One Quote:

"The most effective way to do it, is to do it." - Amelia Earhart

If you want to achieve great things, flip the traditional model on its head:

• Old Way: Learn —> Do
• New Way: Do —> Learn

Just get started.

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One Framework:

Telic vs. Atelic Activities

Telos is a Greek word meaning purpose, end, or goal.

From this root, philosophers have conceptualized that there are two types of activities in life:

• Telic: Activities with a purpose, end, or goal.
• Atelic: Activities with no purpose, end, or goal.

Telic activities have a desired end in mind. Atelic activities do not—they are done in the abstract, for their own sake, and with no fixed time or purpose.

As Khe Hy points out in this piece, traditional thinking would suggest that atelic activities are not productive or valuable, whereas telic activities are.

This traditional thinking leads to a several flawed behavioral patterns:

• We feel a deep guilt for engaging in periods of rest, solitude, or free time. That creeping dread as we linger a bit too long in bed with our spouse and children, the sense that we need to start moving when we stop and stare at some birds for too long, or the stress that arises from an afternoon snooze in that lasted a bit too long.
• We prioritize the urgent (and consistently believe everything is far more urgent than reality). I once swerved off the highway to answer an email from my boss that I believed was truly urgent. The hold that the illusion of urgency has over us is insane.
• We desire to be busy, because it makes us feel good about ourselves. Busyness has become the modern day flex—but it's a trap. We embrace busyness because it feels like progress, when more often than not it is movement for movement's sake.
• We keep ourselves on a treadmill of progress and achievement. The completion of each telic activity simply moves us into the start of the next one. We never leave space for liminal moments, because the stillness terrifies us.

As I've written about in several issues recently, it's time we fight back against this traditional thinking.

We need to embrace atelic activities—not for the progress they may create (though I would argue they do!), but for their own sake.

A few ideas for you this weekend:

• Take that walk. Ditch the business book on tape, the mindset podcast, and the pump up music. Just walk.
• Savor a moment of sweetness. The next time you experience a moment of bliss, pause and savor it. Think about the smells, the tastes, the feelings of the moment. Kurt Vonnegut captured the sentiment best: "If this isn't nice, then what is?"
• Lie in bed 10 minutes longer than feels comfortable. It will pain you to do it, but it starts to break your deeply-embedded patterns.
• Sit in a room alone. Don't do anything for 30 minutes. Reclaim the glory of boredom.

I'd love to hear from you:

• Have you felt the guilt associated with rest or free time?
• What atelic activities will you prioritize in your life?

Reply to this email or tweet at me @SahilBloom and I'll try to reply to everyone!

P.S. I'm planning to write a deeper dive on the topic of the Paradox of Boredom (how boredom, stillness, and solitude paradoxically do create immense value and progress). If you're interested in seeing it, reply YES to this email.

One Tweet:

Continuing with the theme: This was a very cool thread on more Ancient Greek perspectives on time.

A few miscellaneous thoughts it sparked:

• Elevated Moments: Kairos refers to the moments in life that have elevated importance or stature relative to most. These are the moments where we seem to have a heightened awareness of being.
• Friction & Kairos: I started thinking about how friction is what creates elevated moments—friction and Kairos go hand in hand. Smooth, easy moments tend to pass by without a thought, but the textured, difficult moments are held and feel long and memorable. Perhaps the key to extending our perception of time is to embrace more texture and friction in our lives.
• Wheel of Time: This thread also reminded me of the Ancient Indian concept of the Wheel of Time, which says that time simply goes through cycles of creation, destruction, and rebirth. I've often thought about that as a metaphor for our own pursuits and ambitions.

I think a lot about time, in particular how it can be stretched, condensed, and leveraged more effectively in our lives. Harnessing time feels like magic once you internalize the principles around it.

I'll plan to write a future deep dive on my frameworks around time. If you're interested in receiving this, reply "YES" to this email.

One Article:

​Should You Invest More After the Market Declines?​

This is a data-backed piece breaking down whether it makes sense to double down on your investing when markets pull back from their highs.

For as long as I can remember, my public market investment strategy has been painfully boring:

1. Own a small number of low cost, diversified ETFs (all Vanguard for me since they have low expense ratios).
2. Execute an automated buy of a small amount of each one every single Monday.
3. Selectively execute a manual buy on bigger drops where I smell opportunity.

My rationale is simply that I don't have the time, necessary skills, or particular interest in surfacing individual stocks that represent attractive opportunities, so I go with the easy, proven, dollar-cost-averaging strategy.

(Note: This is not investment advice, but honestly, the above would serve the vast majority of people quite well!)

This article is really putting my logic around #3 to the test.

The data for the S&P 500 does seem to suggest that it's worth increasing your investments during periods of *large* drawdowns. Spoiler Alert: It's even more pronounced when you look at the All Country World Index excluding the U.S.

Worth five minutes of your time if you're interested in markets or investing.

One Podcast:

ReThinking with Adam Grant: Mark Cuban

This is a new podcast series from Adam Grant that is sure to become a regular listen for me. The first discussion with Mark Cuban was a great one.

A few of my favorite insights:

• On Capitalism: I loved the way Mark spoke about capitalism as being about choice. "Capitalism isn't just about trying to make as much money as you can. Capitalism is the opportunity to get the outcomes that you want that give you personal reward. It could be making as much money as possible, having the greatest amount of impact in one way or another and losing as much money as possible. You have that opportunity. It's just, you get to make that choice. And to me, that's what makes capitalism the best system."
• On Time: He hits on something I think about often with respect to time and how remote/hybrid work have created an arbitrage opportunity. "You know, the future of work is an arbitrage in your time. I've been saying that for years, you know, where it's effectively, how much can I get paid per hour per job, whatever it may be. And then how can I effectively use that money to, and arbitrage that money to get people to do things for me that cost less so I have the most time fungible time available to myself. That's effectively what we try to do in our lives."
• On Passion: Mark talks about how "follow your passion" is the worst career advice he has ever gotten. "Follow your efforts. No one quits anything they're good at. If I followed my passions, I'd be still trying to play professional basketball."

Definitely worth your time!

Listen to it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.​

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