Cold and heat come and go, when will it end? Time flows like water. Life is like drifting clouds, why seek anything beyond ourselves? The moon in the sky, the pavilion by the water, let us drink to our hearts' content. In blissful solitude
The seasons cycle endlessly, but time rushes by like flowing water. My life drifts like fleeting clouds—so why chase after worldly gains? Beneath the bright moon, by the waterside pavilion, let me raise a cup and toast to this very moment. Drunk in contentment
Read a broad range of material. How can you know what you’re really interested in if you’re not at least doing a broad, light exploration of the knowledge landscape?—Elon
As Marcus Aurelius said:
“Accept the things to which fate binds you and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.”
Entrepreneurs most important assets:
1: Their brain and dedication to life long learning.
2: Their team of advisors.
Who is on your team of advisors?
Do you have?
1: Book keeper for accurate numbers
2: Accountant
3: Attorney
4: Marketing manager
5: Product developer
6: Banker
7: Gold and silver broker.
8: Stock and bond broker.
“No man is an island,” except in school… where cooperation is called “cheating” and mistakes are punished….which is why most teachers are poor.
As Marcus Aurelius said:
“Accept the things to which fate binds you and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.”
A team of advisors will outperform the solitary genius…and I love my team with all my heart. They’ve been with me for years…even when I was poor, shifting from employee to entrepreneur.
That is why:
Rich entrepreneurs choose their advisors carefully and love them with all their heart.
Who are your advisors?
If you don’t have a team of advisors….yet, use my list as a guide and start interviewing.
Don’t be a school teacher who knows all the answers and does not cheat or make mistakes.
Take care
Exploration is part of who we are.
Back to the Moon. Building a Moon Base. Unlocking water ice. Expanding humanity’s reach into the cosmos.
The future is closer than ever.
Elon Musk on his advice for young people:
Lex Fridman asks: What advice would you give to young people who want to do something big in this world?
"Try to be useful. Do things that are useful to your fellow human beings... to the world. It's very hard to be useful. Very hard."
He continues:
"Are you contributing more than you consume? Can you try to have a positive net contribution to society? That's the thing to aim for. Not to try to be a leader for the sake of being a leader. A lot of times the people you want as leaders... are the people who don't want to be leaders."
Musk concludes:
"If you live a useful life... that is a good life. A life worth having lived."
On learning:
"I'd encourage people to read a lot of books. Basically try to ingest as much information as you can. Try to develop a good general knowledge... so you at least have a rough lay of the land of the knowledge landscape."
He explains:
"Try to learn a little about a lot of things. Because you might not know what you're really interested in. How would you know what you're really interested in if you aren't at least doing peripheral exploration of the knowledge landscape? Talk to people from different walks of life... different industries and professions and skills. Learn as much as possible."
On finding your path:
"Try to find something where there's an overlap of your talents and what you're interested in. People may have skill at a particular thing but they don't like doing it. You want to find a thing where it's a good combination of things you're inherently good at... but you also like doing."
On reading the encyclopedia:
"As a kid I read through the encyclopedia. That's pretty helpful. I learned about things I didn't even know existed. It's as broad as it gets."
His recommendation:
"Maybe read through the condensed version of the Encyclopedia Britannica. I'd recommend that. You can always skip subjects. You read a few paragraphs and you're not interested... just jump to the next one."
On zero-sum thinking:
"When we see people... including some very smart people... taking an attitude that seems morally questionable... it's often because they have at a base axiomatic level a zero-sum mindset. And they don't realize it consciously."
He explains:
"If you have a zero-sum mindset... the only way to get ahead is by taking things from others. If the pie is fixed, the only way to have more pie is to take someone else's pie. But this is false. Obviously the pie has grown dramatically over time."
The danger:
"If you're operating from a zero-sum mindset without realizing it... that's going to result in you trying to take things from others. Which is not good. It's much better to work on adding to the economic pie. Creating more than you consume."