Thread by @jsmian

1) The global macro seas are disarmingly clam for a stretch and then, without a glimpse of warning, can turn dangerously stormy.

2) The path to better returns therefore isn’t necessarily about trying to control the seas.

It’s rather about assuming the ebbs and flows are going to happen and they will inevitably require quite a lot of time and thought to address.

3) Anxiety makes us curious and curiosity leads to understanding. Our progress is painfully limited and imperfect, but it is genuine.

4) Seneca entreated us to spare a little time each day to think of everything that could go wrong: “Reckon on everything, expect everything. Nothing ought to be unexpected by us..."

5) "...Our minds should be sent forward in advance to meet all the problems, and we should consider, not what is wont to happen, but what can happen.”

6) The market does not always follow logic. Without cultivating serenity, we risk getting swept away by the mysterious tides of mass psychology.

7) When multiple scenarios have been factored into our expectations, calm is never endangered.

We try not to worry about what the markets are going to do, and worry instead about what we are going to do in response to the markets.

8) Achieving consistently high investment returns is a monstrously difficult task, but one worth devoting great resources to.

9) This respect leads to an unexpected but crucial consequence.

We don’t panic around the challenges, because we understand the difficulty of what we are attempting to do.

10) As someone once said, “Investing is a field where you can have a high error rate (buying something you shouldn’t have, selling something you shouldn’t have, not buying something you should have, not selling something you should have) and still be successful.”

11) May you find peace and calm amidst the storm.