Underrated life advice: Make yourself easy to root for. Be kind. Be reliable. Celebrate other people’s wins. Work hard without complaining. Carry good energy into rooms. You'll be shocked by how many doors open for you by making life better for others.
I've been reading about Hannibal and Scipio. Hannibal was arguably the greatest battlefield tactician who ever lived — and he lost to a man who studied him obsessively, mapped his constraints, and refused to bluff. Scipio did the unglamorous work. He war-gamed every scenario. Then he executed.
I went through a humiliating episode recently.
I walked into a high-stakes situation overconfident about where the challenge would come from. I was wrong. They came from angles I hadn't prepared for, and I knew it in the room.
No amount of composure covers that gap when it opens up. It stung. But it taught me something I thought I already knew. Confidence is not a strategy. Making the unknown well known is.
Most people rely on bluff and bluster because deep preparation is harder than it looks. I've been guilty of that too.
The reminder I'm carrying forward: study the full terrain, not just the parts you're comfortable in. Scenario-plan rigorously. And whatever you learn — put it into practice. Knowledge you don't use is just decoration.
Grand strategy isn't only for war. It's for every room you walk into.
Suppose that once a week, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay £1.
The sixth would pay £3.
The seventh would pay £7.
The eighth would pay £12.
The ninth would pay £18.
And the tenth man (the richest) would pay £59.
So, that’s what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every week and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until, one day, the owner caused them a little problem.
“Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your weekly beer by £20.”
Drinks for the ten men would now cost just £80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.
So the first four men were unaffected.
They would still drink for free but what about the other six men?
The paying customers? How could they divide the £20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?
They realized that £20 divided by six is £3.33, but if they subtracted that from everybody’s share then not only would the first four men still be drinking for free but the fifth and sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fairer to reduce each man’s bill by a higher percentage.
They decided to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.
And so, the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (a 100% saving).
The sixth man now paid £2 instead of £3 (a 33% saving).
The seventh man now paid £5 instead of £7 (a 28% saving).
The eighth man now paid £9 instead of £12 (a 25% saving).
The ninth man now paid £14 instead of £18 (a 22% saving).
And the tenth man now paid £49 instead of £59 (a 16% saving).
Each of the last six was better off than before with the first four continuing to drink for free.
But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got £1 out of the £20 saving,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got £10!“
“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a £1 too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!”
“That’s true!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get £10 back, when I only got £2? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison, “we didn’t get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!”
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next week the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him.
But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important – they didn’t have enough money between all of them to pay for even half of the bill!
And that’s how it works.
Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy and they just might not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
I'm 58.
If you want to retire early, please read this:
1) Pay off all high interest debt.
Don't invest in stocks for an 8-10% return.
You can get a guaranteed 25% return by paying off your high interest debt.
2) Build an emergency fund.
Put aside 3-6 months worth of living expenses to fall back on should any emergencies come up.
You’ll have peace of mind while avoiding going into debt to pay off any unexpected expenses.
3) Define your freedom figure.
Use the X25 rule to find out how much you’ll need:
> Find out how much you want to make per year without working, e.g. $50k.
> Multiply it by 25 = $1.25 million dollars.
Now you can withdraw 4% per year without running out.
4) Make use of tax advantaged accounts
Of all the expenses, taxes can sting the most and take the biggest bite out of your money.
You should make use of tax advantaged accounts, like the Roth IRA in the US and the ISA in the UK.
Try to fill your allowance each year!
5) Build multiple income streams.
Working for a set wage, no matter how big, is risky.
You could lose your job, the stock market could crash, but you're still supported by your other income streams if you have them.
6) Create passive income.
I always say that no income is truly passive.
But the idea is to get your money working for you, instead of selling your time...
So start looking into ways to generate passive income through your investments!
Which step are you on in your retirement journey?
If you enjoyed this post, follow me @marktilbury and repost it to share it with a friend.
They've told me I can give away N1 million for @hisanigeria and @HisaApp to let people know that the new app is almost here.
I want to make it very simple. I'm going to give N100,000 to 10 people. Here's how to win.
1. You need to follow both @hisanigeria and @HisaApp
2. You need to tag 3 friends who you know should be investing more and ask them to follow both pages too.
3. Repost this tweet. I'll announce one winner every day for the next 10 days.
#InvestWithHisa #ABetterTradingExperience 🚀🚀🚀
@Risevest Again, why regulating your expenses is essential, the question stresses inflationary pressures that hamper cash flow plans, hence the need to manage the cash flow to still be competitive enough to manage your future expenses. You may also switch NGN to currencies that are stable
@Risevest Invest in assets that match or can surpass inflation like switching NGN to aggressive earnings locally. The other alternative would be to convert your NGN to USD and invest in equally high earning investments like RISEVEST Re or FI etc
@Oritsega All health workers are trained on a clear process for all health care scenarios. Appropriate sanctions are meted to erring health institutions. Regular checks including mystery shopping are done to ensure the process is working, while ridding non-conforming personnel.
@Oritsega Good take, Gbubemi. Perhaps, if hospitals are aware their primary mandate is to save lives, hence no patient will be turned back or referred elsewhere until first aid is done or/and confirmations are received from the receiving institution.
What is the purpose of friendship?
My wife sent me a video of @Trevornoah and @simonsinek exploring the dynamics of friendship, and it was deep!! She sent it to her close-knit friend group from school and reminded them that they should hang out more, and a friend asked why.
What a season. The speaker wants to jail anyone who speaks ill of a politician. The National Assembly continues to lie about what they draw as emoluments for themselves from their employers, the people. So let the people who want to know be sent to jail. Do they realize that taking what belongs to another without permission is stealing. Can the police please do their job and arrest the NA members and prosecute for stealing. If they fail the people should seek to recall the NA beginning with the Senate President and Speaker.
Let it not be said I did not warn about state capture, creeping Fascism and the criminal hijack of politics in Nigeria’ Just part of the subtitle of a book I wrote six years ago. The slide to Fascist dictatorship is all around us and we treat it the way the Germans treated it until it consumed them in WWII