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Weekly newsletter covering topics ranging from investing to climate change to random thoughts.

chasing answers newsletter #26

Halloween.....finally, Damn perfectionism, Another one bites the dust

randy

Nov 14, 2022

“In order to go on living one must try to escape the death involved in perfectionism.” - Hannah Arendt

Happy Sunday!

Hopefully, none of you were holding the majority of your savings in FTT. If you were, you’re probably still recovering from a weekend of heavy drinking and aren’t reading this anyhow.

But seriously, if that was you, you have my condolences.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, consider yourself lucky.

Now, let’s get to it.

Halloween…….finally

If you’ve been reading along the past couple of weeks, you know COVID took over our house and caused us to miss Halloween, and for us, that’s a BIG deal.

There was no way we were going to let our daughter miss out on her favorite holiday. And thanks to some awesome friends and family, she didn’t have to.

Me my wife and my daughter finally donning our vampire costumes

Yesterday we had our own Halloween. We got up early, decked out the house in Halloween decorations, had some friends and family come over, in costume, of course, and had a blast.

At one point, when I was in the kitchen getting more snacks for everyone, my daughter and some of her cousins came running through, giggling uncontrollably. Through the giggles, I heard my daughter exclaim, “this is the best Halloween ever.”

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Damn Perfectionism

Several weeks ago, I had a long talk with a friend about perfectionism, what a bitch it is, and how I felt it had held me back from achieving things I know I’m capable of.

Since that conversation, a couple of friends have put out work discussing perfectionism and its inherent evilness.

My friend Sandra wrote in her newsletter

Sunday Candy

last week, as only she could, about being kinder to ourselves when it comes to perfectionism. She says it better than I can.

“Meanwhile, I absolutely adore the ways people are imperfect. I don’t care if you’re not perfect at something, or even if you’re literally the worst at all the things. When others are imperfect it feels less like a fault and more like something to be celebrated.
So why can’t I also celebrate the imperfections in me?"

This is not only beautifully said but a very valid point. When I see people around me doing imperfect things, I marvel at how they are taking action and moving forward, but when I do something that doesn’t feel “perfect,” I’m disappointed in myself and discouraged.

Another friend,

Michelle Varghoose

, covered perfectionism on a recent episode of her podcast, Status Post Adulting, which she does with her sister. If you have a half hour, I highly recommend taking a listen.

They totally nail this topic. Whether it's Michelle talking about how if she feels she can't do something the best, then paralysis sets in, and she talks herself out of doing it at all, or Sammie talking about how perfectionism can make people appear lazy when they actually aren't, it all hits close to home.

This quote by Sammie, when discussing how perfectionism can make people look lazy, hit hard.

“It prevents action to the point where it can literally make you seem to have the opposite characteristic of the one that is your nature.”

This is scary. It makes me wonder if I am perceived by some people as lazy because I don’t get as much done.

I have a couple of friends who are the exact opposite of me. They fuck up more stuff than I even attempt, but in terms of financial success and the number of significant projects they have completed, they blow me out of the water.

When they are starting something new, I panic for them. I’m thinking, “how in the hell are you not worried about this or that?”

They don’t care. They just do shit. Most of it fails, and when it does, they move on, but what doesn’t, pays off big time.

I’m trying hard to adopt this mindset, and I’m open to any and all suggestions on how to do it faster.

Another one bites the dust

I’m not going to go into deep detail on the FTX collapse this week, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it at all.

FTX is the latest crypto exchange to file for bankruptcy or become insolvent.

There are too many moving parts and updates for me to keep track of. Anything I write now will be obsolete by the time I publish this.

The short version is that one week ago, FTX was the second-largest crypto exchange in the world. And Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO, was crypto’s golden boy. Supposedly one of the few doing things the “right” way.

Seven days later, FTX is bankrupt, and Sam may or may not be on the run, depending on the source you listen to.

It turns out giving all your money to a dozen or so twenty-somethings, running an exchange from the Bahamas, with no actual board of directors, isn’t a great idea.

This could have far-reaching implications as many large investors, hedge funds, and venture capital funds had invested in FTX. It could be weeks or months before we know the total impact of this, but it will not be insignificant.

If you want a more in-depth review of this fiasco, I recommend checking out the following pieces of work.

The Casino and the Genie is a great piece that just dropped today by Mario Gabriele. Mario is always on top of what is happening in the tech and crypto space, and his writing is second to none.

Trung Phan

wrote a great piece breaking down everything that happened this week, including a ton of facts with his usual humor added in and, of course, the memes.

If you prefer a great thread and want a detailed explanation of how this shit can even happen, check out this beauty by Jon Wu.

jonwu.eth @jonwu_

For those wondering how FTX printed money out of thin air: You have to understand what "low float, high FDV" means and why playing a market manipulation game with $FTT was key to this whole mess. 👇

Twitter’s Best

This video indirectly touches on a huge problem we are facing today: the negative impact we are having on wildlife through pollution, specifically plastic products that find their way into our environment. It also helps restore my faith in humanity.