A close friend and I last week debated how the world will look like post US-led dominance. This has many ramifications as this US-led world order has shaped the world that we currently live in through being the reserve currency, developing great technology, and power. The conversation did naturally shift from macroeconomic trends to: does traditional advice still apply?

Throughout the week I’ve been wondering about this. I stumbled upon podcasts/books from Morgan Housel, Warren Buffett, and Charlie Munger and their conclusion is to: focus on what’s not going to change.

Uncertainty

In a podcast with Tim Ferriss, Housel tells a story about Warren Buffett. There was a CEO who had a meeting with Buffett during the 2008 financial crisis and asked: “How are we going to get out of this? The country will never be the same.” Buffett said “The best selling candy bar in 1962 was Snickers. The selling candy bar today is also Snickers”. Buffett is the ultimate example of getting value from things that don’t change. Another interesting fact is that 99% of Buffett’s net worth was accumulated after his 50th birthday. This reflects the power of compounding and patience. Good investing isn’t about finding the highest returns. It’s about pretty good returns you can stick with for the longest time.

Buffett and Munger lived through world wars, the Great Depression, the Cold War, and countless market crashes. They didn’t revise their frameworks every time the world looked uncertain. They designed their lives around what they valued, stayed patient, and looked for where value actually existed. They refused to dwell on uncertainty and instead embraced it by focusing on what actually creates value.

The same principle shows up in smaller ways. A personal example has been doing a culinary arts class at George Brown College. I signed up alone, and oftentimes when I’d do things by myself I’d get some anxiety as these thoughts cross my mind:

• “What time should I arrive?”
• “What do I say if I’m the first one there?”
• “What if other people don’t show up?”

While I’m slowly getting less anxious about things like this, I still worry because I’m uncertain about the experience I’m going to have. But I’ve learned to show up anyway. Five classes in, it’s been one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done this year. The pre-experience anxiety doesn’t go away. But your relationship to it can change.

Learning

A lot of people I know at university complain that school isn’t applied enough. That we learn things we’re never going to use. I’d argue this misses something important.

The gap between remembering something and genuinely internalizing it isn’t new. You might only use 5% of what you learned. I believe this will continue to be true regardless of how education transforms.

This is why I’m such a huge advocate for reading. When I read, my attention is fully on the page. In a blog post from 2014, Paul Graham (PG) reinforces this point:

“Reading and experience train your model of the world. And even if you forget the experience or what you read, its effect on your model of the world persists. Your mind is like a compiled program you’ve lost the source of. It works, but you don’t know why.”

In this post, PG was reflecting on the question of: I get an uneasy feeling when I look at my bookshelves. What use is it to read all these books if I remember so little from them?. What brought him more peace was realizing that even when you forget what you read or experienced, the effect on how you think persists. The goal isn’t perfect recall, but the gradual improvement of all the patterns and mental models that develop I mentioned in my year in review.

Desire

I’ll be honest: I bought an Apple Watch partly because I wanted it to signal something. We all have an innate desire to show off. If you think about why we work so hard in our careers, what is all of that effort for at the end of the day? We’re hard wired to crave attention.

While I knew about the Apple Watch’s health benefits, deep down inside I subconsciously chased the feeling of having it as a status symbol. As the novelty wore off, I actually grew more of an appreciation for this purchase. It helped me to prioritize my own health: tracking steps, workouts, filling my rings. The second-order effects on my habits and energy have been real.

I’m currently working on bringing up desire whenever I want to buy something new. I want to focus on products that bring actual utility to my life, not falling victim to playing status games because I know that isn’t genuine to me.

Values

One statement within the book The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin which I just started recently stood out to me:

“What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.”

I believe that what we value shows up in how we spend our time each day. This speaks volumes to what each of us cares about most.

When I look at this year honestly, here are things that I’m going to dedicate more time towards:

• Time with family
• Health
• Reading
• Managing my Expectations
• Comfort with Uncertainty (both with taking on more ambitious scoped projects at work and also experiences like my culinary class)

None of these are new ideas. Buffett and Munger built their frameworks around things that wouldn’t need to change when the world looked different. I think values work the same way. It’s to prioritize your time in ways that you care about and actually spending that time meaningfully.

There are so many timeless lessons but these are the 4 that stick out to me in my current season of life.

Interesting Ideas

• Stripe’s 2025 Annual Letter: I’m personally excited (and nervous) to see how the world of agentic commerce will unfold. Stripe defining these levels is a cool thing to read and internalize. Also, the inclusion of Joel Mokyr’s work (I need to read!) about how technological advancements require alignment from non-market aggregators brings up an important point behind integration of new technologies. We need to balance the regulatory side with the advancements to make it a success (e.g. drug discovery).
• Dan Wang on China’s Breakneck Economic Growth | Odd Lots: I read Dan’s book Breakneck earlier this year and enjoyed the nuance of comparing the US and China by how they are run: lawyers vs engineers. He has a very balanced/nuanced view that critiques both sides. Always love hearing and reading his perspectives!