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I love spending time with my family. At the end of the day, they are who raised me. But they are so much more than that. My parents, and sisters, are the ones who have guide me to the person I am today. Without them, I couldn’t be me. Whether you’re an only child, a middle child, or a child with many siblings, I think we can all agree we are the best of our surroundings.

I love my family, who they’ve turned me into, who they’ve become, and they want to become. For this, I am grateful. I love having a family so supportive and understanding, not only of my life, but of the lives we all want to become. My strength comes from my family, the support from them, and the path they’ve laid out in front of me. They are the true reason for my successes, and the pedestal for my problems. Without my family I would not prosper as the person I am.

This Christmas I cherish my family. I cherish the support system around me. And I believe in the group of people that calls me son, or brother. For my family is the best I could ever ask for. I love you all, and for all a goodnight.

Merry Christmas Eve to everyone. It’s a wonderful time of the year to be with friends, family, and people important to us. I am enjoying the evening with my family, and not spending time to blog.

After months of flat-lining, the price of Bitcoin has experienced a sharp incline over the past few weeks as you can tell from this chart. When Bitcoin sky-rockets, so do articles about Bitcoin and people start hypothesizing why the price increases. Is it Venezuela’s inflated economy? India’s new currency policies? Or, as I’ll argue, impossible to tell?

Terminology

First, we must start with a couple of terms, efficient market hypothesis (EMH) and praxeology, the study of human action.

Efficient Market Hypothesis, as explained by Burton G. Malkiel:

The Žefficient market hypothesis is associated with the idea of a “random walk,” which is a term loosely used in the Žfinance literature to characterize a price series where all subsequent price changes represent random departures from previous prices. The logic of the random walk idea is that if the  flow of information is unimpeded and information is immediately reflected in stock prices, then tomorrow’s price change will reflect only tomorrow’s news and will be independent of the price changes today. But news is by definition unpredictable, and, thus, resulting price changes must be unpredictable and random. As a result, prices fully reflect all known information, and even uninformed investors buying a diversified portfolio at the tableau of prices given by the market will obtain a rate of return as erroneous as that achieved by the experts.

Praxeology, as explained by Murray N. Rothbard:

Action implies that the individual’s behavior is purposive, in short, that it is directed toward goals. Furthermore, the fact of his action implies that he has consciously chosen certain means to reach his goals. Since he wishes to attain these goals, they must be valuable to him; accordingly he must have values that govern his choices. That he employs means implies that he believes he has the technological knowledge that certain means will achieve his desired ends. Let us note that praxeology does not assume that a person’s choice of values or goals is wise or proper or that he has chosen the technologically correct method of reaching them. All that praxeology asserts is that the individual actor adopts goals and believes, whether erroneously or correctly, that he can arrive at them by the employment of certain means.

Takeaways

EMH and praxeology, as outlined by Malkiel and Rothbard, both point out an important idea. Information changes each and everyday, markets employ the knew knowledge efficiently, and the users of that knowledge are individuals who believe that the knowledge they possess “will achieve his desired ends.”

Because individual actors make up the aggregate, one cannot extrapolate in reverse. For example, 10 people buy apples from a store. Each person bought the apples for a different reason. One to keep the doctor away, another to bake a pie, another to play bobbing for apples, etc. But the store only knows it sold 10 apples, it doesn’t know why the consumer bought them. It would be foolish to extrapolate in reverse. To make claims of why the apples were bought based on knowing 10 apples were sold is the same logical fallacy as making the claim for Bitcoin.

Although Bitcoin prices have sky-rocketed recently, it’d be foolish to extrapolate reasoning for why. Every person has a different reason. Investment purposes, economic instability, for fun, who knows? Individuals act in their best interest, but with imperfect knowledge. Each data point is valid only if we know the thoughts of the individual. In aggregate we do not, thus making extrapolations of data is a fools-errand.

Technology Doesn’t Eliminate Natural Laws

With the introduction of smarter technology: AI, machine-learning, data-mining, etc. people assume we’ll live in an information-perfect world. The problem is, the order of the world is based on individual’s action. No matter how much data can be collected, it’s impossible to tell why people act the way they do. If everyday for years I go to the same coffeeshop you could probably assume I’d go there the next day. However, there’s nothing to say one day I’ll decide to switch it up.

With the influx of technology it’s more important than ever to remember we are individuals acting in our own best interest. Whether in the Stone Age or the great technology era, we are, and always will be, individuals acting for ourselves. Simplifying the world into aggregates, simple phrases, or cool news headlines is nice, but not reflective of the laws of nature. We are our own decision makers and no aggregation can claim to know exactly why we do things.

Habit formation is great, but when you hang out with people important to you, it’s important your habits are flexible enough to let them in. Depending on how much time you spend with someone should help in deciding how closely you follow your habit scripts.

For example, if you see someone everyday they must be flexible to the habits that make you successful. But if you only see people twice a year, your habits must be flexible for them. Time spent with people important to you is worth the temporary sacrifice of habits.

Here are a couple of quotes I’ve pulled from reading I’ve been using to replenish my well. One’s from Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steven Hagen, the other from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

From Hagen:

It is said that if you drop a frog in hot water, he’ll jump out. If you put him in lukewarm water and very slowly raise the temperature, the frog will stay there until he dies.

We’re not frogs. We have the capacity to see and to know when we’re sliding too far into an unhealthy situation. But we have to take note of what we see. We don’t have to continue down a slippery slope. We can stop, turn around, and head in the other direction. But this can only be done when we see our situation for what it is.

From Aurelius:

Remember how long you’ve been putting this off, how many extensions the gods gave you, and you didn’t use them. At some point you have to recognize what world it is that you belong to; what power rules it and from what source you spring; that there is a limit to the time assigned you, and if you don’t use it to free yourself it will be gone and will never return.

These quotes both will be turned into full blogs. But for now they’ll remain quotes. I’m replenishing the well, which, in time, will produce blog posts with a nice mixture of Austrian Economics, Stoicism, Buddhism, and living your life your way.

I’ve read on a few blogs that some writers take 10-12 hours of reading in order to write one solid blog post. Over the past four-months I’d say that’s probably true. A lot of times when I write I feel I’m depleting a valuable resource. The resource of thought. I had been going strong for until I hit a wall. Either I wrote too much about the same topic, or focused too much on recent reading/recent experiences, but somewhere I emptied the writing well.

My next week, in time with the holidays, will be focused on replenishing the writing well. To read more, and think about philosophies of life. I will continue blogging daily, but they probably won’t be as developed as I’d hope. Here’s to a week of reflection and devoting more time to learning.

I challenged myself to daily blogging. It has been a wonderful challenge. But every time I go to write a post I challenge myself to make something unique, something new, and something long winded.

Sometimes it’s enough to write a short post.

We don’t need tons of articles floating out their all saying the same thing.  We need action.

Daily blogging is about daily action. Daily actions create habits. And habits create the person we want to become.

I for one am proud I can write this, publish a post, and move forward to tomorrow.

Sometimes short is enough.

Sometimes we get so enthralled with the future, what we’re going to do, the accomplishments we want to achieve, and the path we want that we forget about our happiness. Sundays are always a good day for me to remind myself to enjoy life. To enjoy the day that is in front of me. Sometimes I get so caught up in the future I forget to enjoy the present.

I’ve made money on my own before. Selling items on eBay, at a garage sale, or making money selling lemonade. All of that was as a child. I’m 26 years old, had handfuls of jobs, and been professionally employed since college. After quitting my last job I came to the realization that I’ve never created a dollar for me. Yes, I’ve provided value to an employer and made a salary, but making a dollar from a client you find is completely different.

Call Me Un-Entrepreneurial

There’s a major discrepancy from the corporate lifers and self-made entrepreneurs/startup founders. Often, I feel I sit somewhere in between. A corporate dropout, but not quite an entrepreneur. The difference is enough for me to convince myself that I can’t be a self-made entrepreneur. Before creating my first dollar freelancing I was fearful of my path towards self-employment. I had to jump in and get my feet wet. After all, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now.”

My First Dollar

I earned my first dollar through Upwork.com. I was able to find someone who wanted content written. As I’ve been writing this blog for a while I said “Why not?” I can write, it might not be great, but it’s a start. I made $5 ($4 after the 20% Upwork fee). Instead of being fearful of entrepreneurship my whole mentality changed. I now realized I could create money out of thin air! I could make money by using my abilities. Yes, it took 26 years, but it’s an uplifting feeling.

Lessons Since

Since then I’ve had a few more Upwork contracts, so far earning a little over $100. Although it’s not much, it’s already started teaching me lessons. For one, my hourly rate is probably too low, and bidding flat fees isn’t always a good idea. I spent 12-hours completing a $15 task. That definitely was a rough lesson learned. But it’s worth it. Finding this out today, when the opportunity cost of 12-hours is pretty low, is better than learning that lesson later on.

Freelance sure is rewarding. I spent lots of hours, and connected with quite a few contacts, in helping a German citizen setup an LLC in the United States. He left me a stellar review. That signal not only feels good for me, but shows future clients I am reliable. If you have any aspirations of being an entrepreneur, or becoming self-employed, I would definitely challenge you to create a dollar, or two, from your services. Once you make that first dollar you will want more.

Lesson 2 of the Toltecs, Don’t Take Anything Personally:

“Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.”

Get Out of Your Head

We have a lot going on upstairs (well, at least I assume so if you found my blog) and that sometimes lead to overthinking. A reaction we weren’t expecting from the cashier, a rejection from a girl/guy or employer, or an argument we have with loved ones. People will say things that come out of nowhere, or are completely out-of-line with your mind. Which leads to countless replays of the experience and trying to comprehend their meaning.

Stop. Get out of your head. You can’t do anything to change the words someone directed at you. But you can change you. You are the founder of your future, the pursuer of your passions, and the director of your desires. Even if someone says something unsettling, don’t take it personally. Instead use it as a chip on your shoulder. Make the words your enemy to propel you forward.

“Phil, That’s Easier Said Than Done”

I know what you’re thinking. “That’s easier said than done.” It is, you’re right, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. I think a lot, I get caught in my head a lot, but somehow I find a way out. I slay my demons, bury them, and move forward. Stressing about what someone else thinks of me does the opposite of what I want to accomplish. If I listen to them then I become what they think I am. Instead, I don’t take it personally, move forward, and continue kicking butt.

My strategy to getting through drawbacks, or other’s projections of me, is a few steps. First, I keep my composure. Yes, they might’ve said something that infuriated me, or put me down, but I don’t retaliate. The first lesson of the Toltecs is “Be Impeccable with your Word: Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.” After keeping my composure I then think what they actually meant. I dissect their words, and look for their perception. Third, I try to re-frame their words to what they meant according to my dreams. And last I use it as motivation. I vow to get better because of it.

Steps to Not Take Anything Personally

1. Keep your composure (Toltec Lesson 1)
2. Dissect their words
3. Re-word their words to align with your dream
4. Use their words as motivation

Move Forward

Always moving forward is the only solution to personal attacks or letdowns. No matter what happens in your daily life, pouting about the past won’t improve the future. You have to take each circumstance to heart and live life the way you want to live. Forget other people’s problems with you and focus on your strengths and capabilities.