a short walk, a moment of laughter from stand-up comedy. These are all examples of nearly costless ways to fight stress and its depleting, destructive, gradual erosion. So the question of the week is simple: what can I do for 5 minutes to enjoy a simple, natural pleasure and unplug from the world of worry and stress? So that does it for this episode. I hope it unearths some threads to pull. If you’re interested in show notes or supporting the podcast, check out strategychainpodcast.com. If you want to get in touch with me, you can find me on social media @strategychain. So until next time—thank you. Strategy Chain Links Rate and review the podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/strategy-chain/id1492935567 Find Amazon affiliate links at http://strategychainpodcast.com/support Send me questions at http://strategychainpodcast.com/contact Sign up for the email list at http://strategychainpodcast.com/ Social Media @strategychain (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Medium)