<ul><li>Countries, states, parties, companies, industries, departments, investment styles, economic philosophies, religions, families, schools, majors, credentials, Twitter communities.</li></ul> <ul><li>People are drawn to tribes because there’s comfort in knowing others understand your background and goals.</li></ul>

TRIBES ARE EVERYWHERE #1

Self Improvement

<ul><li>Tribes reduce the ability to challenge ideas or diversify your views because no one wants to lose support of the tribe.</li></ul> <ul><li>Tribes are as self-interested as people, encouraging ideas and narratives that promote their survival. But they’re exponentially more influential than any single person. So tribes are very effective at promoting views that aren’t analytical or rational, and people loyal to their tribes are very poor at realizing it.</li></ul>

TRIBES ARE EVERYWHERE #2

The biggest lesson from the 100 billion people who are no longer alive is that they tried everything we’re trying today. They swung from optimism to pessimism at the worst times. They battled unsuccessfully against reversion to the mean. They learned that popular things seem safe because so many people are involved, but they’re most dangerous because they’re most competitive. Same stuff that guides today, and will guide tomorrow.

EVERYTHING'S BEEN DONE BEFORE. THE SCENES CHANGE BUT THE BEHAVIORS AND OUTCOMES DON'T

There’s as much to learn about your field from other fields than there is within your field. Once you see the roots shared by most fields you realize there’s a sink of information you’ve been ignoring. Communication is important. Many doctors who struggle to communicate effectively with their patients results in patients who don’t stick with treatment plans and are resistant to lifestyle change. There are millions of these dots to connect.

MULTI-DISCIPLINARY LEARNING AND COMMUNICATION

I have seen investors justify strategies and sales techniques they fiercely argued against at previous employers, coming around the moment their career depended on it. These are good, honest people. But self-interest is a freight train of persuasion. When you accept how powerful it is you become more skeptical of promotion, and more empathetic to those doing the promoting.

SELF-INTEREST CAN LEAD PEOPLE TO BELIEVE AND JUSTIFY ALMOST ANYTHING

It’s usually viewed as a conservative hedge, used by those who don’t want to take much risk. But when used appropriately it’s the opposite. Room for error lets you stick around long enough to let the odds of benefiting from a low-probability outcome fall in your favor.

ROOM FOR ERROR IS UNDERAPPRECIATED AND MISUNDERSTOODD

<ul><li>Learn faster than your competition.</li></ul> <ul><li>Empathize with customers more than your competition.</li></ul> <ul><li>Communicate more effectively than your competition.</li></ul> <ul><li>Be willing to fail more than your competition.</li></ul> <ul><li>Wait longer than your competition.</li></ul> Everything else – intelligence, design, insight – gets smashed to pieces by competitors who are almost certainly as smart as you.

THE ONLY TRULY SUSTAINABLE SOURCES OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE I KNOW OF ARE:

People <a href="http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/were-all-out-of-touch/" target="_self">believe what they’ve seen</a> happen exponentially more than what they read about has happened to other people, if they read about other people at all. We’re all biased to our own personal history. Everyone. [Y]ou both understand something that people who haven’t experienced those things never will, but you’ll also likely overestimate the prevalence of those things happening again, or happening to other people.

YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES MAKE UP MAYBE 0.00000001% OF WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THE WORLD BUT MAYBE 80% OF HOW YOU THINK THE WORLD WORKS

Start with the assumption that everyone is innocently out of touch and you’ll be more likely to explore what’s going on through multiple points of view, instead of cramming what’s going on into the framework of your own experiences. [I]t’s the only way to get closer to figuring out why people behave like they do.

THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL LIFE

My published ideas

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You spend years trying to learn new stuff but then look back and realize that maybe like 10 big ideas truly changed how you think and drive most of what you believe.

Brent Beshore <a href="https://twitter.com/BrentBeshore/status/970661400786870272">recently listed </a>the biggest ideas that changed his life. A few of mine:

Everyone belongs to a tribe and underestimates how influential that tribe is on their thinking. There is <a href="http://climatescience.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228620-e-305">little correlation between </a>climate change denial and scientific literacy. But there is a strong correlation between climate change denial and political affiliation. That’s an extreme example, but everyone has views persuaded by identity over pure analysis. There’s four parts to this:

<ul><li>Tribes are everywhere: Countries, states, parties, companies, industries, departments, investment styles, economic philosophies, religions, families, schools, majors, credentials, Twitter communities. </li><li>People are drawn to tribes because there’s comfort in knowing others understand your background and goals. </li><li>Tribes reduce the ability to challenge ideas or diversify your views because no one wants to lose support of the tribe. </li><li>Tribes are as self-interested as people, encouraging ideas and narratives that promote their survival. But they’re exponentially more influential than any single person. So tribes are very effective at promoting views that aren’t analytical or rational, and people loyal to their tribes are very poor at realizing it. </li> </ul>

Psychologist Geoffrey Cohen <a href="https://ed.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/party_over_policy_0.pdf">once showed </a>Democratic voters supported Republican proposals when they were attributed to fellow Democrats more than they supported Democratic proposals attributed to Republicans (and the opposite for Republican voters). This kind of stuff happens everywhere, in every field, if you look for it.

Everything’s been done before. The scenes change but the behaviors and outcomes don’t. Historian Niall Ferguson’s plug for his profession is that “The dead outnumber the living 14 to 1, and we ignore the accumulated experience of such a huge majority of mankind at our peril.” The biggest lesson from the 100 billion people who are no longer alive is that they tried everything we’re trying today. The details were different, but they tried to outwit entrenched competition. They swung from optimism to pessimism at the worst times. They battled unsuccessfully against reversion to the mean. They learned that popular things seem safe because so many people are involved, but they’re most dangerous because they’re most competitive. Same stuff that guides today, and will guide tomorrow. History is abused when specific events are used as a guide to the future. It’s way more useful as a benchmark for how people react to risk and incentives, which is pretty stable over time.

Multi-discipline learning : There’s as much to learn about your field from other fields than there is within your field. Most professions, even ones that look wildly different, live under the umbrella of “Understanding how people respond to incentives, how to convincingly solve their problems, and how to work with others who are difficult to communicate with and/or disagree with you.” Once you see the roots shared by most fields you realize there’s a sink of information you’ve been ignoring that can help you make better sense of your own profession. I didn’t appreciate how important communication is to providing investment advice before reading about how many doctors struggle to communicate effectively with patients, leading to patients who don’t stick with treatment plans and are resistant to lifestyle change. There are millions of these dots to connect. Probing beyond the confines of your day job is more fun anyways.

Self-interest can lead people to believe and justify nearly anything. Think about businesses trying to survive competition being run by people trying to prove their career worth, and the incentive to run with the option that provides the cleanest path to the next win is huge, even when that option is something you wouldn’t accept in less-stressful circumstances. I have seen investors justify strategies and sales techniques they fiercely argued against at previous employers, coming around the moment their career depended on it. These are good, honest people. But self-interest is a freight train of persuasion. When you accept how powerful it is you become more skeptical of promotion, and more empathetic to those doing the promoting.

Room for error is underappreciated and misunderstood. It’s usually viewed as a conservative hedge, used by those who don’t want to take much risk. But when used appropriately it’s the opposite. Room for error lets you stick around long enough to let the odds of benefiting from a low-probability outcome fall in your favor. Since the biggest gains occur the most infrequently – either because they don’t happen often or because they take time to compound – the person with enough room for error in part of their strategy to let them endure hardship in the other part of their strategy has an edge over the person who gets wiped out, game over, insert more tokens, at the first hiccup.

Sustainable sources of competitive advantage. This might be the most important topic in business and investing because other than luck it is the only path to long-term success. The only truly <a href="http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/sustainable-sources-of-competitive-advantage/">sustainable sources of competitive advantage I know of are </a>:

<ul><li>Learn faster than your competition. </li><li>Empathize with customers more than your competition. </li><li>Communicate more effectively than your competition. </li><li>Be willing to fail more than your competition. </li><li>Wait longer than your competition. </li> </ul>

Everything else – intelligence, design, insight – gets smashed to pieces by competitors who are almost certainly as smart as you.

Your personal experiences make up maybe 0.00000001% of what’s happened in the world but maybe 80% of how you think the world works. People <a href="http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/were-all-out-of-touch/">believe what they’ve seen </a>happen exponentially more than what they read about has happened to other people, if they read about other people at all. We’re all biased to our own personal history. Everyone. If you’ve lived through hyperinflation, or a 50% bear market, or were born to rich parents, or have been discriminated against, you both understand something that people who haven’t experienced those things never will, but you’ll also likely overestimate the prevalence of those things happening again, or happening to other people.

Start with the assumption that everyone is innocently out of touch and you’ll be more likely to explore what’s going on through multiple points of view, instead of cramming what’s going on into the framework of your own experiences. It’s hard to do. It’s uncomfortable when you do. But it’s the only way to get closer to figuring out why people behave like they do

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Ideas That Changed My Life · Collaborative Fund

The Zen philosopher Alan Watts put it beautifully when he said those who think all the time have nothing to think about except thoughts so they lose touch with reality and live in a world of illusion.

THOSE WHO THINK ALL THE TIME...

We readily head towards ideals set by others and fail to realise that, in doing so, we may be getting further away from our own truths. When was the last time you stopped to consider this? When was the last time you stopped to think about what you genuinely wanted from life as opposed to continuing to answer to that noise endlessly chattering away in your head? Ask yourself: “Why am I chasing something that has had its value applied by someone else?”

WORK ON YOUR OWN IDEALS

There is so much to absorb if we slow down and pay attention but we only interested in pushing our realities away; only concerned with doing whatever we can to avoid confronting that monkey in our heads. We continually want for more even though we never find ourselves satisfied. Doesn’t that in itself tell you something?

SLOW DOWN; SIMPLIFY.

Just for a second, stop whatever you're doing and get comfortable. A zazen cushion works best for this. But if you haven’t got one, simply sit on the floor, the edge of the sofa, or the chair you're currently on. Now notice your breathing. Really notice it. Watch your breath as it comes in and again as it goes out. There is nothing else to do. Don't think about anything else but the breath. Just watch it. Count to yourself as you inhale and again as you exhale if that makes it easier.

PRACTICE 1

Thoughts will arise but no one thought or emotion is better than the next with this practice. The key thing here is to spend time sitting with whatever arises and breathing into it instead of feeling as if you need to distract yourself from it. Recognise and acknowledge your thinking as just thinking before returning your focus to the breath. Do this time and time again, regularly. Remember, you are more than your thoughts. You are more than your thinking.

PRACTICE 2

[N]otice your breathing. Really notice it. There is nothing else for you to do. Watch your breath as it comes in and again as it goes out. Don't think about anything else but the breath. Watch it. Count to yourself as you inhale and again as you exhale if that makes it easier.

NOTICE YOUR BREATH

It's important to understand that your mind will wander when you start doing this, but you're not doing anything wrong. It's what our minds are designed to do. Imagination is a powerful thing. It is one of the reasons why we, as a race, have managed to put man on the moon.&nbsp;It is one of the reasons we can engineer magnificent bridges and dams in an effort to improve our human experience. It is why we can start vaccinating people from scratch a matter of months after discovering a new virus.

YOUR WANDERING MIND IS NOT THE PROBLEM, YOUR ADDICTION TO IT, IS.

Through this practice, I realised that whatever I believed, whatever I was thinking, whatever I imagined, was the root cause of all my suffering. Whatever I was thinking separated me from, and closed me off to, how I experienced the world. Whatever I thought removed me from reality. There is a true, expansive space beyond your thinking.

THERE IS A SPACE BEYOND YOUR THINKING

I became aware that everything is connected on a level that I still haven’t found the right words to describe, even after all these years. I truly believe I transcended myself and, in the process, realised I already had all the answers I had been looking for. The truth is already there. The truth is silent.

THE TRUTH IS THERE. THE TRUTH IS SILENT.

To quote the Zen practitioner, Steve Hagen:“There is nothing to prove, nothing to figure out, nothing to get, nothing to understand. When we finally stop explaining everything to ourselves, we may discover that in silence, complete understanding is already there.”

"THERE IS NOTHING TO PROVE, NOTHING TO FIGURE OUT, NOTHING TO UNDERSTAND."

Matthew J. Pallett's answer to What does it feel like to be in a coma? - Quora

At our darkest moments there lies inside us the potential to realise an overwhelming strength. When we feel as though we have been thrust into a space whereby we are detached from ourselves and completely out of options, it is important to remember that we are not. Our options may have changed, but there will be plenty still available to us…

AT OUR DARKEST MOMENTS

Life as you knew it may have taken a dramatic shift and you may have had your preferences swept out from under your feet, but I truly believe it is within your power to start building a new — better — normal. It is well within your power to begin owning your life. You will once again be you. Hell, you will be better than you. The real test comes from how well we can adapt to change.

BUILD A BETTER NORMAL

Whilst nobody can dictate how you should live your life, there are some general laws we can follow. Some supercharging guidelines that we can live by. Some guidelines that help us become more in-tune with ourselves.I have worked on drawing up a schedule that nourishes me physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Doing this has had such a profound effect on my well-being that it is one of the first things I recommend to others in an attempt to rebuild once they feel they are ready.

DRAW UP A SCHEDULE

Success really does all come down to mindset. Every single one of us is capable of far more than our mind may tell us we are. There is nobody that knows your truth better than you but there are some universal laws and principles that we can employ to nudge us in the direction of discovering this.When personal development becomes your preferential source of entertainment you know you’re doing something right.

MINDSET OF SUCCESS

Life is constantly in flux and there are no guarantees that your current way of life will still be available tomorrow. Look around you. Make the most of what you have now. Live a life that you will one day enjoy telling stories to your grandkids about. Whether you start with a problem focus or a solution focus will, ultimately, determine the quality of your outcome.

LIFE IS CONSTANTLY IN FLUX

"We cannot change our past but we can most certainly change our future." (Mum wisdom.)

MUM WISDOM

A profound kind of strength lies deep within each and every one of us if we are prepared to stop and connect with it but instead, we race around from one thing to the next, endlessly being bombarded with distractions and never realising our true potential. We rattle around within limitations set by others and wonder why we always feel so powerless.

A PROFOUND KIND OF STRENGTH LIES DEEP WITHIN EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US

When pushing our boundaries and reaching into our own truths as opposed to those provided by those around us, we come one step closer to entering the highly sought-after state of Flow. We begin to realise that the only thing standing in our way is, was, and always has been, our own limiting beliefs.

PUSHING OUR BOUNDARIES

When we are no longer resistant to failing, no longer resistant to any part of the process that stands in-between us and what we desire; when we have the confidence to stand-up and remain completely true to ourselves — when we are committed to working completely in the moment — real change can, and does, happen.

WHEN WE ARE NO LONGER RESISTANT

I am not suggesting that enlisting the help of others is futile — we are a highly interdependent species — but ultimately, this all comes down to you: It is you who needs to make that choice. It is you that needs to do the work. It is you that needs to take action. It is you that needs to knuckle down and do the work. It is you that needs you. It is you that needs to commit. Find yourself.

WORK INDEPENDENTLY OF OTHERS

We can continue choosing the easy road that provides very little in the way of resistance/reward — forever being walked through the safe option and never actually getting what we want from life — continuing to victimise ourselves with whatever story we have written that excuses us from realising our true potential — or you can grab hold of the wheel and take charge of the direction your one life is heading in.

GRAB HOLD OF THE WHEEL AND TAKE CHARGE OF THE DIRECTION YOUR LIFE IS HEADED IN

Chase what you want as opposed to settling for what you can get. Listen to your truth and work on becoming more in-tune with that. This should be the most important thing in your life from this moment onwards.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW

Nobody can set limits on what you can or can’t achieve without your permission. Nobody knows you like you know yourself. You are in control of your own destiny.

YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR DESTINY

This all comes down to attention and where we choose to place it. This all comes down to attitude. This all comes down to action.If you want something, fucking well take your hands out of your pockets and put in the work to make it happen. Nothing worth having ever comes easy but that is what makes it so satisfying when it arrives.

THIS ALL COMES DOWN TO ATTITUDE

By honouring yourself in this way you will be working to become the best version of yourself — not the best version of what you’ve seen in magazines or on the television — not the best version of you that anyone else believes you can be — but the best version of you.There is nobody else on this planet who is better at being you than he/she who is reading these words.

HONOUR YOURSELF

Invest some time establishing your truth. Read. Meditate. Workout. Be still. Be you. Nurture that fierce power inside of you that says, “I can and I will”; we’ve all got it inside us but it has been masked by years of social conditioning. It has been masked by years of taking on board other people’s opinions and accepting them as if they were our truth.

THE MOST IMPORTANT INVESTMENT YOU WILL EVER MAKE IS IN YOURSELF

The decisions we make today will determine our tomorrow. When we are no longer afraid of giving something our all for fear of not being able to achieve it, doors will open that will lead further along the journey to becoming more in-tune with ourselves.

THE DECISIONS WE MAKE TODAY WILL DETERMINE OUR TOMORROW

It is in not giving up that we learn far more about ourselves than we would if we were to continue believing the limiting self-talk that broadcasts inside our heads twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week; limiting talk that has been programmed by others who are inadvertently perpetuating their own self-limiting beliefs.

DO NOT GIVE UP ON YOURSELF

Failure is nothing to be ashamed of; it often means that we're pushing our boundaries; giving our all to something. It is often a reflection of giving our absolute best. It is often a reflection of our desire to succeed. With the possibility of great failure comes the possibility of great success, and both outcomes are right there waiting to be discovered…

MAKE FAILURE NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF

Do you think you’ll lie on your deathbed wishing that you hadn't been as true to yourself as you had been? Can you honestly say that you'll lay there wishing you hadn't tried as hard as you had? Will you regret all the times you had given something your all? As long as I continue living my absolute truth I know I won’t, and that is a guarantee.

LYING ON YOUR DEATHBED

It is in pushing ourselves beyond thought that we are tapping into a strength not a lot of us are aware even exists. It is in pushing ourselves beyond thought, beyond all the noise and mindless chatter that keeps us held under the belief that we need constant noise and distraction to be someone, anyone — the layers that serve to mask our truth — that we can engage with a kind of strength that has been buried deep within us, patiently waiting, for the duration of our adult lives.

GO BEYOND THOUGHT...

This is not some bullshit idea that I’m talking about for my own benefit. This understanding has a timeless clarity that has been present for you to reconnect with throughout the duration of your adult life — all it requires from you now is a little focus to reawaken. “We cannot change our past but we can most certainly change our future.” Go get at it. X

Matthew J. Pallett

TRIBES ARE EVERYWHERE #1

Ideas That Changed My Life · Collaborative Fund

THOSE WHO THINK ALL THE TIME...

Matthew J. Pallett's answer to What does it feel like to be in a coma? - Quora

AT OUR DARKEST MOMENTS

Matthew J. Pallett's answer to What was it like for you to awaken after having been in a coma for an extended period of time? - Quora