9 Lessons on Life, Finance, and Growth
333: 32 Years Around the Sun
Morning kings, lords, and queens — hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend.
There will be an extensive amount of news updates and market developments to cover this week and we will get to those as the week goes on, including an interview on Risk On with the founder of Zyn Coin dropping tomorrow.
Today though wanted to provide a follow up to our top read edition of Arb Letter, 10 Ways to Improve Your Life.
I turned 32 this weekend. First birthday besides 30 where I would say I started to feel a bit of the heat in terms of getting older. Still young compared to others, but now at a point where the 20’s are well in the rear view mirror and I am getting into some of the older years where most people are expected to have their shit figured out or at least be moving in that direction.
When I started Arbitrage Andy I was 23 and single in NYC. Crazy how fast time goes. Now I have a family and live in the suburbs.
Today is a refreshed list of the most important lessons/concepts that I have learned over the years. Hopefully for those younger this provides some good references and color on ways you can make your own life better, for those older might be a good gut check in terms of what you are choosing to focus on.
These touch on all facets of life — finance, work, family, personal goals, and more. It’s a list that I am cycling through in my head as I reflect on 32 years. My personal journey and pieces of it that I have shared in Arb Letter and Arbitrage Andy over the years is typical and not typical — attended a top school, was a college athlete, worked in trading for about 4 years, then cut my teeth on financial technology sales, and ran a business alongside those jobs for 8+ years now.
I won’t be a career corporate guy — that much I have figured out, as I value sovereignty, freedom, and working on my own pursuits more. This won’t be the case for everybody, but hopefully my experience is varied enough to be valuable to a wide range of readers. As I take stock of where I have been and where I want to be moving forward there are a handful of traits, values, qualities that I want to keep in mind.
If you guys are looking for a gut check or reference to see where you might want to be improving or tweaking your efforts in life, this will be a great list of things to keep in mind depending on what you want.
My perspective is unique but hopefully there will be enough for others to relate to or find value in.
1. Send it in Your Twenties
In your twenties it’s easy for everything to be a blur, you are getting pulled in a bunch of different directions, there’s always something to do, your energy is high, and you have a more idealic view of the world generally (this is an advantage).
You can re-invent yourself multiple times in this life, your twenties should be a time when you get as much exposure as you can to different jobs, relationships, lifestyle, etc. Obviously you can venture too far into Mordor if you aren’t mindful, but generally speaking it’s the best time to put the pedal to the floor — particularly in business or a potential career.
Things I did in my twenties that I don’t regret:
Traveled internationally
Tried a few different jobs
Lived with college friends
Worked in different cities
Poured extra time in side hustles
Dated, didn’t pass on social opportunities despite crammed schedule
Went on a handful of benders
Walked out of job (s)
Spent time on hobbies
The money that I earned and saved through hard work in my twenties forms the base layer of my portfolio today and allows me to spend more time doing what I actually want to do. You aren’t going to be AS keen to make cold calls, travel to client meetings, stay in the office until 8pm or later, etc. when you are in your 30’s and 40’s, chiefly because you could have a family at this point, but also because you won’t have as much energy as you do in your 30’s.
As you become more jaded it is difficult to spend time doing things you don’t want to, even more so as you get older.
Much easier to get a 22 year old to do meaningless bureaucratic work than it is a 32 year old.
It’s a fine balancing act between making sure you’re having a good amount of fun AND refining skills that will give you flexibility later on in life.
Everyone knows the burnt out 29 year old who wasted all of his twenties partying, doing hard drugs, or traveling endlessly. Not an ideal place to be in. The end goal of your twenties should be to hone in on what you enjoy AND more importantly what you are good at. Social experiences help you triangulate what you want in relationships, work experience helps you figure out what you want to spend your time doing.
It’s a balancing act — gaining enough experience to become more wise, but not letting yourself slip to far into the abyss to the point you cannot clamber back out and reorient yourself.
"Your twenties are your selfish years. It's a decade to immerse yourself in every single thing possible and figure out what you’re good at and what you love."
— Kyoko Escamilla