In around five days’ time, the Rask platform as we know it will change. I’ll tell you more about the exciting stuff this coming Thursday. Watch this space.
In the meantime, here are four little life lessons I wish I had known sooner.
Tell me yours in the secure and safe Rask community.
Who cares wins
I think most people don’t care enough…
Sally plays netball on the weekend. She enjoys it. But she doesn’t really try hard when the whistle blows. She’s never won a Best & Fairest, though people tell her she’s good enough.
Beth has worked at H&M for three years as an assistant store manager. She doesn’t like her job that much. Because of that, she doesn’t think too hard about pushing ahead – even though she invests 37.5 hours + travel time each week. She’s content with accepting whatever pay rise or opportunity her boss thinks is appropriate.
Ben is a plumber who fell into it because his dad encouraged him. He’s never got his roofing ticket, as it requires a lot of night school, even though he knows he’ll make more money over the next 40 years. He’s got a long weekend coming up.
~~~
A few years ago I realised that most people don’t care that much.
In life (money and relationships), work or even in their business. Most people are looking for the easy wins. It’s probably because they’re not being intentional with their time, money and effort.
Since launching Rask in 2017 I’ve told myself: as long as we care more than anyone else, we will win.
If we care more about our community, we will win. If we care more about our advice, we will win. If we care more about each investor, we will win.
Saul Bass, the famous American graphic designer, once said, “I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares.”
Imagine the plumber who wanted to lay the best pipe, even if it would be covered in dirt. That’s the guy I want to work on my house. He’s the one who will win.
Changing places.
Steve Sammartino, futurist and founder, came on our network in 2023 and told us to, “change places”.
If you don’t like something, the simplest thing you can do, according to Steve, is to change places. Why?
For one, “the perception of the rooms you’re in, changes where people think you’re at.”
Second, it gets you into environments that lead to better outcomes.
For example, if you want to lose weight – go to the gym.
Literally. Stand up. Jump in the car. And go to the gym. Even if you’re not a member.
You’ll find more healthy people in the car park of a gym, then on the couch!
I challenge you to think about two healthier places you can physically put yourself this week (at the time this email is sent, I’ll be part-way through my half marathon).
You are the average of the five people closest to you.
In the past week, who are the people you have spent the most time with?
(If you’re working, like me, perhaps make two lists – one for personal life, one for work.)
When I was younger, I invested a lot of time with some rough people. Blokes that ended up in jail.
Though I was young, I knew I needed to:
a) change places, and
b) think more carefully about who I invested my time in.
Most of us carry ‘baggage’ in the form of nasty family members (who we often try to change) or maintain friendships that don’t produce a return (often out of fear of loneliness).
Don’t delay it – cut them now. And cut them quickly.
It’s not as hard as it seems. And they probably won’t even notice.
Surrounding yourself with five people who challenge you to live a better life, is far better than any financial investment you could ever make.
Find kind and thoughtful people. The respectful and open-minded. And cut the dead wood – it allows the rest to grow faster.
Stay away from negative people, they find a problem to every solution.
Life throws you enough obstacles as it is.
Relationship breakdowns, cancer, finances, illness, mental health challenges…
To then have people in your life who are pessimistic, cynical or close-minded, makes it multiples harder than it needs to be.
While we sometimes have to put up with these people (e.g. family). And they often have good reason to be negative (past experiences, childhood trauma, etc.). You need to recognise it. Understand it’s not your job to change them. Then limit your exposure.
Otherwise, it becomes infectious.
The world is a wonderful place. And it’s probably never been safer, richer, more educated and equal across genders.
What about Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Gaza, Trump, global warming, the stock market, property prices…
As the late Hans Rosling once said, “things can be bad, and getting better.”
But you wouldn’t believe that if you bookmark MSN, The Daily Mail, Herald Sun, CNN or other follow cynically-minded people on social media.
This is why I choose to bookmark Gapminder and never consume information from traditional news sources.
It’s the opposite of what a long-term investor is trying to do – putting aside the noise and being optimistic that humanity’s best days lay ahead of us.
Let me know your rules for living a better life in the Rask community.
Owen Rask