[antifragile 4 🔥 - work edition 📈] a definition of success, successful maniacs, Siddhartha on business, a friendly reminder from Clippy
#22: a weekly 4-item newsletter created to inspire dads to use the challenges of fatherhood as fuel for building an incredible life & an antifragile mind.
Welcome to the 22nd edition of the antifragile 4 🔥.
It’s a weekly 4-item newsletter from The Antifragile Dad created to inspire dads to use the challenges of fatherhood as fuel for building an incredible life & an antifragile mind. Some weeks will have a theme, others will meander. Expect it every Friday.
Here’s this week’s antifragile 4 🔥 [work edition 📈].:
a definition of success 🥇 from a co-founder of Netflix.
an idea 💡 about successful maniacs from Morgan Housel
a quote from Siddhartha 🧘🏻♂️ on playing in business
a friendly reminder from Clippy 📎 to stop waiting for ideal conditions and get your ass to work doing the thing you’ve been wanting to do
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1.) a definition of success 🥇 from a co-founder of Netflix
As an entrepreneur, the post below resonated big time - but it applies to anyone who cares deeply about their work.
Success goes far beyond business success. And that’s easy to forget sometimes. Business, career and money are only small pieces of the puzzle.
So then what are the big pieces of the puzzle?
That’s up to you, brother. Just make sure you think about it.
Bonus follow-up reply:
Special thanks to fellow dad…er…my Dad, for embodying this type of success for my entire life.
2.) an idea 💡 about successful maniacs from Morgan Housel
Morgan Housel (Psychology of Money) went on Ryan Holiday’s podcast and reminded people of what it takes for the legends of our society to be as successful as they were.
I don’t include this to dunk on Elon Musk - I think he’s incredible in many ways - but as a reminder of the price tag that level of success comes with.
It’s a reminder - for me - to define my success more like Marc Randolph and less like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs.
“A good chunk of these people are just maniacs,” Morgan Housel pointed out on the podcast “They’re either fundamentally broken or wounded in some way, or their success is a byproduct of some profound dysfunction.”
The most glaring example, he says, is Elon Musk. “He’s achieved some of the greatest success of any entrepreneur, but the same personality traits that got him there are the traits that lead him to do things people hate.” Fighting with random trolls online, getting into spats with journalists and politicians, that’s the same person we glorify for his genius.
“Bill Gates was the same. Walt Disney was the same. Steve Jobs was the same. They're all maniacs at their core. That's why they were successful.”
3.) a quote from Siddhartha 🧘🏻♂️ on playing in business
I honestly didn’t think my business motto would come from a book like Siddhartha - but life is cool like that. I read this over a decade ago and it’s remained my business philosophy.
To be clear, I don’t always follow it…but I always aspire to it.
Full quote is below, but here’s my favorite line:
“He always seems to be merely playing at business affairs, they never fully become part of him.”
I’ve always created better work, fostered deeper connections and made more money when operating with a loose grip.
Here’s to never becoming a “proper merchant”.
“This Brahmin,” he said to a friend, “is no proper merchant and will never be one, there is never any passion in his soul when he conducts our business. But he has that mysterious quality of those people to whom success comes all by itself, whether this may be a good star of his birth, magic, or something he has learned among Samanas. He always seems to be merely playing at the business affairs, they never fully become a part of him—they never rule over him, he is never afraid of failure, he is never upset by a loss.”
-Herman Hesse, Siddhartha
Thanks to fellow dad Spiro for helping to make our business mostly “play” and rarely “work”.
4.) a friendly reminder from Clippy 📎 to stop waiting for ideal conditions and get your ass to work doing the thing you’ve been wanting to do
Wow, rude.
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Two last things for you this week:
Don’t make me send Clippy on your ass. Do the thing you’ve been meaning to do. Or at least start it.
Be fire and wish for the wind 🔥
With love,
Chris