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Weekly Updates 2/24-3/4/2025

“It is impossible to get better and look good at the same time. Give yourself permission to be a beginner.”​ — Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way


^ AKA still lazy and not spending time to format or create a cohesive logical structure, but posting each week so better than sitting on my hands


Relative structure is: Some quick thoughts, then a few notes from books this year, then Podcasts from this week.


This post is especially bad this week since coming off of a little vacation to PR from Wednesday night-Monday morning - hence the Tuesday night posting.


The trip was an amazing getaway. Great to be back in Rincon for non-work purposes and being able to enjoy the beautiful tropical paradise. Had me reflecting on days past and what my priorities are and were in life. I loved getting in some beach reading, time with nature, and some much needed sun after being inside for most of the past few months. Looking forward to spring and being able to be outdoors more often on the weekends.


Perhaps this weekend if I have extended free time I will work on a synopsis of the January posts and the February posts - a sort of month-end review. I have also been keeping a periodic investment journal as I am starting to work on developing conviction in different ideas, so I will likely include some of those findings in weekly postings and definitely if I am doing monthly synopses.



Books


I have gotten away from reading and listening to books this year which has been a bit sad. However, I was pretty much using the audiobooks as entertainment last year, and podcasts in the past few months have taken over a huge chunk of that time. I have the annual audible membership with all the credits up front, and a bunch of things on my list from the library that I am excited to read.


My reading list has grown so large that it is almost daunting. Tough to sort through which books to read and when to allocate time to books and when to allocate to podcasts or other media.


I will be better about keeping an audiobook and physical book in my rotations so that I can code switch when needed. Sometimes a current event podcast is helpful to understand developing topics




So much information, so little time.


The Hunger Habit: Why We Eat When We're Not Hungry and How to Stop by Judson Brewer

  • Unlike other addictions, you need to eat SOME food. Can't go cold turkey
  • Habits
  • Anxiety - feeding a feeling
  • Weird because when stressed, stop hunger, allocating blood selectively
  • When eating blood goes to stomach, unless there is a reason to panic, blood goes elsewhere - muscles- to handle that situation
  • Food wires cross with mood wires
  • Cant run away so instead pound food
  • Pleasantness of eating food builds a habit, soothes the unpleasant emotions, can disconnect totally from hunger
  • Routines take away any conscious thought
  • Ofc creates reward hierarchies, x better than y y better than z, but the winners are based on a lot of information much of which is evolutionary
  • Focusing on measuring
  • Rebuild the connection with your brain and your body and how you feel and how it feels to be hungry
  • Stress/emotion, habit, or hunger
  • Thoughtfulness and mindfulness
  • Mindful eating
  • Rain method for dealing with the craving monster
  • An analogy of plotting the increasing in cravings, and then reaching the peak, and then if you don’t give in, you will fall down the other side and until you actually do that you have no way of knowing that you can get to the other side, which is the craving subsiding without giving into the temptation Similar to with the OCD things it builds and builds and builds and when you can’t take it anymore, you give in and get relief. You have to let it build and build and build and then experience the relief behavior.
  • What you resist persists, what you feel, heals
  • Curiosity is key
  • Deprivation vs interest Curiosity
  • Destination vs journey
  • Bigger better offer, can genuinely believe new reward is better
  • How we feel impacts how we eat and how we eat impacts how we feel wow
  • Loving kindness meditation
  • Meeting our needs versus feeding our wants

The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

  • No specific notes on this one, was short enough to go back through a physical copy or a PDF and highlight all of the sections and quotes I liked
  • I was unfamiliar with Adlerian psychology before this book
  • I enjoyed the structure of a conversation to present the ideas - similar to the Mr. X Interviews by Luke Gromen
  • “If one really has a feeling of contribution, one will no longer have any need for recognition from others. Because one will already have the real awareness that “I am of use to someone,” without needing to go out of one’s way to be acknowledged by others. In other words, a person who is obsessed with the desire for recognition does not have any community feeling yet, and has not managed to engage in self-acceptance, confidence in others, or contribution to others.”


Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcolm Gladwell

  • Social contagions lack of diversity suppression of individualism
  • The dangers of nuance
  • Harvard rugby
  • Critical mass
  • Quantitative versus qualitative
  • Double speak when you dont quantify


Podcasts


This week was very light on the podcast front, especially relative to the past few weeks where we have been consistently in double digits. Partially because of the time spent on vacation, and partially because of the switch to more audiobooks, this week did not have a lot of pods.


I think there were also far fewer seemingly urgent podcasts to listen to this past week. Sometimes when guests I like are doing a circuit (like Gromen for example) I will listen to several of the episodes to see how their framing and thinking evolves over time. 


This week was really more keeping up with different narratives and stories, nothing too urgent. I spent a lot of time catching up on some things on Twitter as well like different links or threads or clips that I had saved to my bookmarks.


My bookmarks end up being a good source for podcast recommendations, book recommendations, youtube videos, and people to learn more about.


Many exciting projects are on the come!


As with the past several weeks, I have been testing different AI tools and prompts to see what the outputs look like, typically will one-shot it and then see if there are errors to correct or formatting things I don’t like.


I felt this was good enough. I did not have much to add this week by way of notes, so the below is all AI.

1. All In E282: Epstein Files Fallout, AI Regulation Debate, & Market Moves with Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, and David Friedberg

Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HShBo0HjZGhvLjmu0QlWj?si=HO2vUv_BTvqP3w-2gHrtuQ

Takeaways:

  • Epstein Files Reaction: The hosts unpack the latest release of Epstein-related documents, discussing their implications and why the revelations may have fallen short of public expectations.

  • AI Regulation Hot Topic: They debate the pros and cons of regulating artificial intelligence, weighing innovation against ethical and societal risks.

  • Market Trends: The panel analyzes recent economic shifts, offering insights into how investors might navigate an increasingly volatile landscape.

2. Tucker Carlson Today: Luke Gromen - The Dollar’s Decline and the Future of Global Finance

Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3rlhLVzIx5tId9G8NR1KGq?si=8f591f5af52b4d10

Takeaways:

  • Dollar’s Waning Dominance: Luke Gromen analyzes the signs of the U.S. dollar losing its status as the world’s reserve currency, citing debt levels and geopolitical shifts.

  • Global Finance Shifts: He explores how emerging markets and alternative currencies (like gold or crypto) could reshape the financial landscape in the coming decade.

  • Economic Implications: Gromen warns of potential inflation, market volatility, and a reordering of power as nations adapt to a post-dollar world.

3. We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network: TIP700 - Macro Trends and Market Insights with Lyn Alden

Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7xpGf2iEPZocpCMW686fGk?si=a8b1486aa9a4420f

Takeaways:

  • Macroeconomic Trends: Lyn Alden breaks down current economic signals—like interest rates, inflation, and energy markets—offering a clear lens on where the global economy is headed.

  • Investment Strategies: She provides actionable insights for investors, emphasizing diversification and understanding systemic risks in an uncertain market.

  • Technological Impact: Alden ties in how innovations, like blockchain and renewable energy, are influencing financial systems and creating new opportunities.


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