Thread by @rebootdude

1/ In my course on portfolio optimization for Executive MBA students, I do a last lecture ala #randypausch

The theme - understanding wealth + running money. While we come from finance, we often forget the basics.

Remember this is a finance class.

2/ Notes from last lecture. Lesson 1

Wealth is not about money in the bank. Its about how much control you have over your life.

Are you doing things you don't want to do? Are you are doing things you love doing?

I would rather run in the rain. When was the last time you did?

3/ Lesson 2. Family.

When chips are down, when you have been wiped out, when you prefer the dark over light, who is going to hold your hand and nurse you back to life?

Family.

Don't ignore them. Don't discount them.

Treat every day with them as your last day.

4/ Lesson 3. Health (a)

In most professions there is a step up in compensation in final 15 years. You are likely to earn an order of magnitude more between 45 to 65 compared to what you earned between 25 to 45.

You can only claim the jackpot if you survive and are functional.

5/ Lesson 4. Health (b)

Conversely, you can also wipe out everything you have saved if you get claimed by a critical illness or a dreaded disease.

Improve your odds, prevent the preventable. Take care of your health and of your loved ones.

6/ Lesson 5. Experiment

Calculated risks. Not any risk. Risks with downside protection. Risk with limits and controls in place.

You can't control bad breaks. But you do control the circuit breakers.

Small bets are better than unlimited exposure

7/ Lesson 6. Face value.

Don't take advise at face value. Run numbers and do the math yourself before you commit.

Don't write a PhD thesis. Run high level analysis before you write a check.

In the end even if you write it off, you can charge it to the experience account.

8/ Lesson 7. Focus (a)

Value increases as you specialize. Gains don't just compound in sports and training. They also compound in real life.

Build up on what you have done. Experiment, explore, grow but circle back and connect with your origins.
instagram.com/p/BttBVrVnCbV/

9/ Lesson 8. Focus (b)

I do math. I teach. I write. I design systems. What is the common theme? Numbers.

Numbers were my north star since the beginning. Find yours and make it the "theme".

I write about numbers. I teach numbers. I build systems that work with numbers.

10/ Lesson 9. Crowds.

There is value outside of crowds. Be careful before you commit to group think.

Sometimes it takes a decade or more for you to be proven right. When the world keeps on telling you, you are wrong.

Sometimes they are right. Sometimes you are.

11/ Lesson 10. Consistency

Consistency is an attribute of an ass. Persistence is a completely different ball game.

Learn to tell the difference between the two.

The later is about learning, evolving, pivoting. The former is closing your eyes and sticking to your guns.

12/ Lesson 11. Give back.

Mentor, teach, donate, lend a helping hand, whatever you do, keep on doing it.

Every year, for an hour, a day or a week or a month, live for others.

You would be surprised by how much that refreshes, heals and enriches your soul.

13/ Lesson 12. Judge not. lest ye be judged.

Don't let success get to your head. A winning hand has more to do with timing and luck than your skill or your expertise.

Just because you made it and I didn't, doesn't make me a lessor soul. There but for the Grace of God, go I.

14/ Lesson 13. Live in the moment.

Celebrate small wins. Take time out now. Don't fall in the trap - "I will put aside x dollars first before I will start to enjoy life."

By the time you can afford to eat all the ice cream you want, you won't be allowed to or wouldn't want to.

15/ Notes from my last lecture.

What would your lecture look like? Consider yourself tagged.

@jehan_ara
@durre_nayab_
@sophasnain
@FaizaK
@Sameerpeace
@alinawab
@peshawar2o
@kayzafar
@anzarkhaliq
@ali_rehan
@MaroofAliSyed
@RahmaMian
@SaharHGhazi

1 (b)/ We watched both Margin call and Big Short. Two of my favorite clips from the first film.

"Its just money, its made up. Pieces of paper with pictures on them so we don't have to kill each other to get something to eat."

1 (c)/ And then the "I built a bridge once" clip.

Both from Margin Call. Both an endearing reminder of the reason why I can no longer trade, because I no longer care.

8 (a)/ Just for the record.

It took 3 years to get to 140 kgs.

Broke the PB again a month later when I pushed beyond 150 kgs. In June that year I dropped the same 150 kg fully loaded barbel on myself the night before a client workshop.

Makes for an interesting conversation.

8 (b)/ Given a choice between being broke and being interesting, pick interesting.

9 (b)/ Thirty four years of building spreadsheets to get to a point where numbers start speaking to you.

Told you, interesting is far more entertaining.

16/ Randy Pausch. CMU. Last Lecture.

For those of you who asked and hadn't heard of CMU's Randy Pausch's last lecture, please see.

We were lucky enough to hear him speak while he was still alive in 2007.

3 (a) Surprisingly, it was my very last class in my MBA program. Tax factors professor, a recognized international name with a thriving tax practice, said:

"When you are gone your family will remember and miss you. Everyone else will move on. Leave them something to remember."

4 (c) Most well paying roles in your 40s would require you to pass a medical. Everyone wants a stud who will hit the ground running. No one wants an old or has been Boxer.