Daniel Clough

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Life

How to expand your point of view

I recently wrote about how to build a strong point of view. I used a few examples – one of which was investing.

Here’s what I said:

​​A good example of this, is my own investing strategy. I used to only invest in passive index funds. Over the last year or so I’ve been listening to people who are taking more risk. I’ve experimented a bit in this space and have decided I want to take on a bit more risk.

So, I’m transitioning to investing 80% in indexes and 20% in a handful of public companies with a long-term view. The foundations of my point of view are still there (I’m still mostly investing in indexes). But, how much risk I’m willing to take has changed and this ended up shifting my point of view and strategy for how I invest.

I ended up taking this a step further and re-allocating as:

  • Indexes – 70%
  • Specific public companies – 17%
  • Cryptocurrency – 13%

Five months in, I’ve decided to mostly revert back to how I was before.

Why? Two main reasons.. 

Firstly, the specific public companies basket has significantly under-performed the market in the last five months:

  • S&P 500: +12.34%
  • Specific public companies: +5.05%

Now, it’s only five months and I should allow a longer time to compare performance. However, one of the reasons I went for passive index funds in the first place was because the data tells us that over 85% of actively managed funds underperform the S&P 500. When I look at my specific public companies basket, it’s one or two poorly performing stocks that are pulling the entire performance down. This highlights the power of diversification (i.e owning an S&P 500 index fund). It also puts into perspective the challenge of trying to beat the market.

Secondly, the specific companies basket is distracting. Ideally I would rarely look at it, but I’m finding that very hard. Now that I have a goal to beat the market, I find myself comparing against it regularly. Also, I have a gut feeling that trying to beat the market is a flawed strategy (because of the first reason). I therefore find myself worrying about my decision to try and do that. Overall, I’ve managed to bring a whole new emotional factor into play, which you don’t get with passive index investing. 

The exception is cryptocurrency. I think about it differently to the specific public companies basket. I feel like there’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to get returns that far exceed the market. Therefore it feels much more speculative. It might very well lose half or even most of its value. That’s a risk I’ve come to terms with and it changes how I think about it, and how often I check it. 

So, I’m switching to:

  • Indexes – 87%
  • Cryptocurrency – 13%

This makes me feel much better.

Even though I’ve gone back and forth a bit, it was a useful exercise. It reminded me that even when you have a pretty solid point of view around something, you need to stay open minded and curious. You need to experiment and evolve. Sometimes that will refine your point of view, or perhaps even take you in a different direction. And other times, you might find yourself reverting back – which is still useful as a learning experience. Importantly, if you don’t take those chances, you just get stale.

Five things I’ve found to be super helpful in establishing new habits

Here are five things I’ve found to be super helpful in establishing new habits.

Make them visible

I have a few key habits that I like to do every day. Eat paleo, eat within an 8 hour window, consume roughly 2K calories, drink 3 litres of water, take my vitamins, and reach out to a couple of people.

I write them at the top of my daily planning page. This forces me to look at them frequently throughout the day – increasing my chances of sticking to them. It also encourages me to reflect on how I did, more than I would otherwise.

Don’t break the chain

I heard about the Seinfeld Strategy from James Clear. It’s surprisingly effective.

It’s as simple as having a wall calendar, and marking an X for every day you stick to your habit. It becomes very addictive to grow the chain, and not break it.

I use this for moderating how much alcohol I drink. I’m aiming for a once a week, with a two drink limit. And for the most part, it’s helping me stay on track.

Keep experimenting

I used to struggle to drink enough water. Then, one day I randomly decided to drink two 500ml bottles of water as the first thing I did after waking. It was a game changer. Not only did it put me at 33% of my daily goal within minutes – it also changed my behaviour. It was really easy to drink a 500ml bottle in one go. So, I just down a 500ml bottle of water each time I want a drink now. And I have the opposite problem – not going too far over 3 litres of water a day!

One at a time

It’s REALLY hard to try and establish multiple habits at the same time. Yet, it’s so easy to fall into this trap.

Be disciplined and pick one. Nail it properly, and then pick another. Trust me, there is plenty of time. If you successfully establish a handful of new habits per year, you’ll transform your life every year.

Start small

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve tried to establish really ambitious habits straight away. Inevitably, I do it for a few days (a few weeks at best), but then fall off the wagon.

Want to drink 3 litres of water a day? Start with a glass. Want to eat healthily every day? Start with just breakfast. Etc.

Then, once you’ve got these small new habits established, you can step it up from there.

The power of self examination – and how it leads to the best version of yourself

Naval Ravikant was back on the Tim Ferriss podcast last week. It was one of the best podcasts I’ve listened to – he totally knocked it out of the park.

The interview is packed with great insights for how to think about life. It’s a must listen.

Naval has a skill of being able to say something, which causes you to pause and go ‘huh?’. I’ve written about this before in Wait, our whole life is just a firefly blinking once in the night? (which I still read a couple of times a month).

I wanted to share part of the podcast where Naval talks about the power of self examination. This really resonated with me. And I’ve since had an insight about it (which I’ll also share below).

[Read more…] about The power of self examination – and how it leads to the best version of yourself

My new coaching program – Get Unstuck

I was helping someone last week who was struggling with their work life balance. They were frustrated and upset.

Work was overpowering everything else in their life. Ironically, it was an intentional (ish) choice for them to double down on their work. It helped distract them from some other things that were going on in their life.

We talked about their priorities at work – and where the boundaries should be between work and the rest of their life. We also talked about what things had to be prioritised either higher, or as high as work. Things like health, a few relationships, a specific issue in their life, and some time to switch off. We talked about strategies to make that happen.

I know exactly what it’s like for work to overpower everything else in your life. I struggled with this for a long time. I felt like a failure for not being able to get any ONE, single area of my life in good shape. I was unhappy and overwhelmed most of the time [Read more…] about My new coaching program – Get Unstuck

The bizarre, but very effective way I use social media (and a list of really cool people to follow)

The Social Dilemma documentary is doing the rounds at the moment. It’s about a bunch of tech executives from Silicon Valley, who highlight the consequences of our growing dependence on social media.

It’s eye opening for many, but nothing new to me. I’ve felt for a very long time that the benefits of using social media are vastly outweighed by the negatives. Over the last few years it’s made me drastically change how I use social media.

[Read more…] about The bizarre, but very effective way I use social media (and a list of really cool people to follow)

These tweaks made ALL the difference to sticking with a new habit or behaviour.

I realised recently that the smallest tweaks can make all the difference to being able to stick with a new habit or behaviour. This has helped me make some big behaviour shifts in my life recently.

The big question is, how do you find those tweaks?

I used to struggle to drink enough water. Some days I managed hardly anything. Other days I managed a litre or so – but it felt like such a huge effort. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been drinking over 3 litres of water everyday – effortlessly.

How did I do that?

[Read more…] about These tweaks made ALL the difference to sticking with a new habit or behaviour.

Some big improvements to my daily planning process

Getting things, and getting the right things done. That’s what it all comes down to.

Thinking about the future is super useful. But, at some point you have to organise yourself on a daily basis, and actually get things done.

I have a very specific process for planning my days, and getting things done. It hasn’t changed much over the last few years, and had settled down – or at least I thought it had.

[Read more…] about Some big improvements to my daily planning process

Be where your feet are

Try this. Take a breath, and say to yourself – ‘Be where your feet are‘

You’ll find your awareness goes straight to your feet. You should then feel a connection with the ground. And from there, a self awareness and connection with your body.

This will snap you straight into the present moment. A feeling of calm should come over you.

[Read more…] about Be where your feet are

The counter-intuitive way to get freedom

It’s rare that I read an article and think – I wish I had written that. That’s exactly how I felt after reading Wise People Have Rules For Themselves by David Cain.

I agree with every single word.

It sounds odd to say ‘discipline equals freedom’ – but it does. It’s counter-intuitive. When you set rules for yourself that you know are good for you, it’s actually liberating. It’s a huge relief. You no longer have to flip flop between things that work, somewhat work and don’t work. You lean in towards what works for you. You live a life on your terms.

[Read more…] about The counter-intuitive way to get freedom