On Investing: "Elevate" - Part 3 of ...

The song Elevate for sure wasn't talking about investing, but bear with me here. It is talking about choosing a side, and in terms of investing, you are picking the companies who you think will win. With investing, though, you have to remember that you can bet on everyone at once, and while sometimes you will lose the battle if an economic cycle, you can still win the overall investment war. Most of my opinions here are based off of The Simple Path to Wealth. (If you disagree, take it up with Mr. Collins or check out a podcast).

You gotta choose a side, you gotta choose a side
You gotta pick
You gotta do what's right or you gonna lose the fight (I gotta elevate)

…

My boy, you better choose a side
I may have lost the battle but I will not lose the war
I can promise you I will not lose this time

On Monday, a stock I held went up 15% in a single day. The next day, it went up another 30%. Killer right?

Unfortunately, the previous Sunday night I had decided to cut my losses with that stock and dump it, putting the selling wheels into motion I probably caught some if the rise of Monday's activity but overall I missed that almost 40% upswing. Whoops.

My point here is that I was choosing a stock that I wanted to be a winner. The stock I'm talking about is the electric vehicle manufacturer NIO. I don't want to get into the details of the company here (this video does a better job of that), but when I bought a few shares, it was more like placing a bet than making an investment. Maybe the bet would hit, maybe it wouldn't. This is not an investment strategy.

NIO stock performance since IPO

If we treated investments like Spider-man chooses being good and fighting evil, we would lose both the battle and the war (eventually).

A better approach is to invest in the fact that there will always be companies battling to be better. In practice, this looks like buying an index fund like:

• Total stock market exchange traded fund - VTI or IWV

• Total market index mutual fund - VTSAX or FSKAX (minimum balance needed)

• Real estate index funds - VGSIX or VNQ or FSNRX

There are also managed funds that I'd say are equivalent to investing on Marvel vs. DC comics. You know the characters (companies) who are involved in each universe, you know the style of the fund managers, but you also pay a premium to have someone else do the thinking for you instead of assembling your own group of companies. Of course there's no guarantee here that either managed fund (Marvel or DC), has any better idea of what they're doing than investing in the whole game itself, but you never know. You could get an Avengers portfolio that lasts for 20 years and makes billions are the fifth reboot of Superman that somehow never takes off.

One of the funds I like in this space, is ARKK. It is a tech-heavy managed fund run by a woman and betting on disruptive Innovation. I like the founder, I like their analysis and I'm willing to sacrifice some investment returns on paying for their time. Overall, though it's still only a small fraction of my investment savings.

ARKK stock performance since IPO

So, if you're new to investing, here we're doing the opposite of what Spider-man has to do. You don't have to pick a side, and the best way not to lose is to bet on the game itself (index fund) rather than choosing a particular company.

In terms of practical steps, i'd do something like this just to get started learning more:

1. Open a Roth IRA if you don't have one already

2. In that IRA, buy shares of an index fund - this should be like 95% if the money you're setting aside assuming you're already contributing to a retirement account

3. Open a brokerage account (account that holds stocks), choose one company you like in an industry you're familiar with. You could use Robinhood or Acorns to be trendy.

4. Periodically follow the financial news about that company. Odds are it will put into context everything that's happening to your bigger index fund holdings, and you will learn more and retain more about investing.

5. In the meantime, keep contributing to the index fund,no matter what the market is doing, you will not have to time highs or lows or choose companies, you're just betting that everyone around you is choosing sides while you sit back and win the war.

On Decisions: "Elevate" - Part 2 of ...

The next installment of breaking down the song “Elevate” is on decisions. Spiderman has to make decisions all the time - listening to the scanner, deciding who to help, deciding who to let in on his secret crime-fighting life. But I think what enthralled me about Spiderman as a kid was his ability to be so care-free,- the way he moves through the skyscrapers of New York makes Spiderman have to trust that there will be another building, another ledge, another flagpole to swing from.

He jumps before he knows the ending, and that’s sometimes what you have to do in making a decision.

Since there's no heroes anymore
Jump out the window, then put the mask on

I feel like I have been at a perpetual crossroads since finishing business school. I have been a good student, because it is a defined path. The semester begins, mid-terms, finals, move on to the next required course. There is a beginning and an end. And before the end, the timeline forces you to make a decision.

The lesson to take from Spiderman is:

1. Jump - this is the step where you say - f*ck it, let’s do this. It could come a few different ways - through careful planning and consideration is a possibility, but to really be effective in this way, that preparation was either the result of a previous failure or the f-it moment is a direct response to a failure. Or, you could just be so inspired that you’re called to create something - a creative work, a business, whatever - you have such a clear vision, that there’s no way not to do it.

2. Put on the Mask - Putting on the mask is the step of backtracking your way through the proper steps. Presenting to yourself to those who are there to call your bluff with the language, presentations and approach they want to hear. Putting on the mask means you have a way you want the world to see you, even if you can’t see yourself that way yet.

Some reflections on decisions from Stephen Covey:

Power is the faculty or capacity to act, the strength and potency to accomplish something. It is the vital energy to make choices and decisions. It also includes the capacity to overcome deeply embedded habits and to cultivate higher, more effective ones.

Power is synonymous with the ability to make decisions, the ability to direct your life in a way that is stronger than habit and the current of everyone else’s decisions.

Not only does making a decision reflect your strength, it also has to reflect your beliefs, which will be a part of you in any situation.

A personal mission statement becomes the DNA for every other decision we make.

I haven’t yet shared my mission statement publicly:

My mission statement

Creatively discover and unlock potential

Anything which detracts from that pursuit I should steer away from. So away I go, jumping first, putting the mask of confidence on, and seeing where the tumble of opportunity brings me.

I see potential in the way people pursue transportation solutions - getting from place to place faster or more efficiently has been proven to help the economy. It does so, because you’re able to get more out of life - in a business sense, this means more productivity. However, in a personal sense, it means doing more of what makes you you. You can visit family, you can develop personal business connection, you can experience a new culture.

Similarly, fitness unlocks your ability to live life better. You can move with ease with the children around you. You can explore nature, be confident in your body’s abilities to lift, jump, run, row, swim and process the food around you without ill effects. Fitness and health are to me, synonymous with potential.

The ability to find projects that excite me and bring them to life in the areas of transportation or fitness are the current career areas where I see my mission statement coming to life. In the future, I want to extend this to my own family, creating wealth (read: potential) and also funding other projects and companies to help others realize their own potential. The creativity will be saved for another post.

So, my take on the steps necessary to make a decision you’ll be able to be confident with are:

1. Decide on your DNA, on your mission statement

2. Do the research you can do, trying to test the things which will be the most difficult - have conversations with people, read, try to sell a version of what you’re thinking about

3. Say f* it and start the thing. Publish the blog, sing the song, enter the business plan competition, sell to someone you don’t know.

4. Figure out the small print. Put on your mask, and fake it, learn, fake it, change your mask, and keep going until the mask isn’t necessary.

The ultimate hero is the one who everyone recognizes and doesn’t have to hide the sides of her life. Superman, Supergirl, Nick Fury, Captain Marvel, Captain America. They have no mask and unlimited possibilities. But first they had to jump.

On Motivation: "Elevate" - Part 1 of ...

The song “Elevate” from the Enter the Spider-Verse Soundtrack is one of those songs that sticks with you. You can use it on a run for some direct motivation, or just feel pumped when you watch the movie and think, “well that was catchy” and move on with your life.

Or, like me, you can over-analyze it to death and take it entirely out of context.

So here we are!

I haven’t written in awhile, and the lyrics of this song are a treasure chest of writing prompts. Like the Hamilton of Animated Feature-Length Superhero Films (TM), the lyric density is huge, and for the next few posts, I’ll break down the lines that mean a lot to me.

I had to get out all alone (alone)
And figure it out on my own (my own)

One of the most frequent questions I get in posting workouts, the occasional recipe and my latest fitness struggle is - “How do I/you/my friend stay motivated?”

We are constantly barraged by our friends’ latest milestone - and we often applaud them, but more often, we make it about ourselves and our own struggles of wondering how to stay motivated. For now, I’ll keep this fitness-related, but it could really apply to anything - learning a language (this is very difficult for me), saving money, building a new habit.

Here are some tips I’ve shared with some friends in the past on how to break through when it feels like you’re going it all alone, figuring it out alone and today it’s just that much harder.

How to Find Motivation

I know it's tough to find motivation sometimes. I don't think there's an easy one-solution-fits-all but here are some things that have helped me and others find joy and a pull to train again.

• Make a list of all the things that you've achieved since starting your fitness routine. Even if you can't hit those numbers on any given day, you're not starting from scratch and you've already come a long way. On a given day, even just being that person who consistently shows up is inspiring. As a CrossFit coach for the past few years, I’m much more impressed with the person who steadily builds for 2-3 years than the person who comes in like a tornado, makes quick progress and then disappears into the wind. Even if you're not feeling inspired on a particular day, you're still firing up those around you.

• I say this with absolutely no shade to your current/previous gym, but try visiting some other gyms. The best chance to do this is when you're traveling and you can be honest about why you're there, but doing so helps you:

  • 1) Appreciate what your home gym has and

  • 2) Help you realize how respond to different types of cues, workouts, people, etc.

• The gyms you visit could be better or worse, but you may have an aha moment about your current situation

• Make a non-fitness goal - going to the gym and focusing on you an hour a day, is probably a great way to get closer to that goal which is independent of CrossFit (you will be healthier, stronger, and more equipped to handle whatever life throws at you)

• Make fitness goal - this was a good podcast about goal setting

  • Long term - what do you want to achieve? Focus on the why, not necessarily the goal. Write this down.

  • Short term - what incremental steps will get you there?

  • Likely stumbling blocks - you know yourself, and where you’ve tripped up in the past. How can you set up your life to make this trip-ups as hard as possible to stumble into?

  • Process - what excites you about the process of achieving this goal?

• Take a weekend fitness class - it could be the CrossFit Level 1, it could be a Weightlifitng seminar. Choose something you're interested in. The beauty of the classes isn't necessarily the knowledge taught, it's the passion of the people teaching that is infectious.

• If work or something else in your non-gym life is weighing on you, think about how to address it. It's totally understandable if gym motivation goes down the tubes if you're super stressed or not enjoying the other parts of your day.

• Learn and play new sports - try something new, or revisit an old sport/dance. If you start to see your time in the gym as a chance to improve at something you're really passionate about, it starts to make a whole lot more sense. For me, I hate stretching and mobility work. It wasn't until I realized that gymnastics skills are a natural result of mobility work that I could actually stretch somewhat consistently (not to say that I don't still hate it some days).

• Visit a friend's workout class - see above, bring the fun and social aspect into the gym. Try Barre, Soulcycle, Corepower, Orangetheory, Bikram, whatever the latest craze. It's really hard to always have fun dragging yourself to a small 6AM class in the dark. I get it. Choose a day a week to make it fun and something to look forward to.

• Bring a friend to the gym who doesn’t normally go - you will realize just how much you know, and there's nothing like a beginner to give a fresh perspective on what is different about your gym and what there is to look forward to

• Find inspiration elsewhere - If you're fired up outside of fitness stuff, it will translate to fitness. Listen to hard rock, Oprah, podcasts. Write/read a book. Make a collage of instagram quotes on your pinterest board. Go for a hike, see some nature. Find some beauty in the world. Worst case, you get fired up in another area of your life.

• Build some momentum - pick a number - 3, 5, 7, 15 days. And no matter how you feel, no matter what else is going on. Get to the gym. If you get that number, choose a new number. Make a visual representation of it, and cross it off each day. Doing something every day makes a difference. Give yourself a small reward at each milestone.

• Realize that doing any of the above is a choice. You don't have to go to the gym, you don't have to do Romwod. You don't have to wake up early. It's a choice, you get to do all these things. Celebrate being healthy, not having an injury, being able to pay for a gym membership, having a partner or friends who supports you in all these things.

I'm not saying that doing any of the above will flip a switch and get you to that motivation rainbow, but maybe one thing will help shake off the covers one extra day this week. And that's a start.