2025 Annual Letter is live: https://t.co/l5KJR9gXUa
1) Fear of Man
2) Role of CEOs and board members
3) Hard look at AI, PE fees, and selling
4) Health update
5) Experiments in generosity
True freedom is freedom to, not freedom from.
Best things in life - family, friends, community - require commitment and accountability.
Freedom is the means, not the end. You can love, or you can be "free," but you cannot be both.
Once had a guy who I had talked with maybe 2-3 times over a 5 year period text me, "I have something important to discuss with you and need your help. When can you be available?"
I texted him back and asked if I could give him a call. He said it was important enough that it needed to be in person.
Immediately my head went to a terminal illness, divorce, or some tragedy. I cleared my calendar and told him that I could meet as soon as he could. He told me he'd be at my office in an hour.
Hour later and I see him walking in with another guy. My mind is racing as to what he might be going through. I'm preparing for the worst.
We sit down and immediately he says, "I joined Aflac and I'm glad we could get together so soon because from what I can tell your employees aren't properly covered in the case of an accident."
The lies we believe about ourselves are often more destructive than the truths we're hiding from. Nobody corrects them because nobody knows we're carrying them. Or, because we've made the cost of honesty too high for anyone to try.