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- So, I was originally gonna release a video today
about email optimization,
but it feels like kind of a weird time
to be giving out productivity tips.
So, I'm gonna save that one for another day.
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So, right about now, pretty much everything
you could imagine is getting canceled
from festivals to concerts, even my wedding.
To be honest, I was a little bit upset when we first
had to postpone our wedding an entire year,
but compared to the NBA, I don't know.
It just seems like not that big of a deal.
♪ Happy birthday to you. ♪
Now, this is a serious time
and it requires serious action,
and it's gotten me to think about how people respond
when they're faced with that
tasteless, odorless, scentless thing called uncertainty.
So, you can see it in the stock market
on a pretty much daily basis
as things continue to seesaw
from record highs to record lows.
The only thing that you can guarantee right now is that
things will continue to remain uncertain.
But if you prepare accordingly,
this should not be a time to panic.
Allow me to illustrate.
This is what I like to call the axes of uncertainty.
When faced with uncertainty,
we have very limited options with what we can do
and how we can react.
You've got those who are under prepared,
those who are over prepared,
and everywhere in-between,
and people who react emotionally
with a range from panic to calm.
Up here we've got those who are panicked and under prepared.
It's your classic deer in headlights.
You recognize that there's a problem.
That you should probably do something,
but you're just so damn scared
that you fail to take any kind of action.
They're usually the first people to be eaten by zombies.
I mostly feel bad for these people.
And down here, we've got those who are
under prepared and calm.
At a time like this, your parents are probably down here.
You might find yourself down here for a few reasons.
Maybe you've become desensitized by the media
always fear mongering that when a real crisis happens,
you don't believe them.
Maybe you trust the wrong sources entirely.
Anyway, not a good place to be.
It's not a great place to be because
you're not thinking critically
and when it's really important to take action,
it's either too late or you failed to do so.
Zombies are gonna eat these people as well.
Ah, and up here.
A lethal combination of panic and over preparedness.
These are the people who go out
and buy a year long supply of toilet paper.
I don't blame them, really,
because panic is know to cause massive bouts of diarrhea.
But when you clear out all
the hand sanitizer and canned soup,
you're being a dick.
It's both selfish and shortsighted.
They're so panicked that they aren't
rational enough to prepare mindfully
and as a result, they too get eaten by zombies.
Don't be that person.
Finally, down in this lower right quadrant
is really where you want to be.
Say, right around here.
You're cautious,
you've taken the necessary steps to prepare,
you've got enough non-perishable food
and essential medical supplies to last you a few weeks,
and you remain calm knowing that
you've done everything you possibly can.
And as a result,
you'll probably be able to fight off the zombies.
But even if you are calm, admittedly,
you can still be over prepared.
And what to note here is the law of diminishing returns
when it comes to preparedness.
The more you prepare, the better you'll be able to tackle
whatever problem it is that you're facing.
Up until a certain point,
when those benefits begin to diminish and then flat line.
Continuing to prepare beyond that has diminishing returns.
At this point, you're simply wasting your time.
And it could crash even further
when people's opinion of you and your community change
because you hoarded all the toilet paper
because of your diarrhea panic.
And now, here's the real beauty of finding your sweet spot
on the axes of uncertainty,
and a lesson that can be applied
to any major project in your life.
You follow a simple checklist.
Do enough research to make an informed decision,
take effective action without overdoing it,
stay calm knowing you did all you could,
adjust your plan as new information comes out.
So, this is personally how I approach
my retirement investments.
And it's precisely why I'm not freaking out,
and I'm not panicked right now
that there are such highs and lows,
and that it is so volatile at the moment.
Because you have to look at it long-term, big picture.
So, I invest in a 401k
and I update the balance of them every year
depending upon what my returns are.
This is basically just the maintenance that I need to do
to make sure that it doesn't sway
too far into stocks or too far into bonds,
and it's perfectly balanced to match
the risk that I'm willing to tolerate.
But other than that, we don't touch that money.
We put it in and we ignore it.
Through good times, through bad times.
I'm not celebrating when times are going really well.
And times like now when things
aren't going very well at all,
I don't panic as well because I know that
I'm in it for the long run.
We put our money in knowing that we're not gonna touch it
for 30 plus years until we need it at retirement.
And, of course, once we get closer to retirement,
we're gonna then adjust slowly over that period of time
to make sure that it's even more secure and even more safe,
and take much less risks the closer that we get to age 65.
In this specific case,
I've done all the research I need to do
when it comes to my own personal investments.
I understand that, since 1923,
there's been an average return of over 10%.
So, I know that, again,
in the long-term my money is gonna be safe.
You've really gotta think big picture.
You see, when it comes to everything in life,
you're only guaranteed a certain amount of certainty.
Let's say this bucket represents my wedding.
You can fill this bucket with
research, planning, and action.
You weigh the risks, the pros and cons,
and prepare for as many contingencies
you feel comfortable preparing for.
But there's only so much you can do,
you can't plan for everything.
And this is where you need to embrace uncertainty.
This is the area that's unplannable.
It's your rain delay, your car accident, who knows.
Maybe even a pandemic.
You simply do the best you can
and know that everything else is out of your control.
And there are thousands of different areas in your life
where you need to accept uncertainty.
There will always, always, always
be things outside of your control.
And the only guarantee in life is that
shit's gonna hit the fan and disrupt your plans eventually.
So, the sooner that you get used to the fact that
there are so many things in life that you can't control,
the sooner that you can adjust, adapt,
and change your plan accordingly.
No matter what happens to you in life,
you always have a choice for how you can react
and how you respond in those moments.
At times like this,
I understand that it's difficult not
to get anxious, or nervous, or emotional.
Even myself, I find when I'm watching the news too much.
When I'm getting into this habit of checking
every 15 minutes and seeing what's happening.
What's the latest?
What's going on?
I start to find myself creeping up towards panic.
Never to the point of hoarding toilet paper, to be clear,
but I do find that I push myself further and further
into panic just based upon how I'm reacting,
and the media that I'm consuming in the moment.
One important thing to leave you with
as we head into even more uncertain times,
let's do our best to help lift each other up.
Give each other a hand,
help those who maybe are facing even more
difficult circumstances than yourself right now.
In fact, my sister, who is an art teacher,
was recently told to go home for five weeks without pay.
Which kind of sucks.
So, I actually hired her to help me make all these graphics.
This one right here,
as well as all these.
Whoops, fuck.
All these graphics, aren't they awesome!
She did the zombies, she did the deer.
Toilet paper stuff.
She is incredibly talented
and I wanna give her a huge shout-out.
So, if you guys wanna support her work,
there's a link down in the description.
Go say, "Hi" to her.
Follow her on Instagram.
Show her some love.
Most importantly, show the people in your family,
in your community some love.
Not physical love, we can't do that right now.
But emotional, financial.
All that other stuff.
We can all do our own part,
making the world a little bit better.
Thank you guys so much for watching
and I will see you next time.