Life’s priorities change in phases. Infants are preoccupied with absorbing as much information about the world around them as they can. Children simply want to have fun. Teenagers want to understand who they are. When you reach your 20s, and enter the world of work, the ultimate flex tends to be wealth; or at least the perception of wealth. This phenomenon is exacerbated via modern-day online personas. I worked since I was 14, but I will never forget the excitement when my first official paycheck came in for my first “serious” job. Hate it or love it, money becomes more of a focal point in everyone’s life at this age; a notion that would seem absurd to your 12-year-old self. Traditional wants and desires evolve from learning and fun to careers, cars, houses, travel, marriage, etc. For most people, progression along this spectrum is the ultimate vehicle for demonstrating that you are doing well to others.
The ultimate flex as you evolve into your 40s is health; something often taken for granted by young ’uns. There are probably many 40+ year-olds still obsessed with wealth; you can have both. However, the number of physically fit adults as a percentage of the population declines with each birthday. Eventually, there comes a time when you’d sacrifice anything to replenish the finite resource that is health. If you are fortunate to have health, it’s not something you think about often in most cases, until you are forced to. It’s been something I’ve been thinking about a lot more as I age; as I suspect many do. I am approaching my late 20s. Besides noticing that my metabolism is a little slower, and my body aches a little more after a round of badminton, I am fortunate to have avoided any major health issues. But life has the habit of reminding us of its fragility. A natural condemnation of migrating into adulthood is the adults that surrounded you as a child also age. You begin to see the importance of health through the eyes of others. In the last year, my uncle tragically passed. It was sudden and unexpected. He was healthy and relatively young. Now a mother and two sons are without a father. Siblings are without a brother. A mother is without a son. More recently, two of my grandparents had severe health complications, but are thankfully still with us.
Nothing makes life pass quicker than watching children grow up. My eldest sibling now has a two-year-old child. The youngest of my siblings is now 19 years old. It’s humbling to remind myself that, despite it feeling not so long ago, I ceased to be 19 years old 8 years ago. I am quite certain that novelty is a welcome antidote to this feeling of time acceleration. In recent years, I have travelled to India on several occasions. This environment was so foreign to me, so exciting, and created such an appetite for my curiosity. Everything was new. During my first-ever trip, I stayed for a little over a month. I remember feeling that it was the longest month of my life. Every day felt like it was twice as long. Not because it dragged like a 4-hour move with a weak plot. But because I felt noticeably more present. You don’t need to travel across the globe to have this sensation. I have a friend who often hosts evening get-togethers. There has never been a repeat guest on any occasion I have attended. He has a skill for acquiring groups of strangers, putting them in a room together, and creating a fun environment. The novelty slows things down and removes any sense of being on autopilot. I researched this phenomenon and wrote about it last year.
“As our understanding of the world develops, most of the things we do are no longer novel. The way we perceive time is affected by how much new information our brains are processing. When we are young, the world is full of new things to learn and experience, so time seems to pass slowly. As we get older, we become more familiar with the world around us, and time seems to pass more quickly. This is commonly enhanced by the fact that some people actively avoid stimulation that is outwith their comfort zones later in life - When you settle into a routine, weeks fly by faster because you are acting under the command of the subconscious. If you are fortunate enough, you will never get bored with your job. If you are more fortunate still; you will dictate how, and when, you work”.
Slowing Down: Why novelty improves our perception of time
Iris Apfel, a legendary designer and woman, lived until the age of 102. She sadly passed away this year, but was known for her youthful spirit. At age 96, she attributed her longevity and energy to “Having a sense of wonder, a sense of humour, and a sense of curiosity - these are my tonic”. I touch on this topic today for no other reason than to remind you not to take life too seriously. Take your work seriously, but not yourself. Too often I see people exert themselves in trivial arguments online, with people they’ve never met, who harbour opinions you really shouldn’t care about. As much as I think passion in the investing game is critical, investing isn’t everything. And you have to be selective in what you give your precious time and focus to. Arguing with strangers isn’t one of them. They say that in investing a benefit the individual investor holds is that they can tune out the market, while an institutional investor likely can’t afford to.
The advice often goes “focus on the variables you have control over instead of the ones you don’t”. In this context, the research process, the securities you pick, the allocation style, and the mentality; these are things you can control. The macro, the mainstream media’s chatter, the daily fluctuation of stock prices, the half-baked opinions of others; these are things you can’t.
We have greater control over our mentality and portfolio than we do external factors people often associate with “Mr Market”. We have greater control over our health and well-being than we do our portfolios.
If you are reading this within ~10 hours of this article going live, then I am somewhere in the skies heading to Miami; seeking novelty. I’ll be there for a week, and due to my schedule, may struggle to post anything this coming week.
Thanks for reading,
Conor
Love your paragraph on "Slowing Down: Why novelty improves our perception of time"
Something I think about sometimes too. Why time seems to fly by faster as I get older.
It wasn't that I was free when I was young, but time still moves at a crawl. And I can't wait to be older.
Now, in a blink of an eye and it's March already.
I think this is probably the reason why "When we are young, the world is full of new things to learn and experience, so time seems to pass slowly. As we get older, we become more familiar with the world around us, and time seems to pass more quickly. This is commonly enhanced by the fact that some people actively avoid stimulation that is outwith their comfort zones later in life - When you settle into a routine, weeks fly by faster"
I bet that cartoon is not far from reality in some cases!