I was on a run the other day when I started to observe a dialogue in my head. I’ve been practicing Eastern Philosophy and Mindfulness for several years, and observing the mind is one of the skills I’ve learned to gain peace of mind.

We all have a voice inside of our heads that seems to commentate on everything it sees. It also loves to criticize you or push you to go after things it desires. Things like more food, money, sex, alcohol, drugs, travel, entertainment.

Here’s the dialogue I observed on my run:

“Damn, it’s cold for May. It’s…

My brother, Daniel, who’s seven years younger than I am, told me the other day that he doesn’t feel like investing because he can’t invest a lot of money. So I said, let’s do some calculations. I’ll show that you can become a millionaire by investing small amounts of money.

My goal is to destroy one of the biggest myths of wealth-building which is that you can only get rich by investing big lumps of money Here’s where it comes from. Let’s say you want to start investing in an S&P 500 index fund. …

Jesse Livermore is considered the best stock trader in history. He was the inspiration for one of the most famous books on trading, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, published in 1923. He was a true pioneer of stock trading and brought his profession to a new level in the early 21st century by dedicating his whole life to trading.

His habits were unique for his time. He had laser focus from 9:30 a.m., when the market opened, until 4 p.m., when the final bell rang. …

Writing is only 10% execution. The rest of it is strategy. And one big part of writing strategy is listening.

If you become a listener, I guarantee you will become a better writer by simply becoming more aware of your surroundings. Too many writers are focused on the wrong things.

When I started, I spent a lot of time looking at what other writers did. I looked at their websites, social media, and the stuff they wrote about. If I wasn’t doing that, I was probably looking at my stats.

As if looking at the number of weekly new subscribers…

Stoic Letter 24

Growing up, I often heard stuff like, “You can be anything you want!” And that motivated me to do well in school, to take care of my body, and to dedicate time and energy to building a career. The idea that you and I can do anything we want is very inspiring, but it’s also false.

Another thing I often heard was, “You’re the director of your own movie!” That’s supposed to motivate you to take matters into your own hands, to be the maker of your own life. While there’s some wisdom in that, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus had…

Stoic Letter 23

I took a few days off last week because I wanted to rest. It’s something I learned from Dale Carnegie. He writes in How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, “Rest before you are tired.” It’s a great piece of advice for avoiding burnout. But for most of my career, I used to wait to take a break until I was already tired and running on fumes. It’s like drinking water when you’re thirsty. The way to avoid thirst is to stay hydrated. It’s the same thing when it comes to resting your body. …

Stoic Letter 22

One of the good things about the pandemic was that we quickly got used to being on our own. It was a forced exercise in self-reliance. When you spend most of your time at home, often the result is that you look at what you want to get out of your days. It’s a good way to live because you’re focusing on what you control.

But as more and more things are getting back to normal this year, we’re starting to look outwardly again. And when we do that, we automatically start comparing ourselves to others. Have you noticed this…

Stoic Letter 21

I recently caught up with Mike, a former co-worker I used to be very close with. We hadn’t talked for three years, but it felt like only yesterday since the last time we met up in London. After our call, I got in a bit of a reflective mood.

Mike and I started our jobs seven years ago on the same day. That’s how we became friends; two hungry guys who were trying to climb the corporate ladder. A year and some change later, I left the job to pursue a writing career. But he kept at it. Sometimes you…